Legislature(2015 - 2016)CAPITOL 106
03/16/2015 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Presentation: Program Prioritization Report, University of Alaska Board of Regents | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 16, 2015
8:02 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Wes Keller, Chair
Representative Lora Reinbold, Vice Chair
Representative Jim Colver
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Liz Vazquez
Representative Harriet Drummond
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Representative Tammie Wilson
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: PROGRAM PRIORITIZATION REPORT~ UNIVERSITY OF
ALASKA BOARD OF REGENTS
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
JYOTSNA "JO" HECKMAN, President
Board of Regents
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Assisted in the presentation of the Program
Prioritization Report, and responded to committee questions.
COURTNEY ENRIGHT, Regent
Student Board of Regents
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Assisted in the presentation of the Program
Prioritization Report, and responded to committee questions.
MICHELLE RIZK
University of Alaska Budget Office
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Assisted in the presentation of the Program
Prioritization Report, and responded to committee questions.
JOHN PUGH, Chancellor
University of Alaska Southeast
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussed program prioritization at the
University of Alaska.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:01:48 AM
CHAIR WES KELLER called the House Education Standing Committee
meeting to order at 8:01 a.m. Representatives Reinbold, Colver,
Seaton, Vazquez, Drummond, and Keller were present at the call
to order. Representative Wilson was also in attendance.
CHAIR KELLER introduced three University of Alaska students.
8:05:20 AM
^PRESENTATION: PROGRAM PRIORITIZATION REPORT, UNIVERSITY OF
ALASKA BOARD OF REGENTS
PRESENTATION: PROGRAM PRIORITIZATION REPORT, UNIVERSITY OF
ALASKA BOARD OF REGENTS
CHAIR KELLER advised that the Board of Regents is appointed by
the governor and confirmed by the legislature, and in turn the
Board of Regents appoints the President of the University of
Alaska (UA). He described this meeting as important in that
there are four regents to be confirmed and the real drivers is
that Alaska is in tight budget constraints. He said the role of
the regents is oversight of the university system and thanked
them. Tension, he noted, is due to the budget crisis and 10
percent decrease in the budget and pointed to the UA budget
depicting a $53 million increase which is a red flag especially
since there was clear direction in last year's budget. He
continued that the direction was that the UA provide a
performance matrix of all degree programs in the context of the
number of students and costs, including directing the UA to
delete low priority programs. He pointed out that the
legislature does not have control over line items of the
University's budget as it is the responsibility of the regents.
He remarked that other red flags include: the 2008 Senate Bill
241 report on teacher training programs in the State of Alaska,
the legislature advised there was not much change in the number
of resident teachers in the universities, and the levels of
salaries in that the first 60 are paid more than the governor,
yet tuition is being raised.
8:12:39 AM
JYOTSNA "JO" HECKMAN, President, Board of Regents, University of
Alaska, [Available for comments]
8:13:01 AM
COURTNEY ENRIGHT, Regent, Student Board of Regents, University
of Alaska, [Available for comments]
8:13:26 AM
REGENT HECKMAN referred to the questions contained in the
committee packet, labeled "Memo to Chair Jyostna Heckman, dated
February 26, 1015," and said the school has grown tremendously
since 1949. She pointed out that the Board of Regents saw the
writing on the wall in FY14 and explained that the University
prepares for the FY16 budget in FY14. The budget passed in
January was prepared in 2014 and submitted to OMB in the fall of
2014. The oil prices dropped from September to December which
is why the budget submitted is of concern, she noted.
8:18:11 AM
CHAIR KELLER asked how the two year cycle works with the budget
language last year, and whether it was prepared in FY14.
REGENT HECKMAN offered, for example, this year the instructions
for FY17 budget will be received in May, 2015, for approval in
June 2015. The statewide university campuses develop their
budgets in July, 2015, and the universities submit their FY17
operating budget to the regents in August, 2015. As a body, the
Board of Regents is very engaged in the process of budget
preparation and presentment. In September-October, the
operating, capital, and capital improvement plan are submitted
to OMB. In November, she advised, the Board of Regents has a
final opportunity to ask questions and approve the 2017 budget.
CHAIR KELLER referred to the budget language included last year
and asked whether it impacts the current budget or whether the
issue is disregarded until the next legislature.
8:21:57 AM
MICHELLE RIZK, University of Alaska Budget Office, responded
that the budget language was incorporated into the FY16 budget
process.
