The regents’ action today follows 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.

“The goal is to look at the array of programs offered by the System to ensure we have the right mix and that we and TCSG are aligned in ways that avoid unnecessary duplication of degree offerings,” said the USG’s Interim Chief Academic Officer David Morgan. “That we are terminating such a large number at one time is an indication of how serious the regents are taking our new relationship with the technical college system.”

Morgan also said that the elimination of the programs would enable the USG to focus its resources on academic programs that contribute toward efforts to increase college completion rates in Georgia through Gov. Nathan Deal’s Complete College Georgia initiative. “Both systems have ambitious goals to meet under this initiative and we must work together and work efficiently to succeed,” Morgan said.

Many of the programs that are being terminated have been inactive for a period of time, but were never officially terminated through board action. The USG currently offers 472 AAS degrees. Between the programs terminated today and the additional programs that are being deactivated–the first step per board policy to terminating a program–the USG will be eliminating nearly 78 percent of its AAS offerings, which leaves only 104 AAS programs (22 percent) in the USG.

A large number of these programs were approved years ago when the USG and TCSG developed cooperative AAS degrees when TCSG institutions were not yet accredited by the Southern Association for Colleges and Schools (SACS). Now that nearly all TCSG institutions are accredited, the need no longer exists for the USG to offer these specific programs.

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.

“The Board’s approval now paves the way for us to proceed,” said Huckaby. “We will focus on how these consolidations enable us to better serve our students and areas of the state more efficiently and effectively. I look forward to working with the eight institutions on this process.”

Now that the plan has board approval, Huckaby will begin to implement the plan, which is expected to take between 12-18 months to finalize.

Campus working groups will be appointed by Huckaby and charged with developing detailed recommendations for consolidation. Huckaby said the campus working groups 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.

The consolidation plan is just one of a series of new efforts launched by the chancellor, each part of a focus on increasing college completion rates, broadening access to public higher education and maintaining affordability. Others include the System’s participation in Gov. Nathan Deal’s “Complete College Georgia” initiative, a study of how the USG uses its current facilities, the future design and construction of facilities, the expansion of distance education, a new model of academic program review as well as the integration of academic, facilities and fiscal activities.

The University System has created a special website to help coordinate information and communication related to the consolidation effort: http://www.usg.edu/consolidation/

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. Augusta is the only recommendation in which both institutions are located in the same community, although the four recommendations build upon existing partnerships among the eight institutions.

If the regents approve the recommendations, Huckaby said that the consolidation process would begin immediately, with a target date for full integration by fall 2013.

“Georgia needs more of its citizens completing some level of postsecondary education. But we have to achieve this goal by considering some different approaches – approaches that put the needs of our students and the imperative to reach this goal first and foremost,” Huckaby said. These proposed consolidations are the right approach for us to take at the right time in the System and the State’s history.”

“Our goal is a more educated Georgia, with a network of institutions that offer a range of needed degrees for 21st century demands,” Huckaby said. “We are going to fulfill our mission within the limited resources available.”

Students in the institutions to be consolidated will see an increase of educational offerings, through traditional classroom delivery and the increased use of distance learning.

Huckaby said that as part of the System’s plans to meet the targets of the “Complete College Georgia” plan, new system initiatives are being developed to increase and strengthen distance education. Students and faculty in the consolidated institutions will be strongly encouraged to bridge geographic distances with the use of distance education.

The recommended consolidations also will create opportunities for new research and service efforts to strengthen the educational experience of both students and faculty, Huckaby said.

Other benefits of consolidation, Huckaby said, are increased administrative efficiencies and greater economies of scale through the creation of larger institutions better able to serve students. While a reduction in administrative costs and functions is a goal, Huckaby said the process will not be quick, but would take 12-18 months. The savings realized will be reinvested into the instructional mission to serve students.

If approved, all existing campuses will remain open although there potentially will be some workforce reductions at the eight institutions. Decisions regarding the names of the four institutions remaining after consolidation would be made during the course of implementation. Consolidation will begin with the formation of implementation working groups, which reflect a diverse constituent base on each campus. Any policy or other decisions related to consolidations will be made by the Regents’ Special Committee on Consolidation and approved by the Board of Regents.

The University System has created a special website to help coordinate information and communication related to the consolidation effort: http://www.usg.edu/consolidation.

Georgia Apply to College Month events have been underway at nearly 200 participating Georgia high schools across the state. Open to all seniors at those schools, the program has a special focus on providing assistance students who are the first from their family to attend college as well as those that find the application process confusing.

