December 2001: Vol. 81, No. 1December 2001: Vol. 81, No. 1Economic slowdown, Sept. 11 prompt 2.5% reduction for FY02
Mid-year budget cuts first since '91
Slowing state revenue growth, exacerbated by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, has led to the first mid-year state budget reduction since the economic downturn of fall 1991.
Gov. Roy E. Barnes (AB '69, JD '72) called Oct. 1 for a 2.5-percent reduction in the current fiscal year budget, annualized to a five-percent reduction for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2002.
State funding comprises 41 percent of the University of Georgia's overall annual budget. These budget cuts may cost UGA some $10 million in FY02 and $20 million in FY03, according to Henry M. Huckaby, UGA's senior vice president for finance and administration, who issued a set of budget-reduction guidelines to deans, directors, and department heads. Their feedback helped Huckaby and his staff create a University budget plan to submit to the University System for subsequent approval by the state Office of Planning and Budget.
"Since the mid-1990s, we have had an unprecedented series of splendid years in state funding for the University of Georgia," President Michael F. Adams said in an open letter to the University community. "This institution has benefited from one of the strongest state economies in the nation over that period, a significant infusion of funds for capital improvements, and from the new state lottery for equipment and technology.
"Giving up this amount of funding will not be easy, but it is manageable," says President Adams, who lists the University's guiding principles in this budgetary process as follows:
"The University of Georgia has built a tremendous amount of positive momentum in recent years," Adams wrote. "We have a large amount of construction underway on the campus. Research dollars have been setting records. External fund raising last year was the second-highest in UGA history. I urge the University community not to let this reduction in state funding dampen that momentum. We can't foresee fully what the economy will be in six or 12 or 18 months, but we will do our part and hope for an early improvement. Meanwhile, we will join our great state and nation in tightening the belt a bit, renewing our resolve, and continuing to move boldly forward."
The healing power of knowledge
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 prompted feelings of anguish and anger among UGA students, faculty, and staff. In the weeks that followed, the mood of the campus evolved from shock to a desire for political and religious perspective on Islam, Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden, and the Middle East. A series of campus forums featuring international students and professors from such disciplines as political science, history, and religion helped provide those perspectives.
If you missed those forums, or want to refresh your memory, we urge you to visit the remarkable "UGA responds" Web site (www.uga.edu/news/september11), which was created by News Service designer Jan Beckley and the New Media Institute. The site includes a synopsis of UGA's Sept. 11-related forums—including the Russell Symposium on international security—plus real-time audio, a photo-video gallery, a news digest, and a list of books and resources.
Pillars of the Arch welcomes newcomers
Opening Convocation
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 SGA president Tundé Ezekiel (center) told the Opening Convocation audience that the three Pillars of the Arch—wisdom, justice, and moderation—are "necessary for us to be strong and complete citizens." |
Incoming students were introduced to the University's new creed—"Pillars of the Arch"—at this fall's Opening Convocation. Composed by student leaders in collaboration with the Division of Student Affairs, the creed focuses on wisdom, justice, and moderation.
"All three qualities are necessary for us to be strong and complete citizens," Student Government Association President Tundé Ezekiel, a senior from Philadelphia, told the audience of several thousand students and family members gathered in Stegeman Coliseum on the Sunday before fall classes started.
The annual Convocation included videotaped greetings from noted UGA alumni and words of welcome from President Michael F. Adams and Provost Karen Holbrook. William Barstow, speaking on behalf of the faculty, advised students to get to know at least one faculty member each semester, to get involved in campus activities and to take courses in a mix of subjects.
The Convocation included a processional of faculty in academic regalia and the premiere of "Fanfare for Convocation," a piece composed for the occasion by Daniel Reed, a sophomore Foundation Fellow from Athens, and performed by The Georgia Brass. After the formal ceremony, members of the Derby Band led the audience to Myers Quad for an outdoor reception, where they were greeted by Hairy Dawg and the cheerleaders.
UGA to drop case, pursue other means of achieving racial diversity
Admissions lawsuit
Board of Regents and UGA officials have decided not to appeal the admissions lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court and will concentrate their efforts on increasing diversity through other means.
President Michael F. Adams says the University's emphasis will shift—indeed, over the past year already has shifted—to earlier and better identification of qualified minority students. "This is a battle we needed to fight," says Adams of the lawsuit. "But this in no way means that the University of Georgia's commitment to achieving diversity has lessened one iota."
