TCCTA Blog

2013 Legislature Will Look Different

Pundits are holding forth on the implications of Tuesday's Primary Elections for the Texas House and Senate. There were a number of surprises, with some insurgent "Tea Party" Republicans doing better than expected.

Here's a sample from Bud Kennedy of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

It's hard to say whether any particular result implies that Democrats now stand a better chance to pick up a few seats in November. Turnout runs higher in presidential years for so-called independent voters. These individuals tend to be a bit less partisan and ideological when it comes to "down-ballot" races.

It's definitely problematic to speculate on how any trend could affect community and technical colleges in Texas.

And the nomination process is not over. Please mark July 31 on your calendar for the run-offs. Turnout tends to be extremely low in these elections, so each vote is important.

Here's the take of Ross Ramsey in the Texas Tribune on the implications for the Texas House:

Election Day was costly for House Speaker Joe Straus.

Three of his lieutenants were defeated. Another was forced into a Republican runoff on July 31.

But it wasn't without some wins, and it certainly could have been worse: Two of the seven incumbents swept out by voters were with Straus' opponents in the last speaker's race, as was one of the three incumbents forced into runoff elections.

Rep. Straus also drew his first official opponent for speaker this week. Rep. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) announced he will challenge Straus for the job when the Regular Session convenes in January. Speaker races are conducted behind the scenes for the most part, prior to the session.

Here's Paul Burka of Texas Monthly.

The current chair of the House Committee on Pensions, Investments, and Financial Services (a panel of importance for TRS members and ORP participants), Rep. Vicki Truitt (R-Southlake), was defeated by  Giovanni Capriglione.

As for the Senate, as the Tribune reports:

In Texas Senate races, it was a night for the conservatives. Four Republican senators are leaving of their own accord, and all four could be replaced by candidates more conservative than the incumbents. Replace Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, with Ken Paxton, R-McKinney; Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, with Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood; Chris Harris, R-Arlington, with Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills; and Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, with Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown.

Another wild card: If David Dewhurst wins the run-off for U.S. Senate, he will step down as Lt. Governor—a post of vast importance in legislative matters. This means senators will choose his successor. Some pundits are speculating on whether he would step down in the "lame duck" period right after election (with the current incumbents still holding office), or after the new senators are installed. It could make a big difference in the shaping of legislation in 2013.

HCC and Qatar Produce Grads

In 2010, the Persian Gulf country of Qatar formed a partnership with Houston Community College to establish the Community College of Qatar, the country’s first such institution. Texas A&M has a university there as well. According to Reeve Hamilton in the Texas Tribune, the relationship has been rocky at times, but has now produced graduates with plans to advance to higher degrees elsewhere.

Graduates of 2012 have the option of converting their CCQ degrees into HCC degrees by taking extra courses online in the summer. "Credit transfers are evaluated on a case-by-case basis," the article reports. "HCC was chosen in part because it has been one of the most active community colleges internationally, aiding the accreditation efforts of institutions in Vietnam, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia."

"To date, HCC officials said, they have made $923,414 on the deal," by charging for the necessary expertise in setting up the program.

Issues that still need to be worked out include SACS accreditation and Title IX, which bars descrimination based on gender. Typically, in that part of the world, males and females attend classes in separate locations.

 

Today is Election Day

If you have not voted early, please vote in today's primary elections, paying particular attention to House and Senate races for the Texas Legislature. Primaries are partisan affairs and, due to carefully drawn districts, often constitute the "real" election. In other words, the winners of primaries often face only token opposition—or perhaps none at all—in the November general election.

The candidates nominated today (including any run-offs next month) will significantly affect funding and a host of other issues of concern to community and technical colleges.

This is a real chance for your vote to count, as turnout tends to be low in primaries.

Here's the League of Women Voters Web site, which contains links to pertinent information about districts, voting requirements, and the effects of recent laws and court decisions.

Piper Professors Announced

A pair of faculty members at two-year colleges are among the 2012 winners of the Piper Professor award.

The awards bring recognition to outstanding achievement in the teaching profession in colleges and universities in the state of Texas. The selection committee looks for instructors who are "well-rounded, outgoing teachers, devoted to the profession, who have made a special impact on their students and communities," according to an official announcement.

