Chancellor's State of the System Address, January 11, 2006
Chancellor Corlis P. Cummings
"State of the System"
Good morning and thank you. This month in lieu of the traditional Chancellor's report, I will present the State of the System address. Although I have worked in the University System since 1995, by nature of my responsibilities as your Interim Chancellor, these past months have given me a new perspective on the University System and Georgia's public higher education system. So this annual State of the System will not focus on the nitty-gritty of the past year that we all know was filled with many “interesting” opportunities. Instead, I'd like to share some thoughts about the people, the work, the commitment, the processes that make this a great University System.
Every August, thousands of students enroll in our colleges and universities. The semester begins, students attend classes, and faculty and staff work to help students succeed and find their way in life. All this happens as regularly as the sun rises and sets. And this is the true miracle to which we attend – the small, daily, and critically important miracle of “creating a more educated Georgia.”
Our responsibility – yours as members of the Board of Regents, mine and others as administrators – is to ensure that big waves don't wash away the core mission of teaching, research, and service. We are here to harness that change to better serve our students and the state. And a crucial part of that process is to understand how our daily actions and decisions shape how this System looks and operates months and years from now. While we tend to focus on big events and change – whether it's creating a new college, changing leadership at the campus or System level, or dealing with hurricanes – these historic events take place in an environment of relative stability.
Roy Amara, the founder of the Institute for the Future, developed what is known as “Amara's Law.” That is, we tend to overestimate change in the short run and underestimate it in the long run. We have to be careful not to think that one decision today, one magic bullet, is going to immediately transform public higher education in Georgia. Rather, it is the accumulation of our collective work and actions that will create major change in the ways we provide higher education.
Thanks to the governance structure Georgia's leaders set up back in 1931 for the System, this Board is in a strong position to shape how our public colleges and universities work for the good of the state and its citizens. And the effectiveness of our work depends on a dynamic and active Board of Regents. It depends on the strong partnership created with the Governor's Office and General Assembly.
With those thoughts in mind, let me reflect for a moment on the past year and my four months as Interim Chancellor. Some may have thought that the transition period as you searched for a new Chancellor would have been marking time, but I think all of us know that is incorrect. Do not underestimate the work that has taken place.
Yesterday and earlier today, you heard the final reports on the Chairman's and this Board's four-point action plan. This Board has finalized its strategic communications plan that will serve us for the next four years. We have launched a news publication. We have refined your successful and award-winning capital priorities process and developed new principles and processes to address the changed world of facilities in which we now operate.
We have pulled together the upper tier of the state's leadership to develop new funding mechanisms (by changing the state's laws) to supplement the current cash, governmental obligation bonds, and public-private financing models. We have looked at the impact that this System makes on the lives of every person in this state. You heard President G. Wayne Clough of the Georgia Institute of Technology (“GIT”) talk about the $23.3 billion in economic impact this System has on the state.
And finally, we have focused on our core mission and the retention, progression, and graduation (“RPG”) of our students and given you the 64,000-foot level of the research and analysis and findings. And although we will have future reports on the facilities and RPG initiatives, the underlying work has been done. The work of Regents, presidents, staff, and others on the Chairman's four-point plan shows that we have made a number of changes, and more are planned.
This Board and its search committee have not marked time. Your actions during the transition led to your selection of Erroll B. Davis, Jr. as the next Chancellor and will yield long-term benefits for the System.
When you review the list of accomplishments during 2005, it is significant. The System's academic strengths continue to shine in a number of national rankings. Georgia is still one of only four states with two or more institutions ranked among the nation's top 20 public universities. GIT is ranked ninth and the University of Georgia nineteenth in U.S. News & World Report's annual college ranking survey. This is the sixth consecutive year these two institutions have been ranked in the top tier. And other System institutions are noted with increasing frequency for programs or colleges or value.
During 2005, we launched a yearlong push to increase retention and graduation rates with a goal of attaining national averages in these two areas. We refined the Board's admission policy to expand access at our two-year colleges. We continued our efforts to increase African-American male participation in college with the award of grants to ten System institutions under our African-American Male Initiative. We leveraged $200,000 of internal dollars with $200,000 of matching funds to put into place $400,000 worth of programs.
A number of institutions saw name changes approved during the year: the University of West Georgia, Georgia Highlands Colleges, Clayton State University, and Gainesville State College are all names not found in the books at the start of 2005. We added new programs and degree offerings to make sure that we offer our students education that makes them nationally competitive and employable in emerging industries and fields. This Board, this staff, this System, have a great deal of which we can be proud. And speaking of institutions, the most historic action during 2005 was the formal creation of our thirty-fifth institution: Georgia Gwinnett College.
We set yet another record for extramural funding – $980.6 million – a 14% increase over fiscal year 2003. And in 2005, we launched a new $7 million public-private partnership to add more than 300 nurses and technologists to the Georgia workforce over the next two years. The program comes under the umbrella of our Intellectual Capital Partnership Program (“ICAPP®”). The ICAPP®” Health Professionals Initiative was nationally recognized by the International Economic Development Council. Georgia Library Learning Online (“GALILEO”) celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2005. This program, also nationally recognized, now provides universal electronic library access for every Georgian and is a model for other states. We demonstrated that a $5 billion organization can be quick on its feet. We responded quickly and effectively to the call for help arising from Hurricane Katrina. We were flexible and nimble in meeting the needs of both students and displaced residents. I could go on and on, but please realize, none of us has been marking time.
And during 2005, we welcomed new Regents. Richard L. Tucker joined us and Donald M. Leebern, Jr. and Wanda Yancey Rodwell were reappointed to the Board in 2005. And I also want to welcome our 2006 Regents as well: A. Felton Jenkins Jr., Benjamin J. Tarbutton III, and Robert F. Hatcher, and the reappointment of W. Mansfield Jennings, Jr.
We named new presidents: Dr. Thomas A. Wilkerson at Bainbridge College, Dr. Everette J. Freeman at Albany State University, and Mr. Daniel J. Kaufmann at Georgia Gwinnett College. More are on the way in 2006. And of course, the Board undertook and successfully completed one of the most important responsibilities in its portfolio – the selection of a new Chancellor.
It's important to continue to let our funding partners know how critical their support is and how consequential their actions are for the future of this System and the state. Our responsibility at the System level is to channel these dollars in ways that enable our institutions to continue to build upon a growing national reputation for academic excellence. Whether it's the seemingly routine actions of reviewing institutional missions, approving changes in institutional names, selecting presidents, setting tuition, or the host of other things, these add up and shape our future. So our actions are important. They shape how major companies view the state for economic and business growth. Our daily actions determine how Georgia citizens will fare in the job market for years to come.
We have a strong System. We have a System of excellence. We have a System that is responsive. And we have a system that is not afraid to tackle the important issues and devise solutions that serve the state well. The System's health is good. It is sound because we have taken its pulse and understand what must be done to remain healthy. We are ready to grow under your leadership, our new Chancellor's administration, and with the strong support of our Governor and General Assembly.
For me, personally, this has been a unique and rewarding opportunity. I have been honored by your support and your confidence in asking me to lead this System for four months. As I prepare to close, I have to look around this room and thank all of you for your wonderful support.
This is a System. There are thousands that play a role and contribute to its success and continuation. This is a Board of excellent individuals who come together, who work very hard with the utmost dedication, on behalf of the state and our students. Thank you for all that you do.