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Can Georgia’s colleges maintain status as ax falls?

5:47 pm August 12, 2009, by Maureen Downey

When I read today that our 35 public colleges and universities could eliminate hundreds of courses, I worry.  Clearly, some students will take longer to graduate if mandated courses are not offered as often.

Given that possibility, should the Legislature revisit the credit caps now on the HOPE Scholarship? In the past, lawmakers have decried students adopting a leisurely path to graduation, but now it would be the state impeding students’ road to a timely graduation.

Because of the continuing recession, the University System of Georgia asked the state’s public colleges and universities to outline how they would make even deeper cuts. Most campuses cited furloughs, staff reductions and bigger and fewer classes.
Here are the possible scenarios under three levels of reductions, cutting 4, 6 or 8 percent, at UGA, Georgia Tech and Georgia State. None bodes well for students or for the reputation of higher education in the state.

University of Georgia
4 percent: Eliminate 206 open positions. Eliminate 352 of the more than 10,000 course sections. Reduce travel budgets by about $448,000 out of a $2 million base.
6 percent: Eliminate 370 positions, including 136 layoffs, three of which would be faculty members. Eliminate 623 course sections. Cut travel budget by about $919,000.
8 percent: Eliminate 623 positions, including 229 layoffs, of which 10 would be faculty. Eliminate 877 course sections. Cut travel budget by $962,000.

Georgia Tech
4 percent: Eliminate 30 open positions. Cut spending for library and reduce travel.
6 percent: Lay off about 55 people. Eliminate another 25 vacant positions.
8 percent: Lay off 32 people, including 12 faculty, bringing total to 87. Steeper cuts for library acquisitions. Eliminate another 25 vacant positions, bringing total to 80.

Georgia State
4 percent: Furlough all employees for six days. Deans, vice presidents and the college president would take 12 unpaid days. Eliminate 18 positions, cut travel and reduce library hours.
6 percent: Increase furloughs to eight days. Eliminate 62 positions and lay off 10 people. Charge students to use facilities on weekends.
8 percent: Furlough days increase to 10. Eliminate 117 jobs  and charge students to use facilities on weekends.

With close to 300,000 students, many about to start classes next week, can Georgia’s public institutions continue to improve and grow?

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27 comments Add your comment

ScienceTeacher671

August 12th, 2009
8:07 pm

Georgia Southern has raised in-state tuition and fees by $705 per semester, for a full-time undergraduate student, since last year. The cost to take one graduate-level course has increased by $350. I assume, but do not know for sure, that other state colleges and universities have made similar increases in their tuition and fees. Multiply that by 300,000 students, and it starts to add up.

Where’s the money going?

teacher and parent

August 12th, 2009
9:59 pm

Kennesaw is funding its new dining hall by having all incoming freshman buy meal plans – even if they are commuter students. Fees have gone up and HOPE does not cover it all. Certain classes were already hard to ge – I’m sure it’s going to get worset…welcome to the new economy. What are you going to do?

Lee

August 12th, 2009
11:11 pm

Everyone is commenting about bank failures. I like to point out 25 years ago, my small hometown had two banks. Today, it has 8. Neither the population nor income levels have increased 400% during that time. If a couple of the banks close down, it is no big deal, IMHO.

The same can be said of some of the college offerings. Colleges have been spending like drunken sailors on shore leave ever since the advent of HOPE. They have every touchy, feely course known to man. You would think that all those Phd types could put together a proforma budget and realize the good times would not last forever and, I don’t know, PLAN ACCORDINGLY.

Michael

August 13th, 2009
6:45 am

Lee is correct in this assessment.

free

August 13th, 2009
7:43 am

Georgia Tech is furloughing about 6 days also. Sonny, don’t let the door hit ya!

jamlock

August 13th, 2009
7:46 am

Here is mmy proforma budget plan….for each furlough day I am required to take (non-instructional days), I will take one Instructional day off as well. This will cost your child in the end. Tell me I can’t….cough, cough….guess I’ll have the blue flu that day. As for putting a “floor” on furlough’s, I’m not a socialist. Can’t really see why my hard work and effort to become what I am should be penalized while someone else’s laziness and lack of effort to advance is rewarded.

