Deal asking for more cuts in the budget. (2014, mortgage)

[MathmanMathman]

Deal wants cuts in the budget of over a half a billion.

More budget cuts ahead for state health care, universities *| ajc.com

$108 million of it will come out of the University System. Has the University System seen anything but cuts every year?

Originally Posted by ajc

This time around, the governor's budget office is asking the system to find cuts of $54 million this year and $54 million more in fiscal 2014. John Brown, vice chancellor for fiscal affairs, said universities and colleges will be asked to protect programs that directly affect the system's more than 300,000 students. "Reductions should first come from central and nonacademic functions," he said.

The university system has been doing this year after year. I think they have to look at academic functions now. Having been in the system, I know there is a lot of academic support the universities can do without. Everywhere else they slashed jobs but the university system added 5,000 since the recession.

[Caleb Longstreet]

Cut some more I say. Anyone that has worked with them as a vendor knows precisely how inefficient they can be. As it relates to technology, you can't break the Darth Vader death grip certain vendors have on the state, can't get one of their lackeys to return a call or be reached past 4:00 pm. Trust me, you can do a jihad on their tech infrastructure, the performance and things in general would only improve. Too many decision makers sitting on their cans waiting to retire. They aren't looking to change anything except the average salary of their last three years......

Case in point, instead of that "premium" you are paying for voice services, why don't you put in your own soft switch and connect ALL of your institutions with SIP instead of "thinking about it". Combine staffs and cut the heads 28% across the board.....simple moves, millions in savings....FOREVER.....or, keep whining about cuts you think you can't make...and that's only the phones! Get rid of flo, the Pitt bull at the door with 59 years of service making everyone's life miserable and combine the admins in a pool......more savings...more pension exposure eliminated.....look at every department and repeat....quit getting raped by the incumbents because your too lazy and chicken Shiite to make a positive change....it's disgusting and inept....eliminate your fiefdoms and islands of control. It's time. Move forward and quit hitting us up for more until you get your money's worth with what you have?

Couple that with their appetite for nice, shiny buildings and new fleets and you get the idea. Nope, keep cutting. The states constituents know a thing or two about struggle, survival, and doing without. Certainly the state can learn the same as the ones who pay their salaries. Don't worry too much about the university system, they will find ways to just tack it on to the students.

Speaking of students, do you think we can have a better qualification system for kids who get free meals? Last time I checked, I saw quite a few of them with the latest droid, iPhone, or sprint product and yet, could not afford their lunches. Not sure who pays for that but it seems PBJ's might be a good start.

Deal, cut some more. It's time they finally figure out that they can't hide forever. Close a few schools if you have to.. God knows we have too many as it is. No need for more liberal arts degrees.....fast food restaurants can only hire so many..........maybe put in a few more trade schools. Who knows? Maybe we could actually raise the bar in construction as it relates to quality....


Keep cutting. After all, necessity is the mother of invention. And if you cut enough, you will find the weak by the sudden rush to retire and mass resignations of the unqualified in a feeble attempt to cover up the obvious. Demand better, do more with less, just like we do every day, every year.......in short, run it like a business......lean and mean

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by Caleb Longstreet

Keep cutting. After all, necessity is the mother of invention. And if you cut enough, you will find the weak by the sudden rush to retire and mass resignations of the unqualified in a feeble attempt to cover up the obvious. Demand better, do more with less, just like we do every day, every year.......in short, run it like a business......lean and mean

But create jobs!!

[Caleb Longstreet]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

But create jobs!!

They could. Free up wasteful spending and ther is capital to invest in meaningful pursuits. Improved energy sources, manufacturing, infrastructure, research and development, increased export pressure

[toll_booth]

No. Cut ANYTHING but education. To cut education is to mortgage the future of our state. Economically speaking, it's no different from taking out a high-interest loan.

I'm glad to see that, while Deal wants to make more budget cuts, he has enough sense to keep education at least some distance from the chopping block.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

No. Cut ANYTHING but education. To cut education is to mortgage the future of our state. Economically speaking, it's no different from taking out a high-interest loan.

I'm glad to see that, while Deal wants to make more budget cuts, he has enough sense to keep education at least some distance from the chopping block.

That's only K-12 that's exempt. Probably to satisfy the Georgia moms and not give his eventual Democrat opponent some material for election ads. (I wish there was some constitutionally sound way to ban election ads ) I'm not so sure how effective our K-12 program is however. Seems like Georgians finally get an education when they start college and the USG is having its funds cut.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

That's only K-12 that's exempt. Probably to satisfy the Georgia moms and not give his eventual Democrat opponent some material for election ads. (I wish there was some constitutionally sound way to ban election ads ) I'm not so sure how effective our K-12 program is however. Seems like Georgians finally get an education when they start college and the USG is having its funds cut.

Um. Without 12+ years of schooling, a student doesn't stand a chance in college.

[noah]

Isn't deal required to cut balance the budget to comply with state law. Not sure he has a lot of choices except with how the budget is cut.

[tikigod311]

I'm not an expert so I could be totally off base here. But I would imagine that there is a lot of waste in the university system. Why?

Because they are a government agency that has a protected stigma.

It seems that every time I visit a state campus they are adding some sort of building that looks rather extravagant for classrooms.

As far as I am concerned, we should have an external audit to see how well money is spent. I do not subscribe to theory that education is fixed by throwing more $$$$$ at it.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

I'm not an expert so I could be totally off base here. But I would imagine that there is a lot of waste in the university system. Why?

Because they are a government agency that has a protected stigma.

It seems that every time I visit a state campus they are adding some sort of building that looks rather extravagant for classrooms.

As far as I am concerned, we should have an external audit to see how well money is spent. I do not subscribe to theory that education is fixed by throwing more $$$$$ at it.

My contention is that the USG has stuff that is not needed. An Office of Diversity for instance is not really necessary. Even during a "hiring freeze" at GT, there was a provision for positions that were crucial to the institute. You can imagine how the deans assured that every position they were adding was absolutely vital to their mission. Typically, the lower-pay-grade positions were eliminated while the higher paying ones were tagged as necessary. The USG cries "poverty" (especially KSU), but it's really a slow moving bureaucracy with a spoils system of its own.