TCCTA Blog

Textbook Rental Gaining Attention

Students are learning quickly that you don't have to purchase textbooks, but can rent them instead. As reported here earlier, a number of companies have started to specialize in rentals, with students ordering books online to be distributed through the mail, for a full term, at a fraction of the cost of purchasing texts. The new approach is not suited for everyone, and the savings depends upon the availability and the original cost of each book. Not surprisingly, there are restrictions on marking up the texts.

A recent article in the New York Times (registration) profiles one of the most successful of these companies, Chegg.com, which gravitated to book rental after starting up with a different intention. Here's the Times piece (registration). Apparently the company has found a way around legal concerns involving copyrights and intellectual property. 

It so happens that Chegg.com recently was chosen the 2009 "Northern California Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year" award for the Consumer Services category, as reported in Forbes.com.

The business model is similar to that of Netflix, which rents movies through the mail.

Here's a key passage from the Times piece:

E-commerce was all the rage with investors during the Internet boom of the late 1990s. Of course, many start-ups failed. In recent years, most of the successful ideas in e-commerce have been refinements or variations of models that had been tried before.

In the case of Chegg and some budding competitors, the inspiration was Netflix.

“We benefit from the comfort zone that people have with renting things online from Netflix,” said Colin Barceloux, the co-founder of BookRenter.com, a Chegg rival that is also based in Silicon Valley.

Dr. Biden Praises Community Colleges

Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, is an adjunct professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College, and has been an educator for 28 years.

On July 5, Dr. Biden delivered the keynote address at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 2009 World Conference on Higher Education. She traveled to Paris for the conference after spending the Fourth of July with troops in Germany. Her remarks highlighted the administration’s commitment to higher education, and especially focused on the critical role of community colleges in fulfilling the President’s goals for education.

In January 2007, Dr. Biden earned her doctorate in education from the University of Delaware. Her dissertation focused on maximizing student retention in community colleges. She also has a master's degree in English from Villanova University (1987) and a master's degree in reading from West Chester University (1981)—both of which she earned while working full-time and raising a family.

A selection from her prepared remarks is available from the White House Blog. Here's the link. 

It's also available via the TCCTA Facebook page.

On Blaming Students: Get Over It

Gather a group of experienced college instructors around the campfire and it's probably inevitable that the conversation will turn to today's students, particularly their presumed lack of preparation and/or motivation.

Larry D. Spence, a professor at Penn State University, has submitted a thoughtful post on the subject to the "Views" section of Inside Higher Ed. The author says that good teachers inevitably reach a point where they quit lamenting the shortcomings of students, and get on with doing what they can to improve their teaching in new circumstances. An important moment for the professor occurred while visiting with a carpenter in his neighborhood, during a walk. The carpenter said:

“I build houses. The studs are never quite straight; the nails are imperfect and the plans mistaken. Contractors screw up schedules, suppliers deliver late, clients change their plans. I could complain about these blunders every day but I’d never build anything.”

It's an interesting take on the subject. Do yourself a favor and read the entire post, which is available free, here. 

Recession Harmful to Nation's Community Colleges

State and local governments are in serious financial trouble, and not just in California. The current recession is also having a disastrous effect upon the nation's community colleges, according to a recent article in the Washington Post (registration).

It is axiomatic that, if unemployment rises, so does enrollment in two-year colleges, as workers retrain and people opt for schools closer to home in order to save money. Apparently, this is still the case, but with one important twist: Funding is declining for community colleges nationwide. In fact some schools are capping enrollments, cutting programs, and laying off personnel. The Obama Administration has promised help, but it's not clear if it will be anywhere near enough to mitigate the damage, according to the article. Obviously, robust community colleges are indispensable to economic recovery.

Based on this piece and other media reports, it's hard to escape the impression that things are better in Texas than in most other states, in terms of funding for education. It's worth keeping in mind, of course, that the recent Regular Session produced a budget that was aided considerably by an infusion of federal stimulus funds.

Here are a couple of key passages from the Washington Post article by Valerie Struass:

At Prince George's Community College, where enrollment has increased by at least 4 percent each of the past two years to more than 37,000 students, officials are holding staff vacancies open longer than usual, freezing some positions and delaying hires -- all of which is aimed at saving about $500,000, said school spokesman Deidra Hill.

At the 57,000-student Anne Arundel Community College, officials are trying to deal with enrollment increases while working with a 2009-10 budget that has the same funding as two years ago, said Linda Schulte, director of public relations and marketing. Still, she said, circumstances would have been worse if the state had not directed $1 million in federal stimulus money to the school. About 15 staff positions have been frozen, she said.

