Selected Projects from Strategic Plan 2000

Introduction

1. Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

International Programs and Lower-Division Language Teaching

2. National Leadership in the Humanities and Arts

Institute for Advanced Creative Exploration

PAVAC II and III

3. Biomedical Research and Environmental Studies

Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases

School of Marine Programs

4. Workforce Development in Computing and Mathematical Sciences

5. Outreach

6. Administration and Information Technology

 

Introduction

The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest and largest of the thirteen schools and colleges that make up the University of Georgia. Some 14,000 undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled in its degree programs. It consists of some 30 departments and an additional 30 programs, research centers, and international and studies abroad programs. It is the home college of approximately 40% of the tenure-track as well as non-tenure-track faculty who are directly involved in the fundamental missions of instruction, research, scholarship, creativity, and service that define this University. Our instructional mission accounts for approximately 63% of all the undergraduate credits and 35% of all the graduate credits earned each academic year on this campus. In addition, the Franklin College accounts for about 53% of all the external research monies awarded to the University, as reckoned by the Office of the Vice President for Research. Each year the College has steadily increased the external research monies it has received, with a slight dip in FY 1995. Our faculty also account for a substantial portion of the monies awarded to the University by the Georgia Research Alliance. The Franklin College is fully committed to the goal of helping the University achieve recognition by the measurable standards of faculty accomplishment, educational quality, and service as a leading institution of higher education in the nation and the world. Our Strategic Plan proposes to reinforce existing areas of strength in the College and to build new ones. A number of programs in the College have already achieved national prominence. In the Arts, the Lamar Dodd School of Art is receiving growing recognition for its undergraduate and graduate programs, while the School of Music plays a leading role in music education in the Southeast. Many of its faculty are internationally recognized performers and conductors, and its Institute of New Music is attracting attention. In the humanities, the strongest departments are History and English, whose faculty publish with the leading journals and university presses in their fields and play an increasingly prominent role in their disciplines on national and international levels. In the social sciences, the graduate program in public administration, in Political Science, was ranked fifth best among 248 programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The program ranked first among the top 54 public administration graduate programs in the nation in scholarly productivity. The Political Science department ranked 10th in the nation and first in the Southeast in the number of publications appearing in three leading professional journals from 1985 to 1994. Geography and Psychology are also prominent in the social sciences, with Anthropology a program of emerging significance. In the physical and mathematical sciences, the number theory program in the Mathematics department was ranked by U. S. News & World Report as the 10th best in the nation. The Journal of the American Chemical Society ranked the Chemistry Department seventh best in North America. The Departments of Statistics and Computer Sciences are moving quickly to establish themselves as nationally recognized programs. In the biological sciences, the doctoral program in ecology and evolution was ranked 16th among 129 doctoral programs by the National Research Council. Five faculty members in the Genetics Department have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, while three faculty in that department have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Marine Sciences, Ecology, Biochemistry, Genetics, and Botany are all nationally ranked programs in this area.

By the end of the next decade, the Franklin College hopes to accomplish the following goals: achieve national recognition for the quality of our undergraduate programs, which will be noted for their attention to the individual needs and interests of students, excellence of teaching, currency of content, and innovative use of technology. We will double the number of faculty who belong to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy Academic of Arts and Sciences. We will reinforce and enhance existing areas of strength in the College and will raise the quality of all our departments. We will double revenue generated by external grants and other sources of funding. We will be recognized for our programs in the arts and humanities. Our computer science programs will produce graduates at all levels capable of meeting job market demands in technology and related fields. Our faculty in genetics, genomics, and the biosciences will play a leading role in the burgeoning areas of molecular biology and biotechnology. We will have established significant links with the Medical College of Georgia, and perhaps other medical institutions, through the role our departments play in the biomedical initiatives of the University. The College of Arts and Sciences will have played a major part in elevating the University to membership in the American Association of Universities and to broadened recognition as one of the leading institutes of higher education.

