USG News
Statement by Chancellor Huckaby on Review at GRU
Below is the statement by University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby regarding a review conducted at the request of Georgia Regents University President Riccardo Azziz.
“We have received the report and accept the findings. I appreciate the work that has been done and am satisfied that Georgia Regents University’s action plan will address the issues identified. Dr. Azziz and the GRU community have our support and we will continue to provide appropriate oversight.”
The full review can be accessed at: http://www.usg.edu/docs/FINAL_REPORT_GRU_SPECIAL_REVIEW_RESPONSE.pdf
Statement on $66 Million Gift to MCG Foundation
ATLANTA – The Medical College of Georgia Foundation is the recipient of a $66 million gift from the estate and foundation of the late Dr. J. Harold Harrison. The gift from the estate and private foundation of the MCG alumnus and foundation board member was announced on April 27.
As reported by the MCG Foundation, the gift will support student scholarships and endowed faculty chairs at the Medical College of Georgia, part of Georgia Regents University.
Board of Regents Chairman “Dink” NeSmith said, “As we seek to create a more educated and a more healthy Georgia, a major gift such as this will have a transformative effect upon our ability to serve our students and the state. We are deeply indebted to the Harrison family for their generosity.”
University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby said, “This is a remarkable gift from a dedicated individual. Dr. Harrison gave of his time, talent and resources to his alma mater. On behalf of the University System of Georgia, we are deeply appreciative of this record gift. I am confident that the institution will develop and use the funds wisely and well to benefit students and the faculty who educate and train them in the health sciences.”
“Dr. Harrison has invested in the future of this medical school. He has invested in our students and in our faculty. His gift will transform not just our university and our medical school, but Georgia and the nation,” said GRU President Ricardo Azziz.
The text of the news release issued by the MCG Foundation can be viewed at: http://www.mcgfoundation.org/index-2.html
Aloia Named President of the College of Coastal Georgia
Dr. Gregory F. Aloia, president of Concord University in Athens, West Virginia, was named today as the fifth president of the College of Coastal Georgia by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
Aloia will assume his new post on July 1, 2013, according to Board of Regents Chair “Dink” NeSmith.
“We are delighted that Dr. Gregory Aloia will be taking over leadership at the College of Coastal Georgia,” NeSmith said. “Under the leadership of president Valerie Hepburn, the college has undergone a major transformation in recent years and stands poised to begin a new chapter in its history.”
“The campus search committee worked diligently to identify quality candidates to be considered by the Board of Regents and they are to be commended,” said USG Chancellor Hank Huckaby. “The Board and I are excited about the leadership skills Dr. Aloia brings to the dynamic and growing institution that the College of Coastal Georgia is today.”
Aloia has served as president of Concord University since 2008. Prior to that, Aloia served as dean of the College of Education and professor of special education at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton from 2001 – 2008.
In more than a decade of service at Illinois State University in Normal, Dr. Aloia was a professor of special education and served as associate vice president for research and dean of Graduate Studies. Before Illinois State, he served as Chair of the Department of Special Education at the State University College in Geneseo, New York from 1984 – 1990.
Aloia has extensive experience in the field of education including professorships at universities including Arkansas State University and the University of Arizona. He also taught at and served as chair of the Department of Special Education at Los Molinos High School (Los Molinos, CA). Additionally, he was an Educational Specialist at the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped, United States Office of Education, Washington, D.C. Early in his career he was the director and a teacher at the largest private youth center in California, Boys Town of the Desert in Beaumont.
Aloia holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside in special education, his teaching credential from San Francisco State University and a bachelor’s in History from St. Mary’s College (Moraga, CA).
Recommendations Received for College of Coastal Georgia Presidency
Board of Regents Chair “Dink” NeSmith and University System of Georgia (USG) Chancellor Hank Huckaby have announced the names of the three finalists for the College of Coastal Georgia presidency.
A national search was launched to replace College of Coastal Georgia President Valerie Hepburn, who will serve through June 2013 before stepping down. Dr. Hepburn served the USG in that role since 2008.
