Distance Education in the USG: Supply and Demand Up Significantly

Student enrollment in online courses offered by the University System of Georgia (USG) has risen 35 percent in just the past year, and the USG’s online offerings have expanded significantly, the Board of Regents learned during an update today on the USG’s distance-education efforts.

In the two years since the launching of Georgia ONmyLINE (GOML) – http://www.georgiaonmyline.org, a searchable catalog of the online courses and programs offered by all 35 USG institutions statewide, the 35 programs and 1,600 courses offered online have now expanded to 169 programs and nearly 2,870 courses, according to Dr. Kris Biesinger, associate vice chancellor for Information and Instructional Technology (OIIT) Services. In addition, she noted the GOML website has been visited by more than 90,000 visitors from 50 states and 140 countries.

The number of students who are taking at least one online course from a USG institution in any given semester now stands at 43,000, a little less than 15 percent of the nearly 300,000 students enrolled at System institutions.

What kind of student turns to a computer rather than showing up in an actual classroom?

“When you think of distance learners, you probably think of someone who works all day, then logs on to their course in the evenings after their children are in bed,” said Dr. Catherine Finnegan, OIIT’s director of online instructional support services and Biesinger’s co-presenter. “You may think that they never have parking problems, have to use the library or meet with a faculty member on campus. But, to be honest, very few distance students take classes exclusively off-campus. In fact, the vast majority are picking up one or two online courses that fit in better with their busy lives or that help them to meet graduation requirements in a more timely fashion.”

Finnegan said the demographics of the USG’s online learners – revealed by a market analysis study conducted earlier this year – are in line with national trends. “More women than men take distance-education courses from the USG,” she said. “Nearly half of all of our online learners are over the age of 24, or non-traditional students, and 31 percent of them are African American. In fact, these courses attract a slightly higher percentage of minority students overall than are in the general USG population.”

Where are these students taking their courses? The analysis shows that the University System’s two-year, access colleges and state universities generate the most distance semester credit hours each year, and the four USG research institutions the least, Finnegan said. Georgia Perimeter College far outstripped any other USG institution, having generated more than 94,500 distance semester credit hours during fiscal year 2009.

In her presentation, Finnegan acknowledged that, “Probably one of the most frequently asked questions about online learning is, ‘is it really quality learning?’” She was able to report that, “In a national study released this past June, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) found that students who took all or part of their instruction online performed better, on average, than those taking the same courses solely through face-to-face instruction. We believe that our USG institutions are making decisions that ensure quality in our online offerings.”

“Distance education is an approach that USG institutions can use to address a number of our strategic goals, such as building enrollment capacity despite constraints on classroom space,” Biesinger said. “And, as the DOE study shows, we don’t have to worry that increasing online courses will lead to a drop in quality. In fact, quality remains equal to or even higher than traditional classroom instruction.

“As our enrollment growth in the University System continues to climb, we must be creative so that we can continue to serve our traditional student populations while being aggressive in serving currently underserved populations,” Biesinger said in summary. “USG institutions need to fully recognize the importance of delivering education in multiple formats and increase the integration of distance learning into their curricula.”

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Regents Approve FY11 Budget Request, FY10 Reduction Plans

The Board of Regents yesterday approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 budget request for the University System of Georgia (USG) that includes dollars to support new students as well as the regents’ strategic thrust to expand medical education. The budget request totals $2.2 billion, a 6.8 percent increase, or $140.7 million, over the original FY 2010 base budget of $2.08 billion. Separately from the request for new dollars, the board also took action to approve measures to meet ongoing budget reductions, including employee furloughs and changes to employee health benefit plans.

The regents also approved a FY11 capital budget request of $275.6 million, which includes $19.7 million in equipment for six new facilities, $6.5 million in infrastructure needs for two facilities, $157.9 million in new construction or renovation for 10 projects designed and ready to be built, $68.9 million in both design and construction funds for seven projects, and $22.6 million for the design only of 11 projects.

The capital request also includes $75 million in funds for major repair and rehabilitation of existing System facilities.

