The system supplement: a report of the Georgia Board of Regents, Vol. 38, no. 2 (Feb. 2002)

The
System Supplement

A report of the Georgia Board of Regents 8 Vol. 39, No. 2 8 February 2002

Regents' New Strategic Plan Tackles Critical Challenges

The Board of Regents is forging ahead with the final shaping of its updated strategic plan, set for final review this spring. Board members heard presentations during their February meeting in the areas of research, personnel, operations and facilities from System Office staff and an external consultant hired to explore commercialization generated at the University System's research institutions.

"Each of the plan's strategic goals have key linkages with one another," said Special Assistant to the Chancellor Shelley Nickel in her preface to the reports. "And all of these goals ultimately should support our vision statement, which is to create a more educated Georgia."

The regents heard initial committee reports on four goals from
5 the plan:
the recruitment, hiring and retention of faculty and staff (Goal #5), presented by Senior Vice Chancellor for Support Services Corlis Cummings;

leveraging the University

System as an economic asset

6(Goal #6), presented by Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., a principal in the Washington Advisory Group, a D.C.-based consulting organization, and Assistant Vice

Chancellor for Economic

Development Annie Hunt

Burriss;



7 identifying and implementing
"best practices" for the System's operational units (Goal

#7), presented by Fiscal Affairs

Vice Chancellor William

Bowes; and

8 providing and maintaining superior facilities (Goal #8), presented by Assistant Vice Chancellor for Design and Construction Linda Daniels.

David said that transforming faculty research into products and profits is something System researchers have done for a number of years -- but the potential for

greater results exists and should be pursued aggressively.
He noted that the opportunity for System institutions to increase their commercialization efforts (the process by which research becomes commercially viable) is significant. But this will necessitate an increase in funding for intellectual-property operations if the System and the state hope to reach the commercialization levels of current national leaders.
David's advisory group estimated that the patent flow of the System's research universities could increase two to three times the current level and the income generated from three to five times the current rate, if opportunities are optimized.
Managing the Workforce
Among the many options in the human-resources arena presented for the regents to consider were: a continuation of competitive salary increases, more aggressive and innovative recruitment efforts, and comprehensive programs to retain current employees.
"National surveys show that, today, the average tenure of an employee for a company is just three-and-one-half years," Cummings said. We must provide a high level of training and competitive incentives if we are to retain these valuable employees. It's much more efficient to keep good people than to continually have to recruit new personnel."
Building the Future
The committee studying Goal #7 (business operations) found that, over the past three years, the majority of System institutions have taken steps to implement "best practices" in their business operations. But more can be done, Bowes noted, including the implementation of a process to aid the replication of best practices across the System and an incentive program to reward institutional efforts.
"The University System must

adopt best practices to stay relevant," Bowes said. "Today's students are savvy consumers. Colleges and universities that don't offer online registration, for example, will go the way of K-Mart."
Over the past several years, the University System has implemented online application and registration capabilities for each of its 34 institutions.
"Facilities represent a tremendous investment for the state and a significant responsibility for the System, with more than 3,000 buildings and 60,000 acres of land at approximately 100 locations," Daniels said in her presentation on the goal pertaining to facilities. This represents more than half of the state's total facilities inventory.
Daniels' committee proposed a number of options and initiatives for the regents' consideration. These include: addressing construction quality issues; resolving funding issues for major repair and rehabilitation needs; funding "fast track" projects; expanding privatization efforts and providing incentives for institutions to secure nonstate funds for needed facilities; and expediting the new Regents' Construction Inspection Program.
The regents will hear additional presentations on the remaining plan goals over the next several months and will adopt a series of final recommendations on all 11 goals by June. These recommendations then will be incorporated into a final action plan for the University System to implement over the five-year life of the Strategic Plan.

