Vol. 38, No. 6, August 2001
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Regent Hilton H. Howell Jr. presided over his first meeting as chair of the Board of Regents in August. A transcript of his remarks to the board follows:
To my fellow board members, I'd like to thank you for electing me to serve for the upcoming year as chair of this board.
I consider this appointment to be a high honor, and I sincerely appreciate the vote of confidence and the camaraderie that your selection represents. I can assure you that the business of this board will receive my undivided attention, and highest priority in the ensuing year.
And personally, I am humbled by the privilege to serve and to serve together with Gov. Joe Frank Harris as your vice-chair. His service to the people of Georgia already has been so significant, and I am so grateful that he has agreed to take up this new challenge during this critical year of transition for our system.
I also want to thank our immediate past chair, Glenn White, for the pleasure of serving as his vice-chair for the past year.
I also look forward to your continued support and collaboration as we embark on a new year of challenges and changes.
Since 1997, I have immensely enjoyed the public service that we perform together as members of the Board of Regents.
It has been particularly gratifying for me to get to know each of you better as we have served together on board committees and traveled throughout Georgia to our University System campuses, working hard to build a preeminent system of public higher education for our state.
Each of you gives so much of your time and talents because - I believe - we all recognize how vital the work of this board is to the current and future success of Georgia and her citizens.
We each have unique strengths and perspectives which - when combined - strengthen our decision making and policy setting, fostering positive outcomes for all of our state's citizens. This blend of experience and skills is what allows us to effectively balance our mission of access and excellence in higher education.
For me, the greatest honor during my time on this board will be to have served in the company of individuals of the caliber and dedication of those who have served and are serving presently on this board.
Throughout my year as chair, I will strive to build on that highly collaborative work model which has been this board's hallmark and so integral to our success. And in so doing, I'd like to ask for your commitment and support in addressing three critical challenges which will face our board in the coming year:
First, there will be no more important work for us as a board than that of selecting, acclimating and orienting a new chancellor. I am not exaggerating when I say the future of our state and our children depend upon it. In my view, there is no more solemn responsibility for this board to discharge than in choosing our new leader.
We must ensure that higher education continues to build on the momentum we have attained over the past seven years under the outstanding leadership of Stephen Portch.
All of us know intimately his enviable record of achievement for our System. I won't reiterate the milestones reached here. Suffice it to say that he has brought higher education in Georgia to a pinnacle of success and repute it has never enjoyed before.
As Regent Elridge McMillan said, paraphrasing Shakespeare, in learning of Stephen's departure: "Here was a man! when comes such another?" His will be large shoes to fill, but fill them we must and fill them we will. Fortunately, the achievements of this board, led by Stephen Portch and nurtured by far-sighted Governors and a supportive legislature, and a unified, "System-focused" Board of Regents, have significantly raised the profile of higher education in Georgia, to make our chancellorship one of the most attractive in the nation.
We are successfully recruiting from a national pool of high-ranking and highly successful academic leaders who can build on the vigorous strength of this University System. I am certain that the collective wisdom of this board will choose a worthy successor to Chancellor Portch. Upon his or her appointment, our next challenge will be to orient and acclimate our new chancellor so that we have a seamless and successful transition in leadership.
Throughout this transition, our role will be to communicate forcefully and effectively the need to create a more educated Georgia. That is and must remain our central concern. We must keep our eyes on the well being of our students � the end all and be all of our existence.
Within the University System, that means we must address, particularly, our deficiencies among under-represented student populations, such as non-traditional (adult) students and African-American males.
Our benchmarking efforts addressed our enrollment challenges in these two key groups.
Enhancing the enrollment of both will be critical if we are to significantly increase the number of Georgians who hold baccalaureate degrees. Second, we must continue to balance the critical need to increase college completion rates without reducing our admissions standards. There are no easy answers, but we must respond to the challenge.
To support these goals, we will seek support from the legislature to expand access to higher education via a special funding initiative that you will hear more about when we present our budget request at next month's board meeting. I had the opportunity to hear the System presidents discuss their support for renewed efforts to increase retention and graduation rates at their meetings last week at Callaway Gardens, and this concern is among their top priorities. Finally, as we tackle this and other critical policy concerns, our board is expected to undergo a transformation.
Georgia's growth during the past decade has led to the happy creation of two new congressional districts. That will also lead to the appointment of two new members of the Board of Regents.
Once again, I know this board will, as it always has, welcome, orient and embrace new members.
Yet, even as we tackle these political changes, we must remain laser-focused on our strategic plan for the future direction of the University System. This plan, the first stage of which we are set to act upon at tomorrow's meeting, is our blueprint for continued progress and eventual national preeminence. It builds on the solid work achieved by my friend Glenn White, during his chairmanship last year.
