We plan to have a web based version and a hard copy version. The hard copy will go to OUS Board, MardiLynn Saathoff, presidents of our institutions, our legislative liaisons (for those campuses that have them) all of whom will benefit from increased education on the nature and concerns of OUS faculty. Perhaps to others as well. We will produce an updated version in F04 for the legislative candidates and in W05 for the legislature. This is very ambitious and it is important to get to work -- time is passing rapidly. This will be an IFS publication.

Peter B Gilkey President (2004) IFS

Briefing Book 19 February 2004

1. The governors Testimony on Creating Higher Education Scholarship Fund 24 June 2003 ASET - Access Scholarships for Education Trust. The Governor outlined the following four objectives of his postsecondary education initiatives: The Board must reconnect postsecondary education to its statewide mission: Access. We must provide an opportunity for every Oregon citizen to go to a college or university in Oregon of their choice.
2. Need to focus the OUS board on faaster not just in terms of the number of years but in terms of the number of credits taken.  Could argue for improving efficiency of academic advising Could argue for increased participation in GEAR-UP
3. What effect does a community college transfer degree have on the number of terms a student spends at an OUS institution in order to earn a degree? It is assumed that the number of terms will decrease, based on the additional assumption that student spends the same total number of terms toward the degree, whether the terms are totally at an OUS institution of in part at a community college. Is this true? is this an attempt to decrease the cost of the degree by decreasing the number of lower division sections at OUS institutions, in contrast to moving more students through the combined community college + OUS system?
4. tuition and loans.  We must discuss student welfare issues, not only because they are what ultimately matters, but because we want to avoid seeming narcissistic.
5. What are the long-term implications of student debt, on starting a family, career choice? Enrollment trends/tuition, etc...
6. Access must be provided to postsecondary education programs that achieve an Excellence in the field such that our graduates are sought after by the global economy. It is access to a quality postsecondary education that will allow Oregon to take its place in the knowledge economy and that will drive Oregon's growth

1. Excellence should also focus on the student population by tracking the proportion of the best highschool seniors (SAT's and class standing) that attend OUS institutions as a function of state support for higher education. Perhaps we could consider the poor state support from the perspective of faculty salaries and from the perspective of tuition costs (hours of work needed to gain the degree).

1. Targeting economic growth incentives. A strong higher education system creates not only j obs in the targeted areas but also an environment which is desired by high income folks. Attracting this population serves us all this population has discretionary income to spend in their community this population pays, and does not mind paying, a higher percentage of their income in taxes
2. We should emphasize that this population uses less tax supported services and pays more in taxes than lower income folks, so their presence is a net benefit to the rest of the community.

How much of the GDP of Oregon can in some way be attributed to public universities. A UO economist asserted the UO is conservatively a 2 to 1 economic gain. How can we get at our economic value? How can we prove we expand the tax base?  Our social value?
What is it like in other countries that donít have systems of higher education? What are the long-term implications of
student debt, on starting a family, career choice? How do our efficiencies like internal and external auditing compare to other state agencies, other systems of higher education? What has all been cut over the last 20 years?
3. Historic view of faculty salaries? How much of all OUS expenditures go to paying for our educators? How many professors just retired and from what positions in their departments after PERS reform? Do we know about faculty recruitment challenges if the OUS increases enrollment by 25% or so over the next so many years?  Besides salary, what is it about our Oregon quality of life that keeps great faculty here?
4. What strategies would we support for investment that preserve our values in the OUS budget if the state support was doubled?  How can we talk about the nature and importance of knowledge and how that is different from purely market driven education?  How do we stack up against private schools like the university of phoenix, Oregon private universities?
5. We must spend state dollars effectively by targeting investment to programs that drive economic growth and that give us a return on our investment that aligns with our goals of access and excellence.
6. OUS technology transfer/signature center activity? How do our efficiencies like internal and external auditing compare to other state agencies, other systems of higher education?
7. Where Oregon Stands. The Oregon Council for Knowledge and Economic Development (OCKED) reported in December 2002 that, "Oregon's economic health and national and global competitiveness is relatively poor." It found Oregon "ranked in the middle of all the states on key measures that indicate our ability to compete in a global and knowledge-based economy," adding that "States with high rankings in knowledge-based measures also tend to have higher income, net wealth, and stable business growth." OCKED also emphasized that over 90 percent of technology obs exist in industries outside of high-technology itself - e.g., banking, retail, tree nurseries, and hospitals. Thus, the fundamental difference between fast-growth and slow-growth economies is not between the so-called "new" and "old" economies. Fast growth economies apply the latest echnologies and best practices to all sectors, not just to high-tech industries.