“We are working to serve a significant and ongoing increase in student enrollment with a financial resource base that is certainly not keeping up with the growth in our student population,” said Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. “Our challenge is premised on the fact that Georgia will need all of the college graduates we can produce – and more. Georgia will need everyone it can find with the education to move this state forward and continue its economic vitality and growth.”

The board’s approval of changes in employee health benefit programs and mandatory employee furloughs were necessary, according to USG officials, to help meet a five percent withholding by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (OPB) of the System’s FY10 state cash allotments, which totals $115 million.

Along with all other state agencies, the USG was instructed by OPB to include with its budget request three reduction plans of four, six and eight percent. The three reduction plans, which include the three mandatory furlough days, total $94 million at the four percent level, $134 million at the six percent level and $176 million at the eight percent level.

Looking in detail at the FY11 budget request, the regents approved a request for $140.7 million in new dollars. This includes $107.8 million for student enrollment increases in fall 2008, $5.7 million in funds for the operation of new building space in the system, $21.3 million for increases in the employer share of health insurance premiums, $4.4 million in benefit costs for USG retirees, $900,000 to continue the Regents’ continued two-year-old effort to expand medical education, and $625,000 in new dollars for the Georgia Public Library Service.

Vice Chancellor for Fiscal Affairs Usha Ramachandran said that the increase of $107.8 million in the request is a function of the System’s funding formula, a mathematical formula that factors in student credit hours to arrive at needed state funding to support student instruction. “For the new budget request, the formula increase is based upon an enrollment increase of 5.6 percent, which generated an increase of 398,000 in the number of credit hours students took,” she said.

The new dollars, if recommended by the Governor and approved by the General Assembly, would provide critical state support for these new students. However the new funds are based on fall 2008 enrollment, not the students enrolled in fall 2010, when the funds will be available. “We appreciate the support of the Governor and the General Assembly for the formula funding, and recognize how important it is for us as stewards to be extremely efficient in the use of these dollars,” Ramachandran said.

The System-level reduction plans approved today by the regents spell out how reductions will be accomplished at each of the percentage levels requested by the Governor. While these three plans were approved in concept, the reality of the current five percent withholding of state funds required the board to approve today actions that will take place in the coming months to meet what is a new $115 million reduction in the USG’s FY10 state appropriation.

Therefore, the board approved six mandatory furlough days for faculty and staff. This will affect all 40,000 USG employees, except the lowest paid (annual salary of $23,660 or lower), and is the equivalent of up to a three percent pay cut. These six furlough days will be implemented over the remainder of the FY10 fiscal year, but will, according to Davis, not affect classes or employee retirement plans.

The board also approved changes in health insurance programs affecting almost 5,000 employees enrolled in the USG’s indemnity plan, which will be eliminated. Other changes will encourage retirees to move to Medicare Plan B, seed the high deductible PPO plan to encourage more employees to switch to this plan and make other structural changes in the System’s health insurance plans. These will go into effect this fiscal year.

These two changes – furloughs and health care plans – will generate $43.5 million of the $115 million currently being withheld and are part of the four, six and eight percent reduction plans that will be submitted to OPB. The remaining $71 million of the current $115 million being withheld from the USG will be generated at the institutional level and could include layoffs and new employee furloughs, internal reorganizations, an increased focus on energy conservation and the elimination of low-enrollment programs.

These actions at the system and institutional level will meet the $94 million four percent reduction plan amount.

To reach a six percent reduction level ($134 million) the System will:
Look to institutions to impose additional furloughs, new layoffs of employees, the elimination of positions and other actions institutions can identify to generate savings.

To reach the eight percent reduction level ($175 million) the System will:
In the spring semester of 2010 increase the institutional mandatory fee first implemented in January 2009 by $150 at the four research universities and some comprehensive institutions; by $100 at all other comprehensive four-year institutions; and by $75 at the state and two-year colleges. The changes to the mandatory fees will result in a cumulative total of $250, $175, and $125.
Place a moratorium on other institutional mandatory student fee increases with the exception of public-private venture projects for FY11.

“These are difficult reductions for all,” said Davis. “We are spreading the pain among our employees and withholding the direct financial pain to our students as an absolute, last resort. But we are committed to serving our students – all of our students – with continued high academic quality.”

