The system supplement: a report of the Georgia Board of Regents, Vol. 45, no. 5 (Aug. 2008)

The
System Supplement

A report of the Georgia Board of Regents 8 Vol. 45, No. 5 8 August 2008
"Creating a More Educated Georgia"

Regents Approve $2.45B FY10 Budget Request

Three Potential Budget Reduction Plans Also Presented

At its August meeting, the Board of Regents approved a Fiscal Year 2010 budget request of $2.45 billion, a 6.5 percent increase over the current FY09 budget. But University System of Georgia (USG) officials cautioned the regents that the state's declining tax revenues probably will mean the eventual loss of some of these dollars.
Accordingly, the regents also approved a plan for reducing this request by 6 percent ($136 million) and accepted plans to guide increasing the reduction to 8 percent ($182 million) and 10 percent ($228 million), at the request of the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget. All three reduction plans also apply to the current Fiscal Year 2009 budget.
The FY10 request by the regents does include $114.7 million in new dollars generated by the funding formula (a mathematical formula that calculates new dollars needed to sustain University System operations) that reflects a 3. 9 percent increase from fall 2006 to fall 2007 in student enrollment ($79.4 million), health-insurance premium increases ($20 million), new retiree benefits ($5.7 million), and operating funds for new facilities ($9.6 million).
And, keeping an eye on the long-term health-care needs of Georgians, the request includes $8 million to continue efforts to expand physician education. Funds would be used to develop needed curriculum, pursue program accreditation and expand residencies in Athens, Albany and Savannah. The first class of students at the Medical College of Georgia's new Athens campus would enter in fall 2010. This effort began in FY08 with state appropriations to address the growing shortage of physicians in Georgia.

The regents also approved a recommendation for $251 million to build needed University System facilities.
"Over the last three years, our student enrollment has grown by 19,400 students," said Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. "Our commitment is to deliver a quality education to all who qualify, and with this budget, the risk we now manage is whether we can maintain that quality for all who wish to enroll."
Presenting the three budget reduction proposals to the regents, Interim Chief Financial Officer Usha Ramachandran outlined some of the consequences, including the reduction of operational support resulting in shorter lab and library hours, the delay of new or elimination of existing academic programs and reduced course offerings, the delay of maintenance, the reduction of

library acquisitions, position reductions and layoffs, and changes to employee health benefit programs (see chart below).
Ramachandran noted that with the 6 percent reduction plan approved by the regents, all of these consequences will occur throughout the System's 35 institutions in the coming months. At the proposed 8 and 10 percent reduction levels, additional consequences could include increased deferred maintenance, further changes to health-benefit plans, additional layoffs and the imposition of temporary mandatory student fees (illustrated in the chart).
"We will be good stewards of the resources, and our campus presidents are providing great leadership in managing under tight economic times," Ramachandran said. "But reductions on this magnitude do have
See "Budget Request," Page 2 ...

Budget Reduction Plans for FY 2009 and FY 2010

10% Cumulative Reduction: $228M

10. Increase layoffs & operating reductions 9. Multipurpose mandatory fee, OR

8% Cumulative Reduction: $182M

8. Reduce employer premium match from 75% to 70% 7. Increase deferred maintenance

6% Reduction: $136M

6. Reductions to the classroom activities 5. Position reduction and layoffs

4. Cap indemnity plan employer premium to PPO plan

3. Reduce operational support costs

2. Lengthen replacemenotyceyrcpleresm; riuemdutcoePlPibOraprlaynacquisitions
1. Generate alternative revenues; gain efficiencies
"Creating A More Educated Georgia"
The chart above illustrates the measures the USG will take in order to achieve the budget reductions called for by state officials. Steps 1-6 correspond to a 6-percent reduction, Steps 7-8 to an 8 percent reduction, and either Step 9 or Step 10 will be taken if a 10-percent reduction is necessary.

Budget Request
Continued from P. 1 ... serious consequences related to our ability to serve students."
The board's actions on the FY10 Budget and capital requests now go to the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget for incorporation into the overall state budget recommendations the governor will present to the General Assembly in January 2009. Any action regarding additional reductions at the 8 and 10 percent levels will depend upon decisions made by the governor and General Assembly, which would then require the Board of Regents' final approval.
Campus Projects Included in Budget Request
Included in the $251 million request is $211.4 million for 14 construction projects as well as the purchase of property for one campus. These include:
College of Coastal Georgia health sciences building, $13.3 million
Darton College property acquisition, $1.6 million
East Georgia College Statesboro facility, $4.9 million