This proposed plan would require a continuing budget of $4,014,692 from the College of Arts and Sciences and of $2,986,250 from other sources, presumably half from state monies and half from through development and external grants. This plan also proposes approximately $173 million in money for construction of buildings for the School of Art, Drama, The Georgia Museum of Art, Marine Sciences, Ecology, Chemistry, and the Center for Emerging Global and Tropical Diseases, to be raised by the University through legislative efforts and fund-raising. The College of Arts and Sciences will provide its portion of this budget through redirection of existing resources. Major external funding will be necessary to provide new buildings for environmental studies and the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases as well as renovations for Marine Sciences and the Sapelo Marine Institute. The Center for Advanced Creative Exploration will require significant new outside funding. If no new funds are available, we will have to reevaluate this strategic plan. Although a few major proposals would have to be eliminated, and most others would have to be reduced in scope or ambition, the College would seek to put into motion as much of this plan as it was able while at the same time maintaining the existing levels of strength it currently supports.

In general, the College of Arts and Sciences has funded many of its initiatives through redirection of internal funds. Although many of these initiatives have lacked in excitement and glamour, they have had the effect of strengthening the College and its programs and thus the University as a whole. A few examples of these initiatives follow. Over the past seven years the College has redirected some $1.75 million to create computer support positions for departments and schools. These positions play an important role in supporting faculty research and instruction. The College has also funded more than $1 million in networking costs. On a yearly basis, the College has redirected funds to provide updated equipment, especially computers, for our instructional labs and classrooms, which contain more than 1300 computers. We have also sought to provide updated computing equipment to faculty and to departmental staff. Redirected funds enabled the rebuilding of the Department of Anthropology into a unit focused on ecological anthropology. New instructional and research labs were provided to the department, along with new faculty lines. Redirected funds also provided support for Arts and Sciences-sponsored international programs, including Asian Studies, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and African Studies, as well as for such study-abroad programs as those in Oxford, Avignon, Switzerland, Japan, and the exchange relationship with the University of Rostok in the former East Germany. We intend to continue this steady investment in the necessary needs of the College, but we will also seek to redirect funds, where possible, to assist in the strengthening of many of the projects listed in this plan: they include the Center for New Music, Creative Writing, Computer Art and Animation, new language programs, the expansion of Computer Sciences, the biomedical initiative, and other projects.

A note on diversity: University of Georgia graduates are going to live in an increasingly diverse society composed of a rich mixture of cultural and social backgrounds. The University should reflect not only the changes occurring in society but set an example for a diverse, inclusive world in the 21st century. The Franklin College has led the University in building a diverse academic environment for students and faculty and will continue to do so in the future. The College is committed to enhancement of cultural diversity in educational programs both through formal courses and co-curricular activities. The College will continue to support the current expansion of minority studies programs and encourage the integration of diverse cultural materials into instruction. Proactive recruitment of minority faculty coupled with an aggressive commitment to retain them has helped the College attract a strong and growing group of minority faculty. Target of opportunity hires have also helped to develop a diverse faculty. These efforts will continue. The College will provide continuing instructional support to insure that students can satisfy its multicultural requirement without hindrance to their academic progress. This strategic plan in particular proposes added operating support for African American Studies and Women's Studies and their new undergraduate majors. It commits to the development of endowments to fund the Hamilton Holmes Professorship and a chaired professorship for Women's Studies and in addition calls for tenure-track positions on which to build these professorships. Support for study abroad programs, new foreign language programs, and interdisciplinary studies provides another layer of diversity in student academic programs. Building a diverse, inclusive, and comprehensive learning community of high quality for all students is a central goal of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences in the coming years.

Conclusion: Despite its large size, the College of Arts and Sciences has been the home of the departments and schools that have provided the foundation of the University of Georgia's growing reputation. Programs in Marine Sciences, Ecology, biotechnology, Public Administration, Political Science, History, English, Art, and Music have all developed national recognition in one way or another, especially in the last ten years. These are programs the state can be proud to have built at the University. Arts and Sciences intends to continue providing steady support for these and other units so that the success they have achieved can be sustained and cultivated further. Our vision for the future is one of steady growth and improvement made possible by careful support and enhancement of existing programs and by the creation of new programs, or the reorganization of existing ones where appropriate. In the past the University could afford to build in only a few selected areas. But if we are to achieve maturity as a University we need a high level of quality in all our programs, and at the same time we should seek to build in selected areas of special strength. Our future reputation as a University depends on a minimum level of high quality and distinction in all the programs that we offer. None should be allowed to languish.

