{"151651":{"#nid":"151651","#data":{"type":"news","title":"President Shares Progress Report, Answers Questions","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom questions about merit raises and dealing with rising tuition costs to sharing the successes of the past year, the annual Institute Address provided the campus community with an opportunity to hear straight from President G. P. \u201cBud\u201d Peterson. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe president kicked off the address by thanking leaders of the 15 active projects that have developed out of the Institute\u2019s 25-year strategic plan launched two years ago. (For more information about each project, click \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/vision\/projects\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThanks to the continuing engagement of the Georgia Tech community, we have made solid progress, and I continue to be impressed by the collaboration and innovative spirit of those working on the various aspects of the plan,\u201d Peterson said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe also discussed some of the new facilities that will be opening on campus in the future, made possible through a combination of private philanthropy, state and industry support. The McCamish Pavilion will open to the public in September, and the Ken Byers Tennis Complex will open in January. Tech will undertake a $10.5 million renovation of the Mason Building for Civil and Environmental Engineering and is continuing the phased renovation of residence halls and dining facilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to other renovation and construction projects, Peterson spoke of the new Engineered Biosystems Building that is under construction on Tenth Street. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis facility will allow us to continue to expand our world-class activities in the biotechnology arena and will provide an economic boost to the state by fueling Georgia\u2019s growing biotechnology industry,\u201d he added. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPeterson mentioned the innovation ecosystem that Tech is creating, partnering with the City of Atlanta, the state and industry. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are actively and aggressively working to commercialize the technologies developed at Tech, moving the discoveries made in our laboratories to the marketplace, and building the companies that will create jobs, drive our economy and stimulate growth,\u201d he said. \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EPeterson also touched on topics including safety and research initiatives.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFollowing the address, Peterson responded to questions that had been submitted prior to the event and to those asked by members of the audience, online and through Twitter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne faculty member submitted a question regarding the lack of merit raises for faculty and staff. Peterson acknowledged the challenging economic environment that has resulted in no across-the-board merit increases for state employees.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOver the past several years, we\u2019ve been prohibited by the state from giving merit raises, but at the same time we\u2019re working to do everything possible to ensure that we can retain the best faculty and staff,\u201d Peterson said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe cited the job compensation and classification system that was implemented in recent years as one way the Institute is trying to better understand how various positions should be compensated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother question pertained to the rising cost of tuition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe cost of higher education isn\u2019t going up that fast \u2014 we\u2019re actually educating more students for less money than we did five years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat is going up is tuition because state appropriations are going down.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPeterson explained that while Tech\u2019s tuition rate is still well below its peer averages, the Institute is working on additional revenue sources to help keep tuition costs down.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more of Peterson\u2019s responses and to view the address in its entirety, click \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/8sw885w\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom questions about merit raises and dealing with rising tuition costs to sharing the successes of the past year, the annual Institute Address provided the campus community with an opportunity to hear straight from President G. P. \u201cBud\u201d Peterson.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"From questions about merit raises and dealing with rising tuition costs to sharing the successes of the past year, the annual Institute Address provided the campus community with an opportunity to hear straight from President G. P. \u201cBud\u201d Peterson."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2012-09-05 08:20:10","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:47","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-09-04T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-09-04T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"151571":{"id":"151571","type":"image","title":"2012 Institute Address","body":null,"created":"1449178848","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:40:48","changed":"1475894784","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:24","alt":"2012 Institute Address","file":{"fid":"195200","name":"address.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/address_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/address_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2396504,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/address_0.jpg?itok=IEY9CeIA"}}},"media_ids":["151571"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/8sw885w","title":"2012 Institute Address Website"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"14212","name":"annual address"},{"id":"22401","name":"G. P. Bud Peterson"},{"id":"14058","name":"Institute Address"},{"id":"1271","name":"President"},{"id":"12451","name":"President Peterson"},{"id":"14211","name":"President\u0027s Institute Address"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.pavlik@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Pavlik\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInsitute Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-4142\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}