Fort Valley State University renovations, $13.4 million
Georgia College & State University Ennis Hall renovation, $10.6 million
Georgia Gwinnett College infrastructure, $2 million
Georgia Highlands College upgrade space needs for Cobb County access, $6.2 million
Georgia Institute of Technology G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Commons, $43 million
Gainesville State College academic facility, $31.2 million
Kennesaw State University laboratory addition to science building, $19 million
Middle Georgia College Georgia Hall renovation, $500,000
Macon State College teacher education building, $20.1 million
North Georgia College & State University renovations and building additions, $16.4 million
Savannah State University Marine Biology and Environmental Sciences, $2.6 million
University of Georgia Special Collections Library, $26.6 million
Also recommended is $25.8 million in design money for 10 projects:
Armstrong Atlantic State University library addition, $1.1 million
Albany State University Ray Charles Fine Arts Center, $1.8 million

Clayton State University science building, $2.1 million
Georgia Perimeter College academic building (Dunwoody campus), $2.2 million
Georgia Southern University biology building, $2.6 million
Georgia State University humanities building, $4.7 million
Georgia Southwestern State University health and human sciences building, $1.1 million
Medical College of Georgia medical commons, $6 million
University of West Georgia nursing building, $1.4 million
Valdosta State University health science building, $2.8 million
Equipment funds for four projects totaling $13.8 million were proposed. These are:
Gordon College nursing/health building, $1.6 million
Georgia State University/Georgia Perimeter College academic facility at the Alpharetta Center, $1million
Southern Polytechnic State University Engineering Technology Center, $4.8 million.
University of Georgia gas-fired boiler addition, $6.4 million

USG Students Queried Regarding Free Speech Climate on Campuses

Georgia's public college campuses are populated by students holding a wide range of social, political and religious beliefs and students are pleased

with their overall academic experiences. Yet some students admit to low participation in student organizations and feel as though their fellow students should be
more respectful of differing viewpoints.
These are some of the key findings in a survey conducted for the University System by Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer Susan Herbst and Dr. James J. Bason, director of the University of Georgia Survey Research Center. The findings were presented to the Board of Regents at its August meeting.

The anonymous survey of student speech and discussion was conducted in April 2008 and involved a random sample of students across institutions in the University System who were questioned regarding individual attitudes on academic quality, free speech and discussion. The survey also collected information on partisanship, political and social views, religious orientation, and other characteristics of the student population.
The student survey was conducted because there has been increasing scholarly and political interest in the practical issues
See "Student Survey," Page 5 ...

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USG Digest
s Gainesville State College's Lewis F. Rogers Institute of Environmental and Spatial Analysis (IESA) will serve as a senior partner and the southeast regional extension of the new National Geospatial Technology Center. The GeoTech Center, a collaboration between eight colleges and universities, aims to create a national clearinghouse of exemplary geospatial curriculum materials, resources and national services and to increase the quantity, quality and diversity of geospatial technicians to meet U.S. workforce needs. Geospatial technology including Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) - is among the top three high-technologies, high-growth industries in the country and has become a $30 billion-a-year industry.
s Georgia Tech is one of eleven universities to be named to The Princeton Review's "Green Honor Roll."The criteria for this rating covered three broad areas: 1) whether the school's students have a campus quality of life that is healthy and sustainable, 2) how well the school is preparing students for employment and citizenship in a world defined by environmental challenges, and 3) the school's overall commitment to environmental issues.The Green Honor Roll, a new addition to The Princeton Review that recognizes the institutions that best met these criteria, included six public universities and five private schools. Georgia Tech emphasizes sustainability throughout its campus, with 21 endowed chairs and 23 research centers that include significant sustainability components.The institute has also set a goal that every student take at least one of more than 100 courses with a sustainability emphasis.Tech's ongoing commitment to campus sustainability received additional validation this summer when the Christopher W. Klaus Advanced Computing Building (KACB), home to the College of Computing and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.
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System Supplement
John Millsaps
ASSOCIATE VICE CHANCELLOR
Diane Payne
PUBLICATIONS DIRECTOR
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write to: diane.payne@usg.edu

ON CAMPUS

Michael Stoy Named President of Middle Georgia College

Dr. W. Michael Stoy, vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Gainesville State College, recently was named president of Middle Georgia College (MGC) in Cochran. Stoy, who assumed his new post in August, replaces Dr. Richard J. Federinko, who resigned his presidency at the end of 2007.
Stoy had served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the

faculty of Gainesville State since 1999. From 1989 until 1999, he held various administrative and faculty positions at Darton College in Albany, Ga., including associate professor of biology and chair of the science/mathematics division and professor of Stoy
See "Stoy Appointment," Page 4 ...

