"Creating a More Educated Georgia"
Vol. 40, No. 2, April 2003
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Future University System of Georgia entrollment trend lines will reflect an unusual number of students having withdrawn from classes across the System during Spring Semester 2003. But a problem with retention will not be cited as the reason for the empty classroom chairs.
During the United States military build-up culminating in the war with Iraq, more than 500 USG students were summoned to active military duty. Also answering the call to active duty (as of press-time) were 48 college and university staff members and 11 faculty members.
Those activated were primarily Georgia Army and Air National Guard, Marine Corps Reserve and U.S. Army Reserve personnel who made commitments to serve as part-time soldiers.
Leaving school, work and families behind, many of these students, faculty and staff were assigned to homeland security or deployed either stateside or to the Middle East.
"We are very proud of the men and women in our University System community who have been serving our country so well during this crisis," said Chancellor Thomas C. Meredith. "They are representing the System well, and we pray for their safe return."
One of the first soldiers to return home from Iraq was Army Chief Warrant Officer Ron Young Jr., a former student at Southern Polytechnic State University, whose helicopter went down over Iraq in late March. One of seven American prisoners of war rescued on April 13, he returned to his joyous family a week later.
The University System re-ceived some unexpected in-ternational publicity on April 7 as the U.S. Army took control of Saddam Hussein's main palace in Baghdad. With cameras from Fox News focused on him, University of Georgia alumnus Chris Carter, a captain commanding a company in the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, un-furled a UGA flag in front of the palace, symbolizing a victorious milestone in the war.
Of the 509 USG students called to military service during this current military action, the largest contingent is from North Georgia College & State University -- not surprising, considering that it is the military college of Georgia. Fifty-one students, including 39 of the university's cadets, have been called up, as have two faculty members.
One NGCSU cadet, Sarah Day, is serving her second tour of active duty with the Georgia Army National Guard's 178th Military Police Company since enrolling at the university. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, her unit was assigned to guard Fort Benning for a few months and then was sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for six more months. Day -- who is in her third year of college, but has completed only two semesters -- was put on active-duty status again in February, assigned to homeland security.
Georgia Southern University -- located near the military bases Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield -- fielded the next largest group of students on active duty, with 48 having left school to report to their units.
The two largest University System institutions -- UGA and Georgia State University -- each contributed 10 members of their faculty and staff to service in the armed forces during the military build-up. ¶
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Secret Agents North Georgia College & State University faculty members Dr. Kristi Hislope (left), Mariana Pomphile (center) and Dr. Elizabeth Combier (right), all Spanish teachers, assisted the Army's 5th Ranger Training Battalion by taking part in recent Special Forces training exercises in North Georgia. The women played roles as informants and hostages during the top-secret training. |
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Six pilot initiatives aimed at encouraging more African-American males to attend college and increasing their participation and retention in the University System of Georgia were approved by the Board of Regents, at their April meeting. The regents approved the awarding of $10,000 each to six USG institutions for a variety of programs aimed at high-school to college-aged African-American males, including mentoring initiatives, summer bridge programs, retention efforts and facilitating information sharing regarding successful strategies throughout the University System. The funds will be used to support programs and institutional goals that will impact the enrollment of African-American males in the 2003-2004 Aca-demic Year.
The pilot-program funding emanates from the University System's African-American Male Initiative (AAMI), a USG Special Funding effort allocated by the Georgia General Assembly in the Fiscal Year 2003 budget.
A comprehensive statewide effort, the AAMI is aimed at ex-panding the participation and retention of black males in the state's 34 public colleges and universities. Currently, the ratio of African-American females to males in the USG is 2:1. In fall 2002, black women comprised 68 percent of the University System's black enrollment -- 17,068 black males, compared to 35,873 black females.
"These six pilot initiatives will go a long way in allowing us to assess effective strategies which impact the college aspirations, participation and retention of African-American males in the University System," said Arlethia Perry-Johnson, associate vice chancellor for Media and Publica-tions, who chairs the AAMI for the Board of Regents. "The campuses and programs targeted to receive these funds all have extensive experience in working with African-American males. We need them to evaluate and document their success so their initiatives can be replicated and expanded among other institutions."
The following institutions and programs were awarded $10,000 each in AAMI Pilot Initiative funding:
All six of the AAMI Pilot Programs will be evaluated via reports that will reflect:
The Board of Regents will be asked to consider additional recommendations at their May meeting, when they are expected to hear a final report on the African-American Male Initiative. ¶
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The Board of Regents in April approved a policy modification in the 30-year-old Regents' Testing Program, designed to evaluate the college-level reading and writing competency of University System graduates.
The change will allow the use of alternative assessments to fulfill the Regents' Test requirements and could result in a significant percentage of students being exempted from the reading component of the test.
The new policy will take effect in Summer Semester 2003 for students graduating from a USG institution in Summer Semester 2003 or later.
"The Regents' Test always has served as a tool to help us ensure that our students are prepared for graduation," said Dr. Daniel S. Papp, senior vice chancellor for Academics and Fiscal Affairs. "If existing alternatives eliminate the need to administer the test to everyone, that's a positive development both for the System and for our students."
University System data indicates that more than 95 percent of students with scores of at least 510 on the verbal portion of the SAT pass the reading comprehension component of the Regents' Test on the first attempt. The revised policy exempts students who score at least 510 on the SAT verbal or an equivalent score on the ACT from taking the reading section of the Regents' Test.
