Legislature(2005 - 2006)SENATE FINANCE 532
04/10/2006 05:00 PM Senate COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY OVERSIGHT
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY OVERSIGHT
April 10, 2006
5:07 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Ralph Seekins, Vice Chair
Senator Thomas Wagoner
Senator Kim Elton
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Senator Gary Wilken
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Con Bunde
Senator Ben Stevens
Senator Lyman Hoffman
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
University of Alaska Presentation
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
See minutes from 2/7/06, 2/28/06 3/20/06, and 3/21/06 SUOV
meetings
WITNESS REGISTER
President Mark Hamilton
University of Alaska
P.O. Box 755000
Fairbanks, AK 99775
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered University of Alaska presentation
Wendy Redman, Vice President
University Relations
University of Alaska
P.O. Box 755000
Fairbanks, AK 99775
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussion participant
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Senate Special Committee On
University Oversight meeting to order at 5:07:22 PM. Present
were Senators Ralph Seekins, Thomas Wagoner, Kim Elton, and
Chair Gary Stevens.
^ University of Alaska Presentation
CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced the committee would hear from
President Mark Hamilton.
5:08:26 PM
MARK HAMILTON, President of the University of Alaska, said he
would address issues that were raised during previous briefings.
He reviewed the "Criteria for Effective Policy" slide that David
Jones presented at a previous meeting and said that the State of
Alaska has reason to be proud. The legislature established
performance measures in 2000 and the university has been very
successful in meeting those goals and showing progress across
the board.
In the last eight years the policy guidance the university has
received could be summed up as, "jobs, jobs, jobs, meet the
workforce needs." The university has done that for teachers,
nurses, allied health, engineers, and the oil and gas line
workforce. There has also been direction to seek research
efforts related to Alaska including fisheries, health,
transportation, and economics.
Another clear policy consideration is that the university needs
to discover ways to find external resources. That has been one
of the greatest achievements over the long-term, he said. In
1986 the university received $167 million from the general fund.
Thirteen years later the legislature gave the university money
and brought the budget back to just short of $167 million so in
nominal dollars the university went nowhere in 13 years.
When the full budget request for this year is reduced to
constant 1986 dollars it amounts to $167 million meaning that
the university hasn't had an increase in purchasing power in 21
years. During that same period non-general funds have increased
from $85 million in 1986 to a projected $450 million this year.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON said the university has a mixed report card
with regard to the issue of maintaining necessary institutional
capacity. In the last eight years the university has received
funding that is $7.2 million short of the fixed costs over that
period. The full fixed costs have been funded in three of the
last seven years and in all but two years the legislature has
funded the payroll. In terms of the general fund, the university
has met the measure minimally but the capital side has been less
successful. He related that branch campuses have received a 35
percent increase in general funds in the last eight years while
the university has received a 29 percent base increase.
The next issue is whether or not contributions are affordable to
the state and the students. The legislature makes the
determination for the state, but he is very concerned about
affordability to students. Tuition has been raised 10 percent
per year for the last four years. That has caused pain even
though the University of Alaska has one of the lowest state
tuition rates of any university in the country.
Students are encouraged to apply for national grant
opportunities, but there is a problem in Alaska. For every
dollar that a family earns above the means test, which is about
$18,000, the opportunity for PELL grants decrease. On the other
hand there has been some success in the workforce programs where
employers offer aid or reimbursement to students. Wise employers
have chosen to invest in such programs, he said.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON moved to the issue of fairness. From his
perspective that is whether or not an adequate amount of money
is dispersed to the various branches. All the campuses would all
say they don't get enough money but disbursements are equitable.
With regard to the issue of transparency he said the university
is a national example. There is transparency in the budget, the
programs, the budget distribution, and the initiative process.
He related that for the first three years after the initiative
process began he took every dime of initiative funding and put
the programs on the Internet specifically for the purpose of
transparency. He mentioned the ad hoc committee on
accountability and sustainability and emphasized that attention
to detail is important.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON highlighted training and vocational education
program (TVEC) funds to address the issue of incentives for
institutional responsiveness and entrepreneurship. It is a
special funding stream that comes from unemployment insurance to
fund training in the state. Internally, the university has
instituted performance based budgeting and it has made a
difference. The community branches are now setting up their own
measures upon which performance will be base.
5:34:35 PM
PRESIDENT HAMILTON discussed the categories from the sheet
labeled "Measuring Up: Graded Categories."
Student Preparation for Training Beyond High School: The
university is beginning to get involved in the high schools and
there is need to do more of that. He related that some of the
most productive university programs have begun by going to high
schools and mapping academic guidelines for students who show
promise. A different approach is to get individuals from the
workforce to visit high schools to help spell out what a job
entails. He mentioned that the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce
started such a program. The teacher-mentoring program was
started with a federal grant and the notion is to get young
teachers up to speed more quickly. He said that program will
bear enormous fruit in years to come.
