Letter from the Dean
Focusing in on Fiscal Fitness
FIt’s 5:15 a.m. and I’m driving to an early morning workout. In just a few minutes, I’ll join some 30 other early risers on the track at a nearby school. We’ll stretch, jog, do sit-ups and jumping jacks, and any number of other exercises designed to improve our physical fitness.
As I drive along I question why I’ve decided this is a good idea. After all, for years I’ve maintained a regular fitness regime—that took place during more sensible hours. But times have changed. Since joining the College of Family and Consumer Sciences two years ago, my evening schedule has become filled with a variety of activities and meetings. There are no guarantees that my plans to exercise on any given evening won’t be disrupted by something of greater precedence.
The realization that a regular exercise routine will have to take place early in the morning also meant I needed the responsibility that comes from exercising with others. It’s too easy to hit the snooze alarm when I plan to exercise alone. Knowing that the exercise class will be happening, regardless of whether I’m there, provides an incentive—I just have to get to the class and the leaders will tell me what to do. Likewise, I’m getting to know my fellow exercisers and we’ve begun to look for each other as we gather for warm-ups.
Just as my physical fitness routine has been altered to accommodate other changes in my life, the fiscal fitness routine in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences has been altered to accommodate changes in our state and national economies.
Beginning some 18 months ago, we began to reduce our budget in response to the gradual decline of revenues at the state level. FACS has always been known for its fiscal restraint, so the first time we were asked to cut our budget by 2 percent we weren’t sure where we would find those dollars. But we did. And in the months since, we’ve found many more dollars to cut. This hasn’t been easy, but in addition to our fiscal restraint, FACS is also known for its fiscal creativity. Each time we choose to save money by not filling a faculty or staff position, we’ve drawn on the skills and abilities of our remaining people and made sure that nothing is falling through the cracks. We’ve also looked at all of our revenue streams—tuition, grants, and state and federal funding—and searched for ways to leverage each dollar fully.
We’ve zeroed in on what’s most important—teaching our students, conducting research, addressing the needs of Georgia’s citizens. Those are the goals for all of us who work at land-grant institutions. As you read the Breaking News section of this issue of FACS Magazine you’ll see that Assistant Professor Lance Palmer has won the Richard B. Russell Award, one of the University of Georgia’s most prestigious teaching awards, and Michael Rupured is a Walter B. Hill Award winner, one of the most prestigious awards for those in public service and outreach. These are just two examples of the many ways our faculty and staff are rising to the challenge of being successful in difficult economic times.
Just as I’ve adjusted to my early morning fitness routine, our college is adjusting to the changes brought on by a weakened economy. Likewise, just as I’m becoming healthier, I believe our college is, in many ways, becoming healthier. It takes difficult times to make us focus on what’s really important. The past several months have allowed us to ask on a regular basis, what’s important to our students and to the citizens of Georgia? We know that better financial days are ahead, but meanwhile we’ll continue our fiscal fitness plans.
As always, thank you for your ongoing support to the College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Sincerely,
Laura D. Jolly, Dean