The awards have been presented annually since 1958 by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation, a nonprofit that supports charitable, scientific, and educational undertakings.

Nancy Ray-Mitchell is an instructor of business at McLennan Community College. She joined the MCC faculty as an adjunct instructor in 1985 and became a full-time instructor in 1987. Ms. Ray-Mitchell said what she loves most about teaching is the opportunity to make a difference in each student's life.

"My goal is to help them to see the value of lifelong learning and to realize the impact they can have every day. That is the bottom line," she said. "What we talk about in my management courses can be applied by the students immediately—whether it is on their job, with their family or participating in community services."

"I am shocked, overwhelmed and very humbled," Ray-Mitchell said. "At MCC, I am surrounded by many hardworking and dedicated individuals. It is a privilege to accept this award in honor of my colleagues."

Here is the MCC announcement.

Mavis Triebel is a government professor in the Liberal Arts Department at Lamar State College–Port Arthur. She is is celebrating her 25th year as an educator there.

“I teach for the love of sharing and having a life that is fulfilled,” she said. “Teaching is exciting, with every day new and a challenge. Students are a stimulant and allow me to grow mentally every day.”

“I’ve worked with at least five Piper Professors at two other colleges and know several others pretty well,” Dr. Gary Stretcher, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Lamar State, said. “Each of those people truly possesses accomplishments and attributes that have set them apart. Mavis is no exception to that. Mavis has never indicated an interest to be a department chair or dean. Teaching, working with students, and promoting this college are her passions.”

Here is the LSC annoucement.

Health Plan Rates to Increase

The ERS Board of Trustees approved contribution rates for benefit plans under the Group Benefits Program (GBP) for Fiscal Year 2013 at their May 22 meeting.

Co-pays, deductibles, and prescription drug costs were not affected.

The new rates take effect on September 1. HealthSelect (by far the most popular program for community and technical college educators) rates will increase 7.36 percent. Colleges typically pick up most or all of the cost for qualified employees. However, individuals who pay for family members in HealthSelect will see increases ranging from $12 to $31 per month depending on their coverage level.

Increased drug costs and usage are driving the rate increases, according to an official statement. "Fortunately, the plan is able to use savings from the new HealthSelect third party administrative contract, the recent dependent eligibility audit, and subsidies from the federal government for certain retiree health expenses to offset the increase. Without these savings, the plan would have had to cut benefits," the ERS statement says.

Rates will decrease ten percent for Optional Term Life coverage. Fiscal year 2013 monthly rates for dental, Basic Term Life, Dependent Term Life, Voluntary Accidental Death and Dismemberment, and Long- and Short-term Disability coverage were approved with no increases.

Here's a link, with a chart (available at the bottom) detailing all the new rates in the various programs.   

July "Leading from the Middle" Conference Slated

The TCCTA Leading from the Middle conference is designed for mid-level administrators at Texas two-year colleges. It is a kind of "boot camp" for deans, division chairs, IT directors, student services directors, and others, as we provide key information and insights to help you succeed in your respective positions. We address legal issues, educational technology, legislative and budget orientation, leadership skills, ethics, and other areas that directly affect performance.

This year's conference will be held on July 15-17, 2012, at the Marriott Sugar Land Town Square in Sugar Land, Texas.

The full program and a registration form is available here.

Coordinating Board Publishes Almanac

The second edition of the Texas Public Higher Education Almanac was released May 15 by the Coordinating Board. It's a handy and interactive source of data, with comparisons pertaining to all colleges and universities in Texas. The narrative accompanying the data is clear and well-presented.

Here's the official link from the Coordinating Board.

This year's edition includes some new features. As reported by Diane Smith in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

This year's almanac, which is available on Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board website, details a variety of data and aims to provide the public a snapshot of how the state is performing on the higher education front. State and national data about college tuition, access and completion is documented in the almanac.

"It's a living, breathing document," said Dominic Chavez, spokesman for the coordinating board.

