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Monday, Nov. 23, 2009

Student fees double at university system schools

The state Board of Regents approved plans Tuesday to adjust the system’s budget from a 6 percent reduction plan of $135 million to an 8 percent reduction level of $176 million for the 2010 fiscal year.

As a result, the mandatory student fee will double for all students enrolled in the University System of Georgia’s 35 institutions beginning in the spring 2010 semester. Students at research universities, as well as six other universities, will now pay $200. At most comprehensive universities, the fee will be $150, and at two-year and state colleges, $100.

The board also approved a moratorium on student fee increases for the 2011 fiscal year and a sunset date of June 30, 2012, for the total mandatory student fee increase.

The additional student fee will generate about $24 million in the 2010 fiscal year, though the system’s colleges and universities must cut an additional $12 million from their budgets through additional employee furlough days, the elimination of positions, employee layoffs or other program and structural changes.

University System of Georgia announces record schools enrollment

Fall enrollment at the 35 public colleges and universities within the University System of Georgia increased to a record 301,892 students, representing a 6.7 percent increase from fall 2008.

“The trend lines historically are up. We have grown just above 16 percent since fall 2006,” Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. said in a news release.

“We have exploding demand for public higher education as individuals prepare themselves for careers requiring a college education in a changing and uncertain economy.”

Fort Valley State University was one of 10 institutions with double-digit growth from fall 2008 to fall 2009, increasing 14.4 percent to 3,553 students. Those schools contributed to 32.1 percent of the system’s overall enrollment increase.

FVSU social work program receives grant

Fort Valley received a $597,929 grant from the U.S. Department of Human Services to fund scholarships for high-achieving social-work students pursuing careers in child welfare.

The funding will help increase the number of students in the university’s social-work program, said Jimmy McCamey Jr., interim chairman of FVSU’s Department of Behavioral Sciences.

About 15 FVSU social work majors are expected to receive scholarships, which will cover all college expenses.

The grant is a one-year extension of a $484,000 grant received last year.

FVSU inducts three new members into Hall of Fame

The Fort Valley State University National Alumni Association Inc. recently inducted three new members into its Hall of Fame, according to a news release.

The honorees were nominated by fellow alumni and selected by the Hall of Fame selection committee based on contributions to the university in three categories: community service, law and business.

This year, the association honored Asa Terrell Boynton Sr., class of 1967, Betty Hubbard Rivers, class of 1973, and Charles Robinson Jr., class of 1970. A plaque with the list of FVSU alumni honored in the Hall of Fame is displayed at the Henry A. Hunt Library.

Since 1978, 87 FVSU alumni have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. The 1947 Wildcat football team became members of the group in 2000.

State pre-K program offers Chinese

The state’s pre-K program, called Bright From the Start, is breaking new ground: It’s the first in the nation to offer 4-year-olds the chance to learn Chinese.

The state is partnering with the Confucius Institute at Kennesaw State University to offer a Chinese language program to children.

“We are the only lottery-funded pre-K program in the country providing this type of cutting-edge instruction that helps prepare our youngest children for the 21st century global economy,” said Holly Robinson, Bright From the Start commissioner.

The program is already in six pre-K classrooms at three different state locations.

Georgia’s pre-K program is in its 16th year. With state lottery proceeds, it pays for educating the state’s 4-year-olds. It now serves 82,000 children.

Deaf ear?

Members of some Bibb County community groups said they are fed up with school system employees for shutting down their ideas or not returning their phone calls.

Members from Education First, Parents and Concerned Citizens for a Quality Education, Teen Scene and Campus Clubs addressed the school board this past week during a board meeting.

Julie Moore, the Education First executive director, asked Bibb school leaders to work with the community’s “true supporters” of public education.

With a recent penny sales tax for education passing in Bibb County on Nov. 3 to build new schools, she asked that school officials also work to improve programs and be open to community input, such as strengthening magnet programs or starting charter schools.

“As we give you this penny, we want programs,” she said. “We need to talk about charter schools and not be chastised for it, and we need you to respond.”

Tony Lowden, executive director of Campus Clubs, which mentors and works with community children, also addressed the school board, while four ministers stood behind him.

They are all part of a local coalition of pastors.

“We came to you a year ago and said, ‘let’s partner,’” he said of asking to start an after-school program with the system to enhance students’ math and reading skills.

The group got a $5,000 grant to start the program, but he said the system never responded.

“We are about to partner with Mercer,” he said. “It’s time to say enough is enough.”

Lakisha Toombs, who works with the Teen Scene and a summer program for Bibb County youths, said she couldn’t get any help from the system getting students’ test scores, even when she had parental permission.

“We asked to build a partnership,” she said. “We can’t seem to get a response.”

Bibb school board President Tom Hudson said system officials were taking notes in order to respond to those who addressed the board.

“Some have been addressed and some are new to us,” he said. “We’re looking at things across the board.”

Those topics range from school safety to test scores, he said.

“It takes a whole community to educate children,” he said.

Telegraph writers Andrea Castillo and Julie Hubbard contributed to this report.