Dear Friends:

Following my promise to keep the Trustees informed between meetings, the following information may be of interest to you:

Additional Funding to UGA

In accordance with the directive from the Board at the last meeting: 

• The Foundation has established and endowed with $250,000 the University of Georgia Foundation Professorship in the College of Public Health.  This is the first professorship established in the new College of Public Health.
  
  
• We have also set aside $250,000 to establish and fund 70 additional $1,000 per year annual scholarships to attract to the University of Georgia more diverse and academically deserving undergraduate students.  The scholarship awards will be divided between:
  
  
• Diversity Scholarships.  Designed to create greater racial, geographic, linguistic, and experiential diversity in the undergraduate student body.
  
  
• Georgia Incentive Scholarships.  Given to graduates of seven Georgia Public high schools as an incentive to select UGA.
  
  
• Need Based Scholarships.  Awarded to deserving students who need financial assistance in order to attend UGA.
  
• Charter Scholarships. Merit based awards for superior academic performance and the ability to add value through leadership.
  
  
• Both of these initiatives were substantially funded with the savings achieved by reallocation of moneys previously expended by the Foundation in discretionary spending accounts for the President, the Senior Vice Presidents and other external affairs initiatives.  Your Finance Committee, chaired by Wyck Knox, did a great job in accordance with the budget presented by the Finance Committee and unanimously adopted by the Board of Trustees at our June 24 meeting.
  
  
• We have worked closely and harmoniously with Arnett Mace, Provost of the University, to identify the needs of the University and to fill these needs.
  

Negative Press

For some reason, certain media outlets continue to look for negative themes to write about — the most recent being about our decision to engage the services of a consulting firm.  The facts are as follows:

• Historically, the Foundation has been provided with communications services, both to ourselves and the outside world, by the University.  Since we are all volunteers and those services are no longer available from the professional staff of the University, it was determined that outside assistance would be sought rather than adding staff positions.  The primary functions provided by this consultant are (unlike the characterizations you may have read in the press):
   
• Communications Services.  Communications (such as the Chairman's Letter) to the Board; to donors and general news dissemination to statewide media sources.
  
  
•  Advice and introductions to help build diversity on the Board.
  
  
• The manner in which the engagement of a consulting firm took place has been grossly misreported. The process was done totally in accordance with our governance documents.
   
• At the request of the Executive Committee, the Finance Committee included the sum of $100,000 for this purpose in its Proposed Unrestricted Budget.
  
  
• The Budget as proposed was adopted by the Executive Committee and sent to the full Board for consideration.
  
  
• At the annual meeting of the Board on June 24, the proposed Budget, which included this sum as a line item entitled "Consulting Services," under the category "UGA Foundation - Administrative Services," was adopted unanimously.
   
• For information purposes, attached are copies of the letters sent today to the editors of the AJC and the ABH.

Task Force Report

The University's Task Force on General Education and Student Learning, which was formed to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the University of Georgia's general education requirements and approaches to student learning, has issued its final report.  The report contains more than 40 recommendations aimed at strengthening general education and creating a campus life centered on learning.  The report was submitted to Provost Arnett Mace from the 24-member task force he appointed last fall.  The task force included faculty members from various UGA schools and colleges; administrators from the Honors Program, Student Affairs and the Libraries; plus two student representatives. The link to view their full report is  www.uga.edu/provost/tskfrcrpt05.pdf.