Vol. 32, No. 9 - DECEMBER 1996
The Board's comprehensive planning process continues to move from the abstract to the concrete, as the Regents have approved an innovative process to establish enrollment targets based upon the integration of academic programming, student demand, and workforce needs.
As the latest step in this process, the Board has embraced the planning assumptions and principles that will guide future decision-making on enrollment.
This paves the way for institutional involvement in identifying the external factors that will affect institutional enrollment targets, including an analysis of such factors as demographic data; recruitment, admission and retention policies, the traditional/non-traditional student mix, distance learning and other factors related to enrollment.
Out of this analysis each institution will develop five-year enrollment targets, for the academic years 1998 - 2002. Current plans are to review these targets between March and June with tentative Board action in July.
At that time the 34 institutional plans will be meshed into one comprehensive plan to address the needs of the entire state and its citizens, said Senior Vice Chancellor James Muyskens.
Plans will be assessed with "an eye toward maximizing the quality of service to students and ensuring cost-effectiveness," said Muyskens.
At the December presentation, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Planning Joe Szutz provided the Board with an overview of degrees awarded in the University System, giving Board members a look at how the System is preparing students for the "real world" job market.
Szutz pointed out that the System data show a definite relationship between degree production and the job market.
"The answer to the philosophical question 'what does this prove?' is that market forces are working rather well for us," Muyskens said.
But Muyskens also pointed out that there is a lag time between the emergence of specific workforce needs and System response. "The planning process can help reduce this lag time between demand and response," he said.
Academic balance also set the tone as the Board discussed the proper relationship between academic programming that is purely career-oriented and higher education's traditions of a broad-based course of study.
Dr. Muyskens noted that almost one-half of all undergraduate credit hours were in liberal arts and social science courses, and all graduates, regardless of major, receive a general education grounding.
Regent Elsie Hand summed up the discussion when she noted that the challenge facing the Board and the System in the planning process is "to give students enough career-oriented education to make a living and enough general education to make living worthwhile."
This point generated a strong sense by many Board members that it was crucial that the System, while providing programs to meet specific workforce needs, should be careful to preserve the liberal arts tradition of higher education.
The Board's December actions were undergirded by two reports heard in November that covered state workforce needs and job projections, so that the Regents could evaluate how well the System currently performs in preparing students for careers.
These presentations, by Georgia State University's Donald Ratajczak and the Georgia Department of Labor's Milton Martin, provided an overview of where the jobs are today and where they will be in the next 5-10 years.
Data from both presentations helped define the planning assumptions in terms of what the System expects the future to hold within the framework of the System's strategic plan.
These assumptions are, in the words of the adopted document, "objective descriptions of interpretations of the future environment of higher education and are based on data and information; they reflect an analysis of both the internal environment and external environment of the University System, including demographic and economic factors."
The adopted planning assumptions cover Georgia's demography and economic resources; the University System's role in Georgia; enrollment demand, workforce demand; delivering instruction; and linking planning, facilities and budgeting.
The planning principles adopted by the Board and to be used by each institution in setting enrollment targets describe the guidelines for decision-making - decisions that will be strategic, focusing resources according to System priorities rather than following undirected growth.
Some of the key enrollment principles are:
The report card is in!
In the May issue of The System Supplement, we asked our readers to grade us on the job we are doing and provide comments and suggestions about improving the publication.
We received responses from more than 600 readers, which kept our mail box full throughout the last few months. Most importantly, however, the readership survey has shown us what our readers like and would they would like to see enhanced.
We were glad to see most readers enjoy reading The System Supplement, with 52 percent saying it does a good job of informing them of what is happening across the University System of Georgia and the Board of Regents (an additional 27 percent said it does an excellent job). A majority of readers also make it a point to regularly read The System Supplement, with 75 percent saying they always read the publication each month they receive it.
Readers also liked the look and format of the publication, with 39 percent rating the overall appearance as excellent and 52 percent as good. A majority (63 percent) also like the current four- to six-page length of The System Supplement, with 25 percent saying they would like to see more pages.
The most valuable and important portion of the survey was the comment and suggestion section. We received compliments as well as criticisms, but most importantly, concrete suggestions for what you would like to see in the publication. We hear you and will identify areas in which The System Supplement can be enhanced.
Many of you asked to see campus news from all of the System's 34 campuses each month. "It would be nice if all [institutions] in the System received coverage," one reader wrote. As a result, a new "On Campus" page will feature every institution in every other issue, beginning in the spring of 1997.
Numerous readers also inquired whether The System Supplement could become available through the Internet in an electronic format. "This publication should be available on the Internet so that everyone, including students, could see it. Please consider this new format," a reader wrote. Back issues will be on the University System of Georgia's World Wide Web home page beginning sometime in January.
We will take all comments into consideration so that we can continue to keep our readers informed about the University System of Georgia in the best way possible.
Thank you for your feedback and support.