Ramachandran was joined in presenting the budget recommendations by Linda Daniels, vice chancellor for Facilities, Wayne Guthrie, vice chancellor for Human Resources and Tom Scheer, associate vice chancellor for Life and Health Benefits.

Yesterday’s actions on the FY11 operating and capital budget requests now go to OPB for incorporation into the overall state budget recommendations the Governor will present to the General Assembly in January 2010. Any action regarding reductions at the four, six and eight percent levels will depend upon the final decisions by the Governor and General Assembly.

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College Access Grant Targets Low-Income Families, Returning Adult Students

A College Access Challenge Grant is enabling the University System of Georgia (USG) and its partners to target the two-thirds of adult Georgians who do not hold a college degree. The goal is to galvanize these individuals to change their situation, thereby boosting the state’s economic growth. In an update delivered to members of the Board of Regents today, those responsible for implementing the grant outlined the strategies being used that focus specifically on low-income families as well as people who started but failed to complete work on their college degrees.

“Young people from low-income families are much less likely to graduate from high school, attend college or earn a bachelor’s degree,” said Lynne Weisenbach, a USG vice chancellor. “We know that we can significantly impact key social and economic indicators in Georgia such as median income, life expectancy and even reduce the size of the state’s prison population by boosting the number of residents who hold college degrees, so we are using this funding to target low-income K-12 students and adults with some college but no degree.”

The U.S. Department of Education grant — $2 million per year for up to two years — places the University System in a partnership with the Governor’s Office, community and business groups across the state, as well as the Alliance of Education Agency Heads (AEAH), which collaborates on policies and programs to ensure that all Georgia students receive an excellent education, from pre-K to Ph.D.

Principal Investigator Patricia Paterson described for the regents an effort that includes:

updating, enhancing and expanding access to GAcollege411, a free online resource provided by the state that helps students plan for, apply and pay for college;
promoting an understanding of the benefits and opportunities of postsecondary education to students from low-income families;
staging an annual event, Georgia Apply to College Week, at high schools serving large numbers of students from low-income families;
conducting outreach activities and enhancing programs for adults returning to college;
working to engage chambers of commerce, civic groups, PTAs, graduation coaches, after-school caregivers and others around the state in setting high expectations for and nurturing the aspirations of low-income students; and
boosting participation by low-income students in dual-enrollment courses which allow them to earn college credit while still in high school by providing funds for books and mandatory student fees.

One of the ways in which the University System of Georgia is serving low-income students is through its Early College Initiative, which enables students underserved by higher education to earn up to two years of college credit from USG institutions while completing high school. Just two weeks ago, the charter participants in this initiative, from Atlanta’s Carver Early College, celebrated a 100 percent graduation rate and 100 percent of them have been accepted to at least one college.

Paterson also used the presentation to the regents to announce the creation of an Adult Learning Consortium comprising five USG institutions — Atlanta Metropolitan College, Bainbridge College, Fort Valley State University, Georgia Southwestern State University and Valdosta State University (which will serve as the lead institution). The five campuses have each received $25,000 of the College Access Challenge Grant funds to work together to improve services for adult students returning to college, expand programs that focus on strategic regional workforce needs, test the awarding of credit for learning acquired through life experience and pass on their best practices to the entire University System.

“The Adult Learning Consortium is an exciting new project that focuses on bringing adults back to college,” Paterson told the regents. “There are nearly 1 million Georgians — 22 percent of the workforce — who have earned some college credit, but have no degree to show for it. We have developed strategies that can transform the way we as a University System work with these students, who have complex needs and concerns different from those of our traditional-age students.”

Valdosta State University (VSU) piloted an adult-learning initiative this past year and has successfully experimented with a prior-learning assessment program (PLA). Paterson introduced a VSU freshman, Retired Air Force Master Sgt. Mark Smith, who recently returned to college after a 25-year career in the military and was able to earn credit for what he learned during those years away from the classroom.

“It has always been a goal of mine to go back to college, but while I was working, it was difficult to fit it into my schedule,” Smith said. “Now that I’m free to go back to school, the PLA program has really helped me to expedite my goal of obtaining a degree in psychology. It allows me, as a non-traditional student, to use my training and work experience as it relates to specific courses at VSU, and the counseling I’ve received as part of the assessment process has really benefitted me.”