Georgia Tech Search in Progress
The search for Georgia Tech's next president officially got under way in mid-August when a 20-member presidential search committee received its charge from from Board of Regents Chair Richard Tucker, Regent Willis Potts, who is chair of the search committee, and Dr. Susan Herbst, University System of Georgia (USG) executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer. The national search will be conducted to replace Tech's former president, Dr. G. Wayne Clough, who stepped down on June 30 to become the 12th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Patton Remains President of
GSU as Search Continues
Current Georgia State University (GSU) President Carl Patton will continue to lead the university while the search for a new president continues. Patton delayed his plans to retire this summer when the three finalists in the initial search, which was to have concluded in July, withdrew their names from consideration before the Board of Regents could make its final decision.
"At the highest levels of university leadership, there are many presiden-

tial searches in which finalists withdraw, and often there are multiple rounds of candidate interviews," said Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. "Since Georgia State is a very strong university with tremendous momentum, we will without question find a superb new leader, and will proceed in a thoughtful, measured manner within the procedures of the Board of Regents and in the best interests of the state of Georgia."
The Georgia State Presidential Search Committee, chaired by Regent William Cleveland, is continuing its work.

Georgia Tech, UGA Professors Win National Awards

Two University System of Georgia professors received prestigious national recognition for their work during August:

Mostafa El-Sayed

President George W.

Bush announced that

El-Sayed, a Regents

Professor in Georgia

Tech's School of

Chemistry and Bio-

chemistry, has been

selected to receive the

National Medal of Science, the nation's

El-Sayed

highest scientific

honor. El-Sayed, who holds the Julius

Brown Chair and is director of Tech's

Laser Dynamics Laboratory, is the

only University System of Georgia faculty member and only the second person in Georgia history to be so recognized.
El-Sayed's citation reads: "For his seminal and creative contributions to our understanding of the electronic and optical properties of nanomaterials and to their applications in nano-catalysis and nano-medicine, for his humanitarian efforts of exchange among countries and for his role in developing the scientific leadership of tomorrow."
El-Sayed is working on the development of special nanorods that bind to cancer cells and make them
See "National Awards," Page 4 ...

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GPC Nursing Students Immunize

New Applicants on `Document Day'

One day this past July, Georgia Perimeter College (GPC) incoming freshman Roshunda Bellamy traveled to the college's Dunwoody campus, turned in completed admissions documents and transcripts, got her required immunization shots and received a letter of acceptance to GPC all in one sitting.
"Giving the immunizations on campus was a really good idea," said Bellamy, who is beginning a two-year quest to become a dental hygienist this fall. "I only needed a tetanus shot. You have to have one every 10 years, and getting the shot here means I didn't have to make an appointment at a doctor's office."
Last year GPC allowed applicants to complete collegeentrance immunization requirements by getting their shots on its Clarkston campus. This year, the shots were available on each of GPC's four campuses during Document Day, a day set aside for admission counselors, nursing students and college administra-

tors to be available in force, ready to help last-minute applicants complete admission requirements and receive their GPC photo ID cards.

GPC nursing stu-

dents set up inside

the Care-A-Van, the

nursing department's

new mobile clinical

lab, to administer immunizations.

GPC Admissions Dean Julius Whitaker hands freshman Roshunda Bellamy her acceptance letter to the college after GPC nursing students gave her immunizations

"We sent out a

so she could be accepted on the spot. (Photo by Bill Roa)

mass mailing to

about 6,000 incomplete appli-

Whitaker, the interim dean for

cants to encourage them to come recruitment and admissions.

in and enroll," said Jaleen

"This is a joint collaboration

Washington, a GPC admissions

between the nursing department

counselor. "We sent them `Reach and admissions."

Cards' which included the immunizations that would be offered on campus and the cost of those

Washington said Document Day was a success on each campus.

immunizations."

"Some of the students can be

"We have a large volume of potential students who needed immunizations," added Julius

admitted on the spot," she said. "Others take a day or two, which is faster than our regular twoweek turnaround."

National Awards
Continued from P. 3 ...

easier to detect so lasers cans destroy them without harming healthy cells.

He will receive his award at a White House ceremony on Sept. 29.

Lynne Billard

Billard, University

Professor of statistics

in the University of

Georgia Franklin

College of Arts and

Sciences, was hon-

ored with the 2008

Elizabeth L. Scott

Billard

Award by the

Committee of

Presidents of Statistical Societies.