And:

The largest community college in the country, Miami Dade College, announced that it is effectively capping enrollment at the current 167,000 students for the first time because of deep budget cuts by the Florida legislature. Because no class sections can be added, officials there say they expect more than 5,000 students to be unable to enroll in any classes this fall and at least 30,000 more to miss out on classes necessary for graduation.

Special Session Ends

Lawmakers approved and sent to Gov. Perry bills that will keep five state agencies operating for the next two years and that authorize the expenditure of $2 billion in voter-approved road bonds.

The Session failed to address the the issue of private toll roads.

These were the only items allowed under the governor's agenda.

TCCTA will follow interim activities leading up to the 2011 Regular Session and post any news on the Web site.

Accounting for Accountability

In a new Education Sector report, Chad Aldeman and Kevin Carey rate the effectiveness of every state's higher education accountability system in 21 categories, ranging from how well states measure student learning outcomes to how well states link accountability information to funding. Viewers of their Web site (included below) are encouraged to "learn how your state measures up."

Texas came out in the favorable category of "best practice," mostly because of its system of reporting data from institutions to the Coordinating Board.

Here's the take of Inside Higher Ed:

Education Sector measured states in 21 categories of accountability, analyzing any systems that might be in place to assess areas like affordability, degree production, research and scholarship. States that promote or require the use of assessment tools, and take steps to publicize the information, were given the highest marks. Those that had few tools for assessment and did little to spread information were graded lower.

Education Sector graded 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia on a three-grade scale. The highest grade, “best practice,” was given to 10 states with well developed reporting mechanisms. The second ranking, “in progress,” was given to 27 states that have less complete efforts underway. The lowest category, “needs improvement,” went to 13 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico, where little is being done in the way of accountability, according to Education Sector.

Education Sector is an independent think tank that "challenges conventional thinking in education policy."

According to their promotional material: 

We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to achieving measurable impact in education policy, both by improving existing reform initiatives and by developing new, innovative solutions to our nation's most pressing education problems. The ultimate beneficiaries of our work are students. Our mission is to promote changes in policy and practice that lead to improved student opportunities and outcomes.

Here's the site for the "Texas Score Card." 

Sen. Zaffirini Wants Proportionality on Agenda

Gov. Perry has kept the agenda for the Special Session extremely limited, with plans for a fix of some unresolved issues regarding agency authorization, toll roads, and highway bonds. But that hasn't stopped Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) from trying again to abolish proportionality. On the last evening of the Regular Session, on June 1, she had a measure prepared for a vote that had already passed the House, but failed to get recognized before adjournment. She certainly made a valiant effort to help all community college educators, along with Rep. Burt Solomons (R-Carrollton), who sponsored the House version.

For background, see this previous post.  

Since the concept of proportionality originated with the governor's office (and the Legislative Budget Board), it seems unlikely that Gov. Perry will extend the "call" to include a bill to eliminate it. Under the Texas Constitution, the governor decides the subject matter of Special Sessions. 

Thankfully, proportionality was not included in the budget for the next biennium, but community college personnel would still like to see it excluded by law from consideration.

Below is the text of a press release from Sen. Zaffirini:

(AUSTIN) – Senator Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, Friday (June 26) pre-filed Senate Bills (SB) 7, 8 and 9, which would provide health benefits for graduate students who receive prestigious fellowships and resolve the issue of “proportionality” for community colleges by defining the eligibility of personnel for state-funded health benefits.

On June 19 the Senator wrote to Gov. Rick Perry, asking him to include or to add the issue of proportionality to the call for the special session that begins Wednesday (June 30). Her three bills are identical to SB 41, SB 42 and House Bill (HB) 2083, which she authored with Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, during the regular legislative session.

SB 41 died in the Senate Finance Committee without a hearing, and HB 2083 died there without a vote. SB 42, however, was passed by the Senate and amended in the House to include proportionality. In spite of overwhelming support, it died when the legislature adjourned without concluding its business.

“These three bills focus on the needs of higher education faculty, administrators, and graduate students,” Senator Zaffirini said. “They would not only allow universities to recruit the most able graduate students, but also resolve the issue about which community college employees are eligible for state health benefits."

"Proportionality," or the practice of paying health benefits only for employees whose salaries are funded by the state, became a major issue in 2007 after the governor vetoed $154 million in group health insurance benefits for community colleges.

Differences were resolved in May by the governor, community college personnel, and legislators. Their compromise was reflected in HB 2083 and in the amended SB 42, but senators never had the opportunity to concur with amendments.

