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Speaker Husted's Clarion Call on Higher Ed
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Last Thursday, House Speaker John Husted spoke before the Northeast Ohio Universities Collaboration & Innovation Study Commission. This Commission consists of the presidents and board chairs of the public universities in the region plus a few at-large members. It has been working for much of this year on changes to the public higher education system in the region. Whether this Commission will exercise the courage and leadership to pursue fundamental changes will be seen in the coming months, but Speaker Husted certainly issued a welcome and clarion call for action (Read his full remarks.) His remarks are a welcome departure in what had been an unproductive political tug-of-war between legislators and university administrators. For too long, legislators claimed that the universities are plagued by waste while administrators lamented the State’s chronic under-funding of education. The result: inaction and acrimony. Or according to Husted, the result of this wrangling was “high tuition, no reforms, and little hope for progress.” It appears that the winds of change are blowing. Speaker Husted laid out a compelling case for change that could have been drafted by the university presidents themselves. He recounted the demographic facts and figures that highlight our growing talent imperative, noting that “a shrinking undereducated workforce is not a formula for economic success….[the demographic] trends are hard to change with a well-coordinated and executed plan, and in the absence of such a plan, NEO’s future will be at best left to chance.” Husted went on to stress his willingness to end business as usual, commit energy/resources to educational reform, and work with the universities to accomplish the change. Let’s hope the Commission and its members rise to the challenge. Bookmark/Search this post with: |
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Having worked and been educated in Boston, I have witnessed first-hand how the integrated marketing of higher education results in soaring enrollments, high student retention, and regional economic development. I applaud the Chancellor’s university system initiative.
Having been raised in Northeastern Ohio and currently working in the business of creating access and choice for students, it is clear to me the state and the region need incremental wins. I suggest the first place university leaders begin to collaborate is in the packaging and management of the approximately $5B in financial aid products used statewide (approx. $3B in NEO). It may not be glamorous, but financial aid management is highly immature from a technology adoption standpoint, and the state & region is leaving tens of millions on the table that could be better used to integrate marketing efforts to attract and retain talented students/graduates to the state.
Incremental wins are very important. Dr. Gymer, please let me know more about your idea and I'd be glad to share it with some people in the region who might be able to help. 216-615-7586 is my number. Thanks for the comment - Chris Thompson
I like the idea of incremental wins, it allows you to target specific areas and make real changes. I'm not an educator but having grown up in this area there are some things I noticed. I got a chance to go to Case Western Reserve Univ. in the 70's because of an outreach program to introduce inner city kids to the field of architecture. It was a collaborative effort with a local land development company. It was a 10 week work-study exposure experience. The education climate in high school at that time was that only a selected few had the talent for college, the rest were not even trained for factory work. College never entered my mind and I never heard of Case Western Reserve Univ. or Tri-C. Anyway, I won a 1 year scholarship and went. When I got there, Case had in place a program so that we inner city kids could catch up/make up for our high school preparation so that we could be equal with other students. I learned a lot but could not make up the math skills. Then they closed the architecture program at Case. I quit and went to a 2 year tech school, Electronic Technology Institute and graduated.
What do I see, you have to tell kids about college as they are coming up. Court them with corporative education opportunities. Give students a taste of what is before them and help them acquire the skills to access a higher education. If a 4 year degree is not required we shouldn't push it, 2 year degrees are adequate to start many careers and continuing education opportunities should be abundant. This calls for a more seamless transition from a 2 year college to a 4 year college. The accepting of transfer credits between schools is a painful process.
The online classroom could trim the expense of heating and lighting a physical classroom and open access to education even more. We expend so much energy "shaking out the diamonds in the ruff" and leaving the rest to fend for themselves when we should raise the bar for everyone. In a climate of rising up some will still be stars and stand out. My dad says everybody wants to carry a briefcase these days but can't do the work, can't get their hands dirty. Have we educated ourselves out of some jobs yet can't fathom why those jobs left? If we all were college grads, trained to lead, who does the work? Does embracing the electronic revolution mean the industrial revolution moves on to some other developing country? There is no one answer, no one solution.
Undoubtedly there is no one silver bullet, but you've raised some basic steps that our university system can take to improve higher ed outcomes. There are more recommendations at www.neostudycommission.org. Hopefully, these recommendations will be acted upon promptly.