Legislature(2017 - 2018)BUTROVICH 205
03/15/2017 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearings | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 15, 2017
8:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Shelley Hughes, Chair
Senator Gary Stevens
Senator Cathy Giessel
Senator John Coghill
Senator Tom Begich
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS
University of Alaska Board of Regents
Karen Perdue - Fairbanks
- CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
Professional Teaching Practices Commission
Maureen van Wagner - Anchorage
- CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
KAREN PERDUE, Appointee
University of Alaska Board of Regents
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the University of
Alaska Board of Regents.
MAUREEN VAN WAGNER, Appointee
Professional Teaching Practices Commission (PTPC)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the University of
Alaska Board of Regents.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:00:56 AM
CHAIR SHELLEY HUGHES called the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Begich, Giessel, Stevens, and Chair Hughes.
Senator Coghill arrived shortly thereafter.
^CONFIRMATION HEARINGS
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS
8:01:32 AM
CHAIR HUGHES announced that the only order of business would be
confirmation hearings.
University of Alaska Board of Regents
CHAIR HUGHES introduced Ms. Perdue.
8:02:02 AM
KAREN PERDUE, Appointee, University of Alaska Board of Regents,
shared her professional and personal background. She said she is
a lifelong Alaskan, lived in Juneau for 20 years while serving
in state government, and has traveled all over Alaska. She
retired in 2014 and has been volunteering since then.
She related qualifications related to her appointment to the
Board of Regents. She worked in Senator Ted Stevens' office as a
press secretary and policy aide and then served under four
governors and as commissioner of the Department of Health and
Social Services for eight years. She said oil was $9 per barrel
when she served under Governor Knowles and she learned how to
motivate people even during hard times.
She then served as the Associate Vice President for Health
Programs at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. During that
time, she developed innovative academic programs with the
faculty and worked with leadership on every campus on a
statewide academic health plan. She learned the importance of
the university to the state's economy and to employers and that
the university must meet students' needs to attract and retain
them. She said higher education is very competitive and students
have options for it. They are very skilled consumers with
legitimate expectations for ease of use of the system, for
course sequencing, and for high quality.
MS. PERDUE related that she has worked in large institutional
systems with a lot of missions and has served on several boards,
such as the Denali Commission, Alaska Housing Finance
Corporation, and as director of the State Hospital and Nursing
Home Board where she learned the difference between management
and governance. For 10 years she represented the U.S. on the
International Arctic Council Forum, in Human Dimension.
8:07:07 AM
MS. PERDUE stated that the Board of Regents is one of the few
boards that is listed in the state constitution. It is intended
to be a powerful oversight to a one-state university. Its
mission is to guide the policy of the university and hire the
president. The board and the president work together to
administer a system that is now comprised of 30,000 students and
$850 million.
She noted that the university is facing severe financial
pressures and declining enrollment. The regents and the
president will be making tough decisions over the next several
years. She stated the need to continue to send a signal to
students that the university will provide a quality academic
experience and conduct world-class research, even in times of
financial difficulty.
She related the reasons she wants to serve on the University of
Alaska Board of Regents. She said the University of Alaska is
going to be celebrating its 100th year and the founders would be
delighted with the system that has been built. She wants to
participate in guiding the university in this trying time so
that it is around for at least another 100 years, if not more.
She noted her three children will have graduated from the UA
system and her oldest grandson has started at UAF.
8:09:12 AM
SENATOR STEVENS thanked Ms. Perdue for her years of service. He
asked how the regents will address the financial situation.
MS. PERDUE said the Board's job is to set values and guidelines
for the president and the chancellors in looking at budget
reductions and to listen to the president's ideas and vote on
them. The Board's job is not to come up with the ideas, but to
set the timeline and to listen to the public and stakeholders on
the impacts of financial decisions. She shared her experience at
her first Board meeting.
8:11:04 AM
CHAIR HUGHES asked what is causing declining enrollment.
MS. PERDUE said she would like to delve into that problem by
looking at several issues, such as fewer high school graduates,
outward migration of students, and flat job growth.
8:12:17 AM
SENATOR COGHILL spoke of the consolidation and alignment of
university campuses.
MS. PERDUE asked for clarification.
SENATOR COGHILL asked specifically about alignment of the
Nursing Program certifications.
8:13:24 AM
MS. PERDUE summarized the organization of the Nursing Programs
noting that one of the problems students have has is that the
campuses do not have a common calendar. She understood that
course transfers have improved. Also, she said the three faculty
have aligned general education requirements.
