DAHLONEGA - Add North Georgia College & State University (NGCSU) in Dahlonega to those public colleges and universities around the state that ae having to absorb additional and unexpected budget reductions in the current fiscal year.
The University System of Georgia's budget has been slashed by $382 million since late 2001. Now, with $68.7 additional costs to the USG
mandated by the Office of Planning and Budget to balance the state's budget, North Georgia, one of 34 public educational institutions in the state system, must deal with an additional budget reduction of $781,961.
The university's cumulative budget cuts for FY 2005 total $3,716,379, counting previous hits since this year's budget was established just
over a year ago. Cumulative cuts for North Georgia's last fiscal year, 2004, totaled $4,479,808.
NGCSU President Nathaniel Hansford remains optimistic about the ability of faculty and staff to deal with the cuts and maintain the
university's growth and momentum, despite no pay raises in FY 04 and a 2 percent pay raise delayed six months in FY 05.
"Our intention is to proceed with caution as we evaluate personnel, i.e., faculty and staff, positions," said Hansford. "We certainly
will not be able to fill all vacancies when faculty and staff leave or retire. We may be forced to eliminate positions. These cuts will be painful and negatively impact our ability to continue to offer the highest quality education."
The president stressed his intention to retain personnel in order to maintain the university's quality and to fulfill its educational mission to the region and state. Other NGCSU administrators voiced concerns regarding the cuts.
Dr. Thomas Fox, dean of Natural & Health Sciences, said: "We are forced to hire large numbers of part-time faculty and this increases the workload of full time faculty. The budget for professional development
has not increased to keep pace with increasing costs. We were forced to initiate lab fees to help cover the rapidly increasing cost of lab
supplies and equipment maintenance. Class sizes are larger, so students
cannot receive all the attention they used to get."
Fox added: "Salary stagnation is causing us to lose good people - especially staff. Maintenance, repair and renovation budget cuts mean that building maintenance suffers, ultimately resulting in deterioration
of the learning environment and of morale."
Dr. Donna Gessell, director of Graduate Studies & External Programs, said: "Without adequate faculty positions, we are unable to provide the infrastructure necessary for meeting our area's needs, including
undergraduate and graduate programs, both on and off campus. For instance, with adequate funding, we could hire faculty and double the
number of Education Specialist graduate students, accommodating all of the qualified applications we received for the '04 cohort. As it is, we could only accommodate half of those who were qualified. The resulting deficit goes beyond NGCSU, negatively impacting P-12 education and its need for qualified leaders."
Dr. Linda Roberts-Betsch, NGCSU interim vice president for Academic Affairs said: "Budget cuts are forcing NGCSU to increase class size,
to assign some faculty to teach an overload of courses with minimal pay, and to increase the use of part-time faculty. In addition, we cannot order needed technology equipment that would enhance teaching and learning modalities in the classroom. With more students in the
classroom and having to do more with less, many faculty find it very difficult to engage in service and scholarship activities that are
essential to meeting the needs of students and contributing to the knowledge base they need to enhance their classes."
President Hansford said that every effort is being made to keep cuts to a minimum, so they won't be felt so strongly by faculty, staff,
students and the local community, which depends on the university for economic stability.
NGCSU has enrolled a record number of students for the fall term. The unofficial enrollment, as of the end of August, is 4,635
students.
Thursday
May 2nd, 2024
8:58PM
