University receives millions in federal aid

Mark Miller

University of Georgia faculty and students have been the beneficiaries of nearly $35 million in funds from the federal stimulus package and more could be on the way.

The money comes from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 passed by Congress in February.

Most of the money has gone towards filling a gap left by a drop in state funding.

“During fiscal year 2009, $3,578,408 was allocated by the Board of Regents to UGA to help offset an $8,998,377 reduction in state appropriations that UGA was directed to absorb during the month of June,” said Ryan Nesbit, the University’s senior associate vice president for finance and administration.

“In fiscal year 2010, $19,280,574 was allocated [to the University] by the Board of Regents to supplant an equal amount of state appropriations,” Nesbit said.

In comparison, the Board allotted almost $354 million to the University for fiscal year 2010, excluding the stimulus funds. This is down almost 50 million from appropriations last year, according to the Budget Office’s Web site.

Nesbit said that in both cases, the Board of Regents, which governs Georgia’s university system, ordered the University to expend the funds for “staff and faculty payroll related expenses.”

Without the funds, layoffs and furloughs would likely have increased.

The millions come from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, part of the ARRA. The Fund provides for up to $53.6 billion to be distributed to states for a variety of public services, primarily educational operations.

In addition to the stabilization fund, the University has also received funding as part of a research initiative of the ARRA, “to provide investments needed to increase economic efficiency by spurring technical advances in science and health.”

As of September 8, about $13.5 million in stimulus funds have been given towards research at the University, according the Office of the Vice President for Research’s Web site.

Regina Smith, the associate vice president of research, said the total amount asked for is almost $90 million.

“[The proposals were] ranging from $15 thousand to almost $9 million,” she said. “The largest [proposal granted] was a $1.7 million proposition for the EPA to retrofit buses.”

The granted research proposals were for subjects ranging from “molecular mechanism of thymic involution” to “Jurassic-Early Cretaceous tectonism, orogenisis and basin formation in Nevada.”

“You name it, we’ve got some money for it,” Smith said.

While industry funding for research is down in terms of research grants, “We’re holding our own in a very shaky uncertain economy,” Smith said. “Last year was our best year ever. We did very well. We hope this year will be just as good.”

Smith said that the federal stimulus money, received mostly from grants from the National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation, and Department of Energy, was responsible for filling the gap left by the drop in corporate funding.

A large portion of the grants went towards maintaining jobs, Smith said.

“With these awards, it pays salaries for technicians, pays grad students,” she said. “The bulk of our money goes to salaries.”

Marcus Lay, a chemistry professor, was awarded more than half a million dollars from the National Science Foundation to further his research on carbon nanotubes.

The tubes, composed of a one-atom-thick layer of carbon, are sensitive to atmospheric gasses and have a variety of uses, Lay said.

"We're focusing on electronic applications. Display materials, cars, stereos." he said.

Lay said that while his application for funding may have been granted even without the ARRA, it wouldn't have been for as much money, or for as long a time.

"[With the additional funding] we were able to get a new kind of microscope to examine the chemical properties of this material," he said.

The new microscope allows researchers to examine certain molecular properties that other devices can't detect and will have multiple uses in the future.

Standard grants last three years, but his funded was awarded for four, Lay said.

"The additional time is useful for training grad students," he said.

Since awards are granted on a case-by-case basis, the University could receive millions more in research grants.

As to the overall effectiveness of the money received from the federal stimulus bill, the verdict is still uncertain.

“Just in general, preventing layoffs is just as much of a stimulus as creating new [jobs],” said Greg Trandel, an economics professor.

Trandel said that since most state constitutions require them to have balanced budgets, they can’t run a deficit. Since they can’t borrow money, “The federal government must be the only source of funds.”

Unlike state and local governments, the national government does not have to have a balanced budget. This allows it to borrow money to distribute to states.

Bill Lastrapes, an economics professor specializing in macroeconomics, said it is difficult to measure the effectiveness to the stimulus.

“The economy is measured by what we produce,” he said. “[The stimulus package is] good to the extent that a good chunk [of the funds] go to states. We want decisions to be made as locally as possible on the principle that localities know where the money can be distributed best.”