SENATOR COGHILL said University President Johnsen is looking for
endowment money and to resolve the Land Grant issue for sources
of increased revenues. He asked about outreach to economic
communities for the benefit of the university.
8:15:29 AM
MS. PERDUE thought the tax credit did help certain businesses
participate in supporting the university and it is being
reexamined. She related that when she worked in the health
field, the industry was willing to contribute to the program in
the form of block grants, as long as results were reported. She
said that process could continue because graduates are their
future employees.
8:16:28 AM
SENATOR COGHILL spoke of the need to compete with other
universities and to attract students. He noted a goal to work
better between K-12 and the university. The struggle is that the
university system is partly a junior college and partly an
accredited university. He asked if she has been looking at the
president's initiative to work with the K-12 system.
MS. PERDUE responded that she has read some materials and
received a briefing from UAA about the Middle College.
8:18:02 AM
CHAIR HUGHES thought there was misalignment between K-12 and the
university due to the high level of remediation needed for
freshmen students.
8:18:42 AM
SENATOR GIESSEL spoke of the Middle College and wondered if
college credits earned in high school are at a lower standard.
She wanted to verify the authenticity of high school-earned
college credits. She also said there is still a problem with
transfer of credits.
She brought up the topic of lack of faculty for President
Johnsen.
MS. PERDUE said the Board needs to hear unified input from all
stakeholders. The president has increased on-campus meetings
lately. She stressed that it is a hard time and it is hard to
make cuts. The president has created the Strategic Pathways
structure which is getting better according to the faculty.
8:21:29 AM
SENATOR GIESSEL pointed out that the state was at $9 per barrel
oil last year. She voiced concern that the state subsidizes
university students at $20,000 per student. The next state
subsidizes at about $9 per student. She noted that alumni
organizations do not support the university's sports programs
like other colleges do. She asked where Ms. Perdue saw
opportunity there.
8:22:47 AM
MS. PERDUE said she does not have enough information yet on that
issue.
CHAIR HUGHES asked for clarification of the $9 amount. She
thought perhaps Senator Giessel meant $9,000.
SENATOR GIESSEL agreed.
8:23:41 AM
SENATOR BEGICH noted his relationship with Ms. Perdue when she
hired him as the Community Justice Coordinator in the Department
of Health and Social Services. He asked for her vision of
teacher training and whether there is a role for the Board of
Regents in helping define teacher education for this century and
beyond.
8:24:30 AM
MS. PERDUE said the process of reporting to the Board through
the Academic Student Affairs Committee will help address how
academic programs address rural teachers and teacher retention.
The university has also adopted a teacher mentor program for new
teachers. The Board's role is to challenge the Schools of
Education to address the issues that the data shows are
problems.
8:25:46 AM
SENATOR BEGICH noted Ms. Perdue mentioned that the constitution
requires one university in Alaska. He asked what that means to
the state.
MS. PERDUE opined that the university was meant to be a portion
of the state's economy and to serve the people across the state.
Many of the jobs the university educates for are in both small
and large communities. Health care jobs and teaching are
examples. She stressed the need to look at students as "place
committed" as opposed to "place bound." The university needs to
look at distance delivery and other methods of fulfilling that
responsibility.
SENATOR BEGICH agreed that it is a high-level goal and one he
has been looking for. He spoke of the difficulty of making
budget cuts and President Johnsen's funding recommendations, yet
the Senate is instead looking at another $16 million in cuts on
top of the Governor's proposed budget. He asked how the state
should meet the vision of a place-committed university, in light
of those budget cuts, and what the Board is looking to do.
MS. PERDUE replied that she has heard that Strategic Pathways is
an effective tool to look at business processes in trying to
ensure efficiency and customer satisfaction. She said she did
not have an answer that addressed academic programs and
athletics. She suggested a need to challenge the chancellors and
faculty with the awareness of the current financial environment.
8:29:35 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked if she has taken a distance education
class.
MS. PERDUE said she has taught a 3-hour distance education
graduate-level class. She said some students are very
comfortable with that type of learning, others are not, and it
is challenging to the instructor, but with training, very
rewarding.
8:30:26 AM
CHAIR HUGHES commented that Mat-Su wished to have representation
on the Board. She described how their campus has changed to
become a thriving university. She asked Ms. Perdue to keep that
area in mind, noting there is great potential there.
MS. PERDUE thanked the committee.