In recent years, 10-20 percent of applicants not initially granted admission have been admitted after weighing a number of factors, including race, in what is called the Total Student Index. President Adams says he will recommend that TSI be suspended for the class entering in fall 2002 while study is undertaken to see if it should be discontinued altogether. Final admissions decisions for next fall's class will involve a full reading of those files by admissions staff and faculty, as is done at many public and private schools not as large as UGA.
Strategies aimed at increasing minority applications and enrollment will be continued and strengthened, among them:
Expanded admissions staff contact
Last year, the staff had 13,000 in-person contacts with African-American students, up from 6,800 the previous year.
Involving UGA students as recruiters
This year, students phoned 70 percent of all African Americans admitted to UGA.
Transfer recruitment
A full-time counselor is now assigned to recruit transfer students.
Satellite admissions office
A satellite admissions office has been established in Decatur, with one soon to open in Tifton and a third planned for Griffin.
Emphasis on pre-college programs
Will include summer residency programs for middle school 4-H members.
Expanded recruitment of graduate and professional minority students
New associate provost has lived, worked in more than 40 countries
Enhancing quest for internationalism
Mark Lusk, assistant vice president for research and director of international programs at the University of Montana, is UGA's new associate provost for international affairs.
The associate provost position, which reports directly to Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Karen A. Holbrook, provides leadership for UGA's institution-wide focus on international faculty research and study-abroad and exchange programs for students. As director of the University's Office of International Affairs, the associate provost maintains a comprehensive knowledge of UGA's international efforts, coordinates the institutional programs associated with international education, and serves as the principle link between UGA and the University System's office of international education.
"Mark Lusk has already served as the central coordinator for wide-ranging international research and exchange programs," says Holbrook, "and he has a impressive track record in increasing the number of students studying abroad—which is one of our institutional priorities."
Lusk has worked in more than 40 countries and has lived outside the U.S. for more than 13 years. He has held two Fulbright Fellowships—one in Peru and another in Brazil—as well as visiting professorships at a number of institutions. He will work with administrators, faculty, students and with the UGA International Affairs Advisory Council to enhance international academic programs, manage international faculty and student scholar services, and facilitate intern, volunteer, and employment opportunities abroad.
Prior to his position at the University of Montana, Lusk was director of the school of social work at Boise State. He also has held faculty and administrative appointments in social work at the University of Wyoming and Utah State. At UGA, he holds an appointment as a professor in the school of social work.
"HART" team among nation's safety elite
UGA's new Hazardous Assessment Response Team, which is on call 24-7, is one of less than a dozen such safety units at universities across the country.
Previously, UGA relied on private hazardous material firms in Atlanta, which could take from two to four hours to respond to chemical, biological, or radiation hazards on campus. Response time for the UGA team is 30 minutes.
"We know more about business here at the University, so we're better able to protect our research," says Ken Scott, director of UGA's Environmental Safety Division. "All of our team members (see photo of Wes Kolar demonstrating a Level A chemical protection suit) have their own area of expertise, so we can handle most anything."
Coordinator Dena Roth, the team's biological hazards specialist, says $100,000 was allocated to purchase equipment and to train personnel who receive salary enhancements.
UGA on Wall Street Journal's short list of safe-haven schools
"Colleges for New Era"
In introducing its list of "16 Colleges for a New Era," the Wall Street Journal posed the following question: "Which schools are poised to be players in the new landscape? As families adjust their thinking in economically uncertain, security-conscious times, we asked a panel of guidance counselors for some of their picks."
The guidance counselors' choices, listed alphabetically in the Oct. 5 issue, place UGA on a short list with small colleges such as Carleton in Northfield, Minn., and large state universities such as Penn State. Annual tuition, room, and board costs for schools on the list ranged from $34,677 at Dartmouth to $6,800 at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
What the 16 schools have in common is that none of them is in a large metro area.
"And despite the recent boom at urban universities," the WSJ story read, "Boston College and Fordham say they now worry fewer out-of-area students will come because of fears about air travel and further terrorism."
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They said it |
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CHUCK D On music videos: "Videos are not real. When they say, 'Cut!', all those girls go home. All that jewelry the guys are wearing is cubic zirconia. The Lexus goes right back to the lot. But a 12-year-old isn't going to understand that. He just thinks it's real life."