8:21:59 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON referred to the December salary
adjustments after knowing oil prices were dropping and asked why
the budget would then come in with a two percent increase for
the next three years.
REGENT HECKMAN deferred to Ms. Rizk.
MS. RIZK assumed this question was referring to the union
contracts recently approved. That process began before December
and the Board of Regents decided to follow through with the
commitment of negotiating that contract in that contracts were
approved for all of their unions. Depending upon what the state
decides to do, all of those contracts can be dealt with all at
once.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON surmised that the UA would be open to the
discussion of renegotiating all of their contract at a level
better reflecting the oil prices.
MS. RIZK replied that the UA does not want to be treated any
differently than state agencies and it is open for discussion.
8:24:13 AM
REGENT ENRIGHT added that the UA honors the needs and concerns
of all of its employees and prefers to deal with an issue at an
all-union basis.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON pointed out that the UA received higher
than most state contracts as none of them received a two percent
increase, and opined that students are first and yet increased
tuition. She asked whether the UA will move forward with FY17
versus revisiting areas for which it does not have funding.
8:25:48 AM
REGENT HECKMAN responded that they are currently reviewing all
options are where changes can be made, what can be let go, and
what can they realign to help them make the budget decrement to.
She opined that the UA will not move on and advised there was a
special budget meeting where all options were reviewed as
everything is on the table. She said, they realize the
seriousness of this and have been putting in time, energy, and
effort to do the things necessary to meet the budget decrement
and they have not forgotten that FY16 is in front of them.
8:27:43 AM
CHAIR KELLER said the regents have not been called to be on the
hot seat as their concern is the danger of a compliant Board of
Regents.
REGENT HECKMAN offered that the regents are actively dedicated
and engaged in the administration and budget process.
8:29:24 AM
CHAIR KELLER referred to a written responses, page 2, wherein
Regent Heckman used a CUPA-HR in setting the salaries for
officers and senior administrators and asked the rough number of
people included in using this benchmark tool. He asked whether
the Board of Regents are involved in addressing the increments
that go above or beyond the CUPA-HR.
8:30:58 AM
REGENT ENRIGHT responded that there are approximately 116 senior
administrators and officers system wide.
8:31:04 AM
MS. RIZK added that the officers of the UA are outlined in
policy and the Board of Regents approves each of those
positions.
MS. RIZK referred to the topic of revisiting the budget, the
Board of Regents involvement, and tuition and advised that in
September the Board of Regents did not approve the tuition
increase that administration brought forward based on a variety
of factors, including the financial change for the state. She
said a revised proposal was offered in February related to
tuition and Regent Enright could discuss why that decision was
made.
8:33:06 AM
REGENT ENRIGHT explained that many options were considered and
providing affordable tuition to students is an important mandate
and that she called all 15 of the campuses as to what the
tuition increase would impact. The responding 11 campuses
agreed with the need to increase tuition acknowledging there is
a fiscal situation with the UA and Alaska and the February
revised proposal increased tuition more than the September
original proposal, she explained.
8:34:06 AM
REGENT HECKMAN added that during the February board meeting not
one student testified against the tuition increase and she
remarked that the students understand the fiscal situation at
the UA and "did not feel this was a big deal to them."
8:35:31 AM
CHAIR KELLER acknowledged that each of the regents have more
information on this and are accomplished on the pertinent
topics.
8:36:11 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON surmised that the Board of Regents has had
one and one-half years to generate a budget and they will adjust
that budget based on legislative appropriations. The University
did not change their budget proposal at the last minute but will
have to make changes based upon appropriations, he said.
MS. RIZK pointed out that a challenge is meeting the state's
budget guidelines for budget submission in that it must be
turned into OMB when it is approved in November. During the
June meeting the Board of Regents will approve the distribution
of those funds by campus.
CHAIR KELLER moved to the program prioritization issue as within
the budget language last year there was should have been a
performance designator for each degree program as to the number
of students, whether employers in Alaska are looking at the
degrees, and cutting out some programs at a time of budget
crisis rather than harming the UA by performing cuts everywhere.
He continued that the language also required information
regarding graduates, what kind of a debt load they experienced
when leaving the UA, how many went into their field, and how
many are working.
