STATE OF GEORGIA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
ATLANTA 30334-0900
Sonny Perdue
GOVERNOR
Dear ___________:
Thank you for your letter regarding proposed
changes to the current 2-year academic programs
in Georgia. Last year, I formed a working group
and tasked them with investigating innovative
ways to create long-term, comprehensive
educational reform to make Georgia more globally
competitive. This working group reviewed a
provocative national report called Tough Choices or Tough Times
to determine how Georgia might best reform its
educational policies and practices to achieve
these goals. I believe the experts serving on
this group fully understand the urgency of the
challenges we face, and I am confident that
their leadership will bring the changes
necessary to facilitate higher student
achievement.
One of the things the working group discussed
was the possibility of charging the current
Technical College System with the administration
of all technical and 2-year academic programs
offered in Georgia. The
group believes this would empower the University
System to streamline its focus exclusively on
world-class research, 4-year degree programs,
and graduate degree programs. At this point,
this is simply something that the working group
has explored and included in its draft
recommendations. No formal recommendations have
been issued and no action has been taken.
While no formal report has been issued by the
working group, the Technical College System of
Georgia and the University System of Georgia
have begun exploring the
possible strategies that would be required to
implement the recommendation of the Tough
Choices or Tough Times working group. I believe
there are efficiencies that can be found through
this strategic analysis of missions of both the
University and Technical College Systems that
would greatly benefit our highest-level
learners, and I optimistically anticipate formal
recommendations of this working group.
I hope this information is helpful to you.
Thank you again for writing.