SafetyGuy

August 13th, 2009
8:14 am

The landscape of higher education has changed drastically over the past 15 years. Institutions are continuously elevating their programs and facilities to compete within GA as well as nationally. Higher Ed in GA has been under a microscope. That’s a positive measure in a sense. Education in GA has definitely been on the rise national. I would rather invest my dollars in their coffers rather than corrections. Let’s stop being so critical of higher ed. Every agency has taken their share of budget cuts. Let’s provide the best education for our citizens to bring high paying jobs to our state.

2cents

August 13th, 2009
8:20 am

Lee, you are obviously misinformed (at best). The classes being cut are basic introductory courses that all students need to graduate. It would be interesting to know what you mean by “touchy, feely”. And can you cite any cases of frivolous spending? Get your facts straight before publishing this sort of incendiary nonsense.

TaxesPayforThisStuff

August 13th, 2009
8:33 am

Lee said “.. realize the good times would not last forever and, I don’t know, PLAN ACCORDINGLY.”

Good point. But shouldn’t the government also plan accordingly by keeping some of the taxes it collects in GOOD TIMES to cushion these BAD TIMES we are living through now? Instead we cheer to cut, cut, cut taxes in the good times and now cry throughout the bad.

Steve

August 13th, 2009
8:46 am

It irritates me that the solution is to lay off people and change library hours but GSU adds a football program that will surely be a money pit.

The libraries at GSU have turned into social computer labs. Why don’t they save money by doing things like turning computers off or letting them power down when not being used? People could actually use the libraries as libraries then. The money freed up could save at least one person’s job easily.

motherjanegoose

August 13th, 2009
9:01 am

I continue to enjoy the dialogue on this blog. I feel like I am swimming upstream as many of you causing me to think in depth. Thanks for the challenge.

I am an educator by profession but I am now self employed and have been for 12 years. I have been invited to every state except Montana. I have my own educational consulting business and have taken a hit this summer, like many businesses, due to the economy.

As a consultant ( my choice and I enjoy it), I only get paid when I work. This seems obvious but those have always worked for someone else tell me how lucky I am to only be working 35 or so weeks per year : my choice and I do work my tail off then….sometimes 7 days a week with travel. I remind them that they too could probably take a few weeks off without pay. WHAT??? Often even extremely bright people in and out of academia do not understand the ebb and flow of business, compensation, supply and demand. They have been hyper focused in their educational arena and are experts there…should be too. Small business owners ( and smaller banks Lee) may get this.
Perhaps small colleges too?

Each week, I have discussed with my children ( 17 and 22) how every little blip in the economy makes a ripple. This nose dive is having a much bigger effect and some are surprised? After 911, I heard many say, ” I do not care what happens to the airlines…I never fly..” whew…now that is brilliant…what about all those who do need to fly for national and international negotiations, marketing, product review, seminars and health care issues. Are you prepared to forgo all the knowledge that will be diminished…i.e. when you need a cutting edge product or surgery?
Or will you whine when it is too late.

Unfortunately, we are in this together. I am not saying that there has not been waste in school district but the furlough days that teachers have taken do not compare to the $$ I lost this summer.I had to suck it up and just move on. It probably saved a few teacher’s jobs when schools forwent district staff development and did not hire anyone from the outside. Things are looking much better for the next 9 months. My husband also took pay cuts ( at his place of employment) to keep others employed. This happened over 5 years ago and he is just now leveling out to where he would have been then.

Sometimes folks squawk only when it hits their own pocketbook.

I am also tired of those who rag on GA schools and thank safety guy. It was very competitive to get into UGA 4 years ago when my son went and I am not sure that my daughter will be able to get in next fall. We did not attend college here but have been told that it used to be a cakewalk to get in.

Not sure what the answer is but I will check back in to see if anyone is up to the challenge….have a super day. I am not being paid until September and trying to enjoy the time I have off….hahaha!

motherjanegoose

August 13th, 2009
9:24 am

maureen….my comment evaporated….perhaps it was not a good one?

mdowney

August 13th, 2009
9:49 am

motherjanegoose: Your comment – which was wonderful – is up. The filter sometimes snares long comments. I only took over the blog last week and I am still not clear on why comments get caught. But I check the filter at least hourly and often more, so the comments will show up.