8:39:40 AM
JOHN PUGH, Chancellor, University of Alaska Southeast, described
the program prioritization process as the overarching strategic
priorities the Board of Regents has adopted in shaping Alaska's
future. "Shaping Alaska's Future" and the goals contained
within are the first step in program prioritization, he offered,
and secondly are the three accredited public universities:
Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Southeast. He explained that as part
of Northwest Commission accreditation, they are required in the
process to prepare a strategic plan and set core themes that are
the prioritization of the UA's plans. Out of those core themes,
he noted, there must be strategies of how to reach those themes
and the specific outcomes. He pointed out that the three
universities have gone through the first process and are in the
second round each with different years of that accreditation
through the seven year accreditation process, of which the
University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) is in its fifth year. He
referred to the specific programs under the core themes, for
example, students services advising is a very important piece of
student services in terms of an area focused on throughout the
system. In order to improve the particular outcomes with
freshman students, there are mandatory advising programs across
the system and have seen a significant increase in retention
rates as a result. It is the plan of the three universities to
meet the student as a freshman and provide support services,
advising and counselling, he remarked.
8:43:28 AM
CHANCELLOR PUGH continued that the second piece is when students
pick a degree program and the focus is on high need jobs in
Alaska and most of the degree programs are connected to the
Department of Labor's high need jobs, of which 85 percent of UAS
graduates are in high need jobs. UAS has a strong mining
training center and both of the mines in Juneau depend on UAS to
provide initial training as well as to upgrade their workforce
in that area. He explained that the third piece in UAS is
health care and the need for jobs throughout Southeast, of which
a number of UAS programs fit into that area. He explained that
the UA is informed by information from its economic development
councils throughout, and the Department of Labor, however, it
takes time to respond to emerging needs and adjust programs.
The University of Anchorage (UAA) prioritized all of its
programs and have 70 programs on the list to perform a special
program review and determine whether the programs should be
deleted, he indicated. Fairbanks and Juneau both have
prioritization processes such as committees, program reviews
academically and within support functions, for example, the Bill
Ray Center was sold in response to Juneau's needs, together with
closure of the book store and other actions recently occurred to
enact efficiencies. He put forward that special reviews are
considering library resources, which also operates as a public
library, and the question of how much of a public library and
academic library should UAS be through the process of reduction.
On the academic side, online courses are replacing some on
campus classes, but it is not easy to go through all of the 50
programs as UAS does not have the resources to review them in
one year, which is the same for Fairbanks and Anchorage, he
underscored.
8:49:23 AM
CHANCELLOR PUGH continued that science and engineering
priorities are at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and
is described as a Research 1 University as one of the top 10
universities of its size in research in the country, $125
million of research and primarily Artic research is seen as the
top Artic research university in the world. He said that rural
campuses have been a leader in Alaska Native language and
culture programs. The Anchorage campus focused on health
sciences for a number of years and most of their resources have
gone into developing excellent health science programs and have
one of the top 10 nursing programs in America with a mixture of
e-learning and on site supervision. Its second focus is in the
area of business with the banking industry and economics, and it
has a highly touted experimental economics program and a Nobel
Peace prize winner started the program. UAA has prioritized
teacher education as it has the largest school district in the
state. He explained that UAS has a very strong teacher
education program with e-learning all over the state which
includes principal and superintendent programs. Chancellor Pugh
advised that UAS has provided undergraduate business programs
via e-learning for a number of years which is quite popular as
there is a high need for accountants in Alaska. With the
environment in Southeast, marine biology is a natural and the
most successful program in recruiting students from within and
outside Alaska. The UAS focuses on each community's need in
their workforce, with Ketchikan it is marine operations as it
has a shipyard with the ferries, Sitka is law enforcement as the
trooper academy is there, and Juneau is primarily a mine
training center, he explained.
8:54:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON referred to the accreditation portion and
ask why so much time is spent doing three separate
accreditations versus one.
CHANCELLOR PUGH explained that geography plays a role and each
campus has an independent focus, as well as regional needs,
requiring the accreditation be separate. The accreditation
calls Anchorage and Juneau comprehensive regional universities
as their purpose is to serve the region they are in as well as
other areas in the state. He offered that it would be difficult
to have a single accredited university as, for example, Wyoming
has a single university but has a multiple system including
community college and technical system throughout Wyoming.
8:56:19 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON said that the university is meant for
Alaska's children to be educated in high needs jobs, and she
sees duplication going on not just the three universities but
with other parts of the campuses and training schools outside of
the university. She said she is missing why there couldn't be
one accreditation and focus on each area of education rather
than three, and the difficulty in transferring credits within
the system.