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Georgia Board of Regents Approve Faculty Contract Modification

The Board of Regents approved a plan today that gives University System of Georgia (USG) presidents the authority to furlough any and all employees, including faculty, should the need arise.

University System officials noted that there are no plans to furlough contract employees in the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2009. The regents’ action provides presidents another tool that could be used in meeting any future budget reductions.

“This gives our presidents the flexibility to make furlough decisions for their respective institutions, if the state revenue situation continues to worsen,” said USG Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr.

Davis noted that the board’s action changes a situation in which one fourth of the University System’s approximately 40,000 employees are excluded by contract from furloughs, but these employees account for approximately one-half of all personnel costs.

“Currently our faculty cannot be furloughed because of legal contracts we sign with them on an annual basis,” Davis said. “The board’s action allows us to insert language into all faculty contracts that clearly outlines that furloughs are a possibility and to which the signer of a contract agrees.”

The specific contract language approved by the regents is: “Notwithstanding any other provision of this contract, for Fiscal Year 2009-2010, the Board of Regents has authorized the president to implement a mandatory furlough program requiring employees to take not more than 10 days of unpaid annual leave. In the event it becomes necessary for the president to exercise this authority, employee furloughs will be implemented in accordance with guidelines promulgated by the Office of the Chancellor.”

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University System of Georgia a National Leader in Increasing Production of Teachers, Especially Minorities

Though much work remains, the University System of Georgia (USG) has made great strides in its efforts to produce teachers to work in Georgia's K-12 schools, according to officials in charge of the System's educator-preparation program. This includes not only graduating more teachers but improving diversity and the retention of teachers in K-12 schools.

During an update today to the Board of Regents' Academic Affairs Committee, Dr. Marti Venn, senior executive director of educator preparation and program improvement in the Department of P-16 Initiatives, reported that the USG produced 4,236 teachers in 2008, an increase of 11 percent over 2007, despite budget constraints. The number of minority teachers in those ranks also increased by 31 percent during the same period.

"These are among the highest such increases in the country," said Venn, who noted that, since 2002, when the Regents' Principles for the Preparation of Educators for the Schools took effect, nearly 25,000 new teachers have rolled off the University System's production line and into classrooms, a 59 percent increase, overall.

But quantity is just part of the teacher-preparation equation. "USG quality translates into more teachers in the classroom, higher retention rates and high customer satisfaction," Venn said. "Teachers prepared by USG institutions are highly sought after – the overwhelming majority of USG-prepared teachers (79 percent in 2007) are hired immediately upon completion of their programs. The two-year retention rate for USG-prepared teachers is 89 percent compared to 76 percent for non-USG graduates. And 98 percent of school administrators hiring our graduates – our customers – would recommend to their peers the USG institution that prepared them."

Referring to the USG's ongoing commitment to meet 80 percent of the state's need for teachers by 2020, Venn said, "Will we meet our goal simply by churning out large numbers of new teachers? Absolutely not. We will use a three-tiered approach to continue to strengthen our efforts to ensure that by the year 2020 there will be sufficient numbers of qualified teachers in the every classroom in Georgia. First, we will continue to ramp up our efforts to recruit and train new teachers; we will provide professional-development opportunities in order to retain good teachers; and we will retrain teachers to meet school needs."

This plan will be accomplished through "the innovative and pioneering work taking place on USG campuses throughout the state and with the help of our K-12 partners and those at the state level – the Department of Education, the Professional Standards Commission and the Student Finance Commission," Venn added.

As Georgia's need for more qualified teachers has grown along with its burgeoning population, the USG has responded by adding new teacher-preparation programs at Dalton State College (2004), Georgia Gwinnett College and Macon State College (2005), Gainesville State College and Gordon College (2006) and the College of Coastal Georgia and Middle Georgia College (2008).

In 2008, 17 USG institutions were involved in preparing educators, and work is under way to add four more to the list. Among the 17 campuses preparing teachers, the percentage of new teachers produced in 2007 working in Georgia public schools in 2008 ranged from 66 percent to 100 percent, and at nine of these campuses, it was greater than 80 percent.