This award, given every other

year to just one recipient nation-

wide, recognizes exemplary

efforts to further the careers of

women in academia.

Billard was honored for "encouraging women statisticians as they embark on their careers and mentoring women as they advanced; for excellent leadership

Stoy Appointment
Continued from P. 3 ...
biology. From 1978 to 1989, Stoy was first an assistant and then associate professor of biology at Bismarck State College, Bismarck, N.D.
With Stoy's guidance in 2003, Gainesville College won a University System of Georgia Best Practices Award for identifying and promoting practices that help students pass the Regents Test.
to the profession, serving as a role model to the next generation of women and men in statistics; and for conducting and publishing studies to understand and end gender-based inequities in statistics."
A faculty member at UGA since 1980, Billard is a former head of the Department of Statistics and was named a University Professor in 1992. She earned her bachelor's and doctoral degrees from the University of New South Wales in Australia.

He is a charter member and executive-board member of both the Appalachian Studies Center and the Georgia Appalachian Center for Higher Education. On behalf of the latter organization, he developed and helped implement a scholarship program that has more than 15 post-secondary institutions providing more than $20,000 in scholarship funds to students annually.
When Gainesville State received the green light from the Board of Regents in 2005 to begin offering selected four-year degrees, Stoy led the team that determined the institution's academic niche and plotted its future in serving the needs of Northeast Georgia.
Stoy holds a Ph.D. in entomology from North Dakota State University, Fargo, N.D. (1984) and a master of arts in zoology from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio (1978).

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MCG 1st in USG to be Accredited for Safety in Human Research

The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs has granted the Human Research Protection Program at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) full accreditation, marking MCG as the first USG institution to be accredited by this organization.
More than 125 other organizations including 42 percent of the nation's research universities, 36 percent of U.S. medical schools and 52 percent of Department of Veterans Affairs facilities are now accredited by the association, which works to optimize protection for research participants and to promote ethically sound practices.

The MCG Human Research Protection Program educates and trains faculty, staff and students regarding studies that involve human subjects and/or human-derived materials; audits those studies; and provides administrative support to institutional review boards. Research participants are often patients at MCG Health, the non-profit entity that operates MCG's clinical facilities, or the Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
"This approval speaks to the overall excellence of our program," MCG Human Research Protection Program Director Michelle Christiano said. "Accreditation ensures that we provide the most comprehensive protections for research participants and

that our high ethical and professional standards enhance the well-being of people who participate in our research."
"Accreditation holds organizations to the highest standards of protection, so each accreditation marks another milestone for research participants and for all of us who are committed to safe, ethical, excellent research," says Marjorie A. Speers, president of the association. "As more organizations attain accreditation, participants will be able to consider accreditation status when deciding whether to participate in a particular research study. They will have more options, and organizations will have even more incentive to pursue accreditation."

Student Survey
Continued from P. 2 ...
surrounding First Amendment rights in American higher education, said Herbst. "The University System hopes to enhance its role as a leading advocate for free speech, political debate, and excellence in inter-group campus dialog," she said.
The survey was undertaken to assess whether USG campus environments are perceived by students representing a diverse range of viewpoints as restrictive of free speech and the open discussion of ideas. "In evaluating the data, I saw no pattern of political discrimination of any particular sort," said Bason.
Herbst said, "We welcome discussion of free speech issues in the University System and have worked to ensure that our students have appropriate, transparent avenues to register any concerns they may have. This survey makes it clear that our students have a powerful desire to learn how to discuss issues in a way that is respectful to others, even when passions run high. This is a responsibility that we as educators hold to help our students learn how to argue with vigor, as well as to have a high respect for logic and empirical evidence."
The survey findings were grouped into broad categories including the overall academic experience, classroom discussion and environment, student attitudes toward free speech, the

importance of ideas, and campus "free speech" zones.
Almost 85 percent of survey respondents rated their overall academic experience at the USG institution attended as excellent or good. In terms of classroom discussion, 70 percent reported being able to freely discuss important public issues in class, while 58 percent reported being able to freely discuss religious issues in class.
Despite the overall sense of being able to discuss issues freely, lower percentages of respondents felt that other students were respectful of the religious beliefs of all students (55 percent) and only 47 percent of other students were respectful of the political opinions of all students.
But a majority of student respondents (52.8 percent) reported that students have no respect for views that differ from their own, despite the fact that 65 percent of respondents reported that it was very or somewhat important to them that they debate different points of view with their friends.
Looking at the classroom environment, the survey found a wide range of opinion regarding the role of professors in challenging existing beliefs or introducing new ideas into the classroom. While 31 percent of student respondents reported that it was very or somewhat important to them that instructors not challenge their personal beliefs, 52 percent reported it was very or somewhat important
-- 5 --

