Universities can use more lecturers for undergraduate courses

ATLANTA - The Board of Regents agreed Wednesday to allow its universities to use more non-tenured lecturers for undergraduate teaching chores, but Chancellor Tom Meredith said that won&#39;t reduce the quality of instruction. <br> <br> Meredith said their credentials will stand up with any. He said there&#39;s a lot of talent that needs to be utilized in the classroom. <br> <br> Meredith added, ``This gives us the opportunity to do that in a different way.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Currently, the state&#39;s research and regional universities can use lecturers for up to two percent of faculty equivalent jobs. The new board policy allows them to be used for up to ten percent of the positions and expands their use to the remaining state universities. <br> <br> Also Wednesday, the board gave the go-ahead for an initiative that will allow the university system to offer four-year degree courses to students with no easy access to a four-year college. <br> <br> Through a variety of cooperative ventures, several four-year schools will offer full degree programs at two-year campuses. Albany State University, for example, will offer an education degree at Bainbridge College, a two-year school. <br> <br> The program is being financed through a special $1.9 million appropriation.