California's University System: What Went Wrong?

Plesae scroll down to your SCUP Link, below this notice about SCUP–45.

Oh, no! You won't be getting a printed SCUP–45 Preliminary Program in the mail this year. Instead, SCUP is going green and regularly updating this digital version (PDF), which you can download at any time.

Check it out! You don't want to miss higher education's premier planning conference, and your one chance this year to assemble with nearly 1,500 of your peers and colleagues: July 10–14, Minneapolis.

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SCUP Link

This look at what has happened to higher education in California since Clark Kerr's original Master Plan for Higher Education is definitely of interest to SCUPers. The author, Lisa M. Krieger, of Mercury News, lists the following as among the most critical factors during that time:

• Plummeting state support;
• No huaranteed funding;
• Continued expansion; and
• Little coordination.
  Fifty years ago this month, California promised a low-cost, high-quality university education for every qualified high school graduate in the state. But that promise — inflated by growing populations and academic aspirations — expanded beyond the state's willingness to pay for it. What went wrong? How did the university system that was long the envy of the world suddenly become the focus of angry street protests, overcrowded classrooms, soaring tuition and a monumental debate over whether the state can ever make good again on its groundbreaking mission?

While the recession turned a slow-brewing problem into an instant crisis, a Mercury News analysis of California's higher-education mess reveals that many factors drove the inevitable and ugly collision between the university system's ambitious and uncoordinated growth and the state's declining ability and desire to pay for it.

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SCUP's Planning Institute: Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers while you engage in one of the three SCUP Planning Institute Steps. In addition to being offered on demand, on campuses to teams of campus leaders, the institute steps are also offered to all professionals at varying times and venues. Currently scheduled are:

• May 22–23, Ann Arbor, MI - Step I
• July 10, Minneapolis, MN - Step I (in conjunction with SCUP–45)
• October 2, Ann Arbor, MI - Step I
• January 21–22, Tempe, AZ - Step II and Step III

Winners & Losers: HHS Grants Announce

It wasn't so long ago that many SCUPers were burning the midnight oil to make the HHS grant deadlines. The grants have just been announced.

The over $750 million in HHS grant awards Secretary Sebelius announced today are part of a federal initiative to build capacity to enable widespread meaningful use of health IT. This assistance at the state and regional level will facilitate health care providers' efforts to adopt and use electronic health records (EHRs) in a meaningful manner that has the potential to improve the quality and efficiency of health care for all Americans. Of the over $750 million investment, $386 million will go to 40 states and qualified State Designated Entities (SDEs) to facilitate health information exchange (HIE) at the state level, while $375 million will go to an initial 32 non-profit organizations to support the development of regional extension centers (RECs) that will aid health professionals as they work to implement and use health information technology - with additional HIE and REC awards to be announced in the near future. RECs are expected to provide outreach and support services to at least 100,000 primary care providers and hospitals within two years.

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Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA

AASCU: Top 10 Higher Education State Policy Issues for 2010

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities provides an annual report each year on the top 10 issues relating to policies of the states and higher education. The introduction this year notes what it calls "two contradictory movements" in 2009, in that at the same time as President Obama moved higher education near the top of his federal agenda, most of the policy and budget action was on coping with the effects of some pretty serious funding cuts.

Number 1 on AASCU's list is the financial crisis of the states. Number 2 is the federal American Graduation Initiative. Number 3 is tuition policy and prices. Number 4 is enrollment capacity. Numbers 6 through 10 include: State student aid programs, Federal focus on community colleges, Statewide expansion of data systems and new reporting metrics, Veterans' issues, college readiness, and Teacher effectiveness.

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Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA

Bold Strokes Bring Budget Relief

This excellent article is from Business Officer and was authored by Keith Houck and Joyce C. Romano: "To deal with diminishing state funding, Valencia Community College resisted a broad-brush approach. Instead, the college implemented 10 business imperatives that pinpoint the best areas for curbing costs and boosting efficiencies." The article describes each of the 10 business imperatives and summarizes what Valencia has been able to accomplish within them.

Is Greater Financial Independence Ahead for Universities?

"Unpredented pressure" on current financial models for public institutions is expected by Moody's Investors Services: 

The financial effects of recessions are typically not felt immediately by leading global public universities because tough fiscal policy decisions often must funnel through a lengthy government budget process before impacting university funding. The government budgeting process, therefore, often renders university financial performance a lagging indicator of economic activity. This delayed impact is even more pronounced in the current recession due to the prevalence of short-term government stimulus spending, which often may postpone or soften funding reductions for universities. However, when stimulus spending expires and governments seek to achieve better budget balance, many universities are likely to experience substantial funding reductions or, at best, an extended period of limited funding growth. At the same time, universities face demand to enroll additional students as alternatives to education (i.e., employment) are weakened by economic contraction, forcing many people to seek opportunities in higher education to enhance skills and credentials. With policies of limiting enrollment places and tuition fees, market pressure to add capacity, and government funding unlikely to increase, Moody’s expects unprecedented pressure on the current financial model of public universities.

$120M Competition for Research Construction Grants

The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced the availability of approximately $120 million in competitive grants for the construction of new or expanded scientific research buildings at higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations. Approximately eight to 12 projects will be funded by these grants, which are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Possible projects include laboratories, test facilities, measurement facilities, research computing facilities, and observatories:

"Interested organizations must provide NIST with a Letter of Intent outlining the proposed project by 3 p.m. EDT, Thursday, June 25, 2009. Organizations that submit timely Letters of Intent may then submit full proposals, which must be received by 3 p.m. EDT, Monday, Aug. 10, 2009. Review, selection and grant award processing is expected to be completed by the end of February 2010."

Read about it here:
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/research_con_grants_052609.html