December 5, 2013

To: New President of Georgia Southern University

From: Amanda Gilliland, Vice President for Government and Community Affairs
Re: An overview of Georgia Southerns political landscape on the local, state, and federal levels

I am glad to be able to connect with you regarding a few of the many things that are
impacting our university politically. My role as the Vice President for Government and
Community Affairs is to help Georgia Southern University to focus on the issues and position
ourselves to maximize the benefits to the students, faculty, staff, and society (R. Keen, personal
communication October 30, 2013). The best way to review how Georgia Southern makes an
impact as well as how they are impacted politically is to review the different levels of
government we interact with: local, state, and federal. One of the things we provide to our
president and his cabinet is access to an application that provides you with photographs and bios
of each state, local, and federal representative you will want to become familiar with as well as
their connections to Georgia Southern be it personally or relationally. This will allow you to
quickly access information about people you may meet and may want to make connections with
at events you will attend and make Georgia Southern memorable to the decision makers of our
state and city (R. Keen, personal communication October 30, 2013).
LOCAL - The town-gown relationship with the city of Statesboro is a typical one. While there
is strain, its healthy, natural, considering as we expand our infrastructure with projects like our
new biology building it impacts the city from taxes to utilities. However, the relationship has
been improved over the years with the university working to include members of local
government to have a seat at the table in the discussions that may impact the city. We have an
annual city/campus retreat in which we come together with local leaders to go over the future
plans for the coming year which I highly recommend continuing. We rely on local support in
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order to implement programs that may affect the city (R. Keen, personal communication October
30, 2013).
Partnerships where we integrate our educational goals with the city create an opportunity
for significant local economic development. Programs include the City Campus. The City
Campus provides entrepreneurial development services to people in the area. Georgia Southern
and Statesboro have been awarded a grant of nearly $1.1 million from the U.S. Economic
Development Administration to expand the Universitys City Campus on E. Main St. to help
entrepreneurs design, build and send their products into the marketplace while creating new
jobs. (1 Million Grant Awarded to Expand City Campus, 2013).
An annual survey on the economic impact of the University System of Georgia reveals
Georgia Southern University had a $524 million economic impact on Statesboro and the Bulloch
County area and accounted for more than 6,500 jobs in fiscal year 2012 (Georgia Southern
Generates a Half Billion Dollar Economic Impact, 2013). I would anticipate that this would
only grow not only because of these city partnerships but also the growth in our academic
programming. The new addition of an engineering program and the growth of our biology
department, with its new building on campus, combined with the close proximity to Savannah,
Georgia and its ports, we will be able to expand our impact beyond Bulloch County.
STATE It is imperative that you become familiar with the structure of our University System
and Georgia State governments relationship with the system as it can vary from state to state.
You, as our president, will report directly to Board of Regents as does the Chancellor. Members
of the Board of Regents are appointed for six year terms. The University System of Georgia is
autonomous from the other agencies in our state and is not an agency of the government. When it
comes to state funding the USG is given a sum of money from the legislature and the USG will
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disperse funds to the institutions. It is important to note that Regent Lori Durden from the
Twelfth District and Regent Scott Smith from the Fourteenth District on the Board are Georgia
Southern University Alums and we have a positive relationship with them as well as the other
board members and the Chancellor (Members of the Board, 2013). The decisions about
personnel as well as academic programming are approved by the BOR and so these positive connections
are crucial to help Georgia Southern thrive.
An issue that is a focus within the state right now is Complete College Georgia and is one
of the most important state issues I believe you need to make a priority. In 2011, Governor Deal
issued a $1 million grant for a Complete College Georgia initiative. The goal of this initiative is
in response to Complete College America initiative. Governor Deal said,
By 2018 more than 60 percent of job openings in Georgia will require some form of
postsecondary education. To meet this demand, we must increase the number of students
with access to higher education and ensure that these students graduate with
postsecondary degrees in a timely manner. (Deal Announces $1 Million Grant,
Complete College Georgia Initiative, 2011)
Georgia Southern is coming up short in this initiative and our attention as of late has been to
focus on career academies, career pathways, and stem institutes. Admissions within the state are
very competitive as the students have a wide array of choices and facilities to examine when
choosing a university to call home. Based on our numbers we will still fall short of the CCG
