Legislature(2005 - 2006)SENATE FINANCE 532
03/20/2006 05:00 PM Senate COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY OVERSIGHT
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Financing in Sync: Aligning Fiscal Policy with State Objectives | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY OVERSIGHT
March 20, 2006
5:08 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Ralph Seekins, Vice Chair
Senator Con Bunde
Senator Thomas Wagoner
Senator Kim Elton
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Ben Stevens
Senator Lyman Hoffman
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Presentations by:
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education
National Center on Higher Education Management Systems
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
See minutes from 2/7/06 and 2/28/06 SUOV meetings
WITNESS REGISTER
Julie Bell, Education Program Director
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
7700 East First Place
Denver, CO 80230
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced Mr. Jones
Dennis Jones, President
National Center for Higher Education Management Systems
3035 Center Green Drive, Suite 150
Boulder, CO 80301-2251
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered PowerPoint presentation
Wendy Redman, Vice President
University Relations
University of Alaska
P.O. Box 755000
Fairbanks, AK 99775
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to questions
President Mark Hamilton
University of Alaska
P.O. Box 755000
Fairbanks, AK 99775
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided UA perspective
Pat Pitney, Associate Vice President
Planning & Budget Development
University of Alaska
P.O. Box 755000
Fairbanks, AK 99775
POSITION STATEMENT: UA representative
Diane Barrans, Executive Director
Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education
P.O. Box 110505
Juneau, AK 99811-0505
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussion participant
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Senate Special Committee On
University Oversight meeting to order at 5:08:47 PM. Present
were Senator Con Bunde Senator Gary Wilken and Chair Gary
Stevens. Senators Ralph Seekins, Thomas Wagoner and Kim Elton
arrived during the course of the meeting.
^ Financing in Sync: Aligning Fiscal Policy with State
Objectives
CHAIR GARY STEVENS recognized Julie Bell and Dennis Jones.
5:09:51 PM
JULIE BELL, Education Program Director, National Conference of
State Legislatures (NCSL), commented on the increased interest
in higher education issues and then introduced Dennis Jones.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS encouraged members to read the literature in
the packets.
DENNIS JONES, President, National Center for Higher Education
Management Systems (NCHEMS), explained that the company is a
private non-profit organization that does policy work in higher
education at the institution and state levels. He said he would
give perspective on higher education as it relates to the future
of a state.
MR. JONES began the PowerPoint presentation with a review of the
management cycle in a public institution. He used Venn diagrams
to illustrate the separation of state and institution agendas
with respect to planning, resource allocation and assessment
activities.
5:15:24 PM
Slide 3: State Policy Objectives
· High rates of high school completion of students who have
taken an academically rigorous curriculum. Mr. Jones said
that this is increasingly recognized as an issue for higher
education and K-12.
· High levels of college participation of both recent high
school graduates and adult learners. In Alaska there's a
decline in the number of adults who are taking college
courses compared to previous years.
· High rates of college degree completion.
· High levels of degree production in the stem fields of
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are
becoming increasingly important.
· The relationship of the university to the economic future
of the state.
5:17:17 PM
Slide 4: Educational Attainment and Rank Among States - Alaska,
2000
MR. JONES stated that 90.5 percent of Alaska citizens in the 25-
64 age bracket have received a high school diploma. However, in
the 18-24 age bracket just 76.9 percent received a high school
diploma, which leads to the interesting observation that this is
the first generation where kids are less well educated than
their parents. In general though, Alaska is close to the middle
relative to the other 49 states in terms of education attainment
of the adult population.
5:18:02 PM
Slide 5: Differences in College Attainment (Associate and
Higher) Between Young and Older Adults - Percent of Adults with
College Degrees
The slide illustrates that there is a much higher level of
postsecondary education attainment in the 45-60 age group than
in the 25-34 age group. That is an issue and it's important to
figure out how to educate the population and create jobs to keep
that educated populace in the state.
5:19:28 PM
Slide 6: Percent of Population Age 18-24 with No High School
Diploma
About 23.1 percent of Alaskans in the 18-24 age group haven't
finished high school and that's slightly below the national
average.
