Chancellor's Report, May 17, 2006
Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr.
Board of Regents Meeting
Mr. Chairman, thank you. Since our last meeting, we have named two new presidents: Dr. Torri Lilly at South Georgia College and Dr. David Bridges at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (“ABAC”). I was particularly pleased with that naming because one of the concerns I have is our commitment to training and development of our own talent within the System. It is a good sign of System quality that we have excellent people taking on larger roles within the System. At Atlanta Metropolitan College President Harold E. Wade has announced he will step down at year’s end after 12 years at the helm. We also inaugurated Presidents Thomas A. Wilkerson at Bainbridge College and Everette J. Freeman at Albany State University. These were very cost-effective inaugurations as they both occurred during commencement proceedings. There are two ongoing presidential searches – Georgia Perimeter College and Waycross College. Candidates will be hosted on both campuses in late May. We may have names to be submitted from the respective campus search committees in early June, but we need to allow time for the processes to work.
We are moving forward on our new guaranteed tuition plan, or “Fixed for Four.” The Vice Chancellor for Fiscal Affairs, William R. Bowes, is leading the guaranteed tuition plan task force for the University System Office and the institutions to look at a number of issues related to “Fixed for Four.” They are looking at issues such as summer tuition, transfer students, and the fifth year and beyond rate. The task force already has preliminary recommendations drafted. This will continue to be a work-in-progress that will evolve. Consistent with my earlier statement, we have surfaced numerous issues. We have not, however, discovered any fatal policy flaws.
My campus visits continue. I have 25 down and 10 to go! I continue to gain valuable insights into perceptions of the campus community of the System and how the System Office serves the campuses. My visits with the Regents have not occurred as quickly as I would like. I have only managed to sit down with 4 Regents so far, so I have 14 to go. I will pick up the pace of that now that the campus visits are winding down. Over the last months, I gave commencement addresses at three institutions: Albany State University, Bainbridge College, and Georgia State University. For those who have participated, commencement is a powerful reminder of why we are here, what we do, and who we serve – students.
This month, the Board approved sector and mission changes at three of the two-year colleges: ABAC, Gordon College, and Middle Georgia College. These are now state colleges offering limited baccalaureate degrees. The new programs you approved will meet identified and unique local, regional, and state needs primarily in the fields of aviation, agriculture, and education. I want to stress today again what I noted yesterday: a change in sector does not change these institutions’ primary mission of serving as access points to public higher education. They will continue to focus on this mission. The two-year institutions are critical not only to the success of the System and the state, but also to the success of the nation as well, because they give people an opportunity to reorient their lives and discover the potential that they have and the value education can provide to them. We are, in fact, through these institutions, creating the middle class. A robust democracy depends upon the existence of a middle class. To the extent that we can expand the middle class, we can maintain the robust democracy that we enjoy in this country. So, we cannot diminish our focus on the access mission of our two-year institutions. We will continue in our planning to focus on this mission. We will assess how we integrate local and regional needs into statewide priorities. That will be an underlying foundation as I look at our strategic plan.
I want to review the status of some items in the April tracking letter as well as some other outstanding items. Regents Carter and Jennings requested an update on information technology in the University System. The Vice Chancellor for Information and Instructional Technology and Chief Information Officer, Randall A. Thursby, provided an update yesterday in the meeting of the Committee on Information and Instructional Technology.
Regent Hatcher had raised some issues concerning our financial reporting, which will be revised starting with the next quarterly report. There will be a focus on forecasting and the need for earlier managerial intervention and less focus on historical accounting. As leaders and managers, we must anticipate issues and intervene where appropriate. Eventually, I want to integrate our financial reporting with a robust risk management system. We are preparing information on all major pledges made by donors to University System institutions in response to a request made last month as well.
I appreciate the Board’s enthusiasm to help promote the University of Georgia site for a national bio- and agro-defense facility. There was a March 31 deadline for submission of applications for this facility, and 29 proposals were submitted by 22 states and Washington D.C. These proposals included a proposal for the Athens site. Georgia members did a March visit to meet with the congressional delegation and brief them on our proposal. As a result, we have enthusiastic and unconditional support from every member of the Georgia congressional delegation. Between now and September, proposals will be reviewed by the federal government with the release of a short list of contenders. Governor Perdue, Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, and Georgia House members will work over the summer to champion the Georgia proposal. We will also draft a letter for the Chairman to submit on behalf of this Board.
The Executive and Compensation Committee has reviewed proposed and revised Board and Committee schedules, as well as how the Board conducts presidential searches. We will be updating you in June.
Also at the June meeting, we will look at a slightly modified process for capital outlay driven by the reality of what we can get versus what we want. It is important that we have a process that reflects our absolute priorities and needs in relation to what we can achieve. This is a process different from a wish list on which institutions are just pleased to be placed. Thus, we will not have presidential presentations of projects at the June meeting. The proposed process also must give us real alternatives to meeting facilities needs in the absence of funds to build. The process you will see in June is merely a revision of the present process. It is an interim step towards a process that will integrate our capital planning with our strategic planning.
A research effort to shape the communications plan has been launched. The Associate Vice Chancellor for Media and Publications, Arlethia Perry-Johnson, will report to the Board on the communications plan in September. We will use this data to shape our decisions, but our overall communications plan must be driven by our larger System plan.
The University System of Georgia did well in the last legislative session, receiving a budgetary increase of 6.6%. More importantly, the System’s share of the state budget increased from 11% to 11.5%, which is a clear statement of support by the General Assembly and the people of this state. This stands in stark contrast to a number of states where the share of the state budget devoted to higher education is in fact declining or remaining flat. This reflects the priorities of the State of Georgia. We held a planning session on May 1 to assess our legislative efforts and effectiveness. We were fortunate to have representatives from the Governor’s Office, the Office of Planning and Budget, the House of Representatives and Senate budget offices, and two System presidents participate. It was a very productive four-hour meeting, and we will have some thoughts and ideas for you at June meeting.
I am also committed to holding a “state-of-the-art” governance session at the June meeting. I am hopeful that all of you will be able to attend that session.
Let me close by mentioning financial aid. I cannot see a qualitative difference between, for example, a nursing student with a 2.9 cumulative average and one with a 3.0. No one can. However, we can discern a massive financial support difference by the state. One thing I want to explore in our strategic planning is whether need-based financial aid can more effectively help us reach our policy objectives. I want to make sure that the signals we send are consistent with our pronouncements. We make clear statements that we need more nurses and teachers, but we need to make sure that we put our resources behind our objectives. I do not have the answers at this point, but we need to take a hard look at this subject.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my report.