Chair's Report on Highlights of the Past Year
June 9, 2004
Remarks by Board of Regents Chair Joe Frank Harris
In a short time, I will be in the happy position of being able to turn over the Chairman’s gavel to Regent Joel Wooten. Joel, I have just one word of advice. If the Board asks you to serve a second year as Chair, ask for some time to consider the offer! Seriously, I deeply appreciate the confidence you have placed in me over these past two years. Words can’t express how much your support has meant to me.
Let me start by thanking a few special people. I want to thank first each of the members of this Board. Without your support, I wouldn’t have had the chance to experience the challenges of the last two years. I also want to thank Regent Joel Wooten. It is always good in a leadership position to have a really strong backup. I have had that this year, and Joel, I am grateful for all the hours you’ve spent, in particular in your negotiations with the University of Georgia Foundation, Inc. You still have that problem on your plate, but you are experienced. I appreciate the support you have given me personally in your role as Vice Chair of this Board. And I want to note a special thanks to Chancellor Meredith – he’s a person in whom I have a tremendous amount of confidence, and I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work with him. I told him yesterday, I have worked with a great number of people in public life, but I don’t know of anyone I’ve had more respect for and who has communicated better than he. He has kept me informed, and I haven’t had any surprises. I’ve had some notifications that I didn’t like, but there were no surprises. I appreciate that and respect his ability and integrity, as well as the moral standards he supports. Chancellor Meredith, I appreciate your friendship. All of us are the recipients of Gail Weber’s expertise. Gail, I thank you and deeply cherish your friendship. Gail and I became acquainted when I was Governor, and she has a tremendous amount of experience. Gail, thank you for the outstanding job you do. Our Senior Vice Chancellor for External Activities and Facilities, Tom Daniel, has been a long-time friend, and he keeps us politically correct. Tom, I am grateful for your support of me here and over the years and for the friendship that we share. Thank you for the job you continue to do. I also want to express my appreciation to the University System Office staff and our 34 System presidents. I have had a personal relationship with each of the presidents both prior to and since becoming a Regent, especially during my chairmanship. It has been an honor to serve and work with each one of you.
During my time as your Chair, I have worked to keep our focus on quality, on efficiency and effectiveness, and on partnership. Looking back on the record of these past two years, we have made significant gains in these areas. This is progress of which we can be proud, particularly given the challenging economic times. In terms of quality, it is significant that our increase in student enrollment is being matched by high academic achievement. We continue to see increases in SAT scores and in our retention rates. The Georgia Institute of Technology (“GIT”) and the University of Georgia (“UGA”) continue to be in the ranks of the nation’s top 20 public universities.
Our ability to foster partnerships that support our academic efforts continues to receive national recognition. One example is the $34.6 million National Science Foundation grant to the University System to strengthen math and science programs at the K-12 level – the Partnership for Reform in Science and Mathematics (“PRISM”). initiative.
In the Chancellor’s monthly report, we continue to hear good news about the quality of work being done by faculty, staff, and students. In terms of efficiency and effectiveness, there is good news. Over the past year we continued to make strides in our efforts to identify areas for consolidation of business practices and operations. The work on a purchasing alliance moves us in the right direction. Our “Best Practices” program had a successful first year and is well into its second edition. The Chancellor’s “barnacle scraping” produced some significant savings at our institutions. And we have worked hard to provide needed services with fewer dollars. Today, we are serving more students than ever before, and our presidents have risen to the challenge posed by tight budgets. This Board approved budget allocations and operating budgets that are significantly tighter than two years ago. Yet despite fewer state dollars, we were able to hold tuition increases to a very modest rate. This says a great deal about our ability to be efficient and effective, but this System and this Board also have faced additional challenges, and I am proud of the leadership this Board has shown in facing up to both the expected and unexpected.
If there is one word that sums up the nature of the past two years, it is transition. We have seen turnover on this Board – six new regents have been appointed since I was elected Chair. Our new Regents bring a great deal of ability to this table, and there is no question in my mind that we have no less energy and no less commitment today than two years ago.
