Atlanta — August 9, 2006

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia today considered a proposal by Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. to modify the board’s meeting schedule in 2007.

“This revised schedule is part of a broader effort to focus the board’s work on larger policy issues,” said Davis. “The proposed new schedule would accommodate newly proposed activities such as a Legislative Day at the Capitol, as well as board ‘planning sessions’ to address strategic issues in more in-depth formats. Board members would have the opportunity for appropriate deliberation of the issues we are committed to tackling.”

Under the proposed revised schedule, the board would hold meetings in January, March, April, June, August, and October. “Board of Regents Day” at the Capitol – potentially preceded by a modified board meeting – would be held in February during the General Assembly’s Annual Legislative Session. The board’s planning session would be held in November, also preceded by a modified board meeting.

The schedule would maintain the Board of Regents’ current practice of holding no meetings in July and December, and also would eliminate meetings in May and September.

In addition to considering the revised board-meeting schedule, the regents operated for the first time at this meeting under a revised committee structure that divides the board’s current seven committees into two tracks. Track One addresses academics, governance and technology issues, and includes the Committees on Academic Affairs, Organization and Law, and Information and Instructional Technology. Track Two addresses business issues as well as facilities concerns, and includes the Committees on Finance and Business Operations, Audit, and Real Estate and Facilities. The seventh committee, the board’s Executive and Compensation Committee, will operate outside of the two committee tracks.

Davis said the proposed new meeting schedule and the committee-structure change both reflect his drive to push operational decisions to System and campus officials in order to increase the System’s timely response to its customers.

“The ability to reduce the steps required in any process is a hallmark of a well-managed and efficient organization,” Davis said. “Our goals are to achieve a higher standard of organizational performance and to utilize the talents and experience of the board in areas where they can and should have the greatest impact on the University System and its strategic direction.”

« News Releases