TCCTA Blog

Presidential Speech Includes Community Colleges

Community and technical college educators around the country undoubtedly perked up when President Obama mentioned community colleges in his State of the Union address on Wednesday night. Basically he said that a new congressional effort is needed to build a job-creating atmosphere for the new economy. Those who wish for more details can peruse the information provided below, courtesy of the American Association of Community Colleges. The president's proposal is part of a plan announced several months ago.

On July 14, 2009, President Obama announced the American Graduation Initiative, a landmark proposal to provide new federal support for community colleges. Speaking at Macomb County Community College, the President said that "we have to make sure we are educating people for the new jobs of the 21st century." He went on to note that "not since the original GI Bill have we taken such a historic step for community colleges." Due to their size and principal focus on community colleges, the President's set of proposals is unprecedented, according to AACC.

Briefly, the 10-year plan consists of:

• A "Community College Challenge Fund" to develop new and improved workforce training and other related programs. Funds could also be used for high school dual enrollment programs and improved articulation with four-year institutions, developmental education improvement and increased access to "wrap around" services such as tutoring and childcare to increase persistence.
• The "College Access and Completion Fund," previously proposed by the Administration, to fund innovative efforts to increase college graduation and close achievement gaps. Funding for the two funds would total $9 billion over ten years.
• $2.5 billion of federal funds to spur $10 billion in community college facilities construction and renovation. The federal funds could be used in a number of ways, including to pay off bond interest or as seed money for capital campaigns. The funds would prioritize uses for high priority areas, such as green jobs, nursing, and building trades.
• A national "Online Skills Laboratory" would make grants for the development of open, free courses for high school and college career-oriented curricula. This program would be funded at $50 million per year over ten years.

The Current State of Accountability

The nationwide push toward more accountability in assessing efficiency and student learning has been constant for almost a generation. However, it says something about the movement that many in higher education are still perplexed by what the concept means or will create. 

To some, it's simply a matter assembling a reliable database to measure what's going on. Retention is an important variable to examine, for instance. Texas community and technical college educators are familiar with discussion of graduation rates and course "completers"—urged by the Commissioner of Higher Education and Coordinating Board as more valid yardsticks for funding purposes than contact hour enrollments. 

Faculty members are understandably cool to any notion that appears to jeopardize standards or academic freedom. Each institution is unique in its mission, of course. Perhaps most importantly, it is indisputable that great teachers utilize a wide variety of pedagogical methods. So, a bureaucratic "cookie cutter" looms in the minds of many instructors who are leery of approaches designed for more uniformity. 

The Bush Administration upped the ante by focusing on accrediting agencies (such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools), insisting that some sort of national accountability is needed to insure that students are actually learning. But how does one measure an educated mind? A qualifying examination for nurses, for instance, seems fairly straightforward, but what about the Core Curriculum? 

The Obama Administration has placed less emphasis on national accreditation, but urges a number of changes that have generated discussion among academics and outside critics of American higher education.

A good place to begin to grasp the current situation is a recent article in Inside Higher Ed., by Doug Lederman. It's free—and be sure to read the comments, too. 

Gender Gap Narrowing for Most

For the past several years, educators have raised concerns about the shortage of men in higher education, when compared to women. Some despaired of the "Lost Boys" and a few commentators suggested affirmative action programs to remedy the situation. Most recognize that the larger economy is a major driving force of this phenomenon, with many jobs that do not necessitate higher education (truck driving, construction, etc.) often being sought and filled by males rather than females.

Interestingly, however, the gender gap in undergraduate enrollment appears to have slowed down for most demographic categories, according to a report released recently by the American Council on Education.

"The percentage of undergraduates at community and four-year colleges who were male hovered between 42 percent and 44 percent from the 1995-1996 academic year to 2007-2008, the last year for which data was available," says the report, Gender Equity in Higher Education: 2010. Among undergraduates who were black or age 25 and older, even smaller proportions were male, but the ratio of women to men in those groups was relatively stable over that same period.

At first blush it appears that the recession may accelerate this trend, as unemployed men go back to school.

However, enrollment gaps continued to widen between Hispanic men and women. The percentage of Hispanic male students age 24 or younger enrolled in undergraduate programs fell from 45 percent in 1999 to 42 percent in 2007.

The above information is derived mostly from an article by Andrea Fuller in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription).

