Legislature(2019 - 2020)CAPITOL 106
01/29/2020 08:30 AM House EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Presentation: the State of the University by Ua President Jim Johnsen | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
JOINT MEETING
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
January 29, 2020
8:31 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Shelley Hughes, Vice Chair
Senator John Coghill
Senator Mia Costello
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Representative Harriet Drummond, Co-Chair
Representative Andi Story, Co-Chair
Representative Tiffany Zulkosky
Representative DeLena Johnson
MEMBERS ABSENT
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator Tom Begich
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Representative Grier Hopkins
Representative Chris Tuck
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: THE STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY BY UA PRESIDENT JIM
JOHNSEN
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
JIM JOHNSEN, Ph.D., President
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented on the state of the university.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:31:18 AM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the joint meeting of the Senate and
House Education Standing Committees to order at 8:31 a.m.
Present at the call to order were Senators Costello, Hughes,
Coghill, and Stevens and Representatives Zulkosky, Johnson,
Drummond, and Story.
^PRESENTATION: The State of the University by UA President Jim
Johnsen
PRESENTATION: The State of the University by UA President Jim
Johnsen
8:32:00 AM
CHAIR STEVENS announced the annual presentation "The State of
the University" by University of Alaska (UA) President Jim
Johnsen.
8:32:41 AM
JIM JOHNSEN, Ph.D., President, University of Alaska, Fairbanks,
Alaska, began by reflecting on the previous year. "Yes, the
effects of it will be long lasting, but we're really pivoting to
the positive," he said.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN presented the agenda for the presentation:
• Introduction
• Institutional Overview
• Organizational & Budget Update
• Key Data
• 2020 Legislative Priorities
• Conclusion
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said that 2019 was a tough year, probably the
toughest year in the history of the University of Alaska (UA).
No other state in the last 10 years, certainly not since the
great recession, so threatened its university. That said, with
strong leadership from the Board of Regents, the university made
it through 2019 and is here today, a strong and committed
University of Alaska with a relentless focus on its mission of
teaching students, doing research that's important and relevant
to Alaska, and reaching out to serve communities all across the
state.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said that this three-part mission is every bit
as relevant today as it was in 1862, when Abraham Lincoln signed
the Morrill Act creating land-grant universities. UA is a land-
grant university as of 1915, when Congress established the
Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines. Alaska did not
get its proper land grant. Only Delaware got a smaller land
grant than Alaska. The university is still working on it and
good progress is being made on that front. The whole intent of
the bill in 1862 and the intent of land-grant universities today
is that there is no great state without a great university.
8:35:46 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said she had heard of the comparison to Delaware.
She asked if that is a percentage of the state or actual
acreage.
8:35:57 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN answered that it is actual acreage, so states
so small that their names have to be written out in the Atlantic
Ocean got bigger land grants in actual acreage than Alaska.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN displayed a map on slide 6 showing the
university serves students from Kotzebue to Ketchikan and
through its online programs, every place in between. The
University of Alaska is one legal, financial, and constitutional
entity; three separately accredited universities; 13 community
campuses, which previously were separately accredited and now
are part of the accreditations of the three universities;
roughly 16,700 full-time equivalent students; and 92 percent of
the higher education that happens in Alaska every year happens
at the University of Alaska.
PRESIDENT JOHNSON said the university strives to be as
affordable as it can be and is the third most affordable in the
United States. Only 46 percent of students have debt upon
graduation, the second lowest in the country. Students' share of
the costs at 28 percent is the fifth lowest in the country.
Eight of the 16 campuses are not accessible by land. If a map of
Alaska were transposed onto the lower 48, campuses would be in
South Carolina, Iowa, and Oklahoma, and a research vessel would
be operating off the coast of Montana. The university serves a
big state. Through its online programs, it serves students
across the country and, increasingly, international students.
CHAIR STEVENS asked if the year's tuition increase would impact
these affordability figures.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN answered that the increase would not. The
university is still quite low when compared to the universities
of the 15 other states in the Western Interstate Commission for
Higher Education, so UA is still competitive.
8:39:39 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND referred to President Johnsen's description of
where campuses would be if a map of Alaska were transposed over
the lower 48 states and observed that the suggestion to
consolidate the three main campuses would not have made sense.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN replied that the suggestion was not about
consolidating physically. Many universities operate globally and
yet have consolidated administrations.
8:40:41 AM
SENATOR COSTELLO said that when President Johnsen first came on
as president, he proposed a plan that included a soft landing
with the acknowledgement that state support would be declining.
That plan included tuition increases and increases in
enrollment. However, from 2015 to 2019, the enrollment has
dropped by 20 percent. She asked what specific actions he has
taken to increase enrollment at the university and could he
explain the decline in enrollment.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN responded that his presentation would have a
lot of information about that. The university enrollment peaked
in 2011 and has declined every year since. There are multiple
factors. The first is that Alaska, unlike virtually every other
state, is what he would refer to as a high-income, low-education
state. An abnormally large number of jobs in Alaska that pay
very well do not require postsecondary education. Alaska has the
lowest college-going rate in America and has had for many years.
The budget cuts starting in 2015 certainly do not help because
the university had had to cut many academic programs. The
university has 1,727 fewer faculty and staff due to budget cuts
than in 2015. Another factor is the general, national downward
trend in enrollment. There are both Alaskan factors and national
factors. He acknowledged that it is very concerning.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said that steps were taken to address
declining enrollment. One is increasing funding for middle
college programs, so that there is dual enrollment for high
school students. Every year that he has been at the university
it has cut deeper in order to invest in strategic priorities,
including enrollment priorities. One of the five strategic goals
of the Board of Regents is education attainment, which is
enrollment and completion. The university has invested
disproportionately into that area. A couple of weeks ago the
three universities laid out enrollment strategies for increasing
recruitment and attainment of students. The university has made
specific investments to develop programs suited to the military.