5:19:52 PM
Slide 7: Alaska Civilians Age 25-64 in the Workforce by
Education Attainment, 2000
MR. JONES observed that if an Alaskan in the 25-64 age bracket
hasn't finished high school, the chances are 4 in 10 that the
individual isn't in the workforce at all. More than likely that
means that the individual is taking from the state rather than
contributing. That use of state resources takes the form of
social services, corrections, welfare and the like. Clearly, the
more education you have, the more likely it is that you're in
the workforce.
5:20:31 PM
Slide 8: Student Pipeline, 2002-Alaska
th
This graph shows that of 100 9 graders about 60 graduate from
high school in four years, 28 go on to college, and about 11
graduate from college in the expected period of time. This
measure places Alaska close to the bottom compared to the other
states. The state ranking the highest in this measure has about
28 graduating, which isn't all that high on the international
scale. The U.S. ranks 8th or 9th among developed countries and
th
5:21:50 PM
Slide 9: High School Graduation Rates-Public High School
Graduates as a Percent of 9th Graders Four Years Earlier, 2002
In Alaska 66.4 percent of the starting 9th graders graduate four
years later, which is below the 67.2 percent national average.
Responding to a question from Senator Bunde, he said the data
came from 2002 and he understands that Alaska has been showing
improvement each year.
Slide 10: College-Going Rates--First-Time Freshmen Directly Out
of High School as a Percent of Recent High School Graduates,
2002
In Alaska 47.4 percent of recent high school graduates go on to
college anywhere in the U.S. directly from high school.
5:22:27 PM
Slide 11: First-Time Freshmen Net Imports by Institution Type
for Alaska, Fall 2002
The graph indicates Alaska is a net student exporter in every
educational sector. For example, more students go to the Lower
48 to attend public research universities than come to Alaska
for that purpose.
5:22:55 PM
Slide 12: Associate Degrees Awarded per 100 High School
Graduates Three Years Earlier, 2003
Alaska falls well down the production pipeline at 12.9 students
per 100 compared to the national average of 22.4 students per
100.
5:23:19 PM
Slide 13: Bachelor's Degrees Awarded per 100 High School
Graduates Six Years Earlier, 2003.
The slide indicates that Alaska graduates 21.6 students per 100
within six years. The national average is 51.8 per 100.
Slide 14: States' Ability to Produce Graduates vs. Ability to
Keep and Attract Graduates.
The graph indicates that Alaska is a relatively low producer of
"higher education capital." The state imports young people with
college degrees to make up for its lack of production.
Slide 15: Net Migration by Degree Level and Age Group - Alaska
The data indicates that many of Alaska's imports are students
who left the state to get a college education and then returned
with a degree.
5:24:00 PM
SENATOR WILKEN asked if the data on slide 13 means that 100
percent of the high school graduates in Rhode Island have earned
a bachelor's degree six years later.
MR. JONES said no. It's the number of degrees awarded divided by
the number of high school graduates six years earlier. Rhode
Island is a heavy student importer. That state produces a large
number of baccalaureate degrees, but not necessarily to its
residents. He reminded members that this is a measure of how
much educational capital the state produces relative to its
population. In the states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts,
education is nearly an industry.
5:25:32 PM
Slides 16-17: Alaska Occupations with High Net Imports and
Exports, 1995-2000 - Residents Age 22-29 and 30-64 with College
Degrees
The slides indicate that Alaska imports teachers and engineers
in the 22-29 age bracket and it exports legal personnel in the
30-64 age bracket.
5:26:15 PM
Slides 18-22: Linking Funding to State Priorities
MR. JONES explained that when NCHEMS works with a state, it
looks at about 150 different measures to develop the public
agenda to effect desired change 10 years down the road. That
might mean getting more kids out of high school or more
graduates out of the university system or getting more educated
people employed in high-value jobs in the state. The next step
is to decide how to invest in higher education to support the
pursuit of that agenda.
He turned to the chart showing how money flows to higher
education from state resources and said it's important to know
how much money is directly appropriated to institutions, how
much goes to student financial aid and what the tuition picture
looks like. In most public institutions money for education
comes from just two sources - the state and the student. Most of
the other money going to the institution has strings attached
and that money doesn't pay for classes.
