Legislature(2013 - 2014)CAPITOL 106
01/30/2013 03:00 PM House EDUCATION
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| Presentation: the State of the University of Alaska | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
JOINT MEETING
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
January 30, 2013
3:05 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Mike Dunleavy, Vice Chair
Senator Berta Gardner
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Representative Lynn Gattis, Chair
Representative Lora Reinbold, Vice Chair
Representative Dan Saddler
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Peggy Wilson
Representative Harriet Drummond
Representative Gabrielle LeDoux
MEMBERS ABSENT
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator Bert Stedman
Senator Charlie Huggins
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
All present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: THE STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
PATRICK GAMBLE, President
University of Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided a presentation on the state of the
University of Alaska.
DR. HERB (ILISAURRI) SCHROEDER, Vice Provost and Founder
Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program
University of Alaska Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Addressed the Alaska Native Science &
Engineering Program.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:05:13 PM
CHAIR LYNN GATTIS called the joint meeting of the House and
Senate Education Standing Committees to order at 3:05 p.m.
Present at the call to order were Representatives Drummond,
Reinbold, Seaton, Wilson and Chair Gattis. Senators present were
Gardner, Vice Chair Dunleavy and Chair Stevens.
^Presentation: The State of the University of Alaska
Presentation: The State of the University of Alaska
3:05:26 PM
PATRICK GAMBLE, President, University of Anchorage, explained
that the presentation today would be a general discussion. He
said the university has already briefed both the Senate and
House Finance Committees regarding its budget.
3:07:09 PM
MR. GAMBLE stated that two-and-half years ago, as a new
president he took a look at what the previous president was not
able to get to. He said that he took about six months to visit
the campuses and get to know people. He related that he was
involved with secondary and higher education in his previous
work with the Air Force.
He reported that he found the university to be an organization
similar to the business world with a 2009 strategic plan that
needed updating.
3:09:02 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS announced the arrival of Representative
Saddler.
MR. GAMBLE explained that he soon discovered that the university
system needed to take an introspective look at itself and ask
the question if what it was doing was relevant to today and
examine the reasons for doing what it has been doing.
MR. GAMBLE said he had the opportunity to sit on the University
Task Force and listen to concerns about secondary and post-
secondary education and the link between the two. He came to the
conclusion that the university had to get involved with higher
education at a strategic level in the state. He said the band-
aide approach would not work for large systematic changes.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX joined the meeting.
3:11:02 PM
MR. GAMBLE explained his appointment of Dr. Terry MacTaggart and
the need for the university to change direction. The new plan
was named the Strategic Direction Initiative (SDI). The goal of
SDI is that SDI is no longer needed. He said that the university
is two-thirds through the SDI project. The second phase
consisted of a team that looked at all the current reviews that
had been done on the university system and included Rasmussen
Foundation funding. There were over 80 write-ups,
recommendations, and suggestions, including the MacTaggart
Rogers report on university staff. Over 80 listening sessions
were held throughout Alaska with students, faculty, and alumni
to collect feedback about what the university was doing right,
and wrong.
3:13:23 PM
He explained that after all the data was collected, a technical
word and subject search was run to distill subject material into
five major themes. He said at that point SDI was a year-and-a-
half into the effort. He noted the transfer of credits was one
of the themes. He described some of the problems within the
three independent units of the university due to fast growth and
its impacts.
3:15:36 PM
He stated that the good news is, after a year-and-a-half, the
university has made amazing progress. The organization
understands the process and has worked it very well. There has
been cooperation, on the academic side, of faculty across the
system by using the governance process. Another plus is the fact
that over the last four years, major universities in the Lower
48 have taken huge budget cuts, which has forced them to try
innovated things in order to survive. He used the California
system as an example of a system that was forced to change and
become a better system.
He said that Alaska's university system has not had huge budget
cuts and is able to make changes on a programmatic basis with
the cooperation of the legislature, using the best ideas from
colleges down south.
He noted the importance of determining Alaska's identity as a
university. He gave an example of an Eastern private college's
curriculum versus an engineering university's curriculum to show
the variety of college identities.
3:19:24 PM
He said the university system is "Alaska's university for
Alaska's needs." It is workforce development oriented, as well
as higher degree oriented. Alaska's students are interested in
staying in Alaska and working on what drives Alaska - the
economy and way of life. He pointed out that continuous
improvement is the desire of any business or institution.
