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March 3, 2010

Lawmakers urged to go easy on college budgets

Rachel Brown Dalton Daily Citizen

DALTON — Patricia Grady believes her views on proposed state budget cuts to education were heard on Wednesday, but the Dalton State College junior said more people need to contact their legislators.

“We were heard, and I know they’ve not seen the end of us,” said Grady, who is majoring in social work at DSC, after returning from a trip to the state Capitol.

University System Chancellor Erroll B. Davis was grilled for two hours during a House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee hearing. John Millsaps, a spokesman for the state Board of Regents, said representatives from the House and Senate appropriations subcommittees asked presidents of colleges and universities to submit plans for dealing with an additional $300 million in cuts — on top of an already announced $285 million in cuts — possibly lowering funding for the University System to $1.6 billion, down from this year’s $2.08 billion.

Davis mentioned a possible $1,000 fee increase for all students and increasing tuition next school year by 35 percent. At Dalton State, an incoming freshman currently would pay $1,211 per semester, said vice president of academic affairs John Hutcheson. The tuition increase would hike that amount up to more than $1,600. The move would help the university system make up $175 million.

“One of the things that concerns us most is that this would cause the HOPE money to run out a whole lot faster than it is,” Hutcheson said. “There’s already concern that HOPE is using up more than the (Georgia) Lottery is putting into it. This would only accelerate that process.”

Hutcheson said the situation is still changing, and a tuition increase is not a done deal.

Yet Davis said tuition increases and cuts will likely be unavoidable. He warned that the quality of public education in the state is at stake and that accessible, affordable, high-quality institutions cost money.

“The system is acutely aware of the budget situation,” Davis told the panel. “We know we have to play a part ... I will accept reality, whatever that reality is.”

Lawmakers repeatedly praised the University System as a special and unique entity in the state and urged a spirit of cooperation in finding a solution that preserves the gains Georgia has made in higher education.

“Nobody wants to see draconian cuts,” said Sen. Seth Harp, chair of the Senate Education committee, who asked Davis to “do the least amount of damage, with the sacrifice spread of the entire education community.”

“This is a time where we have to make hard decisions,” Harp said, adding that he had heard from Republican voters as he campaigns for re-election that they do not want their taxes raised.

“I’m a candidate, but I’m also a realist and a pragmatist,” he said.

About 20 students from Dalton State drove to Atlanta to confront the legislators about their concerns, joining about 30 other students from across the state who are upset about the budget cuts. Grady, president of Dalton State’s Social Work Club, said group members paid their own way.

Talk from DSC officials about possibly cutting the college’s social work program as well as numerous other items and positions prompted the outcry, but Grady said students are concerned about the future of the state, not just DSC.

“It was a little disappointing because it was like they were hearing us but not really listening to us,” she said. “I had kind of thought they would be a little more concerned.”

Grady said students did not get a chance to talk with local legislators, but did share their concerns with Harp.

If the proposed cuts go through, the Archway program would also end. Dalton is the last of eight cities involved in the University of Georgia program that seeks to use the resources of the university to enhance communities and help them plan for the future.

Melissa Lu, the Archway professional who has been working with Dalton, said she’s fielded several calls from people concerned about the possibility of the program ending.

“There are a lot of communities who have invested a significant amount, and they are concerned that they’ll lose the resources of this great program,” she said.

Not everyone is upset about the looming cuts.

Dalton resident Mike White, a retired Shaw employee, said there are many cuts universities and colleges could have made long ago. White believes universities should not pay to have professors spend most of their time in research rather than in teaching classes, and he said the cuts will help eliminate some of the wasteful spending.

“The state’s finally realizing we’re not taking in the money, we don’t have the taxes for this, and things have got to be done differently,” he said. “... I don’t want my taxes to go up.”

Lawmakers are scheduled to go back into session on Monday.



The Associated Press contributed to this story.



 

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