“As an increased focus has been placed on college completion, it is also important for us to give students all the necessary tools to succeed. That starts with the college application and financial aid process,” University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby said. “Apply to College Month is an excellent opportunity for high school seniors to receive one-on-one attention to educate them about the materials available to help them successfully transfer from high school to the post secondary option of his or her choice.”

GACollege411is an online resource that helps students and their families select a college, to apply for admission and to plan how to finance higher education. The GAcollege411 Web site offers access to information about colleges, universities, and technical colleges throughout Georgia. Volunteers from participating agencies/organizations, Georgia colleges and universities, and the community have been on hand at participating high schools to assist students as they complete their applications.

The program has grown from its first year of one week in November and eight participating high schools to almost 200 high schools in its fifth year. The program will potentially reach almost 43,000 high-school seniors.

In 2010, more than 24,000 Georgia high school seniors attended a Georgia Apply to College events at participating schools. Approximately 350 college and community volunteers assisted students with completing applications for admission. Nearly 6,000 college applications were submitted online via GACollege411.org from participating schools during last year’s program.

Georgia Apply to College Month is sponsored by Communities in Schools of Georgia, the Georgia Department of Education, the Georgia Foundation of Independent Colleges, the Georgia Student Finance Commission, the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, the Technical College System of Georgia and the University System of Georgia (USG), and is endorsed by the Georgia Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

The program is funded through the U.S. Department of Education through the College Access Challenge Grant.

Editor’s Note: A list of the participating high schools can be found at: http://www.usg.edu/apply-to-college/

The opinions and positions expressed in this press release are the authors’ and do not necessarily represent the opinions and positions of the U.S. Department of Education. Any references within the document to specific education products are illustrative and do not imply endorsement of these products to the exclusion of other products that are not referenced.

Statewide Contest Calls on Student Skills to Create Business Solutions

Students at Georgia’s colleges and universities seized the chance to put their knowledge to work through a recent statewide competition focused on finding business solutions to some pressing community issues such as domestic violence, adult illiteracy, unemployment, and housing.

The competition was held by the USG as part of a unique “Social Business and Microcredit” economic development conference held Oct. 17 in Atlanta at Georgia Tech’s Ferst Center and hosted by the USG.

The winning teams were:

• First place, Southern Polytechnic State University (Marietta) and its project, “Restoration Trust.”
• Second place, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (Tifton), “Health Clinic.”
• Third place, Georgia Gwinnett College (Lawrenceville), “Read4Life!”
• Fourth place, Valdosta State University, “Clean Sweep.”
• Fifth place, Fort Valley State University, “Peach.”
• Sixth place, Gainesville State College, “Sew Company.”

Nobel Prize recipient Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who spoke to the approximately 1,200 students attending the event, said that the future of society depends on the world’s youth and their engagement. “This is your age, this is your time,” Yunus said. “You are the most powerful generation in the entire history of mankind.”

Yunus pioneered the concept of microcredit, the extension of very small loans (microloans) to those in poverty designed to spur entrepreneurial activity.

The student competition was based upon another Yunus concept, that social problems can be solved through business models that provide a minimum profit to the business in order to sustain a project, but do not provide for individuals to personally profit from the enterprise.

“One of my goals as chancellor is to reinforce the value of college to society and individuals,” said USG Chancellor Hank Huckaby. “This competition was an excellent way to showcase the critical thinking and creative talents of students and how they can take their skills and knowledge and apply to real problems here in Georgia.”

In all, 38 teams made up of students from 35 USG institutions and three private colleges participated in the competition. Teams were asked to identify a social problem in the community, conduct a market analysis and develop a strategy to address the problem and prepare a social business plan based on the principles developed by Yunus.

The teams presented their proposals to judges in sessions during the Oct. 17 conference. Judges drawn from the private sector and higher education looked at the strength of each plan’s business model, its financial requirements, its sustainability and the degree to which it meets the problem and generates social benefits in the community.

The winning entry, “Restoration Trust,” by a team from Southern Polytechnic State University, envisions the creation of a company with a mission to improve the lives of victims of domestic violence.

The team developed a plan that utilizes Yunus’ techniques of providing micro lending to domestic violence victims. The group also focused on how to provide assistance with housing, and employment as well as education.

“A lot of research and legwork was done, not keeping the competition in mind but the social business in mind,” said Sonal Doshi, a team member who is working on her master’s degree in accounting. “That helped us narrow it down to the idea that we felt was the most pressing need for social business.”

Another student had a more personal connection to her team’s entry. “The project means a lot to me,” said student Shalaya Morissette, a member of Georgia Gwinnett College’s team whose entry focused on adult literacy. Morissette’s mother did not know how to read.