Herewith is a selection of areas chosen for new or enhanced emphasis from the Executive Summary of the Strategic Plan of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. These areas are listed below and are divided into individual programs and initiatives. Proposed funding sources are indicated. We do not include here projects or initiatives that require no new funding. We also do not list a number of other programs highlighted in the Executive Summary. The College of Arts and Sciences has undertaken over the past decade to build a broad range of quality programs. All of these programs are important, and we intend to continue supporting them. Our efforts to improve and build programs across the College are based in part on our observation that the most highly regarded colleges and universities in the nation are recognized for the diversity and quality of a wide spectrum of educational programs.

1. Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Total: $1,205,000

Across the nation major colleges and universities are reemphasizing the importance of undergraduate education. Undergraduate students are the heart of the University of Georgia, and providing them with a high quality education is a central reason for its existence. The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences is committed to providing a first-class instructional program for undergraduate students. We will strive to provide our students with a learning environment that stresses the value of a liberal education, excellence in teaching, and meaningful contact with faculty. We will provide continuing and enhanced support to programs that help foster a student-centered educational environment. Such programs enhance the quality of student life and in particular learning opportunities in the subject areas that form the traditional core of a liberal education: English, mathematics, foreign languages, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. The Writing Intensive Program, Freshman Seminars, and the Mathematics pre-calculus learning labs were conceived to provide additional individual attention to undergraduate students. The Biology and Chemistry learning labs utilize instructional technology to provide a high-quality computer-based testing environment. By providing faculty and classrooms with modern computers and other instructional equipment we can insure a continuing and improving use of technology in the classrooms. Enhanced support for all of these programs will enable the College and the University to maintain and raise the level of instruction our students receive. The most highly ranked universities in the nation are known not only for their research and graduate programs but also for their excellent programs in undergraduate studies.

	A&S Funds	University or Other Funds
Writing Intensive Program	$80,000	$75,000	annual allocation to allow continued operation of the program
Freshman Seminar Program	$5,000	$5,000	annual permanent salary enhancements for faculty
	$5,000	$5,000	annual operating expenses, brochures, promotions
Mathematics Department intensive pre-calculus program and learning labs.	$43,750	$61,250	annual support for GTAs, instructors
Biology and Chemistry learning and testing center	$50,000	$50,000	one-time allocation for new and upgraded equipment
Replacement program for computers and other instructional equipment	$150,000	$150,000	annual replacement budget
New support for African American Studies B.A. program	$10,000	$10,000	additional annual operating support
New support for Women's Studies B.A. program	$10,000	$10,000	additional annual operating support

International Programs and Lower-Division Language Teaching

Current and future UGA graduates will encounter a world where space and time are increasingly compressed. In such a future virtually all occupations will have frequent global interactions as information and communications technologies link all parts of the world. To enable our students to function effectively in this environment, we must provide them with a broader global academic experience that promotes appreciation of other cultures and traditions. By adding new faculty in carefully selected international areas such as African Studies, Latin and Central American Studies, GLOBIS, and East and South Asian Studies, we can reinforce the traditional role of international and intra-cultural studies as part of all College degree programs. Thje further development of international programs will benefit departments across the College, from the social sciences to the humanities and the environmental sciences. We will also examine undergraduate language teaching and ways to improve language proficiency among our students.