CHANCELLOR PUGH explained that Fairbanks has doctoral
programming and recently Anchorage offers doctorate nursing, but
it is difficult to think about a doctoral university such as
Fairbanks somehow with all of the other 15 campuses being folded
into a single accreditation. He advised it not something that
is done in the accreditation system throughout the United States
and there is a question as to whether it could be administered
in a single unit. In 1986 the Board of Regents decided to fold
the community college system into the university system and
having been through that process that was very difficult and
took 10-15 years to get close to integrating those in, he
offered.
8:59:13 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked whether digital learning is more
or less expensive.
CHANCELLOR PUGH responded that it can be more efficient and
expensive, for example, currently there are areas that do not
have bandwidth which enables a student access to digital
learning. He explained that an efficient model requires
enlarging classes to a significant amount, which is what some of
the profit making organizations universities have done that and
it can get to an efficiency model, but whether the quality is
the same is a question and faculty has been reluctant to have
enormously large classes in the digital area.
9:01:15 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD advised she is not recommending digital
learning as nothing replaces a teacher in a classroom; however,
the concern is UA's budget. She described the UA system as very
top heavy on administration across the board of the universities
and the state does not have the $400 million to give any longer.
She asked the plan for the universities.
CHANCELLOR PUGH replied that starting from Governor Walker's
budget to the House budget, UAS has a budget and planning
committee and has been looking at the areas to reduce or be more
efficient such as, selling three different buildings and
collapsing those to do more with less in terms of a physical
size. He advised that UAS has had five straight years of no
utility increases because the efficiencies work with its
buildings and each building sold allowed UAS to reduce its
operating cost by $300-500 thousand. A program eliminate last
year was the UAS pre-engineering program as there were not
enough students, which allows people to do their first year and
then transfer to Anchorage and Fairbanks, which will save UAS
$150,000 thousand, the early childhood program and two faculty
were eliminated, and an MBA program. He remarked the plan is to
cut programs and eliminate staff and faculty, including a review
of eliminating one Vice-Chancellor and one Vice-Provost, as
statewide is looking to reduce management, campuses will not be
closed, but efficiencies are being pursued.
9:04:47 AM
REGENT HECKMAN added that a single answer will not suffice, they
are re-allocating resources, space utilization, long term
facility management, controlling energy expense, system level
collaborations, reviewing programs and positions, enrolling and
retaining more students, commercialization as at UAA and UAF
campuses have increased research which could provide economic
value from the university's intellectual properties with new
inventions and patents that could be leveraged through to
provide some benefit to the university as well as the state.
She stated that many avenues exist and each is being scrutinized
while preserving the core quality of the university so when the
budget deficit is over the UA will emerge with something it can
hang onto and maintain a high quality university. The
University of Alaska understands this is a 2016-2019 issue, she
said.
CHAIR KELLER commented that the Board of Regents are charged
with making prioritizations, and the choices cannot be easy. He
expressed that the point of this meeting is whether the state is
receiving "the bang for the buck" and the Board of Regents must
have the answer.
9:09:15 AM
REPRESENTATIVE COLVER referred to the committee handout, page 2,
labeled "UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS PRIORITIES and PROGRAM
REVIEWS," in which there are a number of career pathways slated
to be cut where there is a high demand in the private sector
such as, dental assistant, dental hygiene, drafting technology,
and instrumentation technology. He offered concern as to how
the UA will provide for the high demand career pathways if it is
reducing these programs. He asked whether other programs are
offered in these disciplines.
REGENT HECKMAN explained that the program reviews and priorities
are continuing and there is a process of programing elimination
or deletion. The Program Reviewing Committee has a certain set
of criteria that puts these programs on a review list and it is
unknown whether they will be deleted, the decision is made based
upon the number of students in the program, faculty that can
teach those programs, or interest in the program. She said the
regents review it through its Academic and Student Affairs
Committee and offer a deletion of the program. Currently the
programs mentioned are on the program review list but it does
not mean that they are going to be deleted or eliminated.
9:11:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE COLVER asked whether the UAF campus would get
back to the committee on this assessment including how the
career pathways will be filled as these are job ready
disciplines with jobs in high demand. He described that the
mission is to offer programs for students so they can move
directly into a job.