“It’s a simple idea, but there are adults who can’t perform simple tasks like reading prescription bottles or books to their children,” said Morissette. “With the right resources, they will.”

The resulting social business plan, “Read4Life!,” provides a turnkey low-cost franchise that, at 260 franchises in five years, would generate 50,000 newly literate adults annually in Georgia, as projected by the team. Part of Read4Life!’s unique formula is in its combination of high-interest books plus coaches from the franchise-owning community organizations, said faculty advisor, Robert Anservitz, an assistant professor of marketing at Georgia Gwinnett College.

Looking to the future and how the social business model concept can be funded and sustained in Georgia, Huckaby said that the University System is establishing a “Georgia Social Business Fund,” to be underwritten through private and corporate donations. This entity would evaluate future proposals for funding, said Huckaby.

“This is a first step,” Huckaby said. “This conference is part of our plan to build stronger partnerships among educational agencies and institutions, and local and state government, business, and other entities to create potential new businesses and jobs while at the same time helping to address some pressing social issues.”

For more information about the event, see: http://www.usg.edu/social_business_microcredit/

The numbers were released today in the System’s fall semester enrollment report, which tracks enrollment in the System by individual institution and other factors such as race, gender, age, resident and non-Georgia resident and class (freshmen, etc.) The report offers a detailed view over time of how the student body in System has grown and changed.

“While the growth over the past year is smaller than in some recent years, we continue to see more individuals seeking access to public higher education,” said Chancellor Hank Huckaby. “And we are seeing more minority students looking to the University System for educational opportunity, which reflects the increase in Georgia’s minority populations.”

But the numbers are only part of the story, Huckaby said. “The real challenge we face is to equip these students with the skills and critical values they need to succeed in a very competitive world. And with more of the jobs of the future requiring some form of postsecondary education, we have work to do to increase Georgia’s college-going rate and our college completion rates.”

While up overall, enrollment growth over the past year was not even across the System, the report found. Enrollment increased at 23 institutions and decreased at 12, dropping primarily at the state and two-year colleges.

Three of the institutions recording enrollment growth did so at double digits: Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville topped the charts with a 43.9 percent increase, from 5,380 to 7,742 students.

East Georgia College, Swainsboro, saw a 12.1 percent increase, from 3,063 students in fall 2010 to 3,435 students in fall 2011, and Savannah State University had a 11.6 percent jump, from 4,080 to 4,552 students.

Most of the decreases in enrollment were less than four percent, but there were some exceptions. Waycross College saw enrollment drop 13.1 percent, losing 145 students. Macon State College enrollment dropped 8.5 percent (530 students); two colleges had a 8.4 percent drop, Atlanta Metropolitan College (255 students) and Dalton State College (503 students); and Gordon College, Barnesville, recorded a 6.9 percent decrease (345 students).

While a number of factors contribute to enrollment declines, it appears that policy changes allowing two-year and state colleges to require a minimum SAT/ACT score for admission and not admitting students who must take remedial courses in three areas played a role.

The largest increase in enrollment in terms of percentage growth is among Hispanics, with a 14.2 percent increase from fall 2010 to fall 2011. The 2,069 additional Hispanic students contributed to a change in Hispanic enrollment from 4.7 percent of total enrollment in fall 2010 to 5.2 percent in fall 2011. However the 16,650 Hispanic students enrolled in the USG are still underrepresented in terms of Georgia’s Hispanic population, which is 8.8 percent of the total.

African-American enrollment saw the next greatest percentage increase, of 6.4 percent, or 5,348 students, from fall 2010 to fall 2011. Total African-American enrollment in the USG now stands at 89,454 students, or 28.1 percent of total student enrollment. African-Americans make up 30.5 percent of Georgia’s total population.

Asian enrollment grew by 1.8 percent (2,069 students) from fall 2010 to fall 2011 and now totals 20,595 students, or 6.5 percent of total enrollment, or double Asian’s 3.2 percent of total state population.

The increase of students identifying themselves as white/non-Hispanic was just .5 percent or 888 additional students from fall 2010 to fall 2011. This reflects an overall shift in USG enrollment that is mirroring shifts in the state’s population makeup – whites/non-Hispanics represent a slightly smaller percentage of the total enrollment in fall 2011 than in fall 2010 (54.4 percent and 55.2 percent, respectively).

The report also records a change in enrollment by gender. Georgia and the nation have long recorded increasing enrollment in college by women and a corresponding decline in male college going rates. For fall 2011 in the USG, although female enrollment continues to be substantially higher than male enrollment (182,420 females and 135,607 males), this year the percentage increase in enrollment was greater for males, at 2.4 percent, than females, at 1.9 percent growth.

