On August 14th, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia voted for a second year in a row to nullify any benefit provided by the COLAs by increasing next year's health insurance premiums by 6-10%, deductibles and out-of-pocket max by 15-16%, and hospital stays by 33-50%. USG employees only received up to a 4% raise, and some employees were left out of raises altogether.

Meanwhile, Governor Kemp and Chancellor Perdue sit on approximately $10 billion in unspent surplus, leaving campus workers underfunded and increasingly understaffed. This comes as enrollment is up by 3% and credit hour generation is up 3.7% on average across USG institutions.

Every year, working for USG institutions becomes more and more financially untenable. We dedicate our time to maintaining the campus and enhancing students' experiences, yet this system drives brilliant workers to leave for other opportunities while lower-income workers remain trapped in a cycle of loss as they build the foundation of these institutions.

It is time for Georgia to fully fund higher education, pay campus workers what they deserve, and institute regular COLAs.