The College proposes to continue its development of diverse foreign language and cultural studies programs. One immediate prospect in the Asian languages is Hindi. With its rich tradition of literature, history, and culture, Hindi is the official business language in India, the world's largest democracy. A Hindi Language Program will provide students with proficiency in the most important cultural and business language of India and its billion inhabitants. The addition of other Asian or African languages will help prepare University students to play a role in economic and cultural relationships the United States is forging in Asia and Africa. We will also at the appropriate time introduce new course sequences in Scandinavian and Eastern European languages, and in modern Hebrew. The creation of new language programs, and continued support for existing language programs, is essential to the development of international research and instructional programs at the University. They will be accompanied by the development of study abroad programs that allow students to be immersed in the culture of the languages they are learning. Language proficiency provides the basis for scholarly and practical applications in international business, medicine, and agriculture. Its importance cannot be overstated.

	A&S Funds	University, State, or Other Funds
Six faculty positions	$150,000	$150,000	Permanent lines @ $50,000. Arts and Sciences will provide its positions via redirection
Undergraduate language programs	$25,000	$50,000	annual operating budget
New Hindi Language Program	$20,000	$20,000	continuing instructional support
	$10,000	$10,000	one-time equipment allocation
New language (examples: Urdu, Farsi, Vietnamese, or Twi)	$25,000	$25,000	continuing instructional support

2. National Leadership in the Arts and Humanities: PAVAC II and The Institute for Advanced Creative Exploration

Total: $2,317,942

Proposed by schools and programs in the arts, the Institute for Advanced Creative Exploration will undertake an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to collaboration between the arts and related fields. Faculty at the University have identified the interface between the arts and technology as a point of common interest that has already garnered significant recognition for the University. The proposed Institute would generate significant opportunities for external funding both from federally and private sources. The Lamar Dodd School of Art graduate program was recently ranked among the nation's best by U. S. News and World Report, and the School of Music is a leading program of its type in the Southeast. The Department of Drama is rapidly making its mark in computer-based production and design technology. The College further proposes to enhance the humanities and fine arts by expansion of the creative writing program in the English Department. A recent external review suggested this program can become in short order one of the most highly ranked such programs in the nation. New undergraduate degree programs in African American Studies and Women's Studies will also enhance the diversity of the undergraduate curriculum in the humanities.

The Institute for Advanced Creative Exploration will be an interdisciplinary endeavor that cuts across traditional boundaries separating Art, Music, Drama, Dance, and the humanities. It will build and focus attention on the creative potential of new technologies and media in the arts and will encourage interdisciplinary and inter-media collaborations. The Institute will invite artists on the cutting edge of art forms that utilize new media and technologies to campus, and will seek significant support from grants and private funding opportunities in the corporate world. Among the areas that would likely form the heart of this new collaboration are such areas as computer art and computer animation, computer technology used in dramatic performance and design, the New Music Center in the School of Music, which supports the performance of both contemporary as well as electronic music.

	A&S Funds	University, State, or Other Funds
Institute for Advanced Creative Exploration		$528,000	Operating budget, administrative staff, computer specialist, three faculty, GTAs
	$50,000	$50,000	renovation of Tanner ground floor, one-time cost
	$75,000	$75,000	start-up equipment and supplies, one-time cost
		--	Estimated cost of building addition, 2005 or later, $10,000,000
Film Studies	$90,000	$90,000	4 new faculty positions (ASTPs) @ $45,000--permanent lines. A&S will provide its lines via redirection.
	$100,000		existing faculty lines
Computer Animation	$90,000	$90,000	4 faculty positions (ASTPs) @ $45,000--permanent lines. A&S will provide its lines via redirection.

Film was by far the most significant artistic development of the twentieth century. It is also an art form that students find especially congenial to their interests. Currently two faculty members and one Franklin Fellow in Drama support the teaching of film on a close to full-time basis as part of their formal work assignment. Along with faculty in Comparative Literature, Art, History, English, Romance Languages, and other departments, they study film as part of their research interests and use film in their teaching. Interdisciplinary relationships among these faculty have formed the basis of a nascent, informally organized film studies major that is currently offered through the Interdisciplinary Studies Program. The University of Georgia should offer enhanced opportunities for the study and production of film to its undergraduate and graduate students. We propose through the strengthening of existing faculty resources, and through the addition of new faculty, to development a more formally organized film studies program that allows the possibility of undergraduate and graduate degrees in the discipline. Creative aspects of film production will be pursued through the Center for Advanced Creative Exploration and perhaps also through the New Media Institute.