Regular readers of the TCCTA Blog will find little information that is surprising or new in the Almanac. However, one developmental education program at Tarrant County College called SureStart may be worth a perusal, as we search for ways to improve the success of students who are not ready for college-level work. From the Coordinating Board narrative (which also includes contact information at TCC):

SureStart is a learning community for under-prepared, first-time-in-college students at Tarrant County College’s Southeast Campus. Through the program, students who require remediation in at least two areas (including reading) receive counseling, monitoring of academic progress, and course-embedded advising. Students also take three classes together, allowing them to bond and support one another. The college’s administration, faculty, and student services work together to provide integrated support targeted to individual student needs. As a result, SureStart students, on average, complete more semester hours and earn higher grades than do similar students not in the program. The SureStart program has earned the 2006 Star Award and the 2005-06 National Council of Instructional Administrators Exemplary Initiative Award. Contact: Frank Griffis, Director of Public Relations (817) 515-5212.

 

 

Texas Colleges Among Finalists

The Aspen Institute has named eight Texas community colleges as finalists for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The Colleges will have an opportunity to compete for the $1 million fund for the 2013 Aspen Prize, according to a press release.

Highlighting the critical importance of improving student success in America’s community colleges, the program identified the 120 community colleges in all, using a quantitative formula that assesses performance and improvement in four areas: graduation rates, degrees awarded, student retention rates, and equity in student outcomes.

The colleges will now compete during a yearlong research process into how well their students learn, complete degrees, and get jobs with competitive wages after graduating, the announcement states.

The Texas Schools are:

• Alvin Community College
• Brazosport College
• Del Mar College
• El Paso Community College
• Lee College
• San Jacinto College
• Texas State Technical College–West Texas
• Trinity Valley Community College

Here's the official announcement from the Aspen Institute.

Early Voting Begins for Primaries

It's possible you just finished voting in various municipal and school elections, but the Democratic and Republican primaries will be conducted on May 29. Early voting has just begun, after confusing court challenges that resulted in postponement from the original March schedule.

These elections can be crucial in Texas Legislative races. Many districts have been drawn carefully to favor the party in power and, conversely, to pack those in the partisan minority into as few districts as possible.

In practical terms this means the primary becomes the "real" election in many instances.

The Texas Tribune has the best site to view the matchups. It's modeled after the bracket system in the NCAA basketball tournament. You can type in your zip code (on the right) to view the races that will be on the ballot in your area.

From the Trib:

Election Day is on the Tuesday after the three-day Memorial Day weekend. Because school ends in most of the state's districts that week and families will be turning their attention to their summer plans — and also because the attention-grabbing primary battle in the presidential race is over — most election experts are predicting low turnout.

They're also watching a slow trend in Texas politics: The size of the early vote in some elections exceeds the size of the vote on election day.

For campaigns, that means advertising and door-knocking and phone-calling is already well under way. Waiting until right before the election means missing half or more of the people who actually vote.

But it makes voting more convenient, and it gives voters a chance to tell those political people on the phone and at the door to move along — that they've already voted.

The weird timing and the expected low turnout has another odd effect, turning everyone who actually votes into a kind of super-voter.

"Blatant" Plagiarism Most Common

Turnitin, the company used by many colleges for plagiarism detection, recently announced the results of a new survey of nearly 900 instructors that classifies the most frequent and troubling forms of plagiarism. According to instructors, "blatant" plagiarism—submitting another’s writing word-for-word as one’s own—is the most prevalent and troublesome type seen in the classroom, according to a press release.

In other words, students sin boldly (with a footnote to Martin Luther), not messing around with itty bitty marginal acts of cheating.

The survey asked higher and secondary education instructors to rank the frequency and problematic nature of 10 distinct types of plagiarism as defined by the Turnitin Plagiarism Spectrum. The Spectrum uses digital terminology to identify the types of plagiarism and assigns a severity level for each form based on the degree of student intent.
 
The full study, entitled “The Plagiarism Spectrum: Instructor Insights into the 10 Types of Plagiarism,” is available here.
 
Key findings of the study include:

• One of the most frequent types of plagiarism noted by instructors is the mixing-and-matching of cited and plagiarized materials in students’ writing.
• Instructors say that paraphrasing from multiple sources to make content fit together seamlessly without attribution is among the least problematic for them—even though this type of plagiarism is high in severity and is encountered fairly frequently.
• Educators are challenged to deal with more blatant forms of plagiarism where student intent to plagiarize is clear.