Georgia Highlands student leaders voiced both praise and concerns Wednesday during a discussion with University System of Georgia Chancellor Erroll Davis Jr.
Davis encouraged the students to share their experiences — both good and bad — during his visit to the school.
His sit-down with students was part of a visit to the college that included discussions with school faculty, staff, leadership and finally a reception with community leaders at Coosa Country Club. Georgia Highlands was stop 33 on the new chancellor’s tour of all 35 of the colleges and universities within the Georgia university system.
His tour has been more about listening to students, schools and communities to hear what they expect from the system than making speeches, Davis said.
“This is a magnificent system,” he said. “It’s filled with a lot of bright and creative people helping people transform their lives.”
Recent Georgia Highlands graduate Lisa Melendez, who began at the school in 2000, praised the school’s faculty and staff for their understanding of her position as a non-traditional student juggling bills, work and caring for parents. “No matter how long it’s going to take to get done there is a place here for everyone,” she said.
After her discussion with the chancellor, Melendez addressed questions about the Board of Regents’ new tuition freeze program that will freeze tuition rates for incoming freshman at two-year institutions for three years before allowing them to go up.
She said that it concerns her that the policy could penalize non-traditional students such as herself balancing other obligations.
The tuition-freeze policy will benefit non-traditional students for their first three years at Georgia Highlands, Davis said. After that the issue is designing a system that keeps their costs reasonable into their fourth year.
Keeping tuition rates reasonable was a goal that Davis emphasized when speaking with community leaders at his reception. Although costs for the university system will inevitably continue to increase, the system must look to maximizing all its available resources — grants, sponsored research, foundations and other sources before raising tuition, he said.
“We should do heavy lifting in all of those areas before we turn to students and ask for more money,” Davis said. “Because when we raise the price, we limit access.”
Georgia Highlands President Randy Pierce said he hopes that there will be more opportunities in the future to expose Davis to the school’s campuses.
“I took it as an opportunity to tell him what we felt that the vision of the institution was and hear his vision for the system,” Pierce said. “And then find out how we can fit those together.”