1. Do you read the Supplement each month you receive it?
2. Please rate the overall appearance of the Supplement:
3. Please indicate which of the Supplement's regular features you find most useful by rating each on a scale of 1 ("least useful") to 5 ("most useful"). Please circle your answer:
4. Currently, the Supplement is usually 4 to 6 pages long. Would you like the length to be:
5. What other topics or features would you like to see covered in the Supplement?
6. Please rate the Supplement's effectiveness in informing readers about what is happening across the University System of Georgia and the Board of Regents:
7. Would you like to continue to receive the Supplement?
Dr. Mary Kay Kramp is Dalton College's first Distinguished Professor for Teaching and Learning, ,made possible through the Board of Regent's new Distinguished Teacher's special funding initiative supported by the General Assembly in the 1996 session.
Dr. Kramp's charge is to infuse outstanding teaching techniques into the instructional program, and she has developed a year-long series of workshops, presentations, and conversations designed to celebrate the art of teaching.
"The idea is that teaching is the foundation of the college, and as teachers we should celebrate the profession by thinking about it as a complex activity," Dr. Kramp said.
Dr. Kramp's and Dalton's approach involves the creation of a new Center for Teaching Enhancement, which will serve as the structural vehicle through which events and programs can be planned and coordinated.
Organizers of the "Celebrating Women's Lives" conference to be held at Valdosta State University are seeking proposals for papers, workshops, roundtables, complete panels, and performances that celebrate women's lives and experiences.
This second annual conference will be held February 28 through March 1, 1997. The conference will have as its focus women's achievements as they encourage personal growth and heightened social awareness. Papers concerning the connection between female experience and their scholarly, artistic, and literary creations are especially encouraged.
Proposals are welcomed from academics, students, community activists and other interested individuals. The deadline for submitting proposals, abstracts (200 words, double-spaced), or completed papers is January 24, 1997.
Proposals should be sent to: Dr. Viki Soady, director of Women's Studies, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia, 31698 or Dr. Donna Sewell, Department of English at Valdosta State University.
A Kennesaw State University graduate student recently shot down the competition to receive an unusual grant for her study of antique gun collectors. Ronelle Willadsen of Marietta, a student in the professional writing program, reaped a $3,500 reward for her diligent research on the Wurfflein family of Philadelphia, whose target pistols and rifles are collectors' items.
The Cody Museum of the Buffalo Bill historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, has named Willadsen as the recipient of its Kinnucan Arms Grant, which honors meritorious study in firearms and the development of America. Her interest in the project was sparked by her husband, a collector and broker of antique gun collections. The grant will pay for the research and development of a book Willadsen is writing about the Wurffleins.
From left, Ivan and Louise Allen, and Robert Hawkins, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Management, Policy and International Affairs at Georgia Tech, celebrate the college's success. The November black-tie affair was a tribute to the Allens, and to Tom and Ann DuPree for their numerous contributions to Tech. Allen, a former Atlanta mayor, is the recipient of Georgia Tech's first honorary doctorate degree. The Duprees recently donated $25 million in two gifts to The Dupree School of Management.
MEDICAL COLLEGE OF GA.
Dr. Betty Wray to head national professional association: Dr. Betty B. Wray, chief of the section of allergy-immunology and vice chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia, has been elected president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. She was elected to a one-year term of the professional association for 3,900 allergists and immunologists.
FLOYD COLLEGE
Floyd receives donation for wetlands laboratory: The Floyd College Environmental Wetlands Laboratory which opened in October 1996, has received a $7,000 donation from the Coosa River Soil and Water Conversation Commission to complete construction.
CORRECTION
In the November Supplement article on the "Building Bridges Initiative," one of the participants was not included in the list of attendees. Dr. Jane Rhoades Hudak with Georgia Southern University also participated in the program.
A number of Georgia's business leaders were asked earlier this year about the quality of higher education in Georgia and the importance of the University System to the economic development of the state.
The Board of Regents retained the Econometric Center at Kennesaw State University and the Chair of Private Enterprise at Georgia State University to perform the Business Survey. The results were presented at the November meeting of the Board of Regents.
The Business Survey is part of a needs assessment program begun at the recommendation of the Board of Regents Mission Review team that the University System look comprehensively at Georgia's human resource and employment needs. The Board of Regents will use the results of this assessment to decide about new programs at University System institutions.
In February, 1996, a written survey was mailed to the members of the: Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Industry Association, Community Bankers Association, and the Georgia Economic Developers Association.
Out of 700 questionnaires mailed, 260 were completed and returned (a response rate of 38 percent). Surveys were received from 92 of Georgia's 159 counties. Forty percent came from the metro Atlanta region, sixty percent from outside the metro Atlanta region.The key findings were:
The results of the Business Survey provide a benchmark of how Georgia's business community perceives the University System. The same survey will be conducted periodically in the future to measure how effective the University System is in better preparing students for success beyond graduation, and better serving as a key partner in Georgia's economic development.
For a copy of the Business Survey results, please contact Suzanne Fahlstrom at 404-657-0832.
[ Top ] [ The System Supplement ]
Open the original version of this page.
Usablenet Assistive is a UsableNet product. Usablenet Assistive Main Page.