Each and every one of you will be needed to assume a leadership role in our efforts. Whether you are asked to chair a committee, to communicate with a legislative leader, to organize a campus visit by a group of regents, or to spread the "good word" on behalf of the University System - every contribution will count toward the good of the whole.
I look forward to working with you and representing our board during the coming year." ¶
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At the August board meeting, Chairman Hilton H. Howell Jr. reported that, with sound input from a statewide advisory committee, the regents have narrowed the field of top candidates for the chancellor's position to eight to 10 people whose credentials make them "extremely attractive."
Howell said these semifinalists will undergo an extensive interview process, starting on Sept. 10-11. Announcement of the board's choice for the new chancellor is expected in October or November. ¶
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BOARD FOCUS: Reshaping the Vision
The Board of Regents have adopted a new strategic plan to enhance the quality of the System's academic offerings and aid the state's economic development. "A More-Educated Georgia" is the theme of the new plan. It encompasses a new vision statement and a revised mission statement for the University System, which also now includes ad-ministration of the state's public libraries. The plan builds upon a highly successful strategic planning effort developed and adopted by the Board of Regents in October 1994, shortly after the Regents appointed Chancellor Stephen R. Portch. Titled "Access to Academic Excellence for the New Millennium," this document has been the foundation for much of the University System of Georgia's success over the past seven years. Many of the original plan's goals were tied to 2001 - the year set for full implementation of the Board of Regents' heightened admissions standards - fostering the need for a new strategic planning document.
"We have shaped a strong foundation for planning that will enable us to effectively target and focus our priorities for the next five years," said Portch. "Our mission is to prepare Georgians for the reality of a world where first-class higher education is an increasing necessity. We also must identify ways to provide educational opportunities to a broader, more diverse group of the state's citizens, thereby expanding access to Georgia's economic success." The new vision statement reads: "The University System of Georgia will create a more-educated Georgia, well-prepared for a global, technological society, by providing first-rate undergraduate and graduate education, leading-edge research and committed public service."
The new strategic plan identifies 11 key goals, including:
During the September and October board meetings, the regents will review proposed implementation or policy documents for the new strategic plan. Final approval of the implementation process, including specific targets and goals, is expected early in 2002, after the new chancellor has had a chance to provide input into the planning. ¶
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Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox recently announced that the state has finalized a deal to move the Georgia Archives from downtown Atlanta to a site adjacent to Clayton College and State University in Morrow.
U.S. Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) said that he has secured $30.5 million for a companion project, the establishment of the Southeast Archives Center, in the same location. The new joint facility will be the first of its kind in the nation, providing researchers with state-of-the-art, "one-stop shopping."
Cleland said CCSU's information technology curriculum helped attract the archives project to Clayton County. "This specialty will allow the university to partner with the National Archives and Records Administration on technology projects to make the regionally created electronic records more accessible to the American public." ¶
A team of students at Georgia Southern University recently constructed a cluster of high-powered computers called a super-computer out of surplus equipment that otherwise would have been trashed.
With the support of several faculty members, the undergraduate students spent seven months building the "Beowulf Cluster" at a cost of $1,200 - far less than a professionally manufactured computer cluster - to perform advanced calculations. ¶
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Bainbridge College Tech Prep Coordinator Joseph Miller has developed a computer program that helps high school officials track Tech Prep students and their programs of study, saving the schools both time and money. The software also aids school counselors in advising participating students.
A consortium of Georgia high schools and technical colleges has formed Tech Prep, a planned program of study for students bound for technical careers. The program offers college credit for certain high school coursework that otherwise would have to be repeated at a technical college. Articulation agreements between participating high schools and technical colleges allow course credit to be transferred seamlessly.
Miller's software, ARTIFACT 1.0©, helps high school counselors to quickly identify the courses available to a Tech Prep student and the quickest route to the student's chosen program of study. The software also lets Tech Prep coordinators track students taking at least one "articulated" course, as well as those declaring a program of study.
ARTIFACT is capable of performing six different functions in five to 10 minutes. Miller said a survey of Tech Prep coordinators indicated that these same functions, when done manually, often take about 400 hours to complete, as a variety of sources ranging from multiple databases to college manuals must be consulted.
According to Miller, the average high school could save as much as $8,000 in manpower hours each time the program is used. Statewide, the savings from using the program just one time could amount to $2.5 million, he noted.