Legislators decide how much money goes to higher education and
whether it flows directly to the institution through
appropriations or directly to the student through student aid.
Once those decisions are made, the allocation mechanism is
addressed. Mr. Jones advised that meaningful fiscal policies for
higher education are difficult to fashion and rarely come
together because a variety of people who have different
objectives are working on different schedules. In many cases
there is no communication between those who set tuition rates,
those who set student financial aid allocations and the state
that sets appropriation levels.
5:30:32 PM
Slide 24: Criteria for effective policy:
· Reinforce state priorities. Ask whether the allocation is
consistent with the priorities that were put forth.
· Maintain necessary institutional capacity.
· Contributions required are affordable. It must be
affordable to both the state and the student.
· Viewed as being fair. Ask whether some institutions are
being treated differently or better than others.
· Transparent
· Contain incentives for institutional responsiveness and
entrepreneurship
5:31:46 PM
Slide 25: Criteria from Perspective of Different Stakeholders
State Perspective
· Maintains institutional capacity
· Promotes achievement of priority outcomes
· Affordable
Student Perspective
· Affordability
· Value
Institution Perspective
· Adequacy. Is the funding sufficient to sustain the mission?
· Equity. This asks whether institutions are treated the same
relative to the different missions.
· Stability. Is the funding stable or does it fluctuate
widely?
SENATOR BUNDE questioned whether any state sufficiently funds
higher education.
MR. JONES responded Wyoming might be the only one.
5:33:23 PM
Slide 26: The Two Purposes of State Funding Policy
· Building the core capacity of the institution.
· Promote capacity utilization around state priorities -
special purpose funding
Slide 27: Finance Policy - The Options
MR. JONES said there are a number of pieces to the finance
policy. First there's core capacity that's either institution
focused or student focused. Next there's capacity utilization
that focuses on the institution and the student. Until recently
almost all higher education was focused on building capacity.
Now there's the additional interest that asks whether that
capacity can be focused on the real needs of the state.
5:35:34 PM
Slides 28-30: Funding to Institutions - Core Capacity
MR. JONES advised that there's a lot that goes into deciding how
to set tuition rates and how to fund institutions based on
certain accomplishments.
Responding to Senator Bunde's request to expand on that
statement he explained that there are two or three predominant
foci. For example Oklahoma has a "Brain Gain Initiative" that
seeks to increase the number of baccalaureate degrees coming
from the state institutions. To that end the state pays
institutions for increasing the number of degrees from year to
year. Ohio encourages its community colleges to work with local
industry to do corporate training. In both instances the funds
go to the institutions with no strings attached. Typically the
money is used to make the institution more competitive in that
particular area. Yet another method is the payment of capitation
grants.
5:38:27 PM
Slide 31-32: Funding to Students - Capacity Utilization and
Relationships Between "Need-Based" and "Merit-Based" Aid
MR. JONES said that different states come to different
conclusions with regard to need-based or merit-based aid, but
it's not uncommon for a state to borrow a good idea from another
state. Unfortunately that usually leads to bad policy because
different states have different priorities.
5:39:14 PM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS reflected on his university experience and
observed that the country has moved from a need-based tradition
to one that's more merit-based and that funding simply isn't
available for the need-based student any longer.
MR. JONES responded he defines college funding in generational
terms. First it took one parent's paycheck to pay for college
expenses and in the next generation both parents worked to pay
college costs. Now both parents are working to support their
elderly parents and the kids are putting themselves through
school with personal earnings or loans. That's important because
the more a student works, the less likely it is that he or she
will get out of college at all let alone in a meaningful number
of years. Although he didn't know particular UA numbers, in
general it's not uncommon for 50 to 60 percent of a student body
to be working 35 or more hours a week while carrying a
reasonably heavy academic load.
How financial aid is packaged is an important consideration
because if a student is working full time while going to school
then, almost by definition, school is getting short shrift, he
said.
5:42:26 PM
Slide 33: Conclusions
Cost-Effective Policy Requires:
· Clear Understanding of Priorities. Understand
what the state most needs from the higher
education system. In states where it's made a
real difference the public leadership, the
university leadership and the private sector
leadership have all come to the same conclusion
with regard to priorities.
