President’s Update 1-28-08
Hello!
It seems like quite awhile since we’ve been back to classes, especially considering that the fourth week is beginning. Of course, being out of town all of last week puts one out of touch considerably. Prior to leaving though I did enjoy the brief visit to the “Learning Communities” retreat and have heard great things from those able to stay longer. Hopefully, one of these years there will be an overnight with the participants rather than our short visits.
We also need to acknowledge the incredibly successful “Students of Color” Conference held on campus a week ago. It was very uplifting to see so many young people participate and to know that there were a large number of schools who sent students to this important conference. These types of activities are and will continue to become more important and critical for students of color and for educational institutions like EVCC as we confront the increasing complex issues of the future. Part of last week for me was spent attending workshops at the Trustees Association Legislative Sessions in Olympia. One speaker shared information from the recent Educational Testing Service report, America’s Perfect Storm, Three Forces Changing Our nation’s Future. You can access this report and should read it, at www.ets.org/stormreport
We heard from Irwin Kirsch, Director of the Center for Global Assessment at Educational Testing Service. He authored this report, “describing critical events occurring at the same time in this country:
- Indequate literacy and numerical skills across the population, including students and adults.
- Major shift in the demographic profile, with the highest immigration rates in nearly a century.
- New jobs requiring higher levels of skills to compete in the workforce.”
“As these trends continue, these forces will continue to gather strength over the next quarter of a century, transforming the American dream into an American nightmare.”
Kirsch stressed the U.S. is leaving a large segment of the population behind. “People of color are lacking the skills for full participation in our society,” he stated…
He also noted this country can’t look to young people to solve this problem because fewer people are graduating from high school. From the 1800’s to 1969, the high school graduation rate increased. Since then, it has dropped off, with 70 percent nationally graduating now. Only half of the people of color and 40 percent of males of color are graduating from high school. The country is beginning to lose intellectual potential.
The U.S. used to lead the world in high school graduation rates, now we are not in the top ten. Kirsch noted that it’s not that we are doing worse compared to other countries, but that others have made significant investments.
He also noted that jobs associated with college-level skills and education accounted for two-thirds of the job growth from 1984 to 2000 and are expected to account for almost half of the job growth over the next decade. Kirsch stated that, “the formidable challenge for Americans will not be finding jobs but finding ones that pay living wages and provide opportunities.” I encourage you to read this report. It is very worthwhile as we the college continues to address these challenges.
Also related to the Students of Color conference was a trip to Portland Community College last Wednesday to learn more about their efforts with institutional diversity and equity. PCC was awarded the national institutional equity award last fall at the national conference for community college trustees. Their president invited me to come to their college and learn more about their work He and I know one another from our working together in Oregon about four years ago. Christina Castorena and Bill Reed traveled with me. We learned a great deal about their programs, efforts and successes and hope to share more about this trip in the near future. Please consider visiting PCC’s homepage and learn about what they are doing.
The other time spent in Olympia last week included attending the presidents’ regular monthly meeting and also meeting with legislators. One evening, EVCC Board members shared dinner with local legislators, members from the State Board and several guests including student leaders (Martin and Jennifer) to discuss community college issues and legislative efforts to address these. That was extremely beneficial for all of us.
It appears that the campus security and running start requests are being seriously considered by the legislature this session. We continued to hear more about these from state’s leading legislators for both the senate and house at different evening functions. Unfortunately, the requests for more worker retraining and equipment funding has not fared as well.
We have learned at the presidents’ meeting on Friday that our capital project for a new library continues to move through the system as one of the high priority growth projects, although there are some modifications to the proposal. But this is very good news for EVCC.
We also heard reports about the proposed definitions for mathematics credits required for high school graduation, the college fee increases being limited to 5.57% due to initiative 960, and the SBCTC Early Learning report. I can share more about these with anyone interested at one of the “chat sessions” or send me an email.
This week also will require a trip to Olympia for more meetings with legislators. Last week we did hear considerable information about the considerations for the UW North Campus but there remains much to be decided. In fact, we will be meeting with UW Bothell to discuss potential cooperative options for the next several years. At both of the evening sessions I noted above with legislative leaders, we were cautioned that this short legislature and the next biennium would probably be difficult times due to the anticipated recession and increasing financial needs in health care and transportation. So higher education may have some trouble with any significant funding requests in the next several years.
The next few weeks will include several important items for the college to begin considering. This week campus budget meetings begin and, hopefully, you can participate in some of these. Related to budget, attached is a Operations Review Report that was prepared last fall for the college relating to our overall budget practices, instructional programs and general business. The report was completed by a consultant (formally of the State Board Staff) upon my request for an external examination of our college operations and practices. The VP’s have had several briefings concerning this report and we incorporated several of the recommendation and look to continue with others.
Also, the Nursing program will be subject to an accreditation review this next week and we look forward to this external review as well. The program faculty has completed and submitted a comprehensive self-study report and will be responding to the visiting team’s questions and inquiries. We expect a very good outcome.
In the following week the Board of Trustees and the Foundation Board of Directors will be considering a proposed capital campaign feasibility study, proposed to be implemented early spring to assess the college’s readiness and potential for a major gifts campaign in the next year. I will be forwarding to you in the next week or so a copy of materials that will be considered by these two boards as we look at this opportunity.
Additionally, the Board of Trustees will consider a proposal to expand efforts with Global Education and International Programs on February 6th. This meeting should be interesting for all of us.
We are all looking forward to honoring Russell Day in the next week and people are busy preparing for this special event. It will be very enjoyable.
Have a great week and I hope to see you at one of the “chat sessions” scheduled in the next couple of weeks. There’s much to share.