The recommended finalists are:
Dr. Gregory F. Aloia, president, Concord University (Athens, WV) from 2008. Prior to his current appointment, Aloia served as dean of the College of Education and professor of special education at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Aloia was a professor of special education at Illinois State University in Normal. In his time at there, he also served as associate vice president for research and dean of Graduate Studies. Prior to Illinois State, Aloia held professorships at a number of other universities.
Aloia holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside in special education, his teaching credential from San Francisco State University and a bachelor’s in History from St. Mary’s College (Moraga, CA).
Dr. Robert Edwin McGehee, Jr., Professor of Pediatrics in the College of Medicine and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). He concurrently serves as the executive director of the Arkansas Biosciences Institute, (Little Rock, AR) from 2007. He joined the UAMS faculty in 1993 and was appointed dean of the Graduate School in 2004. He has joint appointments in the Department of Physiology/Biophysics and the Department of Pathology. He has also served on the Dean’s Council at the University of Arkansas Clinton School. In his long association with UAMS, McGehee’s research efforts on the mechanisms of obesity and type 2 diabetes have been continually funded by the National Institutes of Health.
McGehee completed postgraduate studies in molecular endocrinology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He earned his Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock; a B.S.E. in Biology from the University of Arkansas in Pine Bluff and completed his early undergraduate studies at the University of Arkansas in Conway.
Dr. Beth L. Weatherby, provost and vice president for academic and student affairs, Southwest Minnesota State University (Marshall, MN) from 2007. Weatherby served as Dean of Arts, Letters & Sciences from 2004 – 2007 at Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU). She served as interim in that role for two years before her permanent appointment. In her long association with SMSU, Weatherby has served as professor of English and director of creative writing as well as co-founder of the Women’s Studies Program. She has fostered the growth of programs as varied as Environmental Science, Exercise Science, Culinology (a marriage of culinary arts and food science), Hospitality, Creative Writing and the Fine Arts, Agriculture and Nursing, and guided the creation of SMSU’s outcome-based Liberal Education Program.
Weatherby received her Doctor of Arts in English, Creative Writing from the University at Albany (Albany, NY) and a bachelor’s in Journalism from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL).
The Board of Regents is expected to name the next president of the College of Coastal Georgia at a future meeting.
Tuition Up Just 2.5 Percent on Most University System Campuses
Regents Hold Tuition Increase at Same Level for Second Consecutive Year
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents is holding the line on tuition increases, keeping the percentage increase at the same level as it approved last year. Today the governing body approved a tuition increase of just 2.5 percent for in-state, undergraduate students at 27 University System of Georgia colleges and universities.
When approved last year, this percentage increase was the lowest in a decade. Likewise, students attending the University of Georgia and Georgia State University will see the same percentage increase as in fall 2012, of 5 and 3.5 percent respectively. Students at Georgia Tech will see a 7 percent increase in tuition this fall, while those attending Georgia Regents University will see a 3.5 percent increase.
The dollar increase in tuition will range from a low of $32 to a high of $270 per semester.
“In determining tuition rates for the upcoming academic year, affordability was the regents’ primary concern,” said John Brown, vice chancellor for Fiscal Affairs, in presenting the tuition strategy to the Board during its meeting in Savannah. “Our ability to maintain a low percentage increase reflects a serious commitment by the Board to minimize the financial impact on our students.”
The higher percentage increases for the four research universities reflect the regents’ goal of keeping these institutions competitive on a national level by ensuring they have the resources required to offer high quality programs. Georgia is one of only five states with two or more institutions in U.S. News & World Report’s current rankings of the top 25 public universities; Georgia Tech at 7th and UGA at 23rd.
“The Board is extremely concerned about the cost of college and ensuring Georgians have access to our institutions,” said Chancellor Hank Huckaby. “In addition, as we work to achieve our ambitious Complete College Georgia goals of an additional 250,000 college graduates, we must do everything possible to ensure that the cost to attend college is not a barrier. This small increase helps students and parents financially while ensuring we can continue to provide a quality college education.”
The tuition rates approved today by the regents maintain the current tuition balance of state funding covering 50 percent of the cost of instruction and tuition the remaining 50 percent, said Brown. “The 2.5 percent increase also keeps pace with the 2.2 percent inflation rate,” he said.