The demand by movie and commercial studios for qualified artists and technicians with expertise in computer animation and web development and design is significant. The University has already earned attention for its computer animation program: two students in the program have won Emmys in a national competition. Student interest in this field is growing, and this small program is already establishing links with the corporate world, successfully placing its students in positions in the field. This computer animation program is distinctive in its fusion of knowledge of computing with design and artistic skills. Opportunities for external funding and for collaboration with other departments, including Computer Sciences, as well as with the corporate world are significant. There is much potential for growth here, and for the University to seize a commanding role in the Southeast in this area.

	A&S Funds	University, State, or Other Funds
Center for New Music	$27,234	$25,500	6 TAships @ $8,500--permanent lines
	$4,500	$4,500	Travel-permanent money
	$15,000	$15,000	Permanent operating budget

The Center for New Music is an important strategic priority for the School of Music and will occupy a central place in the proposed Center for Advanced Creative Exploration. Faculty and students in the center have already achieved national recognition through their recordings and performances. Lewis Nielson in particular is developing an international reputation through his compositions in contemporary music, and he has been active on this campus as a promoter of the performance and appreciation of contemporary music. This proposed modest expansion of the center, to be supplemented on a yearly basis by equipment and operating allocations if they are available, would allow the Center to enhance its activities and offer additional programs, through performance, recording, residency programs, and curricular expansion. It would also enable the Center to continue to be able to make use of state-of-the art recording and performance equipment.

	A&S Funds	University, State, or Other Funds
PAVAC 2 and 3: East Campus Buildings for Art and Drama		Estimated building costs, $67,000,000

The completion of planning and construction for the second phase of PAVAC will provide the School of Art, and along with it the Center for Advanced Creative Exploration, a new building appropriate designed to accommodate the needs of the school, its students and faculty, and the changing face of the arts. The fact that the School of Art has achieved the success it currently enjoys, given the absence of a suitable building and the dispersal of the faculty over the campus in at least eleven separate locations, is a real tribute to the talent and hard work of the faculty and staff of the School. Better facilities that allow the various studios and areas that make up the School to be located in a central location will improve morale among faculty and students and enhance collegial interactions. The proximity of the new Art building, and of the building for Drama that should follow, to the Music building, and to the expanded Art Museum and the Performing Arts Center, will encourage the sort of interactive collaboration among the Arts that the Institute will seek to encourage and support. The expanded Georgia Museum of Art, to be funded with externally raised monies, will enhance the new Fine Arts campus that results from this building program and will make the University of Georgia a leading collegiate force in the arts regionally and nationally.

	A&S Funds	University, State, or Other Funds
Opera	$25,000	$25,000	production costs
	$30,000		ticket revenues

Opera is an artistic form that involves collaboration between ,musical and dramatic performers and, in its scene, set, and costume design requirements involvement from visual artists as well. Recent innovations involving the use of technology in dramatic productions of Hair and The Tempest have demonstrated the potential contributions that new technology could make to such productions as well. In the last two years the School of Music has mounted excellent and successful productions of two full-scale operas-The Magic Flute and Die Fledermaus. Such productions are invaluable to the education of students in voice and opera and provide an important occasion for collaboration between the University, the City of Athens, and the surrounding community. Although the School of Music will continue to be responsible for future operatic productions, the Institute for Advanced Creative Exploration can provide an administrative framework to facilitate collaborations among these various disciplines to enhance these performances.