Deadline Nears for Voter Registration

Texas Secretary of State Esperanza “Hope” Andrade is reminding Texans that February 1 is the deadline to register to vote in the 2010 Primary Elections. At stake are all statewide executive offices (including a hot race for governor) and most seats in the Texas Legislature. 

In many cases, since legislative districts are drawn to partisan advantage, the primary election March 2 will determine the de facto winner in November. With a lower turnout than in the General Election, primaries are a great opportunity to maximize your influence. 

Secretary Andrade says: “Registering to vote is easy; Texans may find a voter registration application at their county elections offices, some post offices and libraries, or online at: www.votexas.org,” said Andrade.

Individuals may also check online to determine if they are registered or update their registration information if they have moved throughout the state. Any changes to a voter’s existing registration should be made by February 1 to be applicable to the Primary Elections this March.

For more voting information, visit: www.votexas.org or call the Secretary of State’s voter hotline at 1-800-252-VOTE (8683).

Senate Interim Charges Released

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has released the Texas Senate's interim charges, leading up to the next Regular Session, which convenes in January, 2011. These items represent policies or ideas that Senate leaders believe are important for various standing and interim committees to examine. Each panel will conduct hearings during the next several months before making official recommendations. The charges are, therefore, a preview of issues that could materialize in new laws and funding priorities. 

It is important to keep in mind, however, that topics frequently surface in bills that have nothing to do with any official charges, such "guns on campus" legislation that was seriously considered in 2009 (a measure to allow licensed carriers of firearms to bring weapons to school failed to pass).

The House released its interim charges in November. It was the subject of a previous blog, here.

The full list of Senate charges is available here. Community and technical college educators are advised to pay particular attention to page 13 of the lengthy document. Here is a link to Lt. Gov. Dewhurst's "highlighted" charges, which relate primarily to career training and nursing programs. 

Generally speaking, the language does not contain opinions on what the leaders think should be enacted. Typically the topics fall into the realm of "unfinished business" from previous Regular and Special Sessions. Some issues, such as performance funding, have become perennial. 

When examined as a whole, the list of priorities for higher education contains few surprises, and runs the gamut of topics that readers of TCCTA communications would likely expect: transfer issues, accountability, jobs skills creation, the nursing shortage, online degree programs, and a further study of digital textbooks. 

In the area of developmental education, the language gets more portentous, pointing out that DE programs currently cost the state "over $100 million per year." As reported here frequently, Commissioner of Higher Education Raymund Paredes has called for a "complete overhaul" of developmental education. A number of pilot programs have been launched during the current biennium.

The charges also urge an examination of dual credit programs, including the possibility of a "statewide dual credit system," to address issues of "rigor and consistency." 

In addition, the Senate Higher Education Committee will consider proposals for three-year baccalaureate programs and for expanding the list of community colleges (now three) that offer bachelor's degrees in certain specialized fields. 

Imaginary Students Thrive Online

A number of recent fraud cases have underscored the difficulty in making sure that each student who enrolls in a class actually exists. This is a separate question from the traditional complaint that students are finding ways to cheat by having someone else do the work. With online instruction becoming the norm at many institutions, the sheer volume of students has made it easier for perpetrators to defraud the federal government of student aid money.

An Arizona woman pleaded guilty recently to running an elaborate scam that highlights what federal authorities describe as the vulnerability of online education to financial aid fraud. The scheme embroiled Rio Salado College, in Arizona, home to one of America's largest online programs, in a half-million-dollar scam. According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription), other schools around the country, including community colleges, have experienced similar types of problems. "The case highlights how the same technology that is expanding access to millions of online students may also expose the country's $117 billion financial aid system to supersize fraud," the article states. 

Two Facebook Sessions Planned for Convention

In response to abundant interest from TCCTA members, the association will sponsor two seminars on Facebook at the annual convention. Facebook is a global social networking Website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Users typically add selected friends, send them messages, and update their own personal profiles to notify individuals or groups about themselves or matters of common concern.

The seminars will be offered on Friday, March 5, at the Westin Galleria Hotel. Room locations will be printed in the convention program, available at registration.

Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook with his college roommates and fellow students at Harvard University. The site has since grown steadily to more than 350 million active users worldwide, and is now used by individuals and organizations as a networking tool that extends far beyond socializing in its utility. 