Alaska leads the country in the percentage of population with
some college and no degree. Those students are not going to quit
their jobs and go to campuses full time. As a result, the
university invested in online programs and today has more than
30 completely online programs, ranging from Master of Arts in
Teaching to psychology, to business, and the list goes on and
on.
8:44:26 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said that one of the challenges, although he
does not have data to prove this, is that people's expectations
of how technology will mediate their experience with
organizations have increased in terms of convenience and
smoothness. The university has not made the necessary investment
in its systems. The enterprise software system is 25 years old
with a design life of 12 years. The university is cumbersome to
deal with and that has to be changed. People have become
accustomed to doing all kinds of things on phones. Until
students can register and do more a lot more processes on
phones, the university will continue to have enrollment
challenges. The university is doing many things and he will
outline more in the presentation, but the decline started well
before the budget cuts. It is a national condition, and the
university is doing all it can about its number one priority.
CHAIR STEVENS asked President Johnsen to introduce his
colleagues in the audience.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN pointed out University of Alaska Southeast
Chancellor Rick Caulfield, Executive Dean of the Alaska College
of Education Steve Atwater, Vice President of University
Relations and Chief Strategy, Planning and Budget Office
Michelle Rizk, and Associate Vice President of Government
Relations Miles Baker. He noted that student interns with the
Senator Ted Stevens Legislative Internship Program were also
present.
8:46:40 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked if there were any areas or programs of
growth, which programs were at capacity or had high student
interest.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN answered clearly nursing and other health care
professions are growing areas. The university has invested
differentially there. Even though there were deep cuts last
year, a million dollars of base recurring funding was added to
the health programs at UAA (University of Alaska Anchorage). The
engineering programs at both UAA and UAF (University of Alaska
Fairbanks) are strong and growing. The Homeland Security and
Emergency Management Program is off the charts and booming.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN continued with the presentation and said the
organizational structure of the university has not changed since
1987, which is one legal, constitutional, and financial entity
and three accredited universities. In the late 80s the system
consolidated 11 separate community colleges, which had their own
accreditations. The system office supports the Board of Regents,
provides cost effective system-wide services, and focuses the
universities on Alaska's statewide priorities. The statewide
office is 5.5 percent of the university's budget.
8:49:26 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN presented Strategic Pathways on slide 9, which
is a living matrix or framework for the university. It lays out
the tension, but hopefully balanced relationship, between
oneness and threeness. In terms of oneness, there is a common
mission, objective, core principles, and strategy. In terms of
threeness, each of the three universities has a different
mission. They overlap with each other, but they have distinct
missions. All three universities are open admission, and they
all have a community college mission. That is rare across the
country. There are big upsides to that. He commends those who
made that decision in the late 80s. It has increased access for
students through the community colleges to the universities and
on. Finally, there are courses, programs, and administrative
processes that are in common and becoming more common across the
university system since the university went through the pathways
process. Some examples are common general education requirements
(GERs) and common course transfer--every credit transfers in the
system. Engineering, for example, now has a common advisory
council between the two schools of engineering and extensive
course sharing. The math departments at UAA and UAF have common
course numbers. Juneau has fisheries and ocean science faculty.
Nursing faculty for UAA are in Ketchikan, Fairbanks, Juneau,
Kodiak, and all across the state. There are specialties at each
university and a great deal that is shared among the three
universities.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN presented slide 10, Did You Know?
• UA operates more campuses per capita than any other
state university
o 1,282 miles between our Ketchikan and Kotzebue
campuses
• Alaska's large size and low population density mean
higher costs
• Only system in the country that combines land-grant
institution, regional universities and community
colleges
o Hawaii is one system, but with separately accredited
community campuses
• Unlike other states, UA's community campuses do not
all receive local government funding
o Valdez, Kodiak and the Kenai Peninsula Borough
contribute but not through property or other taxes
as is typical nationally
• Our three accredited universities - UAF, UAA and UAS -
are not easily compared to each other due to their
fundamentally different missions
• On average, every $1 the state invests in research
generates $6 in nonstate revenue
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN continued with Did You Know? on slide 11.
• UA is an open-access, open-enrollment post-secondary
institution
• General Education Requirements (GER) are fully
transferable across the system students can take
them from any campus
• Community campuses are local "nodes" for statewide
program delivery
• Students may be enrolled in courses or programs from
multiple campuses
• In Fall 2018, cross-enrollment by university ranged
from 22% to 44%
• 10% of our students are dual enrolled
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN noted that dual enrolled means students are
high school students enrolled at the university, and the
university wants to increase that number.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN presented a chart on slide 12 showing how UA
compares to other land-grant institutions. Alaska received only
25 percent of the land that it was due and is still owed 360,000
acres. The reason why has a long history that began over 100
years ago. The university is working closely with the governor's
office, the federal delegation, and the Department of the
Interior to remedy this problem. The university is confident
that, if it is successful with the issue soon, that it will see
benefits in 10-20 years. The single biggest recipient of
proceeds from land development now is the Alaska Scholars
program, the tuition scholarship for Alaska's top 10 percent of
high school graduates every year. The university is tying its
land-grant mission right to its single most important priority,
students.
8:56:02 AM
At ease
8:56:08 AM
CHAIR STEVENS reconvened the meeting.
