President’s Report

University Senate Meeting

November 29, 2004

Submitted by President Leland

·        Welcome back from the Thanksgiving holidays.  I want to thank members of the university community who helped with the week of inauguration events.  The university received a lot of positive publicity and the income we received exceeded our expenses.  Thanks to generous donors, we raised money for scholarships, which was also a positive outcome.

·     The Chancellor and Mrs. Meredith were both in a car accident last week while traveling back from an AASCU meeting that I also attended, in Charleston, S.C. They are still in the hospital and Mrs. Meredith is in intensive care. Everyone is asked to keep them in their thoughts and prayers.

·     Senator Faye Smith, a staunch supporter of this university and higher education, was replaced during the recent elections by John Grant.  Mr. Grant, who is a former GC&SU Foundation Board member and a graduate, will be a strong supporter of the university.  Representative Bobby Parham, who is currently on the GC&SU Foundation Board, retained his house seat. We have a number of new players and there will be a steep learning curve.  State agencies and public higher education can expect a lot of scrutiny as the state continues to look for efficiencies and ways to streamline state business. The legislative priority for the University System of Georgia will be to preserve formula funding, which provides dollars for student FTE and space by square footage.  We will also need to watch Special Initiative Funding, which currently supports a number of faculty positions.

·     We are working on new guidelines for the mansion. When the legislature and the Woodruff Foundation funded the project, it was funded with the understanding that the university would preserve it as an historical treasure and house museum. The renovated facility is not set up for meetings and will not be rented to external groups. It is suitable for the occasional formal reception and will be available for university-sponsored tours.

·        The first President & Faculty Brown Bag Lunch is scheduled for Thursday, December 2, 2004, between 12:30 -1:45 p.m. in the University Banquet Room. The idea is to provide us with opportunities to discuss non-administrative issues and to focus instead on academic and curricular matters.  During the first brown bag lunch, we’ll discuss some of the curricular ideas mentioned briefly in my investiture address.

·        The campus forum on the name change proposal is scheduled for January 14, 2005, in the Arts & Sciences auditorium at 12:30 p.m.

·        Campus Master Planning consultants will be on campus Wednesday, December 1 to share preliminary results of the planning process with the Campus Master Plan Steering Committee.  Budget and Planning committee members also have been invited to attend. An open forum will be scheduled in January to allow the campus community to review the proposed new campus master plan.

·        Staff Excellence Awards – The ceremony will take place on Thursday, December 2. This is a very competitive process, so send your congratulations to the winner when this is announced.

·        President’s Scholars Competition – The competition for the university’s most prestigious scholarship is scheduled for Friday, December 3, 2004. A large and competitive group of students will be on campus. These students have scored at least 1250 on the SAT’s or 28 on the ACT.

·     Accreditation – SACS will be voting on our reaffirmation of accreditation at the annual meeting next week.  I anticipate a positive outcome.

·        A Tree Planting Ceremony is planned for Friday, December 10, 2004, at 11:00 a.m. outside of the Arts & Sciences building in lieu of sending individual Christmas cards. Light refreshments will be served immediately following the event.