No. 5, Feb. 10, 2003

New, Past Higher Ed Committee Chairs Visit BOR Meeting

The incoming and out-going chairs of the Georgia General Assembly's higher education committees addressed the Board of Regents at the February meeting, affording University System of Georgia officials a chance to meet the new political leadership and recognize the past work done on behalf of the System.

"It has been said that the difference between a politician and a statesman is that the politician thinks of the next election, and the statesman thinks of the next generation," said Chancellor Thomas C. Meredith in praising the contributions made by Sen. Jack Hill and Rep. DuBose Porter, the immediate past chairs of the Senate and House higher education committees. "We have outstanding statesmen here." Introduced to the Board of Regents for the first time in their new roles were Sen. Bill Hamrick and Rep. Louise McBee, named to chair the higher education committees last month.

Although new as the chair of the House Higher Education Committee, McBee is well versed in Georgia's higher education needs. A former professor and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Georgia, McBee told the regents "a close observer of the University System for 40 years, and I like what I have seen."

"Education is to state government what defense is to the federal government - it's job one," McBee said. "Chancellor Meredith delivered the right message to the Joint Appropriations Committees recently when he said companies can pull back in tough times, but education can't respond in that manner. And I want you to know that I will do everything I can to minimize the damage that our economy is doing at the moment."

McBee added that she is optimistic about a quick economic turnaround for the state and wants the System to remained focused on providing a more educated Georgia.

"I want Georgia to be " a state where people get as excited about a 4.0 student and a Rhodes Scholar as they do about an All-American athlete," she said. "I think we have been moving in that direction, and I look forward to working with you to this end." Hamrick, the new chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, has just begun his second full term as a Georgia senator. In introducing him at the board meeting, Meredith expressed appreciation for Hamrick's strong words in support of higher education published in a recent issue of the Carrollton Times-Georgian.

Hamrick said he has enjoyed getting to know the chancellor and has a solid relationship with Senior Vice Chancellor for External Activities and Facilities Tom Daniel.

"You all know by virtue of your positions how prestigious the University System is in Georgia, and I really look forward to working with you," he told the regents.

Meredith introduced the two immediate past chairs of the higher education committees by recalling that, thanks to Daniel, he met with Porter and Hill within days of becoming Georgia's new chancellor.

"That first meeting with them gave me great comfort to know that those in charge of initiating the recommendations for higher education in the House and Senate knew what we were all about," Meredith said.

Porter, who has served in the House since 1982, was elected speaker pro tem of the House in January.

"He is a great friend of higher education," Meredith said. "He understands our mission. He understands our challenges. And we know that we can always turn to him to give us good advice."

Porter, who said his four years as chair of the House Higher Education Committee was "one of my favorite jobs," urged the chancellor and regents not to lose heart during the state's on-going economic downturn.

"This is a time when people need the opportunity for higher education more than ever," he said. "I just hope we don't lose momentum. I hope the new leadership in the House and Senate and the Governor's Office will keep this momentum."

Hill was a strong supporter of the University System during his tenure as chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, from 1995 through 2002. He now chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.

"It's been a tough time for everyone," Hill said, referring to the budget cuts that have forced all state agencies, including the University System, to tighten their belts. "But there are better days ahead. Our state is strong and we're going to rebound.

"We've got some tough days ahead of us, but I know that, with your leadership and the new leadership of the House, Senate and the Governor, our state is going to move on to bigger and better things in the future," Hill said.

Meredith brought to a close the legislators' visit to the Board of Regents by thanking Tom Daniel for his work in keeping the University System's key messages in the minds of lawmakers throughout the legislative session.

"He is highly respected in every office in the Legislature," the chancellor said. "He does a great job, and I'm proud of what he does."

Sen. Clay: Higher Education in Georgia 'Cannot Afford to Do Any Back-Sliding'

University System of Georgia officials heard encouraging words Friday from the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee's Higher Education Subcommittee.

"Our intellectual capital is critical to the economic development of Georgia," Sen. Chuck Clay said in a meeting on the Fiscal Year 2003 Amended Budget. Representatives of Georgia Public Television, the Georgia Student Finance Commission, the Department of Technical and Adult Education, and the Board of Regents were on hand to review their budget requests with the subcommittee.

Praising the contributions made to higher education by the Board of Regents and echoing one of the chancellor's key messages, Clay added, "Our University System has come further faster than any other system in the country. "We can't have the perception that we've brought higher education to a satisfactory plateau." We cannot afford to do any back-sliding."

Clay said his subcommittee is sensitive to the tremendous impact FY '03 budget cuts already have had on public higher education agencies in Georgia and will do its best to preserve what's left of their budgets through its recommendations, although "our flexibility is very limited." However, he added, "The word being handed down is cuts, cuts, cuts."

USG Chancellor Thomas C. Meredith has been cautioning Georgia legislators for the past month about the damage further cuts will do to the University System, and he repeated these warnings in Friday's meeting.

"I cannot stress too strongly that the outstanding quality that has been built over time must not be torn down in just two or three years," Meredith said. He detailed the lost faculty positions, larger classes and canceled classes resulting from the $184 million in budget cuts and reductions already ordered. "You have done a magnificent job of building a university system of outstanding quality, and that quality must be protected as much as possible."

Emphasizing the primary point of his earlier budget addresses, Meredith also stressed the growing gap between the dollars needed to serve students and the sheer number of students enrolling in the University System. While the System's formula funds have remained essentially flat in recent years, enrollment has soared to record levels, increasing 7.1 percent during the past year to 233,098 students. "We expect significant increases in enrollment to continue for another eight to 10 years," he said.