9:12:39 AM
CHANCELLOR PUGH advised that the 3 campuses operate together and
each deletion goes through that and reviews what is offered at
other campuses. For example, the dental hygiene program has
been offered for many years in the Anchorage area, and the goal
is to determine whether a class can be offered at one campus and
serve the state, he explained. The programs that require hands-
on experience are hard to do except at a local area, especially
given the geographic size of the state, he emphasized.
REPRESENTATIVE COLVER observed that CAD drafters can work online
as the demand in the industry is high, and he looks forward to
the response.
9:14:36 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD noted that the University of Alaska's
budget is approaching $1 billion and asked "where does the buck
stop," with the president and chancellors or stop with the Board
of Regents. She expressed that during the past two years a plan
was requested, and stated there were seven silos where money
went and she had recommended one to offer more flexibility so UA
could put a plan in place.
She pointed out that UA is a land-grant college that apparently
did not receive all the land, but with the land it has how it
could be monetized and more self-sufficient. President Patrick
Gamble previously testified that his number one issue is
personnel costs in order for the university to become more self-
sufficient and she requested a plan to address personnel costs.
She opined to keep as many faculty that are teaching classes and
eliminating unnecessary administration. She inquired as to
whether Eagle River is an official campus but heard it is in the
black as it uses the high school, the parking lots are already
cleared, and the lights and building are already there. She
questioned why this model is not being used in outlying areas.
She requested information as to why a travel freeze has not been
implemented.
9:16:33 AM
REGENT HECKMAN advised that the buck stops with the Board of
Regents, as holders of the oversight responsibility, and they
run the University of Alaska through President Gamble. He, in
turn, manages and runs the university for the regents through
oversight of the 3 campuses and other smaller campuses, she
explained. The buck stops with the Board of Regents regarding
the budget and during the June meeting is advised of the final
numbers from the legislature, it then appropriates the money to
different campuses in whatever proportions necessary for each
administrative unit. She said that during their recent budget
meeting they considered reducing the number of administrative
positions and reviewed different models within the UA system and
separately accredited universities and how many people does it
take to run that model. She pointed out that the UA system has
some research faculty that brings in funds that goes to the type
of research they perform and are self-sufficient for themselves,
the programs, and their staff. She indicated that programs not
on the program review list will retain the faculty if it is in
the university's best interest in that their goal is to right
size the university system and retain the high quality, high
performance, and high demand programs. She explained that the
purpose of the program prioritization and review is to consider
what can be carried by specific campuses as the university can
no longer respond to every need in every area, as was once the
effort. Programs are being consolidated and focused on by a
single campus. She said she could not answer Representative
Reinbold's question regarding Eagle River.
9:20:31 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked what the university can do with
the land it does have to monetize it and move forward to be more
self-sufficient.
REGENT HECKMAN answered that the university has a facilities
plan and did not know if it had a land plan, but she can
definitely review it and get back to her.
9:21:16 AM
MS. RIZK referred to the sovereign plan President Gamble
discussed last year with Representative Reinbold related to land
and there is draft legislation for the land grant equivalency
that does look at land for the University of Alaska and how to
receive additional revenue through that process into the future.
CHANCELLOR PUGH said there is an annual land grant program that
reviews what is being sold and leased, but the problem is that
the university doesn't have many acres and opined that the land
office in recent years has done an excellent job trying to
develop the lands it does have. He offered that in the past
their focus has been timber cutting plans that is not an
enormous amount of money and noted the natural resource plan is
$200 million and spins off each year somewhere in the
neighborhood of $8-10 million which is used for the Alaska
scholars program and land grant research pieces.
9:23:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD continued to request information
regarding the Eagle River campus, the number of acres in the
UA's possession, and a travel freeze.
MS. RIZK responded that a travel freeze has not been implemented
but is "getting chilled very quickly" as last year the
legislature reduced travel by over $1 million and the total
travel budget is approximately $20 million, and half is
restricted travel meaning it comes from federal researcher
performing research. Through the reductions from the
legislature they have focused on reducing travel and
implementing audio conferencing, the Board of Regent trips have
much limited staff, and legislative meetings to the degree
possible are pairing them together, but travel has not been
frozen. They have athletic teams required to travel and are
reviewing that issue but it will take time to determine how to
do things differently as they cannot do an all-out freeze.
CHANCELLOR PUGH advised the number of acres including the plan
for disposal will be provided.
