Georgia Perimeter budgets
As the fourth-largest college in the University System of Georgia, Georgia Perimeter College has a larger budget than other two-year schools. Here are recent budgets, paired with enrollment. Enrollment dropped last fall at Georgia Perimeter and other two-year colleges across the state because of stricter admission requirements.
Fiscal year … Total budget … Enrollment
2014 … $185.2 million … 23,600*
2013 … $195.7 million … 23,619
2012 … $185.1 million … 26,996
2011 … $159 million …. 25,113
2010 … $150.8 million … 24,549
Source: University System of Georgia. Figures reflect original budgets for each year.
NOTE: Enrollment for 2014 is a projection. Georgia Perimeter official expect enrollment to be flat.
Georgia Perimeter spending cuts
Georgia Perimeter College cut $25 million from its budget last spring to cover a drastic shortfall. Here were some of the reductions:
- Lay off 282 people, nearly 9 percent of the staff, to save about $10.7 million. No tenured or tenure-track faculty were laid off.
- Reduce operating expenses by $5.9 million. This included cutting advertising, eliminating most travel, scaling back convocation and similar events, and delaying computer purchases and network upgrades.
- Reallocate $3.25 million in new money toward deficit. This included money intended for new labs at the Alpharetta campus and to expand online learning and military outreach programs.
- Eliminate vacant positions and continue the hiring freeze to save $1.5 million.
- Reduce spending on part-time staff to save $2.1 million.
- Increase teaching loads to save about $1 million. Faculty taught more classes, and some administrators also taught classes.
Source: Georgia Perimeter College
Everyone at Georgia Perimeter College knew this would be a difficult year.
The college cut $25 million to cover a budget shortfall discovered last spring. Nearly 9 percent of the staff was laid off. Faculty taught more classes this year. Students had fewer tutors, advisers and other services to help them succeed.
As the school prepares to start a new fiscal year July 1, students, faculty and administrators hope Georgia Perimeter will slowly return to normal. This year was a roller coaster, and while the ride is over, everyone still feels a bit wobbly and unstable.
That’s because the state’s fourth-largest public college faces several uncertainties:
- It was sanctioned by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in December because of financial instability and lack of financial controls. The accreditation agency is scheduled to vote on the school's standing June 20, but that may not bring resolution.
- Some question whether students will continue to attend, noting enrollment is projected to remain flat next year.
- And the school, which is being run by an interim president, will need a permanent leader.
The financial crisis didn’t just affect Georgia Perimeter. All 31 colleges in the University System of Georgia now must follow new financial oversight rules, such as submitting quarterly financial reports.
“Last summer was long and intense,” said Rob Watts, the college’s interim president. “I said this would be a one-year problem, and we are solving it in one year.”
The college dug itself into this disaster by overspending and relying on dwindling reserves to fill the hole. Chancellor Hank Huckaby disclosed the shortfall in May 2012, and the system forced out Georgia Perimeter President Anthony Tricoli and senior financial leaders.
Auditors from the system later determined that campus leadership either ignored or didn’t notice that the college was on the edge of a financial cliff. The signs were in the college’s financial statements and annual state audits. The documents show the college overspent by more than $7 million in fiscal years 2009 and 2010 and by about $5 million in the 2011 fiscal year.
Huckaby tapped Watts to serve as interim president and clean up the financial mess. Watts laid off staff, closed non-academic centers, redirected some new funding to pay off the deficit and called on faculty and administrators to teach more classes. Watts taught freshman composition two days a week.
No campus locations were closed, and no tenured or tenure-track faculty were laid off.
While the classrooms were protected, students felt the cuts elsewhere. They stood in longer lines in the financial aid office. The library and computer labs closed earlier. And there weren’t as many tutors to offer extra help.
These services are crucial for the nearly 23,600 students. Many are older, work full time and haven’t been in school for a while, so they need extra help.
“My classes were the same and I didn’t feel anything different there,” said John Posso, a computer science major. “But college is about more than just your classes. I know they were in a bad spot, but it wasn’t the entire college experience you expect.”
Students will get some help this fall. Watts said Georgia Perimeter will hire fewer than 10 new positions, but that includes a couple of tutors. The college will expand its online program, noting about 9,000 students took at least one online class last fall.
Some students remain unconvinced that the cuts are done, but they will remain at Georgia Perimeter. Dacquan Reid likes the diverse campus, flexible course schedules and the cheaper tuition. Georgia Perimeter students will pay $1,298 this fall, compared with $2,487 at Kennesaw State University and $1,731 at Georgia Gwinnett College.
Meanwhile, faculty feel better than they did a year ago, said Sally Robertson, a theater professor and chairwoman of the Faculty Senate.
Stable financial standing allows faculty to return to the traditional workload of teaching five classes one semester and four the next. Budget cuts forced them to teach five each semester this year.
“It is hard because we don’t know what will happen, but I think there is more confidence in the college,” Robertson said. “The hope is that next year brings even more stability and calm.”
While faculty are not having many discussions about who should be president, Robertson said they need someone like Watts who listens to faculty concerns and is aware of what’s happening at each campus.
The University System has not begun a search, and there are no immediate plans to do so, spokesman John Millsaps said.
Many expect a search won’t begin until SACS takes the college off sanction. It’s too soon to say whether that will happen this month. It is the group’s policy not to comment until after the vote.
College officials were reluctant to guess what will happen, but some expect SACS to keep the warning for an additional six months so it can view a final report on the 2013 fiscal year from state auditors. That report is not expected until October, although in February state auditors sent Georgia Perimeter a letter saying the financial control problems were solved.
Many of the new controls were put in place by Ron Stark, the new chief financial officer who previously served three chancellors as chief audit officer.
The college switched to new software to better monitor expenditures and now gets daily updates instead of reports that are almost a month old. It improved cash flow and now has money on hand to pay the bills. In 2012 it held some invoices for four weeks because it didn’t have money. And while the school used to have a dozen people who could override the budget, now there are only three.
“It amazes me that some of this stuff was not being done,” Stark said. “All the things we are doing now are things you’d expect to be implemented.”
Watts and University System leaders remain confident Georgia Perimeter’s problems are fixed. Still, new rules give the system more financial oversight over all colleges.
Colleges must submit quarterly financial reports signed by the president and chief financial officer. Schools must notify the system if they need to dip into reserves for reasons not previously discussed. Presidents and campus financial leaders have annual financial meetings with the chancellor. And every college president must attend the exit meeting with state auditors to get a review of the school’s financial health.
“The Georgia Perimeter incident alerted a lot of schools,” said Tracey Cook, the system’s budget director. “No one wants that to happen to them, and no one wants it to happen again.”
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