Board's Alternative Dispute Resolution Program

A Model for Other Systems of Higher Education

At a recent workshop for campus liaisons, Dr. Don Wagner (right) of the State University of West Georgia, chair of the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on ADR, talked over various innovations in managing conflict with Columbus State's Dr. Terry Norris (left) and Georgia State's Linda Nelson (center).

the scale that we have," Neely said, noting that the university systems of Maine and Hawaii have asked those involved in the initiative to serve as consultants in helping them to establish programs of their own. The System also is involved in a collaboration to set up a Center on Conflict Resolution at the University of Venda in South Africa, she added.
The System's ADR staff hopes to supplant litigation and lengthy campus judiciary proceedings with mediation and negotiation as the primary methods for resolving the inevitable disputes that arise. "Our goal is to have happier, healthier campuses," Neely said.

The University System of Georgia has done more than any other system of higher education in the country to establish system-wide mechanisms for alternative dispute resolution (ADR), according to Associate Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs Betsey Neely.

The existence of a System-wide conflict-resolution program "gives people a safe place in which to express concerns without fear of consequences," said Dr. Don Wagner, chair of the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on ADR. "That's an intangible, but extraordinarily important benefit."

Since the Board of Regents launched an initiative in1995 aimed at resolving conflict at USG institutions in a less adversarial, more timely and equitable manner, all 34 campuses have developed ADR programs and trained faculty and staff in conflict-management techniques, as has the University System Office.
"No one else has done this on

There is tangible evidence of the initiative's success. During a recent evaluation, 20 campuses were able to document cultural changes concerning conflict due to the ADR initiative. They included changes such as: a decrease in the number of complaints and litigation; improved inter-departmental cooperation; changes in procedures for handling conflict; and budget allocations for

New College Savings Plan Available This Spring
Applications for enrolling in the Georgia Higher Education Savings Plan (GHESP) will be available in late March.
The GHESP gives parents, guardians and others a simple, safe and affordable way to save for college expenses. One can even open an account for oneself. State officials intend to make participation in the plan easy by offering payroll deductions and automatic debits that will encourage consistent, longterm savings.
Savings-plan participants will pay no federal or state taxes on their earnings as their accounts grow. Withdrawals made for qualified education expenses -- tuition, room and board, books, fees, supplies, etc. -- are not subject to federal or state income taxes. Participants may receive a Georgia income-tax deduction if the beneficiary is a dependent on their Georgia tax return.
The GHESP provides a complement to the HOPE Scholarship program, helping to cover expenses that may not be covered by HOPE, such as room and board. And, unlike the HOPE Scholarship program, the college savings plan can be used to attend eligible non-Georgia colleges and universities.
Gov. Roy E. Barnes recently appointed TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing Inc. to manage contributions to the program. Charles M. Penuel is director of the GHESP, which is administered by the Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services. For more information about the plan, call 404/656-0930 or go to www.state.ga.us/otfs/gahesp.htm.

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conflict-resolution training.
"The University System had 70 lawsuits in 2001," Neely noted. "For a $4 billion enterprise, that's really minimal. That rate compares favorably to most other systems of higher education."
The cost effectiveness of ADR also cannot be ignored. The average academic-dishonesty case takes 90 days and 16 people to go through the traditional disciplinary process, Neely said. Through a facilitated-discussion process instituted by the University of Georgia, the process can be whittled down to an average of just seven days and three people. The added bonus is that the discussions often serve to better educate the accused party on what constitutes plagiarism, she noted.
Neely is proud of the progress the System has made in little more than six years. Each campus has appointed an ADR liaison and a committee to oversee policies regarding conflict resolution, which are specific to each campus. Grievance procedures have been revised at a vast number of the institutions to include an ADR component. A Statewide Mediation Program makes trained mediators available to campuses whenever total impartiality is needed. To date, this program has mediated 35 cases to completion.
Six USG campuses also have established ombuds offices, including Kennesaw State, Valdosta State, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Georgia Perimeter College and Clayton College and State University. Kennesaw State has been particularly active in ADR -- in addition to establishing a Center for Conflict Resolution, the institution has developed a master's program in this field.
More than 3,000 people throughout the University System have received ADR training to date, including at the System Office. Seven campuses have trained their entire leadership structure in ADR techniques. They are: Columbus State, Georgia Southern, Georgia Southwestern, Darton College, Waycross College, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and Coastal Georgia Community College.
To date, much of the System's ADR efforts have concentrated on USG faculty and staff, but student affairs is a growing focus.