"This survey makes it clear that our students have a powerful desire to learn how to discuss issues in a way that is respectful to others, even when passions run high. This is a responsibility that we as educators hold to help our students learn how to argue with vigor, as well as to have a high respect for logic and empirical evidence."
Dr. Susan Herbst Chief Academic Officer
to them that instructors challenge their beliefs in order to introduce new ideas.
When it comes to the classroom and free speech, only 13 percent of students agreed that professors had inappropriately presented their own political views and just over 4 percent agreed that professors in classes had inappropriately presented their own religious views. In both cases, students holding this viewpoint also noted that students felt free to argue with the professor (62 percent in cases of political disagreement and 52 percent in cases of religious disagreement).
The full report can be accessed online at: http://www.usg.edu/usg_stats/

Chancellor: Jan Kettlewell's Legacy in Pioneering USG's P-16 Initiatives `Remarkable'

Dr. Jan Kettlewell will retire in late September as vice chancellor for P-16 Initiatives "the conclusion of what can only be described as a remarkable record of accomplishment with the University System of Georgia," according to Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr.
In 1995, the Board of Regents created the P-16 Department and hired Kettlewell as its director. With a staff of two, she began building a framework of partnerships that would become the foundation for all P-16 work. From the beginning the P-16 mission was clear: to serve as the outreach arm of the University System Office to other state education agencies, the Governor's Office, P-12 schools, USG institutions and business partners in collaborative efforts to improve education for all of Georgia's students, pre-school (P) through college (Grade 16).
Kettlewell will pass along to her successor, Lynne Weisenbach, a department with a staff of 50 employees working on more than a dozen initiatives with a budget that exceeds $17 million annually. She also will leave behind a legacy of pioneering practices and partnerships on a state, regional and national level.
"Jan accomplished this by seeking outside funding to leverage state dollars," Davis said in paying tribute to Kettlewell before the Board of Regents in August. "Through Jan's writing and coaching of others, the P-16 department has brought about $80 million in external grant funds into the University System, with Jan serving as principal investigator or co-author of grants in excess of $64 million."
Davis noted that Kettlewell also made P-16 a research and development center to test new ideas and

influence change in state and national policies and practices and created a leadership and support center for USG institutions in the preparation of teachers, leaders, and counselors Kettlewell for the public school system. She also took a leadership role in the implementation of Goal Four of the Strategic Plan to strengthen the USG's partnerships with the state's other education agencies.
For the past six years, Kettlewell has shouldered the additional responsibility of serving as executive director of the USG Foundation, "and once again, an organization flourished under her leadership," Davis observed, noting that its funds have grown from a negative balance to a positive balance of more than $2 million.
"Jan accomplished this by working with the foundation's board of directors to successfully launch the Regents' Awards for Excellence in Education," he said. Thanks to this annual event, funding has been generated to create two student scholarship programs: the President's Choice Scholarships and the need-based Regents' Foundation Scholarships. Additionally, the event has provided a venue to present the Alumni Achievement Awards and the Regent Elridge McMillan Lifetime Achievement Award, both of which were initiated during Kettlewell's tenure as the foundation's executive director.
"Thanks to her leadership, thousands of students have been inspired, motivated and given the tools to succeed," Davis concluded. "That's a great legacy an enduring legacy. And it's a record that will only continue to grow."

BOARD OF REGENTS
Richard L. Tucker Duluth CHAIR
Robert F. Hatcher Macon
VICE CHAIR
Kenneth R. Bernard Jr. Douglasville
James A. Bishop Sea Island
Hugh A. Carter, Jr. Atlanta
William H. Cleveland, M.D. Atlanta
Felton Jenkins Madison
W. Mansfield Jennings Jr. Hawkinsville
James R. Jolly Dalton
Donald M. Leebern Jr. Columbus
Elridge W. McMillan Atlanta
William `Dink" NeSmith Jr. Athens
Doreen Stiles Poitevint Bainbridge
Willis J. Potts Jr. Rome
Wanda Yancey Rodwell Stone Mountain
Kessel D. Stelling Jr. Marietta
Benjamin Tarbutton III Sandersville
Allan Vigil McDonough
OFFICERS
Erroll B. Davis Jr. CHANCELLOR
Burns Newsome BOARD SECRETARY
Usha Ramachandran INTERIM TREASURER

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