The USG has also responded to Georgia's increased need for teachers by:
increasing its production of minority teachers by 54 percent since 2004. Georgia State University and Albany State University have been so successful that they now rank No. 12 and No. 14 nationally in this regard; and
developing innovative ways of delivering programs, such as offering online master's degrees in teaching through www.GeorgiaONmyLINE.org and "one-stop shopping" for teaching programs and resources at www.destinationteaching.org, which has been heavily used by career-changers considering teaching options.

For more details about the increase in the number of teachers produced and indicators of the quality of these USG graduates, the just-released 2008 Report on the Preparation of New Teachers by University System of Georgia Institutions is posted online at www.usg.edu/p16/resources/PDFs/2008_teacher_prep_report.pdf

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Economic Impact of University System Reaches $12.1 Billion

A newly released report confirms that in the midst of a severe economic downturn, Georgia’s public university system continues to be one of the state’s major economic engines. Together, the 35 institutions of the University System of Georgia (USG) made a $12.1 billion economic impact on the state’s economy during Fiscal Year 2008.

The Selig Center for Economic Growth in the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business analyzed data collected between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008, to calculate the University System’s FY2008 economic impact. This work updates similar studies conducted on behalf of The Intellectual Capital Partnership Program (ICAPP), an initiative of the Board of Regents’ Office of Economic Development. The previous report, based on FY2007 data, placed the USG’s economic impact at $11 billion. The first study in the series calculated the USG’s impact at $7.7 billion in FY1999. The latest $12.1 billion thus is a $4.4 billion increase since FY 1999 – or a growth of 57 percent in the system’s economic impact on Georgia’s communities.

“While our research has consistently shown the important economic contributions public colleges and universities make to communities and the state, this latest study supports the argument that the University System can play an important role in helping Georgia’s economy recover,” said study author Dr. Jeffrey M. Humphreys, director of economic forecasting for the Selig Center. “For each job created on a campus, there are 1.6 jobs that exist off-campus because of spending related to the college or university. These economic impacts demonstrate that continued emphasis on colleges and universities as a pillar of the state’s economy translates into jobs, higher incomes and greater production of goods and services for local households and businesses.”

In addition to the $12.1 billion in total impact generated by the University System in FY2008, the study determined that Georgia’s public higher education system is responsible for 108,405 full- and part-time jobs – 2.6 percent of all the jobs in the state – while approximately 39 percent of these positions are on-campus jobs, a majority – 61 percent – are positions in the private or public sectors that exist because of the presence in the community of USG institutions.
Humphreys’ report quantifies the economic benefits that the University System of Georgia’s institutions convey to the communities in which they are located. He determined that $8 billion (66 percent) of the $12.1 billion in total economic impact was due to initial spending by USG institutions for salaries and fringe benefits, operating supplies and expenses, and other budgeted expenditures, as well as spending by the students who attended the institutions in FY2008.

Re-spending – the multiplier effect of those dollars as they are spent again in the region – accounted for another $4.1 billion (34 percent). Researchers found that, on average, for every dollar of initial spending in a community by a University System institution, an additional 51 cents was generated for the local economy hosting a college or university.

The University System’s largest institution – the University of Georgia (UGA) with 34,180 students – has the single greatest economic impact: $2.2 billion on the Athens-area economy, or 18 percent of the System's total statewide economic impact.

Eight institutions in the metro Atlanta area – Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Clayton State University, Kennesaw State University, Southern Polytechnic State University, Georgia Gwinnett College, Atlanta Metropolitan College and Georgia Perimeter College – accounted for $5 billion of the University System’s $12.1 billion total, and 41,282 jobs.

The study shows that the System’s two regional universities are significant economic players in their host communities. Georgia Southern University had an impact of $506 million on the local economy and an employment impact of 5,470 jobs, while Valdosta State University’s economic impact was $326 million with 3,317 jobs.

In north Georgia, the combined economic impact of North Georgia College & State University and Gainesville State College was $344 million with an employment impact of 3,129 jobs.