MCG Health, Inc., Tops in Imaging
MCG Health, Inc., has won national recognition for excellence in imaging services, along with kudos for the leadership and collaboration that enables the Medical College of Georgia Hospitals and Clinics to shine.
The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), an alliance of the clinical enterprises of academic health centers, recently benchmarked its members to identify the best performers in radiology in terms of cost for services per procedure, labor productivity, supply cost management, access to services and customer satisfaction. The top three hospitals identified were MCG, Vanderbilt and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
The UHC report on MCG concluded that the "capable leadership of the chair of Radiology promotes a cooperative alliance and a close working relationship between the department, the hospital administration and the MCG School of Medicine."
Professor Creates New Sports Drink
Gatorade and Powerade, watch your backs. Sharon Hunt, a long-time Fort Valley State University faculty member, has developed what she calls "the world's greatest sports drink."
The associate professor of food and nutrition has applied for a trademark to name the recipe she has been perfecting for 17 years in the FVSU food laboratory "Victoryade."
Should the product be sold commercially, the University System's intellectual-property policy requires that Hunt share the proceeds with the university. That's just fine with her -- she hopes "Victoryade" will some day fuel scholarship funds in addition to athletes.
The
System Supplement
Arlethia Perry-Johnson
ASSISTANT VICE CHANCELLOR
John Millsaps
COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING DIRECTOR
Diane Payne
PUBLICATIONS DIRECTOR
To Provide Feedback
write to: dpayne@mail. regents.peachnet.edu

ON CAMPUS

West Georgia Honors-College Grad Yong Suh

has Future as Top Scientist

worked in the

Arecent graduate of the State University of West Georgia's Honors College who now is working for a world-renowned scientist has received one of the highest undergraduate accolades possible, the Marshall Scholarship.
The award, worth $50,000 over two years, will cover tuition, books, travel and living expenses as 20-year-old Yong Suh conducts research in neuropharmacology at the University of Oxford in England. Suh, a Spring 2001 graduate of West Georgia, currently is researching the genetics of Type II diabetes under Dr. Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Collins, who has been featured on the cover of Time magazine and was the subject of A&E's Biography of the Year, has

vanced Academy of Georgia, a residential program for highly gifted high-

research lab of his mentor, Dr. John Hansen, (background) as a West Georgia undergraduate.

school

students -- is the recipient of more

than 20 merit scholarships, the

National Merit Scholarship, the Gold-

water Scholarship and the Medical

Scientist Training Program (MSTP)

Scholarship. After his return from

England, he will use the MSTP

Scholarship to attend the M.D./Ph.D.

Program at the University of Roch-

ester School of Medicine and Dentis-

try, where neuroscience will be his

primary field of study.

mapped every gene in the human

"Yong is a unique young man with

genome and is credited with discover- phenomenal drive, intellect, leader-

ing the defective genes implicated in

ship ability and passion," said Dr.

cystic fibrosis and Huntingdon's disease. John Hansen, an associate professor

The Marshall Scholarships, funded by the British government, provide an opportunity for American students who have demonstrated academic

of chemistry who served as Suh's mentor during the youth's tenure at West Georgia. "He will undoubtedly become a great world-class scientist."

excellence and leadership potential to

According to Dr. Donald Wagner,

continue their studies for two years at dean of the university's Honors Col-

any British university. This program

lege, Suh spoke no English until he

was established in 1953 as a gesture of was eight years old, when he immi-

thanks to the people of the United States grated to the U.S. with his parents,

for their assistance to Britain under the yet his mastery of the language is

Marshall Plan after World War II.

superb. "He is possessed of an incan-

Suh -- who came to West Georgia as a 16-year-old student in the Ad-

descent intelligence... and a desire to use his gifts to serve others," Wagner said.