	A&S Funds	University, State, or Other Funds
Enhanced Creative Writing Program	$25,000		startup (one-time allocation)
	$12,000	$12,000	annual operating budget
	$45,000		faculty position (ASTP--permanent line)
	$39,208	$75,000	additional faculty position (ASTP), administrative assistant, and three GTAs (the GTAs are permanent lines to be jointly funded with A&S)

Creative writers are not as accustomed to collaboration as are people who work in music,. drama, and the visual arts. Still, the creative writers at UGA can play an important role in collaborative endeavors sponsored by the Institute--for instance, in writing scripts, web-page copy, and in contributing to multi-media presentations that involve written, spoken, and sensory images. These writers also have an important role to play in strengthening undergraduate education and the humanities at UGA. The creative writing program in the English Department along with the Georgia Review form the hub of a vital literary community in the northeast Georgia area. A recent external review of the program suggested that with modest support and expansion the program could quickly achieve national recognition. At the undergraduate level, an enhanced creative writing program would provide a source of identity for students who see the study and creation of literature as indistinguishable. At the graduate level, a new MFA degree would make the program more competitive with similar programs at other schools, and would attract new graduate students. Additional TA lines will allow creative writing faculty to offer more undergraduate level workshops and to provide a diverse selection of courses at the graduate level. Because of the high recognition level that creative writers can bring to a campus, and because of the potential benefits for students, we regard the program's expansion as an important priority.

	A&S Funds	University, State, or Other Funds
Holmes Professorship for African American Faculty Member	$50,000	$50,000	permanent line
	$250,000		endowment funds to be developed
Chaired Professorship in Women's Studies	$50,000	$50,000	permanent line
	$250,000		endowment funds to be developed

3. Ecology, The Center for Emerging Tropical and Global Diseases, and Marine Sciences

Total: $1,025,000

Because the University of Georgia does not have a medical school, it has not in the past deeply engaged in biomedical research. This intra-college and interdisciplinary biomedical initiative seeks to move the University towards the forefront in biomedical research by exploiting developments in a number of fields. It seeks to strengthen our research programs in molecular parasitology, genomics, and biotechnology and to draw the University into collaboration with other colleges and universities, particularly the Medical College of Georgia. Biomedical research has the potential to attract substantial external research grants and to provide educational and research experiences to our students in areas that are in great demand. While National Science Foundation funding was recently increased by less than 10%, funding from the National Institute for Health was doubled. The new Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases is an outstanding example of the sort of UGA biomedical program that requires expansion.

Ecology: The University's strength in ecological studies will be an important complement to the biomedical initiative. The Institute of Ecology is one of the oldest such programs in the nation. Our Environmental Studies Program has been ranked at number 16 in the nation by the National Research Council's analysis of graduate research programs in the 1990s. Diversification and enhancement of this program will enable the University to play a leading role as this area of research and study continues to develop. Interdisciplinary collaborations with such departments as Anthropology, Geography, and the Biological Sciences will further enhance the potential value of this program.

The Center for Emerging Tropical and Global Diseases is a cross-college collaborative effort between Arts and Sciences and the School of Veterinary Medicine. It will build on the research of our scientists who are utilizing modern technology in molecular biology, chemistry, immunology, genetics, and other fields. It seeks to focus research and educational attention on formerly tropical diseases that have emerged from the isolated forests and jungles of their origin and that are now having a significant impact on a world-wide basis. In addition to the suffering they cause, they have become an international health issue with potentially damaging consequences for the world economy and international relations. The heart of the biomedical initiative involves some of the most pressing problems of the global world-AIDS, malaria, schistomyosis, Chagas disease, and other infectious diseases. Also included are diseases of animals that play an important role in Georgia agriculture. Through the biomedical initiative the University can forge fruitful relationships with the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Emory University, and the Medical College of Georgia.