We have seen a historic transition in state government leadership, and I believe we have done an excellent job of telling our story to the Governor and other elected leaders. Despite tight budgets and tough economic times, despite significant budget cuts to the University System, we have been treated with fairness. As Chancellor Meredith has stated, Governor Perdue supports public higher education and would do more if he had more money. As it is, in our fiscal year 2005 budget, we received funding support from the Governor and General Assembly for full funding of the formula, for a significant capital budget, and for other needed and critical programs. That is a testament to our good partnerships. During this historic transition of political leadership, the University System has continued to be seen as one of this state’s most important assets.
We have seen a transition in Georgia’s economy. I’ve touched upon how challenging this has been over the past two years. The University System has seen cumulative cuts of $313 million. While the latest state revenue reports continue to bring good news for the state budget and overall economic recovery, we cannot be complacent. We still have a tremendous job to do to ensure that the University System recovers along with the state. We must never forget that our work is about and for students. They are the reason we are around this table today and month after month. I am certainly pleased that we have been successful in maintaining access and quality during these tough economic times. Our ongoing challenge is to make the case that our funding partners must now begin to rebuild the System’s state appropriations to the level needed to serve the state and strengthen quality for students.
We have seen a transition to a new public-private approach to capital funding. Last year’s Sasaki Associates study pointed out the challenges we face to meet rising student enrollment. Even in the best of economic times, the state will not have the bonding capacity to meet all of our needs for new facilities. So it is gratifying to see us develop an aggressive public-private partnership approach to meet capital needs. This has been one of the most significant developments of the past two years.
The change in how we meet capital needs is related to the growth we have experienced in enrollment. Not only has enrollment on our campuses exploded, it continues to change in terms of the type of students on our campuses. Today, we see more and more nontraditional students. Our challenge is to meet both increased numbers and different student needs.
Finally, I have been proud of the manner in which this Board has responded to other key issues. One is the transition in the relationship between the Board and the various institutional foundations. This Board has responded with patience and with an eye to the long-term good of the System and the institutions. Our decisions to revamp our policy towards cooperative organizations as well as presidential pay supplements are in the best interests of all parties. I appreciate your support and your decisive action on these important matters. Now, let me be very clear about this! The situation surrounding the University of Georgia Foundation, Inc. called for this Board to take action. You have done so in a strong stand. You have reaffirmed the ultimate responsibility of the Board of Regents for the management of the System’s 34 institutions. If you review the history of the Board of Regents, you will find other moments that have challenged past Boards to take action and to do what’s right for the state. So, your actions have a good historical precedent, and I am confident that history will validate our decisions. Let me be frank. We are seeing support for our action in many newspapers and from individuals. They are not supporting us because we are the Board of Regents. They are supporting us because we put our responsibility for the education of students first. We have placed the current and long-term welfare of students and the System as a whole above the lesser, but often distracting, issues of personalities and dollars and cents. Serving on the Board of Regents is a huge responsibility. It is a heavy weight, and given my career in public service, I do know how to judge weight! That weight will not become any lighter in the months and years ahead during your individual terms as Regents, but it will be an easier burden to shoulder knowing you have done the right thing on this and many other issues. While we value all of the achievements of our colleges and universities, with our recent actions we have taken a clear position that the achievement that matters the most is and will be academic achievement. That’s a great decision for the State of Georgia and our students. This Board can rest easier for going on record with this decision.
Now, we transition to new leadership at the Board level. I know Regent Wooten will provide outstanding leadership for this Board over the coming year. I know he will appreciate, as I have appreciated, the excellent and hard work that each of you do in meeting your responsibilities to the state. I appreciate the time, the extra meetings, and the commitment each of you brings to the work at hand, and I know that you will join me in working with Joel and in supporting the work of our Chancellor and so many others as we partner to “Create A More Educated Georgia.” Thank you again for your support and your good work. I also want to thank our Director of Communications and Marketing, John Millsaps, for his special support and assistance over the last two years. It truly has been a pleasure and honor for me to serve this Board. Thank you very much.