STC Responds to Kemp’s Veto
mrandolphadvance@gmail.com
After the recent veto of 9 budget line-items by Governor Brian Kemp, which included $4 million to expand a medical building at Southeastern Technical College (STC), STC President Larry Calhoun has sat down to detail what the proposed funding was to be used for at the college, and how the institution plans to work to get the necessary funding for the project in the future.
“A wise person once said there will always be more worthwhile projects than there are resources available to execute them. The State of Georgia continues to allocate the finite education resources available to projects they deem most needed,” he reacted to the veto. “STC is blessed to be part of the finest public postsecondary technical education system in the country and we are grateful for the support we receive from the Governor, the Legislature, our local communities, and our region’s business and industry.”
According to Calhoun, the funding proposed was to help expand the current medical education facility on the Vidalia Campus of the school. “This was a subset of a larger project for the Vidalia Campus that has been our #1 proposed capital outlay project for several years. This specific addition proposal was submitted earlier this year,” he explained.
This expansion is necessary, Calhoun stated, as the Vidalia Campus of the institution has outgrown its current classrooms and laboratory spaces, which hold a maximum of 12-15 students. “When the STC Vidalia Campus was started about 33 years ago, the growth in the size of our health sciences classes and programs was not anticipated and the classrooms and labs were designed to handle 12-15 students,” he reiterated. “Over time, the need has grown to 40 person classrooms and 24 person labs, including advanced simulation labs to help cope with increased needs for clinical rotations. This project will enable STC to increase the annual number of health science graduates, specifically registered nurses (RNs).”
Calhoun concluded his reaction with a message of hope for the future. “STC will continue to advocate for facility growth/ modernization in the coming years. As resources become available and our region’s need becomes more compelling, funding should be provided. In the meantime, STC will maximize the great (but undersized) facilities we have to continue to produce as many outstanding health care professionals as possible,” he remarked.
