I’ve attended my classes and done my homework. Now it’s time for my report. So, here’s what I want to do this session for higher education. If you disagree, you’re on notice and you should contact me.
First, to address our biggest challenge – completion – I want to raise standards, assess high schoolers, and fully prepare high schoolers. The details of the plan can be found here.
Second, we need to take care of our valuable personnel. Higher education workers were left out of the Governor’s budget recommendation for a 1% bump. That’s not acceptable. They truly have done more (huge enrollment increases) with less (significant budget cuts).
The thinking, I assume, is that higher ed can raise tuition and find whatever money it needs in the students’ pockets. I disagree. The comparatively low tuition of Utah’s state institutions gives our students a significant advantage. Smart people don’t flippantly give away their advantages.
Part of our problem with completion rates is that too many of our students work part-time. Increased tuition means even more will do so, and even less will complete.The reality is that some of our institutions should raise their tuition (e.g., UofU and USU) and others definitely should not. But, all our valuable personnel should get a bump.
Those 2 items likely will command all the money that higher education might receive this session.
Now, for reform: it is not an oversight that I left out money for “mission-based funding.” I don’t know what the term means. So, I wouldn’t know what to fund.
It’s not that I’m unfamiliar with the concept. I pushed hard for mission-based funding for over a decade, finally telling the Regents 2 years ago that I would move us to mission-based funding with or without them. Last year I passed a bill, even called mission-based funding, that created a skeleton for funding institutions on the basis of excellence, instead of growth. But, much to my frustration, meat has not been hung on those bones. My bad. I thought others might take the lead. We’ll discuss this important issue in committee, and I’ll take the lead this next interim. But, for now, we’d just be funding a concept.
Along with discussing mission-based funding in committee, we need to preserve/improve concurrent enrollment. I’ve discussed that project here.
Those are my big 4: preparation, funding, mission-based funding, and concurrent enrollment. Agree? Silence is assent.
Also, we’re going to discuss accreditation. It is a huge anchor that stifles innovation, efficiencies, and reform. Unfortunately, the reign of the regional accreditation agencies is supreme. But, I’m working on a plan for the states to band together to change that. Stay tuned.
Higher Education Appropriations — Opportunity Knocks!
As always, I can’t wait to start the session!!!
This year, we are going to do amazing things in the Higher Education Appropriations Committee. As I’ve discussed elsewhere on this blog, we will change the world by better preparing Utah students for college, we will give our faculty a bit of a bump in pay, we will better align concurrent enrollment with future college success, and we will figure out how we will fund our public institutions on the basis of excellence instead of mere growth. In other words, we have much work to do!
We already do what we do and know what we know. Thus, I don’t want to take up too much committee time talking about what we already do. Instead, I want to use the skill and expertise of my wonderful committee members, the great people at the Utah System of Higher Education, the students, and the public, to discuss what we need to do in order to do things even better. So, here’s what I envision.
We will start with Innovators’ Week (or 2). First, we’ll hear from outside innovators, like Clayton Christensen, Burck Smith, Ellen Siminoff, and Erik Frank. They will tell us about the direction of higher education, the ability to provide excellence in an affordable manner, affordable individualized college preparation, and open textbooks.
Then, as part of Innovators’ Week (or 2), we’ll hear from innovators within our system. And, I want to highlight that point; innovation doesn’t necessarily mean cool stuff that’s going on elsewhere. We tend to make that mistake as policymakers. (Or, maybe I should own it and confess, I tend to make that mistake). Some of the greatest innovations we will ever find come from our own people who know our system, our unique challenges, our personnel, and our opportunities. I do not hold anyone in higher regard than many of the fine people within Utah’s higher education system who are dying to do things better. They lead me and inspire me.
Next, I would like to handle budget recommendations early – well before our last meeting, so that we can grapple with important policy issues.
Lastly, you guessed it, we’ll deal with those important policy issues – concurrent enrollment and performance-based budgeting.
I’ll lay this out to committee members on Tuesday. So, if you don’t like it, let me and my committee members know about it. In any event, come reason with us, and help improve this system and the lives of our students. Opportunity knocks!