First-time freshman students total 50,274 in fall 2011, an increase of just 906 students, or .5 percent.

Georgia residents comprise almost 90 percent of total enrollment, or 285,627 students.

Since fall 1998, enrollment in the USG has increased every single year. The overall increase from fall 1998 to fall 2011 is almost 60 percent, or 117,925 students. The largest single percentage increase came in fall 2002, with a 7.1 percent jump over the previous fall, and the smallest was a one percent increase from fall 1999 to fall 2000.

The USG Fall 2011 Enrollment Report is available on the web at: http://www.usg.edu/research/students/enroll/fy2012/fall_ser_2011.pdf

Boehmer’s appointment, effective January 1, 2012, follows East Georgia College President John Black’s recent announcement that he is retiring effective December 31, 2011. Dr. Black has served the University System of Georgia in this role since 2004.

Boehmer has been associate provost for academic planning at UGA since 2010. He also serves as UGA’s liaison to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on College (SACSCOC) and as a trustee and member of the executive committee of SACSCOC. Boehmer joined the faculty of UGA’s Terry College of Business in 1989 and was promoted to full professor of legal studies in 2004. He was appointed as UGA’s associate provost for institutional effectiveness in 2001. His role was expanded to include oversight of UGA’s extended campuses in 2007.

“We are extremely fortunate to be able to call on Mr. Boehmer’s experience and leadership skills,” Huckaby said. “I am confident that East Georgia College will be in very good hands.”

Boehmer holds a doctor of jurisprudence (J.D.) from the University of Oregon School of Law, earned in 1977. He earned a Bachelors of Business Administration (Finance) degree from the University of Oregon School of Business Administration in 1974. Before becoming a faculty member at UGA, he practiced law in Oregon for more than ten years and was a partner in an Oregon law firm.

Boehmer has served as chair of the Regents Advisory Committee on Effectiveness and Accreditation, which advises the regents on institutional effectiveness and regional accreditation, including quality enhancement, student learning outcomes, comprehensive program review, assessment practices, continuous improvement, accreditation compliance, and public accountability.

Boehmer has received numerous awards for teaching excellence including the Richard Russell Teaching Award from UGA, the Teacher of the Year and the MBA Teacher of the Year awards from the Terry College of Business, the Hatten-Howard award from the university’s Honors Program and selection as a Lilly Teaching Fellow.

Plans regarding the search for a permanent presidential appointee at East Georgia College will be announced at a future date.

Tarbutton currently serves as chair, following his election in June to a six-month term. This shorter term came as a result of the regents’ approval of a bylaws change to shift the terms of the chair and vice chair to follow the calendar year instead of the state’s fiscal year. The new format will take effect January 1, 2012.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead this Board for a full year,” says Tarbutton. “I am looking forward to continued work with Chancellor Huckaby as he focuses on performance, partnerships, and advocacy for the true value of higher education.”

Tarbutton is Assistant Vice President of the Sandersville Railroad Company, where he oversees daily operations, including maintaining the infrastructure, train transportation and customer service. He serves on the boards of directors for Oconee Fall Line Technical College, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and on the Board of Trustees for Leadership Georgia. Regent Tarbutton is a past chairman of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, past president of the Sandersville Rotary Club and a past member of the Georgia Rural Development Council.

Tarbutton is a 2004 graduate of Leadership Georgia and a graduate of Leadership Washington County. He earned a bachelor’s degree in management from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Regent Thomas Hopkins, Jr. chaired the committee that developed nominations for board officers for the coming year. Committee members were Regents Doreen Poitevint and Robert Hatcher.

The Board of Regents is a constitutional body that governs and manages the University System of Georgia, comprised of 35 public colleges and universities, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and the Georgia Public Library Service; more than 311,000 students, and approximately 40,000 faculty and staff.

NeSmith, currently serves as vice-chair, following his election in June to a six-month term. This shorter term came as a result of the regents’ approval of a bylaws change to shift the terms of the chair and vice chair to follow the calendar year instead of the state’s fiscal year. The new format will take effect January 1, 2012.

“I am pleased to be able to continue working with the Board Chair Tarbutton and Chancellor Huckaby as we endeavor to create a more educated Georgia,” says NeSmith.

NeSmith is co-owner and president of Athens-based Community Newspapers, Inc., which publishes several dozen newspapers in Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas. A native of Jesup, he is a 1970 graduate of The University of Georgia (UGA) and chairman of the Richard B. Russell Foundation. He is past president of UGA’s Alumni Association.