2cents

August 13th, 2009
10:33 am

When considering pay-cuts and furloughs in education, it is important to remember that colleges and universities recruit nationally, and also that the labor market in higher education is extremely mobile. Professors will go where they are offered the most money and best working conditions (smaller class sizes, better funding for research, lower course-load). States that can offer better terms than GA will be able to recruit and retain better educators. More talented, better supported educators = a better academic experience for students and a greater probability that they will finish college.

It is common knowledge that college graduates earn higher salaries than those who do not finish college. Higher salaries = more tax revenue for the state, so, rather than being a drain on GA’s economy, our institutions of higher education make an essential contribution to it. Make deep cuts in education and the state economy will suffer in the short and long-term.

motherjanegoose

August 13th, 2009
11:09 am

@ 2 cents…which is why I embrace the idea of ANYONE who wants to go to college can get some sort of funding. I am talking for basic local colleges.

Not everyone is college material but if assistance was offered just for 2 year colleges, would that not give us a broader tax base with moee competitive salaries and skilled employees? Even technical schools. I worked my way through college and managed $3.00-$5.00 per hour at Wal Mart but that was 30 years ago.

I do agree that money plays a roll in recruiting…I too enjoy working for those who are not stingy.
The folks we try to offer me the least often tend to be the most difficult to work with.

motherjanegoose

August 13th, 2009
11:43 am

ooops…assistance WERE offered…sorry…
5th line more
11th line who

Have fun and sorry for the crazy typos….

DB

August 13th, 2009
12:01 pm

North Carolina tells students that they will charge DOUBLE the tuition if a kid goes over 140 credit hours. (120 is required to graduate). Ouch. That does tend to discourage the ones that are on the 6 and 7 year plan . . . ! We’re still not sure how AP credit figures into that — my son started with almost 30 hours of credit, I’d hate to think they’d institute the double-tuition for his senior year. I think it’s interesting that the positions being eliminated are, by and large, NOT faculty, except in a few instances. So would that be positions like resident advisors, maintenance workers, etc.?

xnxnxnx

August 13th, 2009
1:03 pm

There are plenty of unemployed PhD’s out there anxious for work, so if professors leave GA for other states with better economic conditions (after all there are SOOOOOO MANY of those right now) then I don’t think we need worry there will be noone left to fill the vacancies. As for the comment that “better” educators will leave–I can only say phooey!

The reality is there are plenty of sorry educators working in GA colleges and plenty of really wonderful educators working as well, but there are also plenty of great educators working part time at McDonald’s at night and teaching part time one or two classes a semester. If the “better educators” leave, they will be replaced–some by great educators, some by new educators who will one day be great–but they will certainly be replaced by someone with a better attitude who is grateful to have a great job, with excellent benefits, time for research (on GA’s dime) and a classroom of his or her own.

As for the “better educators” who leave GA collegs now because of this economy, I say good riddance. Good luck finding a better deal elsewhere until the recession turns around.

motherjanegoose

August 13th, 2009
1:27 pm

xnxnxnx….good points and not to mention the moderate climate in GA and mostly lower cost of living. I was in northern MN this past March and spoke at a college. The folks there were so wonderful and sweet but I would NOT consider moving up there as it was 24 BELOW zero and this was the actual temperature…not the wind chill. BRRRR.
I do imagine that it is BEAUTIFUL there now. $5000 more per year may not be worth fighting the cold winters…who knows. THEY would simply melt in our Atlanta heat today!

2cents

August 13th, 2009
3:52 pm

To xnxnxnx: It might not be the best recruitment strategy to rely on state patriotism and desperate PhDs who have been unable to find a job elsewhere. If we want the best talent in our universities, we have to offer real incentives. If, on the other hand, we’ll settle for mediocrity, GA will continue to lag behind. Universities don’t simply hire the first person that walks in off the street to fill their positions. There is a competitive, national search process. And teaching at a university isn’t like flipping burgers. Having a PhD doesn’t mean someone is an excellent teacher or researcher, and s/he doesn’t just magically become one. It takes talent as well as years of training and experience.

It’s true that the weather is a draw, but it can only enhance what GA has to offer, not serve as the base. Most academics look at the nature of the position first when considering job opportunities.