8:56:53 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN noted again that the university had a rough
year in 2019 but is back up in Fiscal Year 2020 and the
legislature has been supportive. The Board of Regents has taken
the helm and done great coming out of a tumultuous time. The
road ahead is bumpy, but the board has made positive and strong
decisions on behalf of the university, including signing the
three-year compact agreement with the governor. The agreement
still has reductions to come, but they are manageable. The board
terminated its declaration of financial exigency, which was the
only responsible choice to make when the university was looking
at a 41 percent in-year budget reduction. In light of the
compact agreement, the board appropriately withdrew that
declaration.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said the board has also taken steps to review
concerns raised by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and
Universities (NWCCU), which provides institutional
accreditation, so good progress is being made on that front. The
board has ceased consideration of a single accreditation until
UAF completes its accreditation process in 2021. The committee
has a report from the board about that. The board governance
committee is commencing a policy audit.
PRESIDENT JOHNSON said the board did decide to increase tuition
5 percent for the next academic year, Academic Year 2021, with
the proviso that $1.5 million be allocated to financial aid for
needy students.
CHAIR STEVENS asked for an update about accreditation status.
Legislators were shocked at the loss of the accreditation for
the education program in Anchorage. He asked if there is
anything on the horizon that legislators should be aware of.
9:00:26 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN replied that the university has taken steps to
stay aware of all of that. The Academic and Student Affairs
Committee receives a report on accreditation status at every one
of its meetings. In terms of programmatic accreditation, such as
engineering, business, and teacher education, the university is
in good shape in all those areas. For institutional
accreditation, UAS just got a shiny reaccreditation for another
seven years. UAA got reaccredited last year with commendations.
UAF is going through the reaccreditation process now, which will
conclude in 2021. The site visit from the outside peer review
team will be this fall. All three universities have strong
institutional accreditation today, and he is confident that will
be the case next year as well.
CHAIR STEVENS asked how many programmatic accreditations the
university has.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN answered that he would have to get the answer.
It is dozens, certainly. Some are legally mandated, such as for
teacher education and nursing. Some are best practice.
Graduating from a school that is not ABET-accredited will raise
eyebrows. Some are for quality and competitive purposes, such as
for the business schools.
9:02:18 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN presented the details of the three-year budget
compact, the agreement reached between the board and Governor
Dunleavy on August 13. Six weeks prior, on June 28, the
governor's announcement of his veto created real turmoil. The
vetoes not only included the operating budget, but $12 million
for the Alaska Performance Scholarships, mere weeks before the
academic year, and $6 million in the Alaska Education Grant. He
said, "These are scholarships and grants that these students
worked for, and prepared for, and qualified for. So, it was a
very tumultuous time, but once the compact agreement was signed,
then a breath, and "moving" forward. We still have reductions to
take. They will be difficult, no question about it. I would note
that if the veto had stayed in effect and lasted for three
years, the cumulative hit to the university would have been $405
million. By virtue of the agreement that we were able to reach
with the governor, that cumulative reduction is $145 [million].
Still very serious, but not nearly as devastating as the $405
million number."
CHAIR STEVENS said, "So, Dr. Johnsen, I want you to help me
understand this. The legislature writes the budget. We are the
only ones who write a budget. And the governor has made an
agreement with you. I assume what he is saying is that if there
is anything different than what you've agreed to, he would veto
that. How else is the governor controlling years in the future?"
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN replied that the governor did not say what
Senator Stevens just said, but the university has an
understanding with the governor and the Board of Regents abided
by that understanding when it submitted its FY 2021 operating
budget to him in the fall. That is the operating budget the
governor transmitted to the legislature in December.
9:04:31 AM
CHAIR STEVENS said he appreciated the position that Dr. Johnsen
was put in, but he wanted to make it clear that the legislature
writes the budget.
SENATOR HUGHES asked about the figures in the second bullet on
slide 15:
• $70M (22%) reduction over 3-Yrs versus single-year cut of
$134M (41%
o FY20 $302M (Down $25M or 7.6% from FY19)
o FY21 $277M (Down $25M or 8.3% from FY20)
o FY22 $257M (Down $20M or 7.2% from FY21)
SENATOR HUGHES commented that they were in comparison to state
funding. She asked for the figures in comparison to the overall
university budget, since the university receives federal
funding, tuition, etc.
9:05:00 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN replied those are elsewhere in the
presentation, but those percentages are of the university's
total actual FY19, which was $818,000,000. These reductions come
off the UGF [unrestricted general funds] portion. She is
correct. There is tuition and other revenue sources. That
presentation about revenue was made to the Finance Committee. It
is definitely a smaller percentage. A ballpark figure could
discount this by two-thirds. Three hundred is about a third of
the total budget. Much of that budget is restricted. The state's
UGF is not restricted. Tuition is not restricted, but all of the
research money is restricted for this specific contract that the
university is working on.
SENATOR HUGHES said the size of the cuts was misleading to
people. In relation to state funding, they are what they are. In
relation to the overall budget, it was different.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN added that the compact agreement has
commitments made by the governor to pursue a single
appropriation. Last year the university moved from a single
appropriation to two appropriations. The governor has committed
to moving back to a single appropriation and to support the
Alaska Education Grant, the performance scholarships, WWAMI
funding, dual-enrollment initiatives, and the land-grant
initiative. Of course, the university is seeking additional
cost-savings and revenue enhancement initiatives, such as
tuition, philanthropy, and additional research grants and
contracts.
9:07:01 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN presented slide 16, a chart showing the
funding history of UGF only. The red [representing cuts] begins
in 2015, a modest amount, and continues out to FY22. So, the
chart not only includes a backward look, but the current year
and subsequent years of the compact agreement.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN moved on to the topic of accreditation on
slide 17. He noted the NWCCU accredits all public and private
higher education institutions in the Pacific Northwest.