NeSmith served eight years on Gov. Perdue’s 20-member Commission for a New Georgia. He is on the board of directors of Athens First Bank and Trust, Southern Mutual Insurance Company, Pattillo Construction Company and the Georgia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. NeSmith is past president of the Georgia Press Association and former chairman of Leadership Georgia. He is an emeritus member of the UGA Athletic Association’s board of directors and the UGA Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

During the FY 2011, NeSmith has served as the Board’s chairman of the academic affairs committee, vice chairman of MCG Health Systems, Inc. (d/b/a Georgia Health Sciences Health System) and vice chairman of the University System of Georgia Foundation.

He and his wife, Pam, have three children and live in Athens.

Regent Thomas Hopkins, Jr. chaired the committee that developed nominations for board officers for the coming year. Committee members were Regents Doreen Poitevint and Robert Hatcher.

The Board of Regents is a constitutional body that governs and manages the University System of Georgia, comprised of 35 public colleges and universities, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and the Georgia Public Library Service; more than 311,000 students, and approximately 40,000 faculty and staff.

Hank Huckaby invested as USG’s 12th chancellor

Henry “Hank” Huckaby was formally invested today as the University System of Georgia’s 12th chancellor, pledging to dignitaries and guests to help effect a transformation to a more highly educated Georgia and thanking them for the opportunity to lead the System.

“There is much to be proud of in the University System of Georgia,” Huckaby said. But he noted, “higher education today faces the challenge of becoming more than it has been in the past.” To meet that challenge, he is focusing the System on three long-term strategies: performance, partnerships and value. “The goal is not merely to have more. It is also to be more,” he said. “The University System will be the state’s most powerful economic asset.”

Huckaby’s remarks concluded the investiture ceremony in the historic House of Representatives Chamber at the state capitol in Atlanta. Gov. Nathan Deal conducted the formal investiture ceremony of the chancellor.

Deal said, “Chancellor Huckaby has proven time and again – even early in his tenure – that he’s the right person to lead our University System through challenging times. Chancellor Huckaby has long enjoyed deep respect for his many years of excellent public service to the people of Georgia, and that admiration will expand as more see the extraordinary work he’s performing at our University System. The chancellor has experience, the ability and the vision we need to build on the progress we have made in Georgia. He will lift our University System to the next level of excellence.”

In his remarks, the chancellor noted that Georgia’s future economic success will be determined by how well the state does in both producing and being a magnet for intellectual capital. “The places that are the hotbeds of discovery and innovation and have the educated workforce …will be the economic spikes that will flourish,” he said. “If Georgia is to become one of those 21st century spikes, it is the University System of Georgia that will be the state’s most powerful economic asset,” he said.

Citing a number of studies that today’s students need to be learning more, Huckaby said that his role as chancellor is to ensure the University System is organized and focused in ways that can best prepare students. Huckaby gave some highlights of where the System will target its efforts.

In the area of performance, Huckaby pledged good stewardship of the System’s resources, both the use of physical space and the deployment of academic programs and employees. “If we are to do more in a time of austerity…we must become more strategic about deploying our resources,” he said.

Huckaby noted that to meet the current challenges, partnerships are essential. He singled out efforts to strengthen partnerships with K-12 education, the Technical College System of Georgia, and business and industry.

The third area of focus, and for Huckaby, what he terms the most critical, is that of increasing the value of higher education. “We need to improve what we do, rather than simply growing the enterprise,” he said. To that end, the focus on value means students ability to learn “critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities they will need to succeed and thrive in the world of the 21st century.”

Preparing students for the workforce and as future citizens, parents, community volunteers and leaders is the essence of the value of higher education, Huckaby said. “If we prepare them well for all of these roles, then higher education will transform our citizens and our state, and take us where we want to be.”

The 18-member governing Board of Regents selected Huckaby as chancellor in May. He has been on the job since July 1, meeting with leaders and individuals throughout the state and conducting visits of all 35 USG institutions, a process that will conclude later this month.

A Georgia native, Huckaby’s career has focused on a long record of public service to the state of Georgia in many areas of government, including the University System, where he earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees.

He has headed up at various times in his career the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and the Georgia Residential Finance Authority.

Huckaby was sworn in this past January to represent Georgia House District 113 as a Republican. His legislative experience also includes a stint as the director of the Georgia State Senate Research Office.

For the full text of Huckaby’s remarks, visit: http://www.usg.edu/chancellor/speeches/investiture_ceremony_remarks/