Senate Bill 7 would define any instructional and administrative employee as eligible for state-funded health benefits and would allow universities to pay the health benefits of graduate students who receive a fellowship of at least $10,000. It is identical to Senator Zaffirini’s SB 42, after it was amended during the regular session.

Senator Zaffirini also filed SB 8, which addresses only the issue of proportionality and is identical to House Bill 2083 (Solomons/Zaffirini) from the regular session. Her SB 9 addresses only the issue of graduate student health insurance and is identical to her SB 42 before it was amended.

"During the 2009 regular legislative session, Rep. Solomons and I worked tirelessly with community college representatives and the governor's staff to forge a compromise to resolve proportionality," Senator Zaffirini said. “Although we prevailed in removing the negative impact of proportionality from the appropriations bill, we failed to secure a permanent solution by not passing the bill. Unless we do so during the special session, the controversy undoubtedly will be visited anew in 2011.”

Students Mostly Indifferent to Faculty Attire

A Minnesota community college faculty member tried an experiment recently, attempting to find out if students reacted differently based on what she wore to class. 

The instructor, Yasmine L. Konheim-Kalkstein, who holds a doctorate in educational psychology, grouped four sections of an introductory psychology course last fall into two "casual" classes and two "formal" classes, held at different times and on different days. The results indicated a slight difference in student reactions during the first part of the semester, but this faded quickly. It didn't matter whether she dressed casually: sneakers, jeans, and t-shirt, or more formally, in a blouse, black pants, and heeled shoes. 

The study was described in the "Short Subjects" segment of the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription), by Erica R. Hendry.

Here's a passage from the piece:

The data showed that Ms. Konheim-Kalkstein's clothing made a small difference in perceptions of her on the first day of class, with those students in the "formal" classes finding her more qualified and approachable than did those in the informal classes. But four weeks into the semester, wearing less-formal clothes had about the same effect on student perceptions as wearing formal clothes.

Ms. Konheim-Kalkstein says she still prefers teaching in formal clothing, but now she feels more comfortable wearing casual clothes in lectures as well. She says she'd like to do further research that takes into account gender differences, as well as the environmental context of the college or university.

"I work at a college where professors wear a variety of things," she says, "Some wear suits and ties and others wear shorts, so regardless of which class I was dressing for, I didn't really stand out."

That would not be true at every institution, Ms. Konheim-Kalkstein observes. "My husband is going to start teaching at West Point," she says. "If he showed up in sneakers, I think he would have a much stronger reaction there from his students."

Colleges Form Green Collaborative

Five Texas community and technical college systems have signed an agreement to supply regional job training for "green" economy careers. The group plans to share curriculum, eliminate duplication of programs, and expand training capabilities.

The agreement is described in the latest issue of Texas Government Insider, available here.

Calling itself the I-35 Green Corridor Collaborative (GCC), the five institutions will seek federal economic stimulus funding for workforce training in fields such as solar power technology, conservation, and sustainability of existing resources and alternative energy development. Members of the coalition are the Dallas County Community College District, the Alamo Community College District, Austin Community College District (ACC), Temple College, and the Texas State Technical College System.

ACC plans to seek stimulus money as well as funding from other federal sources and the Texas Energy Conservation Office. Because community colleges generally are the primary trainers of a region's workforce, it was only natural that the collaborative seek funds to become part of the training for high-demand green jobs, according to the article.

Wright Lassiter, DCCCD's chancellor, says, "Sharing resources will enhance each member college's ability to develop and expand expertise more quickly and to support this diverse industry." He added that the collaborative will allow for training of this emerging industry's workforce and provide new jobs.

"Twitterature" to Make Debut

OMG! A couple of 19-year old freshmen at the University of Chicago have finally figured out a way to make classic literature less… like, SOOOOOO long and, like, you know, WAY too hard to understand. It's called "Twitterature."

It's all supposed to be in good fun. Not only will the "books" be "short," but "humorous" as well. One can imagine Ishmael in Moby-Dick: "Ahab's gone totally mental! Misses his leg? Aim for the hump, lads! LOL!" 

The two young dudes have made a deal with Twitter to condense Penguin classic books into manageable size—um, that would be under 140 characters (the official limit of a Tweet, for the initiated). There are plans for a book (a real one!) containing all their collected Tweets this fall. In fact, since the University of Chicago is known for its "Great Books" curriculum, it's very likely that the two entrepreneurs have done plenty of reading.

More than one commentator over the years has noted that the definition of a classic is a book that no one actually reads.

Here's the site. Hey, English teachers! Maybe it will be ready for inclusion in your fall syllabus.