GHC sign may lose its University System of Georgia emblem.

Proposed GHC Merger

By: Sean Jepson

Posted: 2/17/09

A recent state proposal could potentially shift two-year colleges out of the University System of Georgia. The result could lead to two-year colleges being administered by the technical college board.

Gov. Sonny Perdue formed a committee last summer after the release of a national report entitled "Tough Choices or Tough Times." The committee was asked to find improvements in the state's education system. Dr. Charles Knapp, former president of the University of Georgia, was appointed to chair the committee.

On Dec. 15, the committee sent their draft proposal, "Georgia's Tough Choices or Tough Times," to the governor. The proposal recommends charging the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) with administering all technical and two-year academic programs and leaving the University System to focus exclusively on research, four-year programs and graduate programs.

The proposal has raised many concerns such as loss of tenure for faculty and students' ability to transfer credits to four-year colleges.

"We have a position on the tenure rights of faculty who could be affected by such a merger," said Dr. Hugh Hudson, executive secretary of the Georgia chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

"Faculty in these institutions need professional conditions and academic protection in order to provide their students with the highest standards of instruction," said Hudson. "As for removing tenure rights without due process, that would have to be settled in court."

In January, Dr. Catherine King, president of the GHC chapter of AAUP, sent an open letter to GHC students encouraging them to oppose a merger.

The letter encouraged students to ask how two-year colleges would maintain their accreditation and how students would be able to move into the University System under the proposal.

Currently, the governor has tasked Erroll B. Davis Jr., chancellor of the University System of Georgia, and Ron Jackson, commissioner of the TCSG to investigate areas that may be underserved by accessing institutions.

"At this point," said Davis, "the Governor has asked us to study how we can best provide access to education in communities where we do not have an access institution, and if there are synergies to be gained between us and the technical colleges."

Davis said the questions and concerns being raised at this point are still "quite premature."

"If a merger were to occur, the biggest changes would probably occur at the administrative level. Students should still be able to transfer credits," said Dr. Randy Pierce, president of Georgia Highlands College.

Pierce understands the benefits of the Unveristy System of Georgia access institutions. "If it were not for a two-year college I wouldn't have been able to obtain an education," he said.

GHC has an ongoing relationship with local technical colleges, offering numerous cooperative programs while remaining in the University System and maintaining separate missions.

However, a Kentucky newspaper reported last March that after more than a decade since that state's technical colleges and community colleges merged fewer students were transferring.

According to the news report, reasons for the decline in transfer students included university requirements that make it difficult to transfer credits and universities' reluctant to recruit students from Kentucky's Community and Technical College System.

Discussions are still preliminary, and it remains uncertain if the proposed change will occur.