He related that phase three of SDI deals with the desired effect
of the university system, such as better relationships with high
schools. In this phase, the five themes are analyzed in terms of
the desired effect.
3:23:18 PM
He stated that on February 20, 2013, there will be a very large
meeting of university system leadership to finish phase two of
SDI and begin phase three, which may be the hardest part of all.
He said that SDI could not be done without the cooperation of
the three chancellors. He praised the current team and said the
probability of success is very high.
CHAIR STEVENS voiced appreciation for the presentation. He asked
when the MacTaggart Report would be published.
MR. GAMBLE answered that the MacTaggart Report was completed
prior to his arrival at the university. It covered only the
system-wide staff.
CHAIR STEVENS inquired if there would be a further working of
that report.
MR. GAMBLE explained that Dr. MacTaggart is working as a
consultant on the university's behalf. Notes from the meetings
are available, but there will not be another report.
3:26:52 PM
CHAIR STEVENS noted that he had read the MacTaggart Report and
it was very interesting. He highlighted the Alaska Native
Science Education Program (ANSEP), saying it works well.
MR. GAMBLE explained that his interest in the ANSEP program is
analyzing what makes the program work and seeing if those
qualities can be expanded to other programs and to high schools
to keep students motivated. He spoke of the difficulties with
remediation programs and the successes of ANSEP, which is
directed by Dr. Herb Schroeder.
3:29:33 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked about the graduation rate of the
ANSEP program.
DR. HERB (ILISAURRI) SCHROEDER, Founder and Executive Director,
Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program, replied that it was
72 percent.
MR. GAMBLE clarified that it was 72 percent, compared to about a
30 percent graduation rate of all students attempting to get a
certificate or degree.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked what it would take to expand ANSEP
to the public school system.
MR. GAMBLE answered that Dr. Schroeder has validated ANSEP's
methodology in places other than Alaska. Those attributes appear
to be universal with all students. He stressed the importance of
motivation within the classroom with the use of the integration
of up-to-date technology. He said the secret to expanding the
program is to get students interested when they are young, get
them involved, and let them see the excitement of on-line
curriculum.
3:34:07 PM
SENATOR GARDNER questioned why remediation classes for the Merit
Scholarship Program were down.
MR. GAMBLE explained that it is a fairly new program with
standards built into it. He said it is a three-tiered system and
the top tier is doing fine. The lowest tier is in jeopardy and
is participating in remediation classes. He suggested the
program may need to be adjusted and one of the solutions is to
work in partnership with the high schools.
MR. GAMBLE pointed out that there is also the University of
Alaska (UA) Scholars Program for which the top 10 percent of any
high school are eligible. The success rate of that program
varies, also.
3:37:04 PM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD thanked Mr. Gamble for his factual
information and honesty, and for addressing problems brought to
him. She voiced concerns about implementing technology without
parameters. She asked if there is an outcome based study that
shows using technology improves educational outcomes.
MR. GAMBLE offered to find information about that subject. He
noted the rapid rate at which technology is finding its way into
the hands of students, universities, and colleges. He spoke of
the difficulty of funding technology upgrades and keeping up
with technological classrooms.
3:41:39 PM
SENATOR DUNLEAVY suggested having Dr. Schroeder present his
model to the committee at a future date. He emphasized that the
right program will succeed with all students. He described the
difference between "developmental" and "remediation."
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked about the higher education task
force and the two items that were highlighted - individual
progress and completion rates. The individual required an
advisor/advocate for any institution taking the performance
scholarship. He understood that the university has been adding
advisor positions so that degree-seeking students would have
them available. He requested an update on that issue. He also
spoke of remediation issues and wanted to know if the university
was integrating suggestions made in that area.
3:44:27 PM
MR. GAMBLE answered that both topics are main themes of SDI. He
noted the increase in funding of $1.1 million for advisory
positions. He used University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) as an
example of a test application called MAP-Works that was
specifically designed to help advisors with a heavy student load
know about the students they were advising. He said he was
impressed by its potential. He noted that, today, over 5,000
students are involved in MAP-Works. The freshmen and sophomores
have first priority at UAA. The university is beginning to see
benefits from the application, such as Early Alert, which helps
in retention of students.