· Creation/Maintenance of Necessary Capacity. The
asset structure of the universities must be
maintained.
· Alignment of Policies Concerning How the Money Flows:
· Institutional Support
· Tuition and Fees
· State Student Financial Aid
· Institutional Student Financial
Aid
5:44:14 PM
Slides 35: State Tax Capacity and Effort - Alaska Indexed to
U.S. Average
MR. JONES reviewed the graph and said that Alaska has had a tax
capacity that's higher than the national average yet the tax
effort has been on a steady decline.
5:44:52 PM
Slide 36: Projected State and Local Budget Surplus (Gap) as a
Percent of Revenues, 2013
He pointed out that three years ago when NCHEMS asked Don Boyd
from the Rockefeller Institute of Government to evaluate all 50
states to answer whether or not the current state tax structure
could sustain the current services budget he said the answer was
no in 44 states. This year the answer is no in all 50 states.
5:45:48 PM
Slide 37: Projected Ration of Spending for Higher Education to
Spending for all Other Programs, 2013
MR. JONES said that the information on this graph is intended to
illustrate that the demand for state government programs such as
K-12, corrections, welfare and Medicaid are increasing faster
than higher education.
5:46:43 PM
Slides 38 and 39: State Higher Education Priority - Higher
Education Appropriations as a Percent of Tax Revenues, 2002-03;
and Total Educational Revenues (State and Local and Tuition) Per
FTE Student, 2003-04
As a percent of tax revenues Alaska has historically put more
money into higher education than most states, but it falls below
most states in terms of funding per student. Considering cost of
living differentials, he said, this is an issue.
Slide 40: Share of Institutional Funding for Higher Education
Provided Through State Appropriations (Public Institutions),
2003-04
The graph illustrates that in Alaska the state pays three
fourths of the funding for higher education and the student pays
the other quarter.
5:47:51 PM
Slide 41: Measuring Up 2004 Affordability
MR. JONES said that for undergraduate studies Alaskans borrow at
a slightly higher rate than a decade ago.
Slide 42: State and Local Support for Higher Education -
Proportions Allocated Directly to Institutions, 2003-04
MR. JONES noted that until year before last Alaska didn't even
have a need-based student financial aid program. There's one
now, but it's very small in comparison to the other states.
5:48:22 PM
Slide 43: Net College Costs as a Percent of Income - Alaska 4-
Year Public
The graph shows that with more money the price of higher
education becomes more stable. He reminded members that this is
net so it's the cost of going to college minus grant aid. In
almost every state the top three quintiles of the population
aren't paying a greater percentage for higher education.
5:49:39 PM
Slide 44: A Picture of State Higher Education Funding
The states that have relatively low appropriations per student
are relying on tuition to an increasing extent.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS remarked need-based versus merit-based
financial aid is a very important issue.
SENATOR CON BUNDE reflected on his years as a professor and
commented that the students who were working and paying their
own way through school demanded the most accountability.
MR. JONES responded working between 15 and 18 hours a week while
attending school actually improves graduation rates. Those
students seem to appreciate the educational experience more and
they learn better as well. The result is different when they
work more than 30 hours a week, but students do have to work
more these days to pay the cost of education. Costs have gone up
dramatically and minimum wage hasn't kept pace.
SENATOR BUNDE commented on the potential for reducing
scholarship requirements and the relationship to need-based
financial aid.
MR. JONES responded picking the right curriculum is more
important than getting a good grade. He suggested that members
review the 21st Century Scholars Program in Indiana that is
aimed at lower-income students. Starting in 7th grade, students
are encouraged to take the right high school math and science
courses. Substantial evidence indicates that it's better to take
Calculus in high school and get a C than to take an easy math
course and get an A. Increasingly that's the gateway for being
eligible for scholarships.
SENATOR RALPH SEEKINS asked about comparative data for loan
programs in other states.
MR. JONES advised that most loans programs are federal and the
numbers are beginning to lose any meaning because high-income
parents are borrowing money for education at a low rate and
investing it at a higher rate. Once the student finishes school
the parents pay off the loan.
SENATOR SEEKINS said the good Alaska student loan program
doesn't differentiate between high or low family income so it
narrows some of the disparity in terms of how much of a family's
disposable income it takes to pay for higher education.
