A Month-by-Month Chronology of Board Actions
The recommended consolidations are: Gainesville State College and North Georgia College & State University (Dahlonega); Middle Georgia College (Cochran) and Macon State College; Waycross College and South Georgia College (Douglas); and Augusta State University and Georgia Health Sciences University.
Chancellor Hank Huckaby recommended to the Board of Regents that eight of the System’s 35 colleges and universities be consolidated. The Board approved the recommendation at its Jan. 10-11 meeting.
Campus working groups will be appointed by Chancellor Huckaby and charged with developing detailed recommendations for consolidation and should be up and running by the end of January. Implementation actions will be reviewed by the University System Office and approved by the Regents’ Special Committee on Consolidation and the full board.
Implementation is expected to take between 12-18 months to finalize.
The board terminated 253 associate degree programs, of which 250 are associate of applied science degrees (AAS) and three are associate of science degrees. While the number is extraordinarily large, the majority of the terminated programs have been on the books, but currently have no students enrolled.
The regents’ action followed its November 2011 approval of a new articulation agreement with the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), which is designed to reduce duplication of program offerings, avoid inefficient use of state resources, and minimize mission overlap between the USG and TCSG. The offering of AAS degrees falls primarily under the mission of the technical college system.
Dr. Houston Davis was named as the University System of Georgia’s new chief academic officer and executive vice chancellor by Chancellor Hank Huckaby. Davis’ current position is vice chancellor for Academic Affairs for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, a system consisting of 25 universities and colleges as well as constituent agencies. He will begin his new duties in the Georgia system on May 1.
Governor Nathan Deal, along with all 35 presidents of the University System of Georgia, 25 presidents of the Technical College System of Georgia and representatives from Georgia’s independent colleges and the business community, today launched the campus level completion portion of Complete College Georgia, which was first initiated in August 2011.
The complete text of the news release from the Governor’s office can be found at:
http://gov.georgia.gov/00/press/detail/0,2668,165937316_180136645_181836313,00.html
Technology is the latest focus of University System of Georgia efforts to meet aggressive targets for increasing the number of Georgians who complete college.
USG Chancellor Hank Huckaby announced a new group that will look at how the System’s colleges and universities currently use the technology of distance education, also known as online learning, and make recommendations on how to better serve students.
Southern Polytechnic State University President Lisa Rossbacher will head up the new Distance Education Task Force created by Huckaby. Georgia Perimeter College President Anthony Tricoli and eight other members from throughout the University System will join her.
Task force members will work with Jon Sizemore, recently appointed interim assistant vice chancellor for Distance Education, and others in the system with expertise in the areas of distance education, academic programming and delivery and information technology.
The University System of Georgia Foundation signed on to Governor Nathan Deal’s new Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen (REACH) scholarship program with a substantial contribution.
A $50,000 check was presented to Governor Nathan Deal during the USG Foundation’s annual Regents’ Salute to Education awards dinner. The Foundation’s support joins that of twelve USG colleges and universities that previously pledged funds for REACH.
which is now in its eighth year of raising funds for student scholarships and honoring distinguished alumni and faculty. Funds raised through this event go directly to provide scholarships for students to attend all USG institutions and to support the mission of the University System of Georgia.
The Board of Regents voted to accept an additional 17 general education courses in the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) as transferable to the University System of Georgia (USG) for credit in the core curriculum, the basic courses all students must take to earn a degree.
The approval of 17 additional courses brings the total number of courses transferable to USG institutions from SACS accredited TCSG institutions to 27 . The increased number of courses enhances how TCSG students are able to pursue baccalaureate degree opportunities at USG institutions.
Regent Don Leebern, chair of the Special Regents’ Committee for the presidential search at Valdosta State University, and University System of Georgia (USG) Chancellor Hank Huckaby have announced Dr. William J. McKinney as the finalist for the next president of Valdosta State University (VSU). McKinney is currently vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), a position he has held since 2008.
