Faced now with a potentially much smaller additional cut next fiscal year, Medical College of Georgia has decided against eliminating any academic programs, Provost Barry D. Goldstein announced in a letter today to faculty, staff and students. But at least one student whose programs was a potential target said she will believe it when she sees something concrete.
"All of us are just on pins and needles," said Maegan  Brass, a senior nurse anesthesia student who would have been cut off months from graduating if her program was eliminated.
In the letter, Goldstein said University System of Georgia Chancellor Erroll B. Davis advised schools that the additional cuts to the system would be closer to $117 million instead of the $300 million lawmakers had suggested. Therefore, MCG's share of that potential cut would be much less than the $25.6 million the school had been told to prepare for.
"Based on this budget information, we have decided against eliminating any academic programs in FY 2011," which begins July 1, Goldstein wrote.
Brass, who is continuing her clinical rotations in south Georgia even as she and friends and family continue to lobby lawmakers against the cuts, said she will let up the pressure when she sees a final vote.
"Until they go through and make an official vote about something, they can say stuff all day long," she said.
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