MR. JONES responded the reality is that poor kids use a larger
portion of their annual income to pay for school than rich kids
and the question is whether it's good public policy to narrow
that discrepancy or not.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS commented there are fewer minority students
going to college now and that's probably a function of the rise
in costs.
SENATOR THOMAS WAGONER asked how many Alaska Scholars have
graduated from the UA system and how many have stayed in Alaska
after graduation.
MARK HAMILTON, President of the University of Alaska, responded
97 percent of the students who received that scholarship have
remained in Alaska and about 80 percent are employed in the
state. Furthermore, about 40 percent graduate within six years.
He added that a surprising number of Alaska Scholars attend the
UA system, but have elected to give up the scholarship to go to
work while attending school. One-third of the students who
initially received the scholarship are still enrolled, but
they've exceeded the financial limits of the scholarship. Some
are graduate students while others are simply taking longer to
complete a degree. There's no question, he said, that it's a
remarkable program in terms of keeping students in Alaska.
6:05:10 PM
SENATOR THOMAS WAGONER asked how many Alaska Scholars leave the
state to pursue a degree that's not offered here.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON responded it couldn't be many if 97 percent
are still in the state.
SENATOR THOMAS WAGONER continued to say he'd like that
information to find out what kinds of programs students might be
looking for when they transfer to other states.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON responded professions such as law and
medicine come to mind.
6:06:52 PM
WENDY REDMAN, Vice President of University Relations for the
University of Alaska, stated that the program has been in
existence for just six years and the typical UA student will
take longer than six years to graduate. That includes Alaska
Scholars.
6:07:38 PM
SENATOR KIM ELTON remarked he was intrigued to hear that
curriculum is more important than grade point in predicting
success. If that's the case he asked whether the Alaska Scholars
Program shouldn't be predicated on the exit exam rather than
GPA.
MR. JONES responded he wouldn't place all the emphasis on an
exit exam because in most states the exit exam has no connection
to success in the workplace or being prepared for college. He
related that community colleges in Hawaii test high school
graduates for course placement and 89 percent who did well in
high school place into remedial math. That indicates a
communication failure between high schools and colleges.
He advised members that the American College Testing Program has
recently concluded that the skill level for being prepared for
work is the same as the skill level for being prepared for
college so high schools can no longer offer different programs
for student who are college bound or are going to enter the
vocations.
SENATOR ELTON asked about other measures such as SAT scores if
it's what a student has learned and how it's applied that's more
important than grade point.
MR. JONES replied the important point is application of
knowledge. He described PISA, the international student
assessment for math, and said on that test the student who is
the best in the U.S. ranks 25th in the world, which points to a
stark difference in expectations.
SENATOR WAGONER commented the U.S. system continues to
incorporate new systems for teaching math and that might be the
reason it is lagging behind other countries.
MR. JONES suggested that other countries narrow the scope and
teach in greater depth and also organize the curricula so there
is no repetition from year to year.
SENATOR BUNDE remarked other countries serve a narrower base of
students.
MR. JONES said not necessarily. On the whole the U.S. is the
best-educated country but in the 25-34 age bracket a number of
developed countries are graduating a higher proportion of
students with baccalaureate degrees than in the U.S. Norway is
the leading country in the world and the U.S. is about 87
percent of Norway. For associate degrees and higher then Canada
is the best in the world and the U.S. is 77 percent of Canada.
That, he said, is a measure of how many students graduated from
college with a degree. He reiterated that for baccalaureate
degrees the U.S. ranks eighth and by the end of the decade it
will be 17th.
SENATOR BUNDE mentioned the old state-subsidized low-interest
student loan program that created a backlog of bad loans for the
state. He asked if UA now advises students to take federal loans
and state loans as a last alternative.
6:18:34 PM
DIANE BARRANS, Executive Director, Alaska Commission on
Postsecondary Education, said that's correct. As a federal
lender they are able to discount federal loans below the
supplemental loan rate so that's the aid package that's offered.
That goes along with the small need-based grant program that was
new last fall.