• UA universities receive their institutional
accreditation from the Northwest Commission on
Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)
• Board took a number of steps in consideration of
legislative intent to move to a single institutional
accreditation
• Board directed UA president to develop plan for
evaluating options
• Convened group of state leaders for advice
• Held workshops across the system and provided
opportunities for input from faculty, staff, students
and the public
• Conducted extensive public opinion survey ~ 3,900
participants
o Even split between those favoring "uniqueness" and
those favoring "integration"
• Established working group to engage NWCCU and U.S.
Dept. of Education on issues and timelines
• On Oct 7, after full consideration, Board ceased
consideration of a single accreditation until UAF
secures its NWCCU accreditation renewal in 2021
• All three universities (including community campuses)
are fully accredited
9:09:06 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said the Board of Regents directed that the
universities conduct academic program reviews. Chancellors will
provide recommendations to the president regarding reduction,
consolidation, or discontinuation of any programs on March 23.
Then the Student and Academic Affairs Committee will review
those from a statewide perspective. In June 2020, the Board of
Regents will decide what programs to continue and what programs
to reduce or discontinue. Some of the cost savings from those
reviews will take effect next fiscal year, FY21. However,
because of teach out responsibilities, a mandate from the
accreditors, and faculty notice requirements, much of the
savings may not be accomplished until FY22.
CO-CHAIR STORY asked when job trends and workforce development
needs are looked at during the academic program reviews.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN replied that is one of the criteria specified
by the Board of Regents policy for the evaluation. The
chancellors and their teams will be looking at those criteria,
in addition to cost, demand, faculty, technology opportunities,
etc. Workforce demand is a key criterion. At the regent level,
they will be looking through the lenses of the five strategic
goals: contribute to Alaska's economic development, provide
Alaska with a skilled workforce, grow world-class research,
increase degree attainment, and operate more cost effectively.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said there are many ways of looking at the
negative impacts of the budget cuts. Slide 21 is a short list.
Enrollment is definitely another negative impact.
• Student support and administrative services have borne
large share of $76M reduction over last 6 years
o HR and procurement restructuring and integration
o Head count reductions due to attrition and
terminations
o KUAC Radio/TV Base Funding Reduction
o Fairbanks Administrative Services Building Sale
o Chugach Eagle River Building Lease Non-Renewal
o Kenai Peninsula College Residential Housing Paused
• $45M additional reduction over FY21-22 will
necessitate significant impacts to academic programs
• Universities aggressively working to achieve FY20 cuts
while conducting academic and administrative program
reviews
CHAIR STEVENS asked President Johnsen to comment on why there is
no Kenai Peninsula College dorm. He remembers that a dormitory
there was sought after for years.
9:12:45 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN responded that it is a beautiful facility. It
is underutilized because of enrollment declines. Several dorms
at UAF have also been closed, or paused because they can be
reopened, in light of enrollment declines. This is a natural
effect of enrollment decline. When the university must reduce
cost of operation, that is one way to do it.
9:13:21 AM
SENATOR COSTELLO said slide 21, Budget Impacts, is really
looking at the university's involvement with the state and the
state's contribution to its university, but again, she wanted to
bring up that the university has a role in increasing
enrollment. Part of his plan was to increase enrollment, but
instead it is declining. She asked if he is surveying students
about why they are leaving.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN responded that everybody's job at the
university is enrollment. The university does survey students
periodically to find out what is going on and why they are not
returning or coming, and their perceptions of cost. Many
students are the first person in their families to go to
college, so there are challenges financially. Most students are
part-time across the UA system. That is consistent across the
campuses. The average student is not 18, 19, or 20. The average
student is 26 or 27 with at least one job and people in the
family. Financially, those are big issues for the university.
Availability of programs based on students' time schedule and
life events are major factors. He can provide copies of surveys
to the committee. Those have been conducted statewide, and each
university, because of the keen interest in enrollment, conducts
its own data analysis. Data from those reviews was presented to
the Board of Regents in January.
SENATOR COSTELLO answered that she would be interested in those
reviews. She asked if he had anything to share about those
results. She further asked if he had identified the number one
reason students are not enrolling or staying.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN replied that a big factor recently was that
news of severe budget reductions was very negative, although
that does not explain the decline from 2011 through 2015 when
budgets were going up. And the threat to state-funded
scholarship programs, the Alaska Education Grant and Performance
Scholarship, did not help communicate to Alaskan students that
the university is strong with a certain future.
9:16:51 AM
SENATOR COSTELLO said the declines in enrollment preceded budget
challenges. She is looking forward to hearing what the
university is doing proactively to attract more students.
SENATOR HUGHES said that the loss of accreditation for the
teaching program in Anchorage impacted credibility. Regarding
the Chugiak Eagle River building lease nonrenewal, she noted the
middle college met there and she assumed, and the president
affirmed, that the Anchorage School District had taken over that
space and the middle college was still meeting there. Senator
Stevens has been interested in middle college being expanded.
She was amazed that one in 10 students is a high school student
in middle college programs. There is potential to expand that.