8:32:50 AM
CHAIR HUGHES thanked Ms. Perdue and introduced Ms. van Wagner.
She requested a review of what the Professional Teaching
Practices Commission does.
Professional Teaching Practices Commission
MAUREEN VAN WAGNER, Appointee, Professional Teaching Practices
Commission (PTPC), shared her professional background. She said
she is currently a special education teacher in Anchorage and
has been an educator for 21 years. She said she has served as
the teacher representative on PTPC for the last three years.
She related that PTPC is a process that deals with education
policy and reviews teacher sanctions and makes decisions. They
strengthened the language in the Code of Ethics for teachers in
order to highlight the high expectations placed on teachers. She
is happy to spend another three years on the PTPC and share her
historical knowledge.
8:35:41 AM
SENATOR COGHILL thanked Ms. van Wagner for her service. He said
there is a struggle to keep teachers in Alaska. He asked how the
state could do a better job retaining teachers.
MS. VAN WAGNER shared her experience in a teacher training
program and the importance of knowing clearly what she was
getting into as a teacher. She is currently a mentor to new
teachers and works with teachers who are on improvement plans.
In that role, she stresses the importance of the code of ethics
and an understanding of what is expected of teachers.
SENATOR COGHILL noted the importance of classroom management and
described the challenging classroom environment. He appreciated
Ms. van Wagner's willingness to work with teachers.
8:38:39 AM
SENATOR BEGICH thanked Ms. van Wagner for serving again. He
spoke of a recommendation from the Senate Finance Subcommittee
on Education that the 2016 Performance Review of the Department
of Education and Early Development finding related to objective
#9 be pursued. That recommendation was to consolidate the work
of PTPC into the Office of Teacher Certification for cost
reduction purposes and to eliminate duplication of processes. He
asked if that recommendation makes sense.
8:40:22 AM
MS. VAN WAGNER said PTPC has discussed this recommendation. She
opined that it would not be a good idea because the two serve
opposite roles. The Office of Teacher Certification enables
teachers to teach; PTPC revokes certifications. She described
the makeup of the Board and their ability to make good
decisions. The Office of Teacher Certification already has a
difficult time getting certifications out in a timely manner.
PTPC serves the teaching community best as it currently
functions.
8:41:55 AM
SENATOR GIESSEL thanked her for serving. She inquired how many
suspensions or revocations have taken place.
MS. VAN WAGNER suggested she go the PTPC website for that data.
She guessed there were 4 to 5 cases per year; not many
revocations.
8:43:19 AM
SENATOR GIESSEL asked how the actions of PTPC affect teacher
retention. She asked if they follow up on the results of
sanctions.
MS. VAN WAGNER said she does not have that information and
suggested Senator Giessel ask the director, James Seitz. She did
not think their actions would affect teacher retention. Only a
small fraction of teachers have sanctions.
SENATOR GIESSEL clarified that she meant a specific educator who
receives a disciplinary action.
MS. VAN WAGNER said sanctions are warnings. It is up to
districts to decide what happens after that.
SENATOR GIESSEL asked if tenured teachers can be fired.
MS. VAN WAGNER said it depends on each district. She has seen
teachers fired, tenured or not. Anyone can be recommended to
PTPC. Most of those teachers are not tenured teachers and need
support and mentoring.
8:47:25 AM
CHAIR HUGHES followed up on Senator Begich's question of merging
administrative functions of PTPC and the Office of Teacher
Certification.
MS. VAN WAGNER asked for clarification.
CHAIR HUGHES said she was thinking of streamlining of the
administration.
MS. VAN WAGNER said PTPC has been streamlined already; the
director no longer has a secretary.
8:49:39 AM
SENATOR COGHILL, in accordance with AS 39.05.080, moved that the
appointment of Maureen van Wagner to the Professional Teaching
Practices Commission, and Karen Perdue to the University of
Alaska Board of Regents, be forwarded to a joint session for
consideration. This does not reflect an intent of any members to
vote for or against the confirmation of these individuals during
any further sessions.
8:50:23 AM
CHAIR HUGHES opened public testimony and, seeing none, closed
public testimony.
She said the appointments of Ms. Wagner and Ms. Perdue will be
forwarded to the joint session.
8:50:52 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Hughes adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee
at 8:50 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| UA Regents - Perdue.pdf |
SEDC 3/15/2017 8:00:00 AM |
|
| EDU van Wagner - Professional Teaching Practices Commission.pdf |
SEDC 3/15/2017 8:00:00 AM |