| Throughout fall semester, President Michael
F. Adams and Provost Arnett Mace held a series of meetings with
small groups of faculty to discuss issues of concern and interest
to the faculty and to offer an administrative perspective. Out of
those meetings came a request by the faculty for more regular communication
from the senior administration. This article in Columns
is the first in a series that will address administrative goals
and priorities.
“It was clear that the faculty would like to hear about administrative
priorities more regularly and to have the opportunity for more input
into the decision- making process,” Adams says. “I agree
that open lines of communication are crucial to the operation of
the University of Georgia, and I hope that this series will be one
step in that process.”
State budget cuts
The condition of the state budget remains the top UGA issue as the
Georgia General Assembly convenes. Gov. Sonny Perdue’s budget
proposal includes a 2 percent raise for University System of Georgia
employees, welcome news considering that the last raise was effective
October 2002.
“The staff and faculty at UGA have done more with less over
the past two years and have not been rewarded with a pay increase,”
says Adams. “I am hopeful that the legislature will agree
with the governor on this issue and find a way to fund a salary
increase.”
The governor has also included two important UGA construction projects
in his bond package, which he announced in his State of the State
address Jan. 14. Those two projects are $10 million for the Animal
Health Research Center, a high-tech facility connected with the
College of Veterinary Medicine, which will allow UGA researchers
to broaden their investigation into a number of diseases impacting
animal, and sometimes human, life; and $36 million for the construction
of a new facility for the Dodd School of Art, to be located on the
south side of the Performing and Visual Arts Center and Georgia
Museum of Art.
(The new art school will take up the space currently occupied by
a parking lot, but the East Village parking deck was built to accommodate
that displacement.)
“We are grateful that the governor has recognized the critical
importance of these two facilities by including them in his capital
construction bond package,” says Mace. “The School of
Art is currently operating in six buildings, and the College of
Veterinary Medicine has a number of funded research opportunities
available once the AHRC is completed.”
The $10 million proposed by the governor for the AHRC brings to
$25 million the total committed by the state to complete a facility
that was to have opened several years ago. Construction problems
and a dispute with the general contractor have kept the state agency
responsible for managing construction projects—the Georgia
State Financing and Investment Commission—from approving the
work and turning the building over to UGA.
The governor’s budget proposal has been submitted to the House
of Representatives, which will debate and approve a budget. UGA’s
government relations team will work closely with the legislature
to be sure that the university’s needs are understood. State
agencies, including UGA, have been directed to identify a 5 percent
cut to the fiscal year ’05 budget, but have not been directed
to enact such a cut. To date, UGA’s baseline fiscal year ’02
budget has been cut by some $50 million.
Adams presented a report on the impact of budget cuts at UGA to
the state House and Senate higher education committees on Feb. 12,
and invites the faculty, staff students and university community
to see the presentation on Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. in Mahler Auditorium.
The presentation lasts approximately 25 minutes, with a question-and-answer
session to follow.
NCAA inquiry
In early January, the university received a letter of inquiry, as
expected, from the NCAA regarding its investigation into allegations
made by former UGA men’s basketball player Tony Cole and the
administration of that program by former coach Jim Harrick. Although
the usual time frame for a response is 90 days, the NCAA has asked
that UGA respond in 70 days so that a committee can consider the
final report at its April meeting.
“We do not anticipate any difficulty in responding within
that time frame,” says Steve Shewmaker, executive director
of the university’s legal affairs office. “In fact,
much of what is included in the letter comes directly from the joint
investigation we conducted with the NCAA last summer.”
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