Most students -- even those exempted from the reading section of the test -- still would need to take the writing section. Only students who score at least 650 on the SAT II English writing test, or 3 on the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) English test, or 4 on the International Baccalaureate (IB) Higher Level English test, would be exempted from the writing section of the Regents' Test.
"The minimum scores we've set indicate a very high probability of passing the Regents' Test," said Papp. "We are not changing what we expect our students to learn and to know. Instead, we are using proven measurements to help us be more efficient in assessing our students, thereby conserving resources."
Based on Fall 2002 SAT and ACT scores for first-time freshmen, 92 percent of University of Georgia freshmen would have been exempted from the Regents' reading test. ¶
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An essay written by a non-traditional student at Coastal Georgia Community College recently won the Grand Prize in a national essay competition sponsored by the National Student Nurses Association and Nursing Spectrum.
January Hough, a sophomore in CGCC's registered nursing program, joined student nurses throughout the country in submitting essays describing how they would go about recruiting future nurses for the NSNA competition.
Her winning composition will be published nationally in the publications Nursing Spectrum and Imprint and also will be posted on both the NSNA and Nursing Spec-trum websites.
Hough, who is interested in pursuing a career in perioperative or for-ensic nursing, was recognized on April 21 during the NSNA's annual convention, in Phoenix, Ariz., and will be treated to a free Hawaiian Islands cruise in November. ¶
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Georgia State University will accept applications for the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaboration through June 9. The award recognizes campus and community groups in Georgia that work together to produce measurable improvements in people's lives and enhance learning in the process.
For more information, go to www.gsu.edu/carteraward or call 404/463-9538. ¶
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Seven University System of Georgia campuses plus the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography recently were commended for their enthusiastic participation in the 2002-2003 State Charitable Contributions Program.
The winners were as follows:
Governor's Cup (presented to the institution with the highest contributions per employee): Georgia Institute of Technology (1,001-9,000 employees) and the University of Georgia (9,001 and up employees).
Governor's Awards (presented to the top-producing institutions in three categories): Highest Increase in Percent of Participation Over Last Year's Campaign Ð Clayton College and State University (31 percent); Highest Level of Employee Participation Ð Atlanta Metropolitan College (64 percent); Largest Increase in Contri-butions Ð Georgia Institute of Technology ($20,000).
Commissioner's Awards (presented to the runners up for the Governor's Cup): Skidaway Institute (1-100 employees); Armstrong Atlantic State University and Georgia College and State University (501-1,000 employees); and Georgia State University (1,001-9,000 employees). ¶
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It's been years since the University System of Georgia needed keypunch operators, but that job title code still exists on the System's Job Classification File or "B Codes." Yet, the list contains no job title for webmaster. That is, until now.
At their April meeting, the Board of Regents approved the first major revision of the System's title classification code since it was established in 1970. The reclassifications will streamline the current 1,684 position titles to approximately 180 position "categories."
"We are excited to be making this long overdue change to our position classification system, one of the most fundamental internal business operations processes," said Corlis Cummings, Senior Vice Chancellor for the Office of Support Services. "The University System is creating a 21st century classification system."
The change to the Personnel Policy Manual job and title classification system is a move that promises to ad-just or retire many outdated classification requirements and job titles and provide more flexibility for campuses, she said. The overhaul of the classification system supports Goal No. 5 of the Regents' Strategic Plan, which em-phasizes "the recruitment, hiring and retention of the best possible faculty, staff and administration."
Under the new policy, campuses will report positions to the University System Office (USO) according to roles performed. The actual assignment of campus "working titles" will become the responsibility of the campuses, not the USO. Cummings empanelled a System-wide Classification Review Committee that spent almost a year reviewing the title classification codes and refining the recommendations for the policy change.
The committee found an inconsistent use of titles across campuses and, in some cases, inappropriate assignments to categories for federal reporting requirements, Cummings said.
Cummings projects that USG campuses will complete implementation of the policy change by Nov. 1, 2003. The University System Office will work in the coming months with Human Re-sources staff and others on all 34 campuses to ensure consistent implementation and to coordinate a communications plan targeting all University Sys-tem personnel to make them aware of the changes.
"This should prove to be a seamless transition for most of our employees," said Cummings. "It is a tool to help us manage the Human Resources function more efficiently. It will not cause a disruption or change in current responsibilities and assignments of faculty, staff and administration. In fact, I very much doubt that the majority of our employees will even notice anything different."
The Classification Review Committee included: Barbara Carroll of Georgia State University; Susan Norton of the Medical College of Georgia; Bonnie Sims of Georgia College & State University; and Andy Brantley of the University of Georgia.
Also collaborating with the committee were: Melissa Bell Brennaman of Georgia State; James Purcell of GC&SU; Duane Ritter of UGA; Jayne Perkins of Georgia Southern University; and Gail Story of MCG. In addition, individuals with the University System Office as-sisted in the review and recommended changes to the policy. ¶
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| BOARD OF REGENTS | OFFICERS | ||||
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Joe Frank Harris James D. Yancey Hugh C. Carter, Jr. Connie Cater William H. Cleveland, M.D. Michael J. Coles Hilton H. Howell, Jr. Julie Ewing Hunt |
Donald M. Leebern, Jr. Allene H. Magill Elridge W. McMillan Martin W. NeSmith Wanda Yancey Rodwell J. Timothy Shelnut Glenn S. White Joel O. Wooten, Jr. |
Thomas C. Meredith Gail S. Weber William R. Bowes
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©2003 Board of
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