She remembered from a report that it was cheaper for a student
to go through the middle college program than to stay in high
school. That could be a win-win. She loved that the middle
college program has students who might not otherwise go to
university after graduation. She would think that to increase
enrollment the university should be going after high school
students and working with districts to expand middle college
programs. She asked if he has an aggressive plan to increase
middle college enrollment.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said yes and again yes. The university
testified at a legislative hearing that fall on middle college
programs. There is one at Mat-Su College. They have been
expanded at the UAA campus. It was just announced last week that
a middle college high school will be standing up this fall at
the UAF campus. In addition, the university has established a
virtual middle college high school with agreements with 31 of
the 54 school districts, so those students have access to dual
enrollment opportunities. It is absolutely a high priority for
the university. The target is 20 percent. Colorado is at 20
percent, so that is reasonable in Alaska. Besides dual
enrollment, there are outreach programs like ANSEP [Alaska
Native Science and Engineering Program], an outreach program to
K-12. Despite budget cuts for the last five years, the
university has invested differentially in ANSEP.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN added that twice as many middle college
completers come to UA for university than is the average. Those
students come with 30 semester credit hours, which is a year of
college. They require zero remedial education, and the
university tuition is less than the Base Student Allocation that
the school district gets for each student.
9:21:07 AM
SENATOR HUGHES asked if there is any way the legislature can
help with virtual education. She was excited to hear about the
agreement with 31 school districts for the virtual middle
college. She has been promoting virtual education, especially
for students who are located where they cannot be on a campus.
She is trying to keep tabs on the technology that can increase
the speed and access for students in remote parts of the state.
Things are changing rapidly and evolving in the world of
technology. Having access to things that kids really want to do
and study throughout the state is a game changer for the future
of those students.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN observed that in addition to those middle
college and dual enrollment programs, Rural Alaska Honors
Institute (RAHI) and ANSEP are programs that reach into high
school to generate enrollment, which is really a means to
another end, the success of those students in building the
state's future and economy. There are more than 30 complete
online degree programs. He did not think the university has done
a good job as it needs to do in telling its story, so more
marketing and recruiting will be done to tell a good story
throughout Alaska.
SENATOR HUGHES said she hoped that marketing includes reaching
out to students for the middle college program.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN replied that the university wants to work
closely with legislators on legislation. Senator Stevens has
sponsored a bill to expand middle college and dual enrollment
opportunities throughout the state. The university stands ready
to work with legislators on that important and exciting
initiative for Alaska.
CHAIR STEVENS said the committee has been holding hearings on SB
6, the reading program. It is very expensive, but if the state
is going to make improvement in children's reading abilities,
the state has to move ahead with it. Alaska is the lowest of all
the states right now, but the department plans include up to 40
reading teachers. The state need assistance from the university
to make sure those folks are available here in Alaska.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN shared that is why he was pleased that the
Executive Dean of the Alaska College of Education was there at
the hearing. He is keenly interested in that and working with K-
12 leadership. Tim Parker [president of NEA-Alaska], one of the
state's important education leaders, is also working on that
priority.
9:25:18 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY opined that the legislature has a role in
showing strong support for the university and the brain power in
the state. Through her conversations with high school students
in Juneau, she knows that the budget cuts and the possibility of
scholarships not being funded impacted their decision last year
about where to go to college. The takeaway is that the
legislature's commitment and what it appropriates for the
universities should be strong. When the university is conducting
its academic program review, she hopes the university comes to
the legislature about any needs because legislators want to be
responsive.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN continued with a graph on slide 24 showing
enrollment trends since 2010. Enrollment ticked up a bit in 2011
but has slid fairly continuously since then for a 29 percent
reduction over the entire period systemwide. UAA's reduction
rate was 28 percent, UAF 26 percent, and UAS 37 percent.
Factors, which he discussed earlier in the presentation, include
these: Alaska has had the highest unemployment rate in the
country for some years. Budget reductions, not initially but
subsequently. Population loss. The Fairbanks Borough population
has been declining since 2011. The economy has high-wage, low-
education types of jobs. Regarding technology, the state has not
made the investments it needs to make in transforming the
student experience at UA to match the level of expectations that
students thinking of going to UA or another university have, or,
the much larger number of students who are not going to college
anywhere. That is the biggest concern from his standpoint: what
is the state building in term of the state's future and the
knowledge economy.
9:28:49 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN presented a table on slide 25 showing tuition
rates over time. The table reflects the 5 percent increase since
Academic Year (AY) 17, the difference between graduate and
undergraduate tuition, and resident and nonresident rates.
Roughly 10 percent of students are nonresidents. In additional
to the other planning work this spring, the chancellors, and
universities, in conjunction with student organizations, are
evaluating the possibility of differential tuition among the
universities and differential tuition between the university and
community campuses. They will be looking at whether fees should
be consolidated or continue to be separated and whether there
are ways that tuition can be increased but aid can be increased
at the same time so that the net impact on the average student
is minimized, if not eliminated. They will look at whether they
can drive enrollment as a result of those options. So, in
addition to the program review coming to the Board of Regents in
June, there will also be a tuition review.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN added that while UA tuition is very
competitive compared to other public universities, community
campus tuition is high compared to community colleges across the
country. The chancellors want to bring that tuition down as they
make sure the university tuition is competitive and maintains
affordability through increased provisions for needs-based
financial aid.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN presented the chart on slide 27, which looks
at enrollment and tuition back to FY07. The enrollment shown is
full-time equivalent. The amount shown is for tuition revenue,
so the rate times the enrollment. The chart shows that through
modest tuition increases over time, tuition revenue has been
maintained in the face of enrollment decline.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN presented Key Data: Workforce on slide 28 and
noted that UA has 1,727 fewer employees than five years ago.
These are not position counts. These are individuals who, for
whatever reason, are no longer at the university. That includes
involuntary layoffs, terminations, end of contract, and
voluntary departures.
