KSU’s President, Dr. Daniel S. Papp spoke at SGA’s general session meeting on March 15 about the budget and facilities.
“Right now, for the rest of this fiscal year, we’re in good shape,” said Dr. Papp. “For next fiscal year, keep your fingers crossed. Things might be pretty decent.”
He talked about Governor Nathan Deal’s $42 million budget reduction for the whole university system from last July. “We have been operating this entire year, knowing that that was coming,” said Dr. Papp.
“The good news,” said Papp, “is that the state of Georgia’s tax receipts continue to be good enough that Governor Deal recommended an increase for next fiscal year of about $117 million.”
So far, the increase is supported by the House of Representatives, and is waiting on support from the Senate.
If this increase does goes through, the school will be able to hire additional professors to keep the schools “already too high” 29-1 student to faculty ratio at about 29-1. “It looks like we’re going to get around 600-1,000 students next year, so keep your fingers crossed,” said Dr. Papp.
Some other budget points from Dr. Papp were:
$20 million was granted last year for a larger building for the Bagwell College of Education, they should be breaking ground on that in the next few months
There is $2.3 million worth of equipment money in next year’s budget
He is hoping for between $5 and $6.5 million for infrastructure and land purchase money. The school has many infrastructure needs and they are hoping to be able to move more of the non-academic functions off the main campus. “The vision will be eventually is have our core campus here, be exclusively for academics, and all of the support functions, budget office call centers, etc. be off campus but nearby,” said Dr. Papp.
He also spoke about the Student Recreation and Activity Center. “If things go well, we will get that approved construction at the office board meeting. The board has put up some additional hoops for Kennesaw State to jump through,” said Dr. Papp.
One of the reasons it has moved slower than anticipated, is that the board is concerned that the school is not going to grow as much as the school thinks. “We are convinced that we will,” said Dr. Papp.
The Board of Regents has asked the school to do some additional planning, just in case the school does not grow as much as anticipated, for a smaller Student Recreation and Activity Center.
SGA Treasurer, Mike McComber asked what the status of the $100 football fee that was voted on two Fall Semesters ago, and Dr. Papp said that it has not been put down at the Board of Regents because “The deal was, and the deal continues to be that we will not go forward with the business plan that asks for an increase in student fees for football until we raise somewhere in the vicinity of $8-$12 million of external funding for the facilities that we need for football and Title 9 sports.”
The school has not raised the money, which means they have not submitted the business plan, and there will be no football fee yet.
Another question asked was whether the two new building will be LEAD certified. Dr. Papp answered that the state of Georgia is putting in place something called PEACH certification. “It is a new certification process that is almost as stringent as LEAD certification process except it’s one-third as expensive,” said Dr. Papp.
He also spoke about the Student Recreation and Sports Park. “Mark your calendars for April 30,” said Dr. Papp. The grand opening of the Park will be on April 30 at 1:00 p.m.
“I’ve got one word to describe the entire sports park, and that’s ‘stunning,’” said Dr. Papp.
When asked about the 2nd Culinary Center, Dr. Papp said that he is hoping to fulfill one of his goals from when he first became President. “I said that one of the things I would like to do at Kennesaw State, to add at Kennesaw State would be a degree program in Culinary Hospitality Management. I still hope to be able to have something like that.”
A University called Johnson Whales in Charlotte, North Carolina, has about 6,000 students and its primary focus is Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management. About 1,500 students there are from the state of Georgia, and their average tuition is about $30,000 per year. “Now, if you got 1,500 kids going up to North Carolina, paying $30,000 a year for tuition, and all the other stuff, there has got to be a need in the state of Georgia for a program like that.”
Dr. Papp concluded his speech as the SGA meeting by signing the Memorandum of Understanding for the Student Recreation and Sports Park, so it is now official that students have first priority there (aside from Atlanta Beat games).