The Augusta area receives a substantial economic benefit from the presence of the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) and Augusta State University. Together, these two institutions have a $1.2 billion economic impact on the Augusta economy and produce 10,667 jobs.

The economic impact of two USG institutions in the Savannah area is significant. Together, Armstrong Atlantic State University and Savannah State University pumped $332 million into the Savannah economy and the two institutions produce more than 3,180 jobs.

The University of West Georgia and Columbus State University have a combined economic impact of $570 million and contribute 5,515 jobs to the west Georgia region.

“This report underscores the important role the USG plays not only in higher education but also in the ongoing economic vitality of Georgia,” said Terry Durden, interim assistant vice chancellor of the University System’s Office of Economic Development.

The Selig Center’s research has its limitations – it neither quantifies the many long-term benefits that a higher-education institution imparts to its host community’s economic development nor does it measure intangible benefits, such as cultural opportunities, intellectual stimulation and volunteer work, to local residents. Spending by USG retirees who still live in the host communities and by visitors to USG institutions (such as those attending conferences or athletic events) is not measured, nor are additional sources of income for USG employees, such as consulting work, personal business activities and inheritances.

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USG Consolidates Human Resources and Payroll Through Its Shared Services Center

Beginning in July, most of the University System of Georgia’s (USG) 40,000 employee paychecks will be issued through ADP, a national provider of transaction processing and information-based business solutions. Currently each of the University System’s 35 colleges and universities has separate databases and business processes for human resources and payroll.

This change will be the first of many as the University System moves forward with its Shared Services program, designed to unify and consolidate the System’s separate business functions throughout its colleges and universities. Thirty-two campuses, as well as the University System Office, are included in this initial phase of the Shared Services program. The next phase of the Shared Services program is currently in development.

“We are excited about the progress being made with the human resources and payroll consolidation,” said Usha Ramachandran, vice chancellor for Fiscal Affairs for the USG in an update today to the Board of Regents on Shared Services. “This is an important step as we seek to create a new operational structure that will enable us to become more efficient and effective in processing data and serving both our employees and the state.”

The regents contracted in June 2008 with ADP to consolidate human resources and payroll into a single system that will facilitate paperless processing of time sheets and benefits enrollment for employees, said Ramachandran. The first checks will be issued through the new system on July 17, 2009.

ADP staff will work with the new Shared Services Center director, Clifford Williams, selected to head up the operation based on his background and extensive private sector experience in the human resources and payroll information technology services industry. Williams will have a staff of approximately 15 who will work in the new Shared Services Center, located in Sandersville, Ga.

At a recent open forum held at Macon State University in Macon, 230 USG employees who handle human resources and payroll functions at the campus level were briefed on the Shared Services Center and the human resources and payroll consolidation, which marks Phase I of the Shared Services program. The presentation and questions and answers from the forum as well as numerous resources about the USG Shared Services Center, have been posted on a website found at http://www.usg.edu/sharedservices/ .

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USG Reports $906.5 Million in Extramural Income from Grants and Contracts in FY2008

One of the Board of Regents’ strategic goals is to increase research funding in the University System of Georgia (USG), and a new report shows the System is on track. Extramural funding increased 7.8 percent in Fiscal Year 2008 over the previous fiscal year, to $906,534,509, an increase of $65,914,281.

“This increase is another indication of the importance of continued investment in the research activities of our institutions,” said Dr. Susan Herbst, the USG’s chief academic officer and executive vice chancellor. “During tight budget times, our ability to generate increased funding through research and service missions is even more important to our ability to sustain and strengthen the academic enterprise.”

The rise in the USG’s extramural funding is particularly welcome, Herbst notes, in light of a new report by the National Science Foundation that finds federal spending on research and development has declined in real terms from 2007 to 2008 and that 2008 funds for basic research dropped to the lowest level since 2002 in constant dollars.

Related to the regents’ strategic focus -- strengthening research as well as economic development efforts -- the Board heard two separate reports on research activities and the board’s Intellectual Capital Partnership Program (ICAPP) economic development efforts. The research report, given by Dr. David Lee, vice president for research at the University of Georgia (UGA), highlighted why research is so important and must have continued investment to keep the University System competitive in terms of faculty and attracting funds, which multiply through the regional economy, creating jobs in a host of sectors.