SENATOR COSTELLO shared that she had spoken with President
Johnsen before the meeting about the faculty turnover. The
Chronicle of Higher Education's annual survey on the best
colleges to work for show a 12.3 percent turnover at UAA. She
asked President Johnsen to respond to that.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN pulled up slide 29 that looks at average
annual turnover rate from 2015 to 2020. The faculty turnover
rate across the UA system is 11 percent over that time. The
overall turnover rate, both voluntary and involuntary, is 14
percent. The turnover rate that is most concerning is voluntary
turnover. Certainly, the budget forces involuntary turnover. But
it is concerning when people opt to leave when they do not have
to. That is why the university looked at voluntary turnover from
2015 to 2019, which is shown on slide 30. The voluntary turnover
rate is 11.1 percent. The category Pursuing Other Employment at
2.3 percent is the lowest out of three categories, including
Retirement and Other, for turnover. Out of administration staff,
and faculty, faculty has the lowest percentage for turnover at
7.8 percent. Administration is the highest at 13.5 percent.
Pursuing Other Employment at 2.3 percent is most concerning. The
university does not like this, but he does not think it is out
of the norm for turnover rates.
9:34:19 AM
SENATOR COSTELLO disagreed and stated that it was in excess of
anything that would be considered normal. The Chronicle of
Higher Education's annual survey on the best colleges to work
for show that between 2014 and 2018, the average faculty
turnover is 4.8 percent. At UAA the faculty turnover rate 12.3
percent, at UAF it is 11 percent, and at UAS it is 7.25 percent.
The elephant in the room is faculty morale and why faculty are
not staying at the university. The quality of faculty and staff
is integral to the programs that are offered. Representative
Story indicated how important that is to attract students.
Senator Costello sees these problems as interrelated. An
explanation is owed the Alaska public and the Alaska Legislature
as to why this turnover rate is so exceedingly high compared to
similar universities across the country.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said that answer number one is slide 16,
Funding History and Projection. There is no other university in
the country that has taken reductions like the ones UA has taken
over the last six years. It would be interesting to compare UA
to other universities that have gotten their budgets cut as
deeply as UA has. Number two, he would like to break down those
numbers. His team can look at voluntary and involuntary
reductions. He does not believe that another university has laid
off as many people as UA has had to because of budget
reductions, over 20 percent of faculty and staff. With such huge
numbers of reductions, there are going to be morale challenges
and turnover, whether voluntary or involuntary. Again, the
voluntary turnover concerns the university the most. More
detailed and full information can be provided. This analysis was
just done and presented to the Board of Regents in the last
couple of weeks.
SENATOR COSTELLO asked if faculty are surveyed when they leave
and if they cited the budget as their number one reason for
leaving the university.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN answered exit surveys are completed. He would
follow up with additional detail.
SENATOR COSTELLO replied that she looked forward to receiving
that information.
9:37:50 AM
SENATOR HUGHES asked of the 21 percent over the last five years
who have been laid off, more than 1,700 employees, how many
would be administration vs. instruction and what is the ratio
now of administration vs. instruction. Although people bristle
when she brings this up, there was U.S. census data comparing
apples to apples with Alaska's K-12 system, and Alaska had the
highest percentage spent on administration vs. instruction. She
was wondering what the UA ratio is and how that compares across
the nation.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN replied that he could give her some of that
information as early as the afternoon. Information on reductions
by group--instructional, administration, part time, full time--
and by university over time was presented recently to the Board
of Regents. Some analyses were done comparing UA to other states
in terms of administration and instruction. The university is
continuing to do that research this spring, but Alaska is
unique. There are no other university systems structured like
Alaska's. There are no UAA's across the country with community
colleges mixed in. The comparisons to UAA are often Portland
State, San Jose State, Boise State, metropolitan comprehensive
universities. None of those three have built-in community
colleges. When UAF is compared to other research universities,
none of them include community colleges. It makes comparisons
challenging, but nonetheless the university is doing that
analysis this spring.
SENATOR HUGHES asked if he had the breakdown of the 1,727
employees that were no longer with the university by
administration vs. instruction. Anecdotally, and it relates to
the question of morale, she had heard from professors who had
the sense that the first to go were the ones doing the
instruction, not the administration.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said absolutely, he could provide that
information since it was just provided it to the board a few
weeks ago.
SENATOR HUGHES said, "I would just say I am surprised you cannot
just say that. That's a pretty basic thing."
9:41:21 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN replied, "Administration is the highest loss,
Senator, by far. Statewide administration has taken cuts more
than double the average across the university system. We try to
protect faculty as much as we can. A lot of our adjunct faculty
have been laid off." The regular faculty have picked up those
courses and increased their instructional workload as a result.
The university has the complete breakdown, but it is over a
five-year period by three universities by several categories,
administration, faculty, and staff, fulltime and part time. It
is on a piece of paper with 30 or 40 numbers, but he can assure
her that administration has borne the brunt of reductions, which
is not to say that faculty have not. The budget reductions
cannot be done just with administration.
CO-CHAIR STORY stated that she would appreciate seeing that
information also. She noted that it is hard to do comparisons
and mentioned the national studies that Senator Hughes had
referred to regarding 51 percent of funding going to K-12
instruction. At a presentation that Senator Hughes was also at,
staff presented 76 percent as the amount going to instruction.
The national studies did not include paraeducators who are in
the classrooms as part of daily instruction. She was just
pointing out that different numbers are cited for different
things. It is important to look at those figures while trying to
get the local information.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN continued with Key Data: Teacher education on
slide 31, which showed teacher education program completions
over the last three years at the three universities, FY17-F19.
