Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
02/21/2019 09:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB53 | |
| Presentation: the Power of University Research | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 53 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 53-UNIV. REPORTING REQS FOR ACCREDITATION
9:00:04 AM
CHAIR STEVENS announced the consideration of SB 53. He stated
his intention to introduce the bill, hear public testimony, and
hold the bill.
9:00:48 AM
TIM LAMKIN, Staff, Senator Gary Stevens, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, said SB 53 is a result of the loss
of accreditation by the University of Alaska Anchorage School of
Education. There are currently other reporting requirements in
place. The most recent, AS 14.41.190, requires the Board of
Regents to submit a report to the legislature by the 30th
legislative day biannually on their efforts "to attract, train,
and retain qualified public school teachers." He noted that the
report was due Friday, but the Senate Secretary's office had not
received that yet, to his knowledge. He said he did not prepare
a sectional for the bill because it would simply say that the
bill would require a biannual report on the various
accreditations across the UA system. He pointed out that the
committee packets have a summary of current accreditations.
There is zero fiscal note.
9:02:51 AM
MILES BAKER, Associate Vice President of Government Relations,
University of Alaska, Juneau, Alaska, said AS 14.41.190 has two
reporting requirements for the University of Alaska. The first
is a long report submitted every year as part of its budget
submission to the legislature regarding things such as the
condition of university property, receipts and expenditures, and
unobligated university receipts. The second is commonly referred
to as the SB 241 report, Alaska's University for Alaska's
[Schools] Report. He said he believed Chairman Stevens was part
of passing that law in 2008. That report is completed
biennially. This report updates the legislature on teacher
preparation, retention, and recruitment programs. He said it was
submitted this year. He offered to provide a copy for the
committee.
CHAIR STEVENS said the education committees would probably meet
jointly to discuss that report.
MR. BAKER said this legislation would require a third reporting
requirement. As part of its biannual report, the university
would update the legislature on the status of regional,
national, and programmatic accreditations at the university no
later than the 30th day of the legislative session. The existing
board policy requires each of the major campuses to regularly
assess all institutional programs to evaluate quality and
effectiveness. These program reviews are designed to meet the
standards of applicable accrediting bodies. Annually, each
university must provide a report to the Regents' Academic and
Student Affairs Committee on the status of program reviews,
including an extensive discussion of academic accreditation. UA
already has an internal process to compile, track, and report
this information annually to the board, so that information can
be provided to the legislature in a biannual report. He pointed
out that the packets have information on the status of ongoing
accreditation at all the universities
MR. BAKER said this committee has its regularly scheduled
meeting today. One agenda item is a discussion of program
accreditation and a review of the status document. The regents
want to be aware of any accreditations that are challenged or
having difficulty. There will be an interest in clarifying
current regent policy regarding accreditation. The situation
with UAA regarding initial licensure was that while reports were
being provided to the board subcommittee in the fall, they were
not detailed enough for the Board of Regents to have the full
story of the potential situation with the accreditation. The
board will want to update that policy.
9:08:33 AM
CHAIR STEVENS said the impetus for this bill was the loss of
accreditation at the Anchorage campus. "And that's a very big
thing, as we all know. Universities don't usually lose
accreditation. This is the only one I've seen in my experience,"
he said.
CHAIR STEVENS continued, "It's a very, very important thing and
it's particularly important because of the students. Because
we're putting them in jeopardy, asking them to pay tuition and
go through all the work of getting their classes done, yet when
they leave the University of Alaska, they are going to have
trouble, particularly if they transfer out of state."
CHAIR STEVENS said, "The only reason for this bill is because of
that loss of accreditation. Something went terribly wrong in
this process." He said he chaired an accreditation committee
before he retired from the university so he knows it is a long,
involved process, but all the questions and concerns should be
answered at the end of the process.
CHAIR STEVENS said, "Again, something went terribly wrong. The
president of the university, who I have the greatest respect
for--I'm so glad he's there during these tough financial times--
yet he did not know of the jeopardy the university faced because
of that accreditation study. The Board of Regents did not know.
Mr. Baker, it is a terrible situation. We're not going to run
the university. We don't want to do that, but we want to know
what's going on. We want to know why the university, the Board
of Regents, the president, the entire administration, were not
monitoring that process or not responding to it. If they had
known about it, I assume there would have been some
intervention."