 

1. This will only happen if the nature of the electorate is seen as a factor. Sen Courtney's valid point that the legislature can only propose, and the final decision will be made at the level of the ballot measure evidence in support = passage of Measure 30 legislation by super-majority of both houses of the legislature and this action overturned by the voters on Feb 3, 2004 Measure 30 was only passed in Benton County, characterized by high percentage of voters with post-secondary education and high incomes Argues in favor of strong higher education system (again, not just training) Data to be included with short essay: demography of vote on Measures 28 (summer 2003) and 30 (Feb 3, 2004) - access pollster Tim Hibbits? ? someone else? given the heavy use of the referendum and given that most voters cast their ballots based on ideology rather than on data, it becomes clear that the ideology must be changed and that simply becoming more effective at providing better data is not going to be productive, though we would like to think so ? supported by comments at last IFS meeting that pollsters must be heeded ? this will only happen after producing cognitive dissidence in the electorate so it's open to considering data
2. We should discuss the effects of the continuously defererred maintance.
3. faculty compensation . We must show through clear and compelling analysis why this is such a vital issue, not only to the welfare of individuals but to that of the entire system.
4. a comparison of our state system v. the nation in a sort of "state of the nation" essay.  We tend to view our problems as ours alone, when in reality other systems are suffering, too.  The difference is the size of the hole we've dug for ourselves.  The perspective might help us figure out what to do next.
5. We must stop the disinvestment and pursue a strategy of reinvestment in postsecondary education. What strategies would we support for investment that preserves our values in the OUS budget if the state support were doubled?
6. The state budget shrunk by 2 billion last biennia and the OUS lost about 75 million out of that. Furthermore, the Governor has announced that we are about a billion dollars short this biennia of continuing service levels. Does this mean that the OUS will be cut anywhere from 25 to 40 million dollars in the coming session from continuing service levels? And presumably ASET will be a ballot initiative.

Related Web Sites

1. Oregon Business Plan: The Plan - Redesign the way Oregon Invests in Post-Secondary Education is at http://www.oregonbusinessplan.org/higher_ed2.html
2. Discussion Paper for Leadership Summit 2003 is at http://www.oregonbusinessplan.org/pdf/Post-SecondarySummit2003DiscussionPaper.pdf
3. Oregon Business Plan White Paper: "INVESTING DIFFERENTLY IN POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION" is at http://www.oregonbusinessplan.org/pdf/5-Higher%20Ed%20WP%201-15-03.0.pdf
4. data prepared by the Oregon Progress Board to assess "How Oregon Is Doing" in relation to other states in the U.S. - View the Oregon Progress Board data at http://www.econ.state.or.us/opb/OBCplan/OBCdata.pd
5. Community Colleges and Workforce Development-Worksource Oregon is at http://www.odccwd.state.or.us/
6. The Socioeconomic Benefits Generated by 17 Community Colleges in Oregon - 14 March 2002 is at: http://www.odccwd.state.or.us/CCWDFiles/PDF/CCReports/Socioeconomic%20Benefits%20Report.pdf

 

Web page spun on 19 February 2004 by Peter B Gilkey 202 Deady Hall, Department of Mathematics at the University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403-1222, U.S.A. Phone 1-541-346-4717 Email:peter.gilkey.cc.67@aya.yale.edu of Deady Spider Enterprises