About CAES: Administration
Angle's Update
From Dean & Director J. Scott Angle
February 3, 2012
The Budget – The budget has not been kind to the college over the past three years. With a 25 percent budget cut and little opportunity of benefiting from tuition increases, we have had to make very hard choices. The good news seems to be that the bleeding has stopped and we are making very modest progress in the right direction. The B budget reduction was small – less than for the A budget. Further, there are serious discussions going on related to the restoration of items to our budget. It is too early to know what these might be but we expect these will be modest regardless of the outcome. Next year will hopefully be the year when robust restoration of funds begins. Having said that, I have been told many times even by our best supporters, that no program in state government should be expected to return to the days of peak funding. The public clearly wants smaller government. So, while we can expect our outlook to improve, we are going to be different from where we were just four years ago.
Upgrading Positions – We are now going into four years with no salary increases, some unit leaders are looking for ways to improve staff salaries. Just about everyone is doing more as our employee base has declined. I am receiving numerous requests for reclassification to a higher level (and with higher pay). Although I have approved a few requests where the increase responsibilities are no longer consistent with the current classification, I am turning most down where new responsibilities do not rise to the level for a reclassification. So, please use this process very carefully and where only a significant, quantifiable and sustained increase in responsibility is clear.
Strategic Plan – Strategic planning continues and I am pleased that everywhere a meeting has been held, it has been well attended and more importantly, attendees have come motivated with good ideas in hand. This is turning out to be a very powerful process. We said from the outset that we are doing this only because we are committed to a plan that will be used as a guiding document, where appropriate, until 2020. As I have spent the last few days in Atlanta talking with legislators about the future of the college, it has become clear that our infrastructure is a major concern. But legislators have also made it clear that any request needs to be tied to a vision for what the college will look like in the future and what we will be doing. The strategic plan, when ready, will be used to help us plan our infrastructure request to the legislature. I am already seeing ways in which it will have a tangible benefit to CAES.
Land Changes – Ultimately as part of our land and building infrastructure, we will assess all college land and determine our “right size.” But for now, two important activities are underway. The sale of the Plant Sciences Farm is moving forward. We do not have final approval but I anticipate that permission for the sale will be on the April Board of Regents meeting agenda. I will be meeting with interested faculty as soon as I know that the sale request has been submitted to the BOR. The second change is the closing of the USDA ARS Campbell Farm in Watkinsville. Staff and scientists there have been given new assignments. We have requested that the farm be transferred to the University of Georgia. The USDA has not approved the transfer yet, but I am optimistic that final approval will made within the next few months.
