Here is a summary of some of the things that took place at the meeting of the State Board of Higher Education in Eugene on 19/20 February 2004. Please bear in mind that these notes are not normative; official minutes of the State Board meeting will be available presently. Three quotations struck me as particularly evocative. Board member Schuette on Thursday quoted President Goldschmidt as saying "``get on board or get out of the game". President Goldschmidt said, in reference to the ACCESS program, on Friday "`Whatever the governor says it is, it is". And finally "the next 60-90 days are crucial". So this is clearly a board that knows where it wants to go and has a pretty clear idea of how to get there. That doesn't mean they are not open to meaningful communication, far from it. But it does mean that they are working on a very narrow time frame. And thus my March and April remarks to the board are particularly important.
We can do better on getting credits earned in high school before entering college. Have to include k-12. Have people ready to champion reinvestment in public education. Have to make the people of Oregon believe in this. There are many CC presidents willing to be in email conversation. Talk to OUS financial aid directors. Identify concrete feedback soon. Do some things that push us in some positive steps. Goal is to have more people having more education -- things that have face value. Distance learning getting more of shared information about our common goal.
Policy from feds on financial aid is not causing problems (n.b. this was a theme at the meeting at Lane CC as to the extent to which federal policy was a barrier). Need to scale up common enrollment programs. Need stability. Common articulation agreements - WOU is a leader in this. See what, for example, SOC 101 transfers to at other schools. It is hard work having a dual enrollment agreement. Need to systematize and focus on student point of view. Student services. Seamless. Technology. Depleted staff at CC and OUS - depleted resources. Cut back staff where we could
General Ed Core. AAOT not working as well as hoped (Associate Oregon Transfer degree) - only 30% of people who move use AAOT. So this degree is not serving the majority of students. Wasted credits. Need to define outcomes of general education. Lots of CC Presidents come with experience of other states. Need common core of general education requirements.
What are some no cost things we can do? What are some minimal cost things we can do? And what are those things that need significant resources? Process to encourage shared value to help students. Our students are technologically savvy. We should take advantage of the internet. Is there a low cost statewide articulation possible with common core - showing way to graduate in minimal path.
We need Technology but don't have the staff. There are upfront costs and maintenance costs. The regional campus don't have a lot of IT folks. Perhaps there are economies of scale. High school to college. Need to work with K-12. Advanced placement - over 50% of high schools don't offer any and majority only offer 1-2 for relative few students. International bacheloriate. Distance Ed. Not panacea. Another piece of the puzzle. Perhaps it is a no cost item to tap into the 10th grade assessments. Use scholarships as a recruitment tool earlier - hang it out for 7th graders as an incentive.
Need faster graduation. AAOT is crucial for UO/Bend partnership. Global statewide impact and regional focus. How do tuition plateaus affect time to graduate? Policies keeping students in schools? Do fees levied on majors affect what majors student take? There is a delayed reaction - won't have data on plateau until 12-15 months out. Does it affect interning? Students won't pay to take 2 extra credits as intern?
Need to be more up front. Transfer students may not be aware of all our fees. If they are on a tight budget, looking at tuition only and then getting fees may be somewhat daunting. Can provide unintelligible surprises. Need better communication.
At the regular meeting of the board, the President of OIT presented a "conversation with the board". Students are #1 priority. Strong faculty. State appropriation is going down - many students need financial aid. Tuition and fees trending up. In the graduate arena - masters degrees that fit needs - bachelor of science completion for professional and personal development. Partners with CC and OHSU - lots of health programs. There are 61 active program articulation agreements with 13 CC in Oregon plus several in Washington and California. Current enrollment is at capacity in some areas. Need both faculty and facilities expanded. The demand is there. Existing externships (interns) all over the country. Alliances and partnerships. Equipment is very expensive and try to get it donated by partners. New resources are key. Enhance professional development for faculty - unfortunately 3 left last week. Develop new compensation plan - don't have much to offer. 38% of students come from Southern Oregon, 13% from Portland area. After that scattered. Some reciprocity with California. Out of students have problem with tuition. Faculty salaries $50,000 and students start at $46,000 (nb I must have copied this down incorrectly. Surely this can't be right).
President Goldschmidt wants to get the ACCESS program into place in the constitution. Get agreement on substance. Then work on finding funding. MBF is a way to say we can deliver a high quality product and get students through faster (More Better Faster. nb sounds like old motto "do more with less"). Don't worry about funding source.
Measure 30 impacts. The preference is not to handle these with a tuition increase. The budget must be reduced by $7,500,000 on an recurring basis - not just a one time cut. Seek administrative savings. Protect the instructional core. Don't spend reserves below a prudent level. Presidents are given flexibility - don't want any financial disasters. Distance education is very important.
Committee assignments From my notes. Regarding the Access and Affordability Committee: The ACESS program is not a conversation about money. It would not take money from existing programs to fund. Get agreement on the program. Next 60-90 days are crucial. This is not a conversation about money. With regard to the Excellence in Delivery & Productivity COmmittee: Major legislative project. Give evidence of what we can do with no cost or low cost that has a high payoff. Growth in output with new resources. College credit classes for high school students. With regards to the Academic Programs (TBA) - plan to almost entirely deregulate undergraduate programs. With regard to the Academic Excellence/Economic Development. Starts with long term investments that affect outcomes over next 20 years.
After this my notes sort of trail off as I was getting increasingly nervous about my speech. But I hope the above give you the flavor. This is a very different board than any I have seen before. And one that it promises to be very exciting to work with. Again, I emphasize what I have done is to jot down some things from my notes and I surely got things garbled occasionally.
Respectfully submitted Peter B Gilkey President (2004) IFS
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