Arguably, investing in higher education is the best investment
that you can make in yourself, but as was mentioned earlier, the
people in the lowest income quintiles are very debt averse and
aren't as likely to understand that economic argument. When
there isn't an adult model in the household who is emphasizing
the importance of a college education, the student is more
likely to opt out of postsecondary education early and take a
less rigorous academic course of study in middle and high
school.
MR. JONES suggested that the Indiana support system is
particularly good and has made a difference in that state.
SENATOR BUNDE asked about the average debt for college graduates
and whether it's broken down by income level.
MS. BARRANS responded she didn't have that information.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS expressed dismay that this generation is
likely to be less well educated that the previous generation.
MR. JONES responded if you were to look at a graph showing the
number of baccalaureate degrees in proportion to the population,
the line would be flat for a 30-year period. Although some
states have made progress, many in the West have regressed.
6:23:40 PM
MS. REDMAN reported that the number of jobs that require a
baccalaureate degree hasn't changed much in the last twenty
years but what has changed is the number of jobs that require
postsecondary education. As Mr. Jones said, about 60 percent of
the people that don't have a high school diploma aren't in the
workforce at all, but 89 percent of the people who have received
some postsecondary education or training are in the workforce.
People that have a high school education or less won't be able
to function in the world of work any longer, she said.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS said it'd be interesting to know how Alaska
compares to the rest of the U.S. in terms of number of degrees
and jobs available.
MS. REDMAN responded the Department of Labor statistics look
very similar to the national numbers.
MR. JONES mentioned that the states that have done the best in
terms of getting students through the education pipeline have a
need-based student financial aid program and a low priced public
education component such as a community college system. Alaska,
he said, does not have a low-cost portal and that may be a
factor in the decrease in the number of adult students in the UA
system.
6:26:52 PM
MARK HAMILTON, President of the University of Alaska, responded
the following data points are related: Alaska lost 30,000
citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 during the economic
downturn in the 1990s and the adult student population at UA has
declined since 2001. There's a waste in the demographic; people
fled the state so they aren't in Alaska to be adult learners.
PAT PITNEY, Associate Vice President of Planning and Budget for
the University of Alaska, added that although the decline is
real, UA is still predominantly serving the part-time working
adult learner population.
SENATOR SEEKINS commented that his business employs about 115
people and none of the positions requires a baccalaureate
degree, but many of the employees have benefited from some sort
of postsecondary education.
MR. JONES reiterated the point that the more education a person
has, the more likely it is that he or she will be in the
workforce. Furthermore, more education typically brings a larger
salary.
SENATOR BUNDE noted that the oil industry has indicated that it
needs a large number of technicians compared to the number of
engineers it employs.
MR. JONES stated that the higher the level of education the more
likely it is that the person will move out of state or out of
country. Associate degree winners aren't as likely to cross
state lines so if a state has the need and isn't educating in-
state then it probably isn't getting those positions filled.
6:33:51 PM
SENATOR BUNDE asked whether the current UA loan program is
merit-based.
MS. BARRANS said no, but the student must maintain a certain
grade point average to be academically eligible.
SENATOR BUNDE asked for information on the new grant program.
MS. BARRANS explained that the fundamental criterion is a
demonstrated need, but larger grants are available for study
programs in the education, nursing, and protective public
services fields as well as for students who scored in the top 20
percent on the SAT or ACT tests.
SENATOR BUNDE asked the average grant amount.
MS. BARRANS responded the basic need-based grant is $1,000 per
year and $2,000 per year is available for those students in one
of the priority programs. Grants are capped at $8,000 per
individual.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS asked who made the decision to grant priority
status to teachers, nurses and public service studies.
MS. BARRANS replied she would provide that information, but she
thought the commission received direction regarding the types of
programs that are given priority.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS stated agreement with the concept, but that
the Legislature might want to participate in the discussion
about which fields of study might be most beneficial to the
state.
6:37:01 PM
MR. JONES concluded his comments with a word of caution.
Although many conversations about the relationship between
higher education and the state revolve around the question of
how to accomplish the goal, the state would be well advised to
first engage in conversations related to what it needs. That's a
big turn around and difficult for educators and legislators to
do, but the state and the institutions will be better off if the
means conversation isn't allowed to get ahead of the ends
conversation.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Gary Stevens adjourned the meeting at 6:39:30 PM.
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