The small percentage increase was made possible, Huckaby said, because of the strong budget support provided to the USG by Gov. Nathan Deal and the General Assembly in the fiscal year 2014 budget. “We received $63 million in new formula funds to support our enrollment growth,” said Huckaby “This is critical to our efforts to minimize tuition increases for students and we appreciate the support.”
Sixteen USG institutions submitted to the regents 32 mandatory student fee requests for approval. The Board approved 25 of the 32 mandatory student fee requests. Brown said that fee requests from institutions are carefully reviewed, limiting increases to those that demonstrate a clear business need.
The regents also approved a University System FY14 budget totaling $1.883 billion in state appropriations, a net increase in state funding of $54.6 million, or 2.98 percent after formula increases and a three percent mandated reduction.
As part of this budget, the General Assembly approved funds to support the System’s efforts in meeting some key state needs, including $5 million to support Georgia Health Sciences University’s efforts to boost cancer research and $2.075 million to expand residency slots statewide for physician training.
The USG’s FY14 budget also includes construction projects funded by the state. The $315.1 million capital budget provides funding for equipment for new buildings, construction and maintenance, repair and renovation (MRR) of existing buildings.
Seven new facilities will receive $24.9 million for equipment; four major construction projects total $133.6 million in funding; eighteen smaller projects will be built for $61.9 million; other projects and MRR will receive $86.1 million and the Georgia Public Libraries will receive $8.5 million.
For a complete list of the FY14 tuition rates and fees, visit: http://www.usg.edu/fiscal_affairs/tuition_and_fees
For a complete list of the FY14 capital projects, visit: http://www.usg.edu/facilities/capital_budget_requests
Desire2Learn Learning Management System Helps Students Manage College Classes
One of the biggest challenges college students face is juggling classes, assignments and projects while getting the help and assistance needed to be sucessful academically and earn that degree.
Class organization and management is now easier for University System of Georgia students, thanks to a new online tool called the Desire2Learn (D2L) Learning Mangament System (LMS). Since the USG first began to make the technology available in May 2012, the program has rolled out to 29 USG colleges and universities.
Dr. Dee McKinney, associate professor of education and history at East Georgia State College in Swainsboro was one of the USG’s first faculty members to test D2L. “Desire2Learn was a bit more user-friendly [than the previous learning management system]. It did everything I wanted it to do… And I thought the students would like it a lot because the structure itself resembles Facebook or MySpace,” she said.
“Desire2Learn helps us in our work to increase college completion rates as part of the Complete College Georgia initiative,” said USG Vice Chancellor of Information Technology Services and Chief Information Officer Curt Carver.
“This is so because the software encourages greater student engagement and ownership of their academic experience, and we know from data that greater student involvement leads to increased success rates in terms of academic performance and ultimately graduation.”
Increasing student engagement will help the University System in efforts to graduate more students and at a lower cost to the students, their families and the taxpayers of Georgia, Carver said.
The D2L learning management system works by providing students with a centralized location on the Web to access all of their courses and materials. Faculty and students can use the system in traditional classroom settings, hybrid courses and online classes.
All students, regardless of what USG institution they attend, use the same LMS, which allows students to transfer between USG institutions without having to learn another LMS. Content on the system is acessed for free, is accessible to those with disabilities and available via mobile devices using Android and iOS operating systems.
In addition, Carver said that looking ahead, the technology has the potentional to support one of the hottest new developments in higher education: massive open online courses, or MOOCs.
D2L currently offers more than 160,000 courses to more than 314,000 students throughout the USG. D2L is hosted on the PeachNet® private cloud, which saves Georgia’s taxpayers $1.5 million annually compared to the cost for each institution to enter into contracts to host D2L separately. Licensing the software as a system also creates a savings of more than $2.2 million to the state.
The costs savings extends to other state educational agencies as well. Georgia’s other education agencies may use the same contract to provide services to their students. Gwinnett County and Colquitt County Public Schools currently uses D2L.
Desire2Learn, located in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, provides Cloud-based (SaaS) learning solutions to learners in higher education, K-12, healthcare, government and the corporate sector. Other institutions of higher learning using D2L include The Ohio State University, San Jose State University, Pennyslvania State System of Higher Education and Southern Regional Education Board (SREB).