On why MP3s should be legal: "You can't own music—it's part of our culture. You can only borrow it. And when you put it out again, it goes back into the culture."
On culture: "Culture brings people together. It builds bridges and allows them to communicate. It's not where you're from, it's where you're at." JIM MILLER On the economic effects of the dissolution of the Soviet Union: " On restoring consumer confidence in the wake of Sept. 11: "Some of us are trying to come out of it by being defiant. I bought a new tractor, a new bushhog, and a new frontloader. I did my part." |
UGA's annual cost—$11,006 (in-state), $18,902 (out-of-state)—was among the lowest on the list, and the WSJ took note of UGA religion professor Alan Godlas' Web site (http://www.uga.edu/islam/), which has helped educate and allay visitors' fears about the Islamic religion.
UGA was also cited by Forbes, which ranked the nation's top business schools in terms of "The Best Bang for the Buck."
UGA's Terry College of Business ranked 19th out of 25 regional MBA programs. To calculate the average return on investment, Forbes compared the salary gains generated by having an MBA to the cost of getting it. The magazine estimated that the five-year income gain for a 1996 Terry MBA graduate was $44,000, with an average of 3.7 years needed to recoup their expenses.
The Forbes formula defined regional business schools as those where the cost was under $95,000 for two years of tuition and foregone salary.
National Institute on Aging supports Gerontology Center's 10-year study
$7.5M federal grant to study centenarians
UGA's Gerontology Center has been awarded a $7.5 million grant from the National Institute on Aging for the Georgia Centenarian Study, a continuation of a 10-year project on citizens over the age of 100. The study will apply what has already been learned to new research that will explore how aging affects the physical and mental conditions, as well as the day-to-day lives of centenarians.
By the time Baby Boomers reach age 100 in the mid-21st century, says Poon (left), there will be 1 million centenarians in the U.S.
"The Georgia Centenarian Study is one of two systematic studies of centenarians in the U.S.," says Leonard Poon, principal investigator for the grant and director of the center. "We are extending our network of researchers to answer some of the age-old questions on longevity and survival."
This kind of research will become more imperative, says Poon, as America's population ages. "The number of Americans aged 100 or older increased 35 percent during the past 10 years," he says. "The Census Bureau projects that by 2050, when the Baby Boomers reach 100, there will be one million centenarians in the United States."
The original study—a ground-breaking project that explored not just why some people live longer but also how they do it successfully—compared people in their sixties and eighties with "expert survivors." That term was coined to apply to centenarians who lived independently or semi-independently, were active in their communities and who enjoyed relatively good physical and mental health.
Poon and a team of UGA researchers found potential characteristics of expert survivors in dietary, health, and health habits, use of intelligence and problem-solving skills, personality traits, coping skills, and support systems necessary to live successfully to 100 years.
NSF awards $8.7M for plant research
As GM was going to press, the National Science Foundation awarded UGA three grants—totalling $8.7 million over four years—for plant research. The recipients are Andrew Paterson (crop and soil science/$3.97M) to study the genetics of sorghum, Lee Pratt (botany/$3.6M) for a separate project on sorghum, and Peggy Ozias-Akins (horticulture/$1.1M) to continue her research on grass family genetics.
Their research aims to decipher the genetic blueprint of economically important crops and identify useful genes for crop improvement, such as ones that confer drought tolerance. Sorghum, for example, is the world's fifth-most important cereal crop. It ranks second among feed grains with an annual value of $1.5 billion in the U.S. alone.
Private fundraising total is 2nd highest
$54.4M!
New gifts and pledges from private sources to support academic and athletic programs at the University totalled $54.4 million last fiscal year—the second-largest total of new gifts and commitments UGA has ever received from private sources in one year.
The total includes a record $7.1 million contributed through the Georgia Fund program. About $20 million of the total is in the form of new pledges, which rose by more than 100 percent over the previous year.
The $54,447,492 in new gifts and pledges for FY01 is 13 percent higher than the FY00 total of $48,312,693—and second only to the $58.9 million received in FY97, when a single donor left a $25 million bequest.
Chuck D, formerly of rap group Public Enemy, has been on the lecture circuit for 13 years. He spoke at the Tate Center on Oct. 2.
Jim Miller (BBA '64), former budget director for President Reagan and former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, gave the David Wright Lecture on Sept. 19.