initiative by the end of academic year 2020 (R. Keen, personal communication October 30,
2013). The expectation is that everyone have a skill, therefore, partnering with the Technical
College system and improving our completion rate should be a top goal for your presidency.
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Funding for students in need is, of course, an issue on the state and federal level but one
thing I felt important to share with you is many students have excellent qualifications but the
lack of affordability of a higher education is preventing them from enrolling. Finding ways to
address the affordability as well as being as transparent with our tuition and fees is important for
you to monitor. One way we have created transparency is with the new athletics fee. Students are
complaining about fees, we offered them the opportunity to vote on adding the new athletic fee.
With this approach the students have the choice of adding to their overall fees and we receive the
funds needed to improve athletic facilities. I think this is a great way to address adding costs to
the students that will be incurring them.
FEDERAL - We are a member of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities. This
association represents the issues on our behalf and takes the burden off of us to create an
individual proposal. The key issue that I believe needs to take priority at the Federal level for you
is choosing the issues impacting our campus that could be presented to Senator Harkin and the
committee hearing the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The top issues impacting
Georgia Southern that I see as imperative to present to Senator Harkin are access and
affordability, and financial aid packages. Hearings about affordability were heard this year by the
House Education Committee and its a big topic with Complete College America being an
initiative we are expected to meet. Financial aid is confusing to the student and they are failing to
gain the education on how to receive aid and what the long term implications are in taking on
student debt. The government spends more money on paper explaining how funding works rather
than giving it back to the students. I would like to propose to the committee that the money used
for program materials explaining federal financial aid should go to the universities to resource
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scholarships and education regarding debt and aid by implementing a course for credit with the
first year experience.
Affordability limits access for any student that meets qualifications. Recently we have
worked to accommodate the student by implementing a payment plan option for tuition payment
(Payment Plan, 2013) as well as allowing students from South Carolina coastal cities to pay in
state tuition for the MBA program (Georgia Southern Offers Low Country MBA Students In-
State Tuition, 2013). In addition to these efforts, I would like to see Georgia Southern examine
our practices and change things on campus. One solution I have seen with another institution,
Berry College, in Rome, is to provide work study opportunities. For students that meet
qualifications based on needs and academics, we could provide jobs on campus in exchange for
tuition waivers beyond what we do now. Fees should be assessed based on use. Many students
pay fees that may not apply to their uses. Non-Traditional students may not use the RAC on
campus, they shouldnt be charged until they use it. Online tuition is higher than standard in state
or out of state tuition. The online premiums go directly back to the Colleges yet class size isnt
increased and professors arent increased. Effectively managing this premium to grow our
faculty and learning resources should be emphasized on the college level. Online courses can
accommodate more students than a traditional setting. Maximizing our use of online instruction
could increase our students and allow for future faculty to be hired and increase our tuition
revenue. This would be the best time as we recently were top ranked in some of our online
programs (Online Programs Ranked Among the Best, 2013) nationally.
There are so many more areas that you and I can discuss, but these few specific items I
hope you will evaluate prior to your arrival and we can meet regarding plans and ideas you have
for addressing the issues at hand.
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References
1 Million Grant Awarded to Expand City Campus. (2013). Georgia Southern University
Newsroom. Retrieved from http://news.georgiasouthern.edu/2013/11/07/1-million-grant-
awarded-to-expand-city-campus/
Deal Announces $1 Million Grant, Complete College Georgia Initiative. (2011). Retrieved from
http://gov.georgia.gov/press-releases/2011-08-04/deal-announces-1-million-grant-complete-
college-georgia-initiative
Georgia Southern Generates a Half Billion Dollar Economic Impact. (2013). Georgia Southern
University Newsroom. Retrieved from http://news.georgiasouthern.edu/2013/07/10/
georgia-southern-generates-a-half- billion-dollar-economic-impact/
Georgia Southern Offers Low Country MBA Students In-State Tuition. (2013). Georgia
Southern University Newsroom. Retrieved from http://news.georgiasouthern.edu/
2013/03/29/georgia-southern-offers-lowcountry-mba-students-in-state-tuition/
Members of the Board. (2013). University System of Georgia. Retrieved from
http://www.usg.edu/regents/members
Online Programs Ranked Among the Best. (2013). Georgia Southern University Newsroom. Retrieved
from: http://news.georgiasouthern.edu/2013/04/10/online-programs-ranked-among-the-best/
Payment Plan. (2013). Georgia Southern Bursars Office. Retrieved from
http://businesssrvs.georgiasouthern.edu/bursar/office-of-student-accounts/payment-plan/