Ron

August 13th, 2009
9:17 pm

I go to SPSU, I’ve been reading the article. I’m a junior and have 2 years to graduate, and receive financial aid which include pell and federal loans. Do any of you think that they will cut financial aid programs down so much as to keep people from graduating in the up coming years?

xnxnxnx

August 14th, 2009
10:20 am

I think most of us who have spent more than one semester in college know that, as you say, “having a PhD doesn’t mean someone is an excellent teacher or researcher,” but on the other hand, we also know that being employed as a bonafide professor “doesn’t mean someone is an excellent teacher or researcher” either.

The fact is, there is a huge pool of highly intelligent, enthusiastic, unemployed and underemployed academics out there to draw on if professors decide to leave GA, and there is no reason to believe that because these PhDs are underemployed and/or young and inexperienced doesn’t mean they represent mediocrity. We were all young and inexperienced once.

I think GA will be fine without the few professors who decide to leave in a snit because they have been asked to help GA make it through this pretty major economic downturn by taking a few days of furlough along with every other state employee. If you want to pretend that those professors are irreplaceable or somehow of such incredible value to the state that they should be exempt from the furloughs for fear we will lose them, well, go ahead and be silly. The rest of us are unimpressed. It sounds to me like you might be one of these disgruntled primadonnas. If you are, and you want to leave, please go. We’ll be fine.

mdowney

August 14th, 2009
10:44 am

Ron, I think federal financial aid will not decrease. However, what will make a timely graduation more difficult will be the cutbacks to the number of classes offered at any one time. Students may have to stay longer in school to get all their required courses.

Tom

August 14th, 2009
11:42 am

Georgia colleges and universities aren’t the only systems suffering. This is a nationwide problem and its not all because of the economy. Higher ed spending has been out of control for a while now. In any case, I don’t think we will be losing very many excellent employees to other systems any time soon. The systems in other states are having their own budget crisis, including furloughs and lay offs–those nationwide opportunities 2cents speaks of, are to be blunt, just not out there.

If anything, the folks in Georgia’s system might want to up their game for while, cause it looks like there might be some recently laid off competition coming our way from some excellent higher ed systems who are worse off than we are.

Here are some links:
CSU, the largest U.S. four-year university system with 450,000 students, plans to cut enrollment by 40,000 over the next two years. Nearly all 47,000 employees have agreed to take furloughs two days per month, and fees for in-state undergraduates will rise 32 percent to $4,827 a year. http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/ap/52537182.html

Syracuse University budget cuts costs, freezes many salaries. by Nancy Cole / The Post-Standard. Wednesday March 04, 2009, 6:24 AM. What’s new …
http://www.syracuse.com/…/syracuse_university_budget_cut.html

Arizona State University – Budget cuts
Feb 10, 2009 … No university, no public institution, no corporation, no individual can sustain the drastic budget cuts we have taken without reducing its …www.asu.edu/budgetcuts/

Trustees approve budget cuts to safeguard strength of Cornell. http://www.cornell.edu/president/statements/2009/20090125-fy2009-budget.cfm

Chancellor Holden Thorp has UNC to prepare for a $60 million cut to University funding. http://universityrelations.unc.edu/budget/documents/2009/campusbudgetupdate070109.pdf

UVA braces for additional budget cuts up to $19 million

Casteen says layoffs only “after all rational and all other remedies have failed”
http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=141404064432695&ShowArticle_ID=11801307090442022

mdowney

August 14th, 2009
2:20 pm

Teacher and parent, I am surprised to learn the KSU is forcing a meal plan onto commuting freshmen, but the school Web site shows a $355 per semester charge. I am letting newsside know this as a reporter is doing a story on the new dining hall. Thanks for the information, Maureen

teacher and parent

August 14th, 2009
7:22 pm

https://financialservices.kennesaw.edu/culinary/mealplans

Maureen – here’s a link to the meal plan info. It calls them “mandatory” and has a separate line for commuting students. My daughter just graduated from there, and my son is about to start – she told him and he told me, and I just didn’t believe it until I saw it with my own two eyes!

teacher and parent

August 14th, 2009
11:47 pm

And, did we see the articles about those from abroad working with HB1 visas will NOT be furloughed? Hmm…I guess I’ll tell my son to sign up for classes taught by professors with foreign-sounding names…

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