CHAIR STEVENS continued,
I'm a little annoyed as a citizen, as a senator, that
that this occurred. And it can't happen again. All
we're asking in this bill is for the university to
monitor the situation, to let us know, and you should
already be doing that. And I keep hearing people say,
'Hey, we're doing that. Why would you have this bill
because we're doing it.' But you're not doing it. It
fell apart. Somebody was asleep at the switch. It's a
terrible black eye on the university and we simply
cannot have this happen in future. I mean, are there
other areas that are in jeopardy in the university for
loss of accreditations. I'm sorry. I'm just not happy
with this at all. I think it's a terrible situation to
be in. I'm ashamed. I know you are. I know the
university president is ashamed that this happened.
All we're saying, for heaven's sake, is monitor this
and let us know what is going on.
9:12:10 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said she shared his frustration. The fiscal note
states that the internal processes already exist and the reports
are happening annually to the board, but Mr. Baker said the
Board of Regents will be revisiting that policy. She assumed the
board would be considering whether to increase the frequency of
checking in on that type of thing. She would hope that any red
flags would be reported to the Board of Regents immediately. The
legislature would not hear as soon as the board, but that
information would be included in the report to them. The idea of
the bill is that having some oversight establishes
accountability. She asked whether the legislature would receive
the report every two years.
CHAIR STEVENS answered twice a year.
SENATOR HUGHES said that would help.
9:13:52 AM
SENATOR BEGICH said when the committee first talked about
accreditation, he put a conflict of interest on the record, but
after checking with ethics, he found he does not have a conflict
of interest with this bill.
CHAIR STEVENS said that is an issue these days with changes in
law. He has no conflict. He last worked for the university 20
years ago and retired as a tenured professor and has not
received any renumeration from the university for 20 years.
MR. BAKER said as currently drafted the bill would require the
report at the start of each legislature, so every two years. He
clarified that the university does not review every academic
program every year. Most of the institutions are doing five-year
reviews, but the status of those program reviews and how they
relate to accreditation are reported to the Board of Regents
every fall. UA has an internal process for compiling and
reporting that information to the Board of Regents, but regents
would share Senator Stevens' concern that the reports have not
been adequate to keep the regents informed. UA will be working
on that internally.
9:15:51 AM
CHAIR STEVENS opened public testimony and after ascertaining
there was none, closed public testimony.
SENATOR HUGHES asked if the intention is to change the report to
twice a year.
SENATOR STEVENS said he thought twice a year would be best.
SENATOR HUGHES agreed.
SENATOR BEGICH asked if his intent was to change the reporting
from biennial to biannual and to get an update on a regular
basis. He agreed that twice a year would be better.
9:16:57 AM
CHAIR STEVENS answered that that is the intention. He held SB 53
in committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB053_UnivAK_AccreditReporting_BillText_VersionA.pdf |
SEDC 2/21/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 53 |
| SB053_UA_Accred_Reporting_SponsorStatement_20Feb2019.pdf |
SEDC 2/21/2019 9:00:00 AM SFIN 3/13/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 53 |
| SB053_UnivAK_AccreditReporting_FiscalNote01_UnivAK_16Feb2019.pdf |
SEDC 2/21/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 53 |
| SB053_UnivAK_AccreditReporting_Research_CAEP_RevocationLetter_11JAN2019.pdf |
SEDC 2/21/2019 9:00:00 AM SFIN 3/13/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 53 |
| SB053_UnivAK_AccreditReporting_Research_CAEP Report_Dec2018.pdf |
SEDC 2/21/2019 9:00:00 AM SFIN 3/13/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 53 |
| SB053_UnivAK_AccreditReporting_Research_BOR Policy_April2014.pdf |
SEDC 2/21/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 53 |
| SB053_UnivAK_AccreditReporting_Research_Existing UA Accred Summary_21Feb2019.pdf |
SEDC 2/21/2019 9:00:00 AM SFIN 3/13/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 53 |
| SEDC_Presentation_Power Of Research_ 21FEB2019.pdf |
SEDC 2/21/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SEDC Presentation - Univ AK - Power of Research - Feb 21, 2019 |