This was prior to the accreditation issue at UAA. Completions
are down 27 percent at UAA and 16 percent at UAF during this
period and are essentially flat at UAS. These are completions,
so decisions students made that resulted in these numbers were
made at a minimum of one to four or five years prior. That was
well before any accreditation concerns. This can be ascribed in
large part to budget challenges and budget decisions made at the
universities because of state budget cuts.
CHAIR STEVENS observed that this is an issue the legislature is
concerned about. The state needs more teachers in Alaska. It is
hard to find teachers Outside willing to come to Alaska as
teaching has become more competitive throughout the country. He
suggested that perhaps at a later date the joint committee could
go into more detail about this issue.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said he appreciated that. This is a huge
issue. The Academic and Student Affairs Committee is focused
like a laser beam on this issue. Under the leadership of Regent
Karen Perdue, Executive Dean Atwater, and Vice President of
Academic Affairs President Paul Layer, reports are being
prepared as they speak. This is a top priority for the
university. The university would be happy to return and share
the analysis of what has happened, and a summary of the steps
being taken to address this critical priority for Alaska.
9:45:24 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY said she hoped that the report would include
information about cohorts, such as how many stay with the
program and reasons for exiting if they do not stay.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN responded that he saw that data in the draft
report, so the committee will see that.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN presented a chart showing education program
enrollment by university on slide 32. The enrollment decline
happened before the loss of accreditation at UAA. It is very
concerning; hence the laser focus that the board and the three
universities have taken on teacher education. Many initiatives
are under way to address this issue. One is recruiting current
students who might want to become teachers for the one-year
Master of Arts in Teaching program that is online. That is the
fastest, single way to train a teacher. Educators Rising, which
reaches into junior high school to recruit students, is in about
30 school districts. The university has short-, mid-, and long-
term strategies to turn this around.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said that UAF and UAS stepped in very quickly
to deal with the accreditation challenge so that students who
were seniors in UAA's initial licensure programs were able to
complete the programs. The two accredited programs at UAF and
UAS have a stepped-up presence in Southcentral Alaska. He has
reallocated funding for UAF and UAS for increased marketing and
recruiting efforts in Southcentral Alaska.
9:48:00 AM
CHAIR STEVENS asked whether he planned to attempt to reaccredit
UAA or did he plan on the other institutions to pick up that
loss.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN responded that the plan is to continue to use
UAF and UAS to meet the needs for teachers in Southcentral for
those initial licensure programs, just as UAA meets the needs
for nurses across Alaska. The university can meet this need with
technology and the physical presence of faculty and staff from
other universities. The board grappled with the challenge of
reaccreditation, which is a minimum of a three-year period.
During that period, UA could not ensure UAA students in the
program a certain path to licensure from an accredited and
approved program, so the board decided to continue a model like
UAA's nursing program.
CHAIR STEVENS asked if faculty and administrators from the
education department in Fairbanks would be in Anchorage.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN answered yes.
CHAIR STEVENS noted that the state was grappling with the loss
of accreditation, but the main point is that students find
access to programs. He asked if enrollment at UAF and UAS
increased because they picked up students from the UAA program.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN responded that was part of it, but not all of
it. The university is starting to see the fruit of emphasis on
teacher education and outreach programs on UA campuses and K-12.
9:50:19 AM
SENATOR COSTELLO asked if the students in the program at UAA
changed their degree aspirations.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN replied that that detailed information could
be provided at the follow-up committee meeting. Her question
will be answered student by student. The university knows which
students left for another university outside of Alaska, how many
went to UAF, how many went to UAS, how many stayed at UAA and
changed majors. All that data will be included in the report.
CHAIR STEVENS said that the meeting would be scheduled as soon
as possible.
SENATOR HUGHES noted that since the legislature is talking about
a serious investment in reading, she would like to know if there
have been discussions and plans for adjusting teacher training
in how to teach reading using evidence-based, science-based
methods as opposed to something like whole language, which has
been problematic, so that the legislators know that teachers
coming out of the program will be ready to hit the ground
running. [SB 6, Alaska Reads Act] is going to provide coaching
and professional development for the teachers who did not have
that kind of training. At the meeting, she would like to learn
what he will be doing about preparing teachers to teach kids to
read in a different kind of way.
9:52:12 AM
CHAIR STEVENS added that, as Senator Hughes mentioned, it is not
just about new teachers but also helping teachers in the
district get up to speed as well.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN continued to slide 33, K-12 Bridge Programs,
to review the university's outreach programs. The university
must keep the pipeline going all the way from K-12 through the
university and community colleges and workforce.
CO-CHAIR STORY related a story of efforts by the Juneau School
District Board of Education to increase the number of students
qualifying for the Alaska Performance Scholarship. By working
with counselors, the board increased the number from only 24
percent of high school students qualifying to 34 percent. She
suggested other districts could work on increasing the number of
students who qualify for the Alaska Performance Scholarship. She
also suggested finding ways for counselors to increase the
number of students completing the Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA) because many kids find they are eligible for
federal aid if they complete the FAFSA.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said that he absolutely agrees, and the
university would be talking to the Alaska Commission on
Postsecondary Education (ACPE) about the Alaska Performance
Scholarship (APS). The APS has made a positive difference, but
one challenge is that students do not find their final
eligibility until after graduation from high school. Oftentimes
that is way after they have made their decisions. The university
needs to coordinate with ACPE about when the university wants to
recruit students. Alaska ranks last in the country for
completion of FAFSA. The three universities and K-12 are trying
to raise the completion rate because it directly correlates to
federal grants and loans. Another driver of going to college is
financial literacy. Those students who have received some
financial literacy are more inclined to go to school, so UA has
created an online financial literacy course. Embedded in that
course is FAFSA completion.
