Was the State Board of Regents’ decision this week to allow the University of Georgia to add engineering programs, normally the calling card of Georgia Tech, a good idea?
Yes
John Heyman, CEO, Radiant Systems, and UGA graduate
Companies like Radiant depend on strong technical talent. With service and manufacturing business continuing to move off-shore, technology and innovation remains an area where the U.S. (and Georgia) can still lead. However, we simply cannot hire talent fast enough. We have hired hundreds from Georgia Tech, and I have the highest respect for what Tech is doing, and the quality of their graduates. However, the supply of quality technical talent is still too low in our state. That is one reason we have had to go to places such as Prague to hire quality engineers.
Georgia Tech has an excellent program and attracts great talent. Likewise UGA is a premier university and it is in our long-term interests to provide these students with the ability to obtain an excellent engineering education. That will help our state keep jobs here and attract new employers. UGA should offer this type of program to fulfill the needs of students and employers.
No
Al Trujillo, chairman, Georgia Tech Alumni Association
The case for additional engineering graduates in the current economic environment is weak, with recent graduates challenged to find employment. There is no current shortage, and therefore no motivation to start new engineering programs at this time.
If the point is a long-term desire for more engineering graduates from Georgia universities, then I am in complete agreement. Georgia Tech’s strategic plan calls for another 1,500 students at its expanding Atlanta campus, and additional growth at its newer and growing Savannah campus. Engineering and technological education is a business of scale, with expensive labs and facilities in place. The cost of adding additional students at Georgia Tech is logically a fraction of the cost of starting new programs at other schools. At a time when state budgets are shrinking, why would the state’s Board of Regents expand engineering programs at other schools when there is no immediate need, at the risk of jeopardizing what has been built at Georgia Tech?
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