9:25:36 AM
CHAIR KELLER offered that if the witnesses have further input to
answer various questions to please send it to him before the
confirmation hearings.
9:26:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE VAZQUEZ requested a report on the acres of lands,
how they are broken down, the plan for use and monetization, and
the person primarily responsible. She offered that Stanford has
been successful with property monetization and mentioned that
the American Public University is a small institution compared
to the University of Alaska system which quite aggressive in
monetizing the little land they own. She recalled that over
$300 million was allocated for a power plant for UAF and
requested the status of the power plant.
MS. RIZK responded she would provide a written response.
9:28:19 AM
REPRESENTATIVE VAZQUEZ referred to a line indicating the mental
health authority funds and asked what the funds are used for.
CHANCELLOR PUGH replied [technical difficulties] the authority
often times matches program funding at the university, for
example, the mental health trust authority was very interested
in getting UA's doctorate in psychology started in the state and
match the program before that, and other programs for disability
services and other areas in the mental health services. He
explained that early on the mental health trust was involved in
the development of masters in social work, and in any given year
there will be 2-3 items in the university's budget including
mental health trust funds as matching.
9:29:13 AM
REPRESENTATIVE VAZQUEZ asked for a breakdown by geographic
location of the administrators and staff, as well as a specific
detailed breakdown of travel expenditures, a geographic
breakdown of the areas of majors and minors offered in each
campus, including student enrollment for the past two years in
each of the programs by geographic location.
MS. RIZK advised that the university has over 500 programs
across the system from certificate up to PhD levels and was
trying to decide how best to give it to the committee without 35
pages worth of data.
REPRESENTATIVE VAZQUEZ indicated with regard to the Anchorage
campus she suggested an Attachment A with a list of all the
majors and minors and other certification programs.
CHAIR KELLER explained that online the university has an
organization chart for all three campuses.
9:31:52 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON stated the report can be 35 pages in order
for the legislature to understand what is happening in all of
the campuses, and it could be offered digitally.
CHAIR KELLER responded that the legislature can come back and
revisit these issues at a later time as the Board of Regents
will be here for confirmation and the upcoming bill.
9:33:14 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON pointed out that the details being
requested may be included in the resources available, such as
"Shaping Alaska's Future." He suggested a honing of the
questions being posed.
CHAIR KELLER said that the committee is asking specific
questions and if the information is contained in "Shaping
Alaska's Future" to make reference to it.
9:35:07 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON reviewed the need for information on the
individual campus programs.
CHAIR KELLER pointed out that the broad question is whether
programs are effective.
9:37:45 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND indicated she was not sure she wanted
all that level of detail particularly since the legislature does
not have line item veto authority. She referred to Chancellor
Pugh's statement that the UAS campus cut early childhood masters
degrees and, in that she does not agree with the House budget
eliminating all early childhood programs from the Department of
Education, asked how the university would handle such a signal
from the legislature in that it is choosing to eliminate all
early childhood programs in light of two early childhood masters
programs at UAA and UAF.
CHANCELLOR PUGH replied that years ago UAS reviewed early
childhood programs because districts were not hiring people with
early childhood degrees as they were not required, therefore,
students wouldn't go into those programs because they couldn't
get jobs when they graduated. He said the outcome will depend
upon the student body and whether districts are hiring
graduates. In the event districts decide to hire teachers,
particularly PreK-3, the university will continue the programs
as long as the numbers are there. He advised that when the
districts decided to not hire individuals with early childhood
education they changed the program to include PreK-5 with some
early childhood courses in order for people to be [indisc.]. He
opined that he looks at the market and determines what
principals and superintendents are looking for in terms of
hiring individuals which drives the programs offered. Which, he
remarked, is true of any decisions made to make shifts in that
prioritization at the state level does shift the economy of
districts and the market and UA responds to that market. He
would like UAS to respond more quickly as it is smaller with
fewer layers to go through but it is getting better at turning
faster, he related.
9:41:19 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON pointed out that the committee received
presentations from each of the three universities, and using UAF
as an example, has 42 programs they are evaluating for
elimination. Yet, he pointed out, the committee request is to
receive a report regarding all of the programs offered thereby
not relying upon their expertise to have identified 42 programs.