	A&S Funds		University, State, or Other Funds
GRA Eminent Scholar Tropical and Emerging Global in Diseases	$50,000		$70,000	permanent line
Provide a building for CTEGD			$50,000	Planning funds--one-time allocation estimated building cost $10,000,000
GRA Eminent Scholar in Genetic Biotechnology		$60,000	$60,000	permanent line
Regents Scholar in Genomics, Proteomics, or Informatics (BMB Dept)		$60,000	$60,000	permanent line
GRA Eminent Scholar in Agricultural Biotechnology	$40,000		$80,000	College of Agriculture provides the $80,000--permanent line
Support for research and instruction in environmental studies			$25,000	annual administrative operating funds
New building for Environmental Studies			$50,000	Planning funds--one-time allocation Estimated building cost $30,000,000
New program areas in Evolutionary Ecology and Behavioral Ecology			$150,000	3 faculty positions at $50,000 (ASTPs)--permanent lines

An additional need in this general area is a new building for the Department of Chemistry. Rated as one of the best such departments nationally, our Department of Chemistry is housed in a forty-year-old building that can no longer accommodate the requirements of research and instruction in the department. Renovations and improvements at a cost in excess of $10 million dollars would make the current building temporarily acceptable, but limited space would continue to hinder the various missions of this department. We believe that planning for a new building should begin now, and that construction should begin soon after 2005. The projected cost for the new building is likely to be more than $50 million dollars. This strategic plan does not include a line item for this building because it is not yet established as a University priority, but we do believe that it should be a priority and that it is an important need in the College.

School of Marine Programs

Total: $270,000

The School of Marine Programs provides educational and research opportunities in all aspects of the marine environment. This relatively new program already secures more external funding for research grants than any other unit in the College, and its reputation is rapidly building. The Sapelo Marine Institute fostered pioneering studies on salt marsh ecosystems that have had enormous practical applications for marine fisheries. The Marine Institute and the Marine Extension Service conduct research and provide services that directly benefit the recreational and food industries that depend on the state's marine resources. The Extension's Shellfish Aquaculture Lab has been uniquely developed for Georgia waters and is dedicated exclusively to the culture of bivalves, which play an important role in the state's seafood industry. Further development of the School will have a significant positive impact on the state's marine resources and will make it a leading research and extension centers of its type in the nation. It will also enhance opportunities for collaboration with Geography, Geology, History, and other units of the University.

Sapelo Island on Georgia's coast is a resource of immense value to our strong research and instructional programs in the Marine Sciences. Its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, the estuarine complex of rivers, and the salt marshes makes it extraordinarily well suited for both basic and applied research on almost all aspects of the marine environment and its association with land masses. Both the laboratory facilities and the residential and instructional facilities for students have deteriorated and need renovation or replacement. With a reasonable investment the University could gain a research and educational resource that could not be purchased at any price elsewhere in the nation. We propose that Sapelo Island and its Marine Institute be incorporated into the School of Marine Programs to provide seamless administration from campus to coast. Given the existing strengths of our Marine Sciences programs, which lead all other units in the College in receiving external grant support, the rehabilitation of Sapelo could be the cornerstone of a genuine center of excellence in instruction and research for the University of Georgia.

	A&S Funds	University, State, or Other Funds
Construct labs in Physical Education Bldg		--	annual allocation of $900,000 for five years
Bring Sapelo Marine Institute into Department of Marine Sciences	$70,000	$150,000	annual support for faculty and GTA positions
	$50,000		annual operating budget
Build instructional and residential facility for students on Sapelo		--	Estimated construction cost $1,500,000

4. Workforce Development in Computing and Mathematical Sciences

Total: $805,000

The new millennium will clearly be an age of information and technology. Our departments of Computer Science, Statistics, and Mathematics stand at the center of this interdisciplinary nexus. The need for skilled graduates in computer sciences and allied fields where computation is important is growing faster than state schools can produce them. Governor Barnes has called for strengthening computer science programs and increasing the number of computer science graduates in the state of Georgia. The computational and informational sciences interface with virtually every subject area taught at the University, including the arts, humanities, and the natural sciences. Our programs in these fields are gaining recognition; the number theory program was recently recognized as the tenth best such program in the nation. The potential for heightened national recognition, external funding both federal and private, and a burgeoning job market make building and strengthening programs in this area a primary focus for the College and the University.

