Strategic Plan

Strategic Resource Needs and Diversified Funding

Traditionally, approximately half of financial resources for the College have come from State of Georgia funding; a small percentage has come from Federal grant funding, and approximately forty percent has come from technical-college-generated funding (tuition, fees, etc.). Generally, State funds are expended for continuation of existing programs and services, with the preponderance of expenditures devoted to instructional and student services personnel. Typically, Federal grant funds have been and continue to be narrowly prescribed, cannot be used to supplant other funding, and are difficult to apply to technical college strategic initiatives. Traditionally, technical-college-generated funds have usually been the primary funding source that colleges could use in a discretionary manner for improvements. However, during these times of constrained funding and budget cuts, college-generated funds are increasingly being used to cover continuation costs because of reductions in State and Federal funding.

To obtain the resources necessary to implement the planned strategic initiatives, which go beyond continuation with new and expanded programs and services, the College will increase its use of a flexible financial planning and will implement a diversified funding approach. This diversification will include optimized use of State, Federal, and college-generated funding, as well as funding from other sources. These sources may include collaborations with counties and municipalities; partnerships with business and industry; competitive grants; and cash and in-kind donations from companies, foundations, and individuals. It is assumed that the majority of personnel, operations, and large capital construction budgets will need to come from State funds. Fundraising campaigns will be needed to provide additional cash, in-kind donations, loans of property, and discounted sales and leases that can help with equipment, land, facilities, and other resources to help establish and sustain the strategic initiatives. Collaborations with local governments may be important to implementation of development projects.

Generally, the College's resource needs are reflected in its Performance Accountability System (PAS) and capital-outlay budget requests. However, some resource needs, such as scholarship funds, may not be incorporated into the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) budget process. Therefore, a comprehensive flexible-financing planning approach will address all of the resource needs for the strategic initiatives, including resources that may be funded through State, Federal, private, and other sources.