AUGUSTA -- Six Georgia colleges will participate in a pilot program that will measure how well campuses use existing classrooms and buildings, Chancellor Hank Huckaby said Wednesday.
The review will help the University System of Georgia determine if, and where, new construction may be needed on the 35 campuses, Huckaby said during the State Board of Regents meeting. Ten colleges volunteered to participate in the pilot and the selected colleges will be announced early next week, he said.
Colleges will have to work closely with the system office as they develop proposals for new buildings, Huckaby has said. The University System owns more than 3,100 buildings, worth more than $10.5 billion.
The classroom utilization project is one of three initiatives Huckaby announced last month to make the system better stewards of state money. The system has grappled with cuts in state funding and students are paying 9 percent more in tuition and fees this year. The system is projected to spend about $7 billion this fiscal year, with about $1.7 billion coming from the state.
The space study has been overshadowed by talk of campus mergers. Huckaby expects to release by the end of the next week criteria that will be used to determine consolidation candidates.
Huckaby told the regents he's received constant questions about mergers. There is no list of potential candidates, he said. He plans to present the regents with recommendations by the end of the year.
"We want to do this in a careful and thoughtful way," Huckaby said. "At same time we want to do this as expeditiously as possible."
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