Terry Durden, interim assistant vice chancellor for the board’s office of economic development, reported on the System’s economic development efforts and how those programs benefit the state. ICAPP, housed in the Regents’ Office of Economic Development, created more than 5,000 new jobs in 100 Georgia counties since it began in 1996, Durden noted. ICAPP creates programs to respond to Georgia’s college-educated workforce needs and works with University System institutions and Georgia employers to benefit the state’s economic development by producing college graduates that are in high demand and low supply.

In the extramural funding report, of the $906.5 million, $704,462,546 was for research, $120,447,949 was for public service and $81,624,014 was for instruction. Federal funds made up the greatest portion of the funding for System research income, with 65 percent coming from this source. The state of Georgia was the source of 8 percent of the System’s extramural funding and the non-profit sector accounted for 9 percent of the total. Business and industry provided 12 percent of the funds and other sources combined for the remaining 6 percent.

The report also details extramural income from sales of intellectual property at the five senior institutions in the University System. The FY08 total income from entrepreneurial activities such as inventions, software, copyrights and trademarks was $21,831,205, an increase of $7,354,575, or over 51 percent, over FY07. The five institutions producing this income included the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, the Medical College of Georgia, the University of Georgia and Georgia Southern University.

“Federal funding for research plays a vital role in the System’s extramural funding,” said Dr. Cathie Hudson, the USG’s vice chancellor for research and policy analysis. “The ability of our institutions to attract federal funding shows the quality of our institutions and that the federal government considers the System to be good stewards of taxpayer’s dollars.”

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Regents Hear Presentation on Serving Students with Disabilities

Among the University System of Georgia’s (USG’s) 283,000 student population are more than 9,000 individuals with a variety of learning disabilities that are being assisted through a wide range of special programs. That’s according to a report produced for the University System’s Board of Regents that looked at how learning disabilities were being addressed during Fiscal Year 2007.

Dr. Christopher Lee, director of the USG’s Alternative Media Access Center (AMAC), provided this information in a presentation during the regent’s Feb. meeting. The Center is one member of the network that serves students with disabilities throughout the University System. Other arms of the network consist of campus-based disability student service offices, the Regents’ Centers for Learning Disorders and a recently established AccessText Network.

“Over the last two decades the University System of Georgia invested in system wide initiatives to serve students with disabilities,” Lee said. “An efficient network is now in place and with continued refinement it will be a national customer service blueprint for other states to follow.”

The number of students with learning disabilities served by the University System almost doubled from 4,721 in FY 2001 to 9,046 in FY 2008, a 91 percent increase. Current estimates based on the existing disability population in the K-12 system indicate that the number of students requiring the USG’s services will continue to increase in the future, Lee said.

Lee highlighted for the regents a recent effort to address current and future challenges for providing services to students with print-related disabilities, such as blindness. AMAC and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) have worked collaboratively to develop and launch the AccessText Network, a comprehensive, national online system that promises to make it easier and quicker for students with print-related disabilities to obtain the textbooks they need for their college courses.

“Many college students with disabilities are struggling to use required or recommended print textbooks that are essential to their course success,” said Patricia Schroeder, AAP’s president and chief executive officer “The new AccessText Network will improve the way electronic versions of print textbooks are delivered to campus-based disability student service offices from publishers and streamline the permission process for scanning copies of print textbooks when publisher files are unavailable.”

AccessText Network, scheduled for beta launch this month, will ensure that institutions can more easily obtain information about publishers’ course materials, request alternative electronic text files and use more efficient acquisition and distribution channels, Lee told the regents.
“We are excited about working in conjunction with the disability community to guarantee AccessText becomes the conduit between the publishing world and post-secondary institutions' disability programs nationwide,” he said. “Our goal is to make the college disability service professional’s job easier and, in the long run, help save institutions from the high cost of producing electronic textbooks for their students with disabilities.”

AccessText Network is being funded through donations from publishers Cengage Learning; CQ Press; Macmillan; McGraw-Hill Education; Pearson; Reed Elsevier Inc.; John Wiley & Sons; and W.W. Norton.

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