The first seminar, planned for 2:30, offers “Facebook for Smarties,” and will be presented by David Sorrells, associate professor of English at Lamar State College–Port Arthur. Dr. Sorrells says: “This session is for smart people who have more things to do than try to learn a social networking site, but who think they may want to use Facebook. We'll start with creating a facebook account, completing display information, and uploading pictures. We'll review how to use facebook's privacy features, and then we'll learn how to post messages, responses, and email. Finally, we'll take a quick look at applications, groups, and fan pages. This session is not pedagogical in nature; it is simply designed to help you learn to maneuver around Facebook.”

The second session, at 4:00,  will concern “Facebook and the Community College Professor,” with Ashley Cruseturner, instructor of history at McLennan Community College. The presenter asks: “Once you are on Facebook—what are the parameters? How promiscuous should you be with your friendship and your information? How adventurous should you be in this online frontier?  Are there ‘dos and don’ts’ in the FB world?  Perhaps most importantly, what are some ways to be creative and use FB to add to the quality of your life as an instructor?”

"Janus Generation" Rules!

Educators, prognosticators, commentators, and pundits of various persuasions can't seem to stop themselves from creating labels to describe each generation of young people. There's yer basic Generation X and Y. Millennials. Digital Natives. Generation Me. The i Generation. The Thumb Generation. Generation Z. The New Silent Generation. Mosaics.

Now comes the Janus Generation, which presumably possesses a dual (and often contradictory) personality, as with the two-faced god of mythology. Yes! No! Yes?

Demographic labels in prior ages were based on more single-minded gods of fertility like Priapus. Witness the Baby Boomers, for instance, who are important only because there are so many of them. Such taxonomies required rudimentary arithmetic and a few actuarial judgment calls about when each cohort begins and ends. Somewhere along the way, things got weird. 

There may or may not have been a Greatest Generation, but Tom Brokaw's book of several years ago perhaps set the standard for the marketplace. Ever since, the snipe hunt is on. 

If you'd like to see how confusing it has become, have a look at a recent article by Jerry Pattengale, in Inside Higher Ed. Here's the link. In the piece you'll also find handy digressions to various articles and forums about whether current American students are more lazy, dishonest, narcissistic, or inventive than those of prior generations. 

Tuition "Time Bomb" Set to Explode

Since 2003, when the Legislature deregulated tuition at the state's universities by allowing boards of regents to set prices for each institution, tuition and fees at four-year state schools have increased by an average of 63 percent, from $1,934 per semester to $3,150, according to the most recent report. At some schools, such as Stephen F. Austin, Prairie View A&M, and Texas A&M Galveston, the cost of an education nearly doubled.

How does this affect community colleges? Obviously, when students can't afford to attend a university during the first portion of their academic careers, they enroll at the local two-year institution. So, even if economic recovery occurs over the next few years, enrollments at community colleges will likely remain high—assuming these schools can keep their own rates of tuition and fees within the reach of Texans who wish to go to college. By all accounts they are working mightily to keep those rates as low as possible. 

According to a recent article by Brian Thevenot in the Texas Tribune, state leaders are worried that the increases will jeopardize any plans for progress in the state's entire system of higher education. The article calls the situation a "time bomb." One influential House member, Rep. Dan Branch (R-Dallas), is telling university leaders that they need to keep increases to a minimum. Some lawmakers, according to the article, are considering a return to state regulation of tuition. Others blame the state for cutting its share of the costs in the first place. 

State Leaders Request Budget Cuts

Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, and Speaker of the House Joe Straus sent a letter Friday directing each state agency to submit a plan to identify savings totaling five percent of the general revenue and general revenue-dedicated appropriations for the current (2010-2011) biennium.

The letter requests that each state agency itemize the savings no later than Feb. 15, 2010. It directs officials to identify "prudent, efficient reductions that minimize the impact on direct services." Proposals are to be sent to the Legislative Budget Board.

Here's a link to the letter from the governor's Web site. Certain exceptions are enumerated, such as public schools, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and state retirement plans, but there is no mention of community college formula appropriations. The "Higher Education Fund" listed as off limits to cuts apparently refers to the recent legislative initiative to create more "Tier I" research institutions. 

To help reach the goal, Speaker Straus also announced the appointment of four new House select committees that are charged to create efficiencies and cost savings throughout state government.

Best practices for state purchasing and review of the advantages and disadvantages of privatization will be studied by the new House Select Committee on Government Efficiency and Accountability, chaired by Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Alpine).

Some of the information above is courtesy of the Texas Government Insider, a weekly online newsletter of Strategic Partnerships, Inc.