After the special session of the Georgia General Assembly gaveled in Wednesday morning, members of the House Higher Education Committee spent time that afternoon listening to an extensive report from the University System of Georgia’s Acting Chancellor Teresa MacCartney and several USG staff members. They reported on a number of issues including enrollment numbers, mental health initiatives, affordability measures, and student success measures. They even touched on a new post-tenure review policy approved recently by the Georgia Board of Regents.
Following the committee meeting, Board of Regents Chairman Sachin Shailendra praised the work of USG staff and MacCartney, who took over as interim chancellor on July 1, 2021.
“Teresa is doing a fantastic job since taking over the interim role this past summer,” said Shailendra. “We are extremely grateful to her for stepping into this role, and for providing the strong leadership she has exhibited. We are also proud of the staff and everything they have accomplished under challenging circumstances caused by the pandemic.”
One of the major accomplishments has been the implementation of a comprehensive plan to significantly expand student mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program, according to Dr. Juanita Hicks — Vice Chancellor of Human Resources and Project Director — was the result of the allocation of $11.5 million by Governor Brian Kemp from the Governors Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funding.
A Mental Health Task Force was appointed in 2019, and they worked to identify areas of need across USG. The majority of the funding, $8 million, was designated to expand USG clinical resources to ensure every student has access to telephonic psychiatric care and clinical counseling services.
Expanded services also include an in-person counseling options through a partnership with Christie Campus Health, a 24/7 hotline and well-being support programs.
USG staff also reported on enrollment trends, stating that enrollment dipped only slightly this fall despite facing similar challenges that have buffeted higher education institutions nationally. Total enrollment stands at 340,638 students attending the state’s 26 public colleges and universities.
Enrollment grew by 2.6 percent overall at research universities and by .5 percent overall at comprehensive universities. Those increases include significant growth in key sectors such as graduate programs, which helped offset declines of 3.7 percent at state universities and 6.7 percent at state colleges.
USG’s fall enrollment count brings to an end seven straight years of enrollment increases for the system that last fall saw an all-time high of 341,489 students. This year’s count is the first time the fall report did not show an increase since 2013. It also comes as USG has performed better than its peers nationally, overall experiencing more positive enrollment trends than many public and private four-year institutions across the country.
USG staff reported that numbers indicate a projected decrease in the “high school graduate pipeline” feeding into the universities and colleges, and they will be working on initiatives to keep the pipeline growing and encouraging high school graduates to enroll in college.
USG Officials debunked reports that they are “doing away with tenure” following the post-tenure review policy approved recently by the Georgia Board of Regents – that now includes a new metric for student success.
State Representative Patty Bentley (D-Butler) said she felt that tenure “is a way to hold people accountable, as well as a way to protect students.”
“We are in no way ending tenure,” said MacCartney. “We serve 340,000 students in the system, and everyone on the payroll has to be held accountable.”