Participation - The Opportunity to Enroll in Education and
Training Beyond High School: This is important because the
number of jobs in the country that require post secondary
education at the certificate or associate level is overwhelming.
For instance, students don't work construction to pay for
college any more; they go to college to gain the skills to go
into the construction trade. However, a real problem with
participation is that Alaska has the lowest high school
graduation rates in the country. The university is involved in
significant remediation programs and it must continue to do that
until the front-end problem is fixed.
Affordability: was covered previously, he said.
Completion: PRESIDENT HAMILTON said we aren't doing very well in
this category. One consideration is that more Alaska students
work than students in other parts of the country. He noted that
many students have given up the Alaska Scholars Program because
maintaining 12 credit hours while working is too difficult. It's
a difficult balance because working up to 20 hours a week tends
to help a student's grades but working 30 hours has a huge
impact and working 40 hours is difficult to pull off.
He related that students are working because there isn't much
needs-based aid available and federal grants are difficult to
qualify for. To get an idea of what it will cost to go to
college he said just double the tuition payment. Even if you
don't live in the dorm and deal with a meal plan students are
faced with buying ridiculously expensive textbooks. He noted
that library costs rise more than health costs each year.
Benefit of a Highly Educated Population: He emphasized that
producing workers in the state is exactly what the state
university needs to do. For the last seven years the university
has been working to replace the retiring workforce on the North
Slope with Alaskans and is preparing to meet the needs for the
gas pipeline. For instance, the university is moving forward to
double the number of engineers by 2010. The university made the
same promise to double the number of nurses by 2006. That goal
will be met even though the state has not supported it President
Hamilton said. The cost is going on the Denali Commission,
Rasmussen Foundation, federal grants and contracts, BP,
ConocoPhillips, Compaq, TVEC funds, and the hospital workers.
We're moving forward and asking the legislature to fill us back
in, he said. We can do anything at the university, we just can't
do anything much without funding.
SENATOR SEEKINS mentioned the number of foreign students in the
masters degree engineering program and asked if the university
was recruiting in India.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON responded that is an anomaly resulting from
sister city affiliation. The other factor is that U.S. students
aren't entering the engineering field.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS asked if those students would return to India
with their degrees.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON said it would probably be a mixed bag
favoring India.
WENDY REDMAN, Vice President of University Relations, University
of Alaska, said that would change as India and China continue to
invest in higher education.
SENATOR SEEKINS questioned why U.S. students aren't entering the
field of engineering.
MS. REDMAN responded it is an intense program and Alaska
students don't arrive at the university prepared to enter the
engineering program. The Alaska Native Engineering and Science
Program (ANESP) has been successful at taking rural students
into engineering in Fairbanks and Anchorage but it starts in
middle school. Potential students are identified and then they
are followed and helped along the way until they to get to the
university level.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS said he understands Senator Seekins
viewpoint, but the United States has always been a beacon for
universities around the world so Alaska has reason to be proud
that foreign students want to come here.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON said 100 percent of the graduate engineers
have been hired since he joined the university.
MS. REDMAN discussed the advertising program that attracted
nurses to the program and said the same thing would have to
happen with engineering. Students that want to become engineers
will have to take a different academic path in high school. To
that end, the Alaska Engineering Society has been advertising
and developing internship programs to go into schools.
SENATOR SEEKINS said he would like the dollars that go into the
university system to benefit the people of Alaska.
SENATOR WAGONER asked about the percentage of foreign students
in the engineering program.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON responded it would be fairly small, but the
program is very undersubscribed so bringing in additional
students is in the universities' interest.
SENATOR ELTON asked if the university is getting ARCO merger
money and if so are they involved in the engineering program.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON replied yes to both questions. About $1
million has gone to the ANSEP program and those funds have been
very important.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON referenced a 1990-2005 demographic indicating
that in the last 15 years Alaska has lost 30,000 people. All
those people gave up their Permanent Fund dividend to go
somewhere else that has a future. He emphasized that young
people aren't going to stay here for $1,500 a year.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS expressed personal concern about the loss of
adult students and said he'd like to spend more time discussing
that issue.
PRESIDENT HAMILTON concluded his remarks and urged the committee
to continue to meet. Transparency and accountability are not a
threat because the university is here to do what the legislature
directs.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS said he'd like to revisit the issues at some
point.
SENATOR WILKEN discussed the governor's proposal to increase
funding.
MS. REDMAN mentioned that community campus directors met and
developed working groups and strategies that will be helpful
over the course of the next year. She expressed the hope that
there would be an opportunity to discuss that in depth over the
course of the summer.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Gary Stevens adjourned the meeting at 6:26:21 PM
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