For more information on ARTIFACT, contact Joseph L. Miller, P.O. Box 7174, Bainbridge, GA 31718-7174, e-mail him at gifts@surfsouth.com, or call 229/248-2530 or 229/248-4267. ¶
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The U.S. Department of Education has awarded $1.8 million to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College to fund a new educational outreach effort targeting migrant and seasonal farm workers and their children.
The High School Equivalency Program (HEP) will aid participants in earning General Education Diplomas (GEDs) by helping them complete requirements for the high-school equivalency exam. In addition to academic instruction, HEP students will receive academic, vocational and personal counseling and placement assistance in pursuing post-secondary education or entering the workforce or military. Financial assistance, housing, campus dining and social/cultural events will be made available to participants.
The federal grant, announced by U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-Albany), will provide ABAC with $369,000 per year for five years to enable 50 eligible Georgia students per year to participate.
"With this tremendous investment of resources, ABAC will be a leader in the nation in providing educational opportunities to children of migrant farm workers," said ABAC President Mike Vollmer. "We will be able to provide the access for these students to get their high school diplomas, and then support them during their first year of college," he added, referring to an-other innovative ABAC program, the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), which provides financial assistance, tutoring, housing and counseling to help migrant workers and their children during their first year of college.
Prior to CAMP's creation in 1999, there was no other program like it serving seasonal farm workers in the southeastern United States. The only two existing HEP programs in the Southeast are both in Florida.
"There is a great need for GED programs among migrant workers," said Diane Kilgore, director of ABAC's Office of Public Service and Business Outreach. "HEP is a great opportunity for us to reach out to migrant workers and help them receive a quality education."
"This is a win-win situation for the students and the state of Georgia," Vollmer added. ¶
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Ten years ago, Dr. Cameron Fincher, the longtime director of the University of Georgia's Institute of Higher Education, published a book on "The Historical Development of the University System of Georgia 1932-1990," Now, having spent 50 years in service to the System that he describes as "one of the finest things that Georgians have ever done for themselves," the award-winning scholar is revising and updating the hardcover volume.
Fincher hopes to complete the revision by the end of the Fall 2001 semester and have it published by the Institute of Higher Education. ¶
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Georgia gained a new state library director and the University System added an assistant vice chancellor of library development and services in July, when Chancellor Stephen R. Portch announced the appointment of Dr. J. Lamar Veatch, Jr. to these positions.
Veatch, who was hired following a national search conducted by a committee consisting of both public and academic library officials, will head Georgia's Office of Public Library Services (OPLS), which administers state and federal funding for 58 public library systems statewide. He will assume his new post on Oct. 16.
Thomas A. Ploeg had been serving as acting state library director. Veatch currently serves as the state library director in Alabama, where he has been a leader in developing an on-line virtual library similar to GALILEO, Georgia's nationally recognized statewide electronic library. He also has served previously as director of public libraries in Vidalia and Louisville, Ga., as well as in Colorado and Texas.
"We welcome Dr. Veatch home to Georgia," said Portch, "and look forward to his leadership in the public library community as we further strengthen the partnership between public libraries and higher education." OPLS came under the administration of the University System of Georgia last July. ¶
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Gita Hendessi, William K. Chatham, Linda DanielsA System-wide master planning template developed by the University System's Office of Facilities to guide campus officials' master planning efforts and allow better allocation of System resources recently won a national award. The Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) and the American Institute of Architects' Committee on Architecture for Education presented the 2001 Excellence in Planning Award to Vice Chancellor for Facilities William K. Chatham and representatives of the architectural/land-use planning firm Sasaki Associates on July 22. Chatham (center) gave credit to Gita Hendessi, director of facilities planning (left), and Linda Daniels, assistant vice chancellor of design and construction (right), for working with Sasaki on the development of the master planning template. The beauty of the template, Daniels noted, is that it focuses attention on the analytical data collected from a variety of campus sources rather than on subjective factors.
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BOARD OF REGENTS OFFICERSHilton H. Howell, Jr.
Atlanta
CHAIR
Joe Frank Harris
Cartersville
VICE-CHAIR
Juanita Powell Baranco
Lithonia
Hugh C. Carter, Jr.
Atlanta
Connie Cater
Macon
Michael J. Coles
Kennesaw
John Hunt
Tifton
Donald M. Leebern, Jr.
Columbus
Allene H. Magill
Dalton
Elridge W. McMillan
Atlanta
Martin W. NeSmith
Claxton
J. Timothy Shelnut
Augusta
Glenn S. White
Lawrenceville
Joel O. Wooten, Jr.
Columbus
James D. Yancey
Columbus
Stephen R. Portch
CHANCELLOR
Gail S. Weber
SECRETARY TO THE BOARD
William R. Bowes
TREASURER
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