He opined that the committee is requesting the university to
give the committee a digital dump of all the courses they
operate, but he was not sure why because they were asked to
prioritize and complied, and now the committee is questioning
its prioritization. He asked whether the committee is asking
the UA to have some different parameter under which to
prioritize the 42 masters and certificated programs and
Bachelors of Art, Bachelors of Science programs should be
evaluated. He then questioned the appropriateness and whether
the committee should delve into the detail that has been
entrusted to the Board of Regents as the university came forward
with prioritizing programs as was requested.
CHAIR KELLER responded that the documents do not make sense to
him as he does not see a real prioritization and his suspicions
are that the product is not yet completed, although it was
requested a year ago. He said he heard that UAA eliminated its
Masters of Chemistry degree and can't imagine it not being
hugely employable.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON replied that Chair Keller's response gives
the university definition to the question.
CHAIR KELLER reiterated that the context of this meeting is to
call attention to whether programs are needed or not, which is
the responsibility of the Board of Regents more so than the
responsibility of the legislature. He explained the legislature
wants to find comfort in the actions of the Board of Regents.
9:46:15 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON said that the university is looking at
their own programs within their own system and not tasked to
review the world and a consideration may be to allocate in a
different method to the university system. She questioned the
duplication with state funding, not just the university but with
training schools, K-12 programs and whether programs should be
combined. She expressed concern that 9.2 million has been
provided to build a locker room so these individual expenditures
are questionable and confidence must be provided through further
information. She said her desire is to understand the basics of
what the university is offering and possibly send students to
other universities to help finish their degrees versus trying to
do it with just that amount. The legislature is tasked with the
bigger picture of what else is going on in the state and asked
whether the state is interfering with private training schools.
She described the information the committee is seeking as
invaluable.
9:50:14 AM
CHANCELLOR PUGH answered that he does not object to preparing
programs by geographic location and enrollments, but an
important perspective is what the campuses at Sitka and
Ketchikan do for their communities, surrounding areas, and
workforce is amazing. Within the university system there is
quite a bit of distance education, for example, within UAS 53
percent of its headcount and close to 50 percent of credit hours
are e-learning credit hours and there are individuals all over
the state taking courses. He said that you will see in
enrollments isn't necessarily in that region because the entire
state is being served as UAS has 129 programs that are distance
delivered in the University of Alaska system. He referred to
the students that earlier identified themselves and commented
that this is Spring Break and they took their time off to be
down here to put a face on the University of Alaska. He advised
that Alaska is the only state where the student regent has full
powers so the students have a voice.
9:52:51 AM
MS. RIZK wrapped-up with comments for continued success of the
university. She said that transfer issues are a priority for
the Board of Regents and to send all constituent comments to
her. She added that transfers do not count toward the degree as
it is considered an elective.
9:54:04 AM
REGENT HECKMAN pointed out that there are 54 school districts
and are challenged with whether the students are college ready
and if the students are not college ready they spend time
getting them college ready and are chastised because it took six
years for them to graduate. Open admission is part of a larger
discussion, but the issue of duplication of programs is exactly
what the prioritization process will address thereby creating
efficiency in the system. She commented that the university has
title to approximately 145,600 acres of land, educational
property is approximately 12,000 acres, and investment property
is approximately 133,000 acres. She commented that in two years
UA will celebrate its 100th birthday, and it is important to
keep it strong into the future. She reported in 2014 there were
a record number of degree certificates and licensures with a 31
percent increase in annual awards compared to 2010, and more
high demand job areas degrees awarded. For example, she
remarked, UAA awarded 180 plus Baccalaureate Engineering
degrees, approximately 1,000 degree certificates in health,
occupational endorsements in health related programs, and
approximately 550 degree certificates and endorsements in
teacher education programs.
9:58:20 AM
REGENT HECKMAN continued that the university has expanded the e-
learning course delivery to 129 programs and would like to
provide as many offerings as possible. Many programs are 100
percent available by e-learning with a 38 percent increase in e-
learning credits, and approximately one-third of the students
are enrolled through e-learning environment at multiple
campuses, she explained. When discussing Alaska schools and
private industry, the university is increasing Alaska-related
research and intellectual property. She advised the goal is to
remove all barriers to student success and provide seamless
learning opportunities.
10:01:14 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Education Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 10:01 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Response to Rep Keller.pdf |
HEDC 3/16/2015 8:00:00 AM |
University of Alaska Response to Prioritization |
| KELLER Memo University of Alaska.doc |
HEDC 3/16/2015 8:00:00 AM |