	A&S Funds	VPAA, State, or Other Funds
Computer Sciences Expansion	$100,000		permanent instructional support for certificate program
	$70,000		permanent salary enhancement support for recruitment
	$100,000	$100,000	one-time allocation for new and upgraded equipment

Undergraduate as well as graduate students are clamoring for admission to degree programs in Computer Sciences. There is a need for a careful yet rapid expansion of the programs in Computer Sciences. The Yamacraw Mission is providing funds for new faculty lines in the department, including one distinguished senior position, and there is the opportunity for more such positions in the future. Research fields in Computer Science range from business applications of computers to genomics and bioinformatics. We propose to develop a fully rounded department that can serve undergraduate and graduate student needs alike and that can play a major role in North Georgia's growing industry in information technology, telecommunications, biotechnology, and the "chip" industry. In addition, the strong research programs we have developed in the biological and chemical sciences suggest the possibility that we can play a strong role in the development of DNA computer chips. We also need to offer a certificate program for non-computer science majors who have developed mid-level computer skills and wish to develop them for use in their respective disciplines.

	A&S Funds	VPAA, State, or Other Funds
Number theory and mathematical aspects of computer science	$60,000	$60,000	two faculty positions (ASTPs) at $60,000--permanent lines
Statistics Consulting Center and Strengthen Applied Statistics	$35,000	$100,000	permanent teaching and staff support
New programs with computer science emphasis in Math, Stat, Physics and Astronomy	$60,000	$ 120,000	3 new faculty positions @ $60,000--permanent lines

5. Outreach

Total: $1,285,000

In two outreach areas the College proposes significant expansion. The State Museum of Natural History is poised to become a major state-wide resource. The College shares support of the Museum with Public Service and Outreach. Increased support will enable the Museum to enlarge its operations and better prepare for the building it will soon be able to make its home. As the needs of the expanding programs at the University grow, the importance of an effective development program at the College level becomes all the more apparent. The College proposes to add two development officers to its staff. They will provide assistance to departments that need to become active in development activities-units in the arts, humanities, and social sciences in particular. They will help to secure funds for new and enhanced programs that will increasingly rely on external funding sources for financial support. An enhanced development programs will be necessary to provide supplementary support to many of the initiatives proposed in this strategic plan.

	A&S Funds	University, State, or Other Funds
Expanded Museum of Natural History programs	$25,000	$50,000	additional permanent operating expenses
	$25,000	$50,000	2 permanent administrative staff positions

Arts and Sciences collaborates with the Office of the Vice President for Service and Outreach in support of the Museum of Natural History, which was recognized last year by the state legislature as the official natural history museum of Georgia. The Museum provides resources for research in flora and fauna of the state and the region. It is an educational resource for students at the University, for public schools at all PK-12 levels, and for citizens across the state. The Museum needs a facility for displaying its collections, for research, and for storage and maintenance of its considerable collections in virtually every category of natural organisms. The Museum provides strength in the area of systematics, which interfaces with the Environmental Sciences in particular. The Museum is just beginning to receive much deserved recognition as a valuable resource to the state.

	A&S Funds	University, State, or Other Funds
Enhanced College and departmental development	$50,000	$50,000		two additional College development officers
Franklin Fellows Fund	$10,000			to be raised annually
Opera Funds for Music	$25,000			to be raised annually
Franklin Professors Endowment	$1,000,000

6. Administration and Information Technology

Total: $363,000

By providing effective and efficient administration at all levels, the Franklin College can free faculty and students for study and research and can provide better support and planning for its instructional programs. Enhancements in Internet and web-based technology and informational technology provide means for the College to improve the accountability of its operations. We propose to take advantage of these technologies to overhaul and refine the administration of the College at all levels into a paperless, electronic set of procedures and transactions.

	A&S Funds			University, State, or Other Funds
Two technical support positions	$40,000			$40,000	permanent lines @ $35,000
	$10,000			$10,000
Networking Baldwin Hall (Anthropology, Sociology, Political Science)	$167,000				figures are approximate, subject to change, and may be spread over several years
Networking Physics Bldg.	$96,000				see above
Totals:	$4,014,692			$2,966,250
New construction costs:			$123,000,000