9:57:17 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN continued to legislative priorities on slide
15. The operating budget is consistent with the compact
agreement. For the capital budget, the university has
consistently proposed this level of support for deferred
maintenance. The governor's budget did not include deferred
maintenance, and the university has asked for some money for
deferred maintenance in the governor's amended budget. The
governor did include $2.5 million for the Alaska Earthquake
Center for purchase of seismic sensors across the state. As the
nation's, arguably the world's most seismically active location,
this is important, and the governor's support is appreciated.
The university has close to $300 million of debt. The annual
payment is $28 million, so the university will be working on
various options about how to relieve that debt.
CHAIR STEVENS pointed out $50 million for deferred maintenance
for a backlog of $1.2 billion is great but not enough to solve
the problem. He asked if any structures are in danger of not
being useable.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN responded that they are not in danger of not
being usable but of questionable utility going forward. The
university is knocking buildings down, when the cost-benefit
analysis says the building cannot be renovated and selling
buildings. The modeled number to stay even with the $1.2 billion
backlog is $60 million a year, and the university has not
received that for many years. Frankly, at this point, the
university is reallocating about $35 million a year of other
funds to keep things up so that all life-safety issues are
addressed. That is not something the university compromises on,
but the oldest public buildings in Alaska are university
buildings.
10:00:17 AM
SENATOR HUGHES shared that she was pleased to see that the
governor included money for the USArray. She has been fighting
for that since the Parnell administration. The window was
closing for that. The National Science Foundation put these
monitors in, and they would get pulled and lost [without that
funding].
SENATOR COSTELLO asked how many buildings the university manages
and if the committee could get the list of deferred maintenance
projects.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN answered that it is just over 400 buildings
and he would provide the detail to the committee. He appreciated
Senator Hughes' comments about the USArray. This commitment on
the university's part will strengthen its partnership with NOAA
and the United State Geological Survey and allow additional
funded research. It is very positive.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN presented slide 36 on 2020 legislative
priorities. This is the year for the Technical Vocational
Education Program (TVEP) reauthorization. TVEP is funded through
unemployment insurance payroll deductions. A portion of that
goes into TVEP, which has been very successful over the years.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN said the Alaska Higher Education Investment
Fund for the Alaska Performance Scholarship, Alaska Education
Grant, and WWAMI Medical School Program is managed by ACPE. Last
year these were vetoed but were reinstated. Part of the compact
agreement with the governor is that they would continue, so the
university would appreciate support for that from the
legislature as well.
SENATOR HUGHES shared that she had been alarmed when she learned
at a national conference that across the country, 60 percent of
high school graduates need remedial coursework in college. She
would like to know if any students who receive the Alaska
Performance Scholarship need any remedial coursework.
10:03:55 AM
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN replied that ACPE has a newly available report
that he could provide to her. One of the tremendous benefits of
APS is that it does reduce that. The university is very happy
with the results of its own initiatives to reduce the need for
developmental educational.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN presented the graphic UA: Your Way on slide
37. The university did a lot of vision work a few years ago
about what does the university want to be as of 2040. The
university went through the process unconstrained by any
thoughts of budget and asked questions such as "What if we found
out where the king salmon are going, what if we could figure out
how to get heavy oil out of Prudhoe Bay, what if, why not." It
was a powerful and inspirational process. A web site reflects
all of that and provides an opportunity to envision how to
create a university and how to create a state.
10:07:16 AM
CHAIR STEVENS asked for his thoughts on adjusting the tuition
for university and community college campuses.
PRESIDENT JOHNSEN responded that community campuses offer a 25
percent discount for certain occupational endorsements. The
university reallocates to fund those and makes whole the lost
tuition for those campuses that provide the discount. Often
those students are the most price sensitive, so the discount can
increase enrollment in those programs. The university works with
employers because many of those degree programs are feeding
employers. The university has great relationships with the
mining industry, health care, and others. The opportunity is
there to step up that relationship even more so that employers
are participating in directly in some of the costs that meet
their workforce needs. The university can talk to local
governments about advantages of community campuses. The Kenai
Peninsula Borough kicks in over $700,000 a year to its local
campus. Valdez and Kodiak also contribute to their campuses.
10:09:31 AM
There being no further business to come before the committees,
Chair Stevens adjourned the House Education Standing Committee
and the Senate Education Standing Committee at 10:09 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 01_JointEdCmte_State-of-the-UnivAK_Presentation_29Jan2020.pdf |
HEDC 1/29/2020 8:30:00 AM |
|
| 03_Gov Dunleavy AK Delegation Land Grand Ltr_13Sep2019.pdf |
HEDC 1/29/2020 8:30:00 AM |
|
| 05_UA BOR Response to NWCCU wChancellors Reports_30Oct2019.pdf |
HEDC 1/29/2020 8:30:00 AM |
|
| 07_Buretta to Ms. Sanders Response to FY20 Legislative Intent Language_22Nov2019.pdf |
HEDC 1/29/2020 8:30:00 AM |
|
| 02_UA-SOA-Budget-Compact_13Aug2019.pdf |
HEDC 1/29/2020 8:30:00 AM |
|
| 04_NWCCU ltr to BOR concerns over governance-accreditation_26Sep2019.pdf |
HEDC 1/29/2020 8:30:00 AM |
|
| 06_NWCCU Response to UA BOR Chancellors_01Nov2019.pdf |
HEDC 1/29/2020 8:30:00 AM |
|
| 08_Buretta to Gov Dunleavy_FY20 Compact Report_03Dec2019.pdf |
HEDC 1/29/2020 8:30:00 AM |