UGA Grad Student Receives $1M Federal Grant

First-year University of Georgia doctoral student David L. Whiters has received a $1 million grant from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) for his work in mobilizing recovering addicts as lobbyists and leaders in the field of substance-abuse treatment and education.
Whiters, who heads the non-profit organization Recovery Consultants of Atlanta, Inc., will receive about $200,000 a year for five years for his Recovery Community Support Program. He plans to shape his dissertation around the work he performs as the project's director and will provide research opportunities for other UGA social-work graduate students, as well.
"Our goal is to reduce the stigma

associated with alcohol and drug addiction and develop advocates among the recovery community," he said.
CSAT, a branch of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in the U.S. Depart-ment of Health and Human Services, awarded grants to only 20 other communitybased organizations. Whiters was the only grant recipient from Georgia.
"We are immensely proud of David's accomplishment in obtaining this grant while a first-year Ph.D. student," said Bruce Thyer, director of the Ph.D. program at UGA's School of Social Work. "I know of no precedent for such an award within academic social work."

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Higher Ed, Government and Businesses to Strategize on Nurturing State's Bioscience Industries

Positioning Georgia as a national leader in the bioscience industries is the ultimate goal of an upcoming conference called "Growing Georgia's Bio-science Industries: Harnessing the Resources of Higher Education, Government and Business."
The program, scheduled for Wednesday, March 27, in Atlanta, will address such areas as research and development, education and training, technology transfer and commercialization, and biopolicy.
Co-hosting the conference are the Atlanta Regional Consortium

for Higher Education (ARCHE), the Georgia Research Alliance, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the University System of Georgia's Intellectual Capital Partnership Program and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Participants will meet from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Loudermilk Center for the Regional Community, 40 Courtland Street, in Atlanta. For more information, contact ARCHE by e-mailing arche@atlantahighered.org.

Georgia Chamber, GC&SU Team to Mentor Future Leaders
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce has partnered with Georgia College & State University (GC&SU) on a pilot program to give college students workplace experience while enabling leaders in business to contribute to the development of the state's future leaders.
The brainchild of GC&SU President and Georgia Chamber Board Member Dr. Rosemary DePaolo, the Georgia Education Mentorship (GEM) program matches 25 selected students with Georgia leaders from a broad field of endeavors such as health care, education, the arts, information technology, recreation and business. Through the program, the students will gain exposure to public affairs, corporate meetings and company activities. They also will attend leadership seminars and receptions.
"The GEM program is an exciting opportunity for our students to develop the leadership skills necessary for success in their professions, as well as their lives," said DePaolo.
The pilot program was funded by a $200,000 grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation. For more information on GEM, call Max Allen, executive assistant to the president and director of university relations for GC&SU, at 478/445-6802.

BOARD OF REGENTS
Hilton Hatchett Howell, Jr. Atlanta CHAIR
Joe Frank Harris Cartersville VICE-CHAIR
Hugh A. Carter, Jr. Atlanta
Connie Cater Macon
William H. Cleveland, M.D. Atlanta
Michael J. Coles Kennesaw
John Hunt Tifton
Donald M. Leebern, Jr. Columbus
Allene H. Magill Dalton
Elridge W. McMillan Atlanta
Martin W. NeSmith Claxton
J. Timothy Shelnut Augusta
Glenn S. White Lawrenceville
Joel O. Wooten, Jr. Columbus
James D. Yancey Columbus
OFFICERS
Thomas C. Meredith CHANCELLOR
Gail S. Weber SECRETARY TO THE BOARD
William R. Bowes TREASURER

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