Earlier this year, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and the House and Senate budget committees directed all state agencies to reduce their state allocated budgets by double-digits for FY2021 to absorb the economic downturn caused by coronavirus.
South Georgia Technical College is not exempt from these cuts. The college remains committed to delivering high-quality education and training to students while continuing South Georgia Tech’s legacy of workforce development services to its communities.
South Georgia Technical College President Dr. John Watford and his staff are focusing on ways prepare for the FY2021 double-digit budget cuts which will reduce state revenues to the college by over $1 million dollars. The college plans to accomplish the budget shortfall by continuing to maximize technology to improve efficiencies, reduce positions and services that will least impact students and also increase its use of shared services through the Technical College System of Georgia. The FY2021 budget year begins July 1, 2020.
The actions that the state and the nation has had to take to protect the health of our citizens is significantly impacting our economy and our state revenue, said Governor Kemp in a memo to Georgia state agency leaders. The state has a strict constitutional mandate to create and adopt a balanced budget for our state. Due to the rapidly changing revenue picture for FY2021, at this time we are asking every state agency to prepare for an FY2021 budget that includes a double-digit reduction.
South Georgia Technical College receives approximately 40% of its budget from the state of Georgia. These funds largely represent payroll and operations funding for the college. “We are committed to ensuring the least impact on students and their educational experience as we get through this together. However, this budget cut is going to hurt deeply,” said President Dr. John Watford. “The only way we can absorb the double-digit state budget cuts are through reductions in force, furloughs, and layoffs. We have placed a hold on hiring and are not replacing vacant positions not deemed essential. We plan to continue to offer academic programs that are needed by business and industry, but we realize that we are going to have to do more with less.”
For the past five years, South Georgia Technical College has been ranked as the top college in the Technical College System of Georgia for efficiency based on the number of students who enroll, remain in college, graduate, and become employed after graduation. “Because we are and have been efficient, this makes the cuts even more difficult,” added Dr. Watford.
“The challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are unprecedented,” continued Dr. Watford. “The health and safety of our students and employees are our greatest priorities. South Georgia Technical College pledges to continue to offer students and our business and industry partners the highest quality of education needed to provide the workforce of today and tomorrow. We are meeting these challenges head on to preserve the educational training that is going to be needed now more than ever to get our economy back open.”