In its final official meeting of the interim, leading up to the Regular Session that convenes on January 11, the Senate Committee on Higher Education conducted an important hearing on "cost drivers" and efficiencies potentially affecting public colleges and universities in Texas.
In an extremely challenging budget year, short and long term alternatives were explored. Some proposals have dramatic implications for educators.
The panel is chaired by Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo). The interim report is due December 1.
Invited witnesses included state officials and higher education policy specialists, with virtually all testimony directed toward legislative strategies for saving money. State budget writers predict an enormous shortfall for the next biennium, by some estimates as high as $21 billion.
Several proposals, such as incentive funding and rewarding college course "completers," have been reported here frequently. Other ideas brought before the panel, however, involve state quantification of "faculty productivity" and the possibility of eliminating "low producing" programs at institutions of higher education in Texas. (For background on "faculty productivity," please see this previous post.)
These latest developments will be treated more extensively here when a final report from a Coordinating Board advisory panel is made available. The report is due November 1, according to testimony from board chair Fred W. Heldenfels. The advisory group is the product of an Executive Order from Gov. Perry, charging the committee with exploring cost efficiencies in higher education.
For those who wish to examine underlying data, a good place to begin might be with the Delta Project, to which Commissioner of Higher Education Raymund Paredes referred during his opening remarks. The commissioner said that information utilized in agency testimony was provided by this non-profit organization, which lists the highly respected Lumina Foundation as a partner. Here's the link.
In testimony, Dr. Paredes reiterated his support for incentive funding, stating that the current model is unsustainable. He noted that we are spending more revenue with fewer results—a pattern harmful to the Closing the Gaps initiative and in staying competitive with other states and countries.
Expanding on an oft-repeated goal, the commissioner stressed the importance of achieving a higher level of college readiness, since students who are not prepared for college characteristically fail to succeed once they arrive on campus. He cited one report indicating that 80 percent of students who require remediation had a B average in high school.
Dr. Paredes anticipates that community colleges will continue to play an expanded role in absorbing the growth in enrollment, since two-year schools are less expensive for incoming students and better equipped to educate those who are unprepared. The commissioner observed that tuition at Texas community colleges remains well below the national average, but that family income in Texas is also very low. Hence shifting costs (a common strategy) to community college tuition would have negative policy consequences.
More issues related to the scope of the Senate hearing will be explored in subsequent posts.
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