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March 2, 2010

College Students fight proposed budget cuts

Dalton Daily Citizen

DALTON — College Students fight proposed budget cuts

In response to a request from the state legislature, the University System of Georgia, USG, is preparing a summary of $300 million in budget reductions for the next academic year. This $300 million reduction is in addition to the $264 million that has already been cut in the governor’s proposed budget.

Our valued professors in Georgia already receive inadequate compensation for their hard work, especially when compared to their counterparts in other states. Further cuts could include additional furloughs, layoffs, and significantly reduced salaries which would directly impact the level of higher education in our state in a negative way.

As students in the USG, we could see the following effects from these drastic budget reductions:

• Operating expenses would be reduced roughly 10 percent at every college or university in Georgia

• Some majors could be eliminated

• As a result of class cuts, it would take much longer to graduate

This has dramatically affected Dalton State College. The Dalton State College community was hit with a shock in an open faculty meeting late last week. In a cost-cutting measure called for by further state budget cuts, the School of Social Work was the only academic program that the college president, Dr. John Schwenn, suggested be cut from the college. The Social Work program will have 12 Bachelor of Social Work, (BSW) graduates this year, nine of whom are IV-E graduates, and anticipates approximately 18 BSW graduates next year. The program is a fully accredited BSW program by the Council on Social Work Education. All of the graduates from last year are employed in the profession. IV-E graduates were the only influx of newly hired Department of Family and Children Services staff allowed in the state budget last year, giving critical staff to the public child welfare system.

It makes no sense to cut the Social Work program at a time when the economy is strained, local unemployment rates are the second highest in the nation and families are in desperate need of social services.

Please join Dalton State College Social Work Club in letting the members of the committee know your thoughts about the proposed $285 million in cuts to University System of Georgia funding by joining students, alumni, and friends of the USG at the State Capitol today at 11 a.m. Please wear black symbolizing the death of Georgia’s future.

Your advocacy is critically important. Please circulate this widely. We are the future of Georgia.

Christina Trammell

Social Work student at Dalton State College

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