3:47:37 PM
MR. GAMBLE addressed Representative Seaton's second issue of
remediation. He said the university now uses "Accuplacer" as a
mandated placement tool. They ran into the problem of "cut
scores" being different depending on the school. Recently, the
faculty aligned cut scores across the university system.
He pointed out that accreditation is the blanket that falls over
all issues. It is important that the faculty is the one
responsible to make everything work. They are currently looking
at the standardization of certain general education requirement
courses.
3:50:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if the university offers remediation
course variability. He explained how discouraged students get if
they are placed in the wrong courses.
MR. GAMBLE replied that the university has not progressed that
far. The effort to include appropriate course remediation is
just beginning within SDI. The recognition of the problem has
been noted. He shared an example of a principal at a Kodiak high
school who told a story about a student who missed the cut-off
on "Accuplacer" by one point. The student's math teacher said
the student was one of the best math students in his class,
could do college work, and did not need remediation.
He explained the current remediation process and classes
offered. He suggested the process should be adapted to serve the
students.
3:53:39 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked what it would take to implement an
ANSEP-type program in the Anchorage public schools or in any
district.
MR. GAMBLE explained that one of the biggest problems with
bridging programs such as ANSEP is the need for small classes.
Such programs are not as effective with large classes. He said
he believed the fundamental successful features of ANSEP could
be adapted to larger groups. He suggested building a program and
"costing it out" for thousands of students in districts across
Alaska. He noted that programs similar to ANSEP have worked in
other places such as Hawaii and the Southwest.
3:55:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked how "costing it out" could be done.
MR. GAMBLE answered that it could be done internally and with
the help of a consultant.
SENATOR GARDNER asked about the transferability of credits. She
called it a "hot button issue." She thought it was because the
public thinks of the university as one university with a bunch
of campuses; however, accreditation is a separate subject and
there are really three different accredited universities, in
that sense. She recalled that the university's response to the
problem in the past has been "we're working on that." She asked
when the problem will really be resolved.
3:57:19 PM
MR. GAMBLE said he would know when the university does not have
any complaints for a year. He noted that 97 percent of credits
did transfer, but the question is, "How did they transfer?" For
example, on-line processes sometimes did not work. He stressed
that the glitches have to be removed, and in order to do so,
there must be system-wide cooperation. He said that, sometimes,
it is student error and he gave an example. He suggested that
solutions to the problems are moving quickly along.
4:01:01 PM
At ease
4:03:33 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON spoke of a statewide initiative called the
$10,000 Degree. He asked if the university had looked at
streamlined programs such as that.
MR. GAMBLE said no. He explained the idea behind that program is
to take as many college credits as possible during high school,
take summer school courses, and plan a degree program carefully
in order to only spend $10,000 on tuition. He did say the
university is trying to offer more college credits to high
school students.
4:06:09 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON commended Mr. Gamble for working on the
problem of transfer of credits. She said the first year she was
a legislator, thirteen years ago, transfer of credits was a
problem.
MR. GAMBLE replied that a professor from the university was
listening and would relate this information back to the academic
world.
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD noted that problems with transfer of
credits from outside of Alaska lead to lost opportunities for
enrollment and revenues. She asked if the university has an on-
line model such as the University of Montana's that shows which
credits will transfer.
4:08:12 PM
MR. GAMBLE agreed that transfer of credits earned outside of
Alaska is a bigger problem. He related that colleges in the
Lower 48 are forming coalitions in order to compare basic
courses and avoid transfer problems and meet accreditation
standards. Students who transfer from military colleges have
fewer problems because the Department of Defense has already
made arrangements with colleges, including the UA system,
regarding the acceptance of credits.
4:10:59 PM
CHAIR STEVENS said he appreciates the progress the university
has made on transferability, but noted that not all credits are
transferable.
SENATOR GARDNER shared a transfer experience in the California
system.
MR. GAMBLE agreed that California was doing some cutting edge
things as a response to budget cuts. He believed that California
colleges pre-approve courses throughout the system. He
maintained that the Alaska network should be able to do the
same, from courses taken during high school, to a two-year
degree, to a main campus or community campus.
SENATOR GARDNER described it as "one university."
CHAIR STEVENS voiced appreciation for the presentation.
MR. GAMBLE stated that he appreciated the committee's interest
in the broader topics of education, not just budget issues.
4:14:01 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Stevens adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee
at 4:14 p.m.
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