budgetary

Saving public universities

On 08/10/2010, in budgets, cost of getting a degree, future of higher education, game-changing environment, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, universities, by Daniel Christian

Saving public universities — from convergemag.com by Jessica B. Mulholland

As university budgets shrink, governors are searching for ways to make the remaining education money more effective, Thomasian said. “One of those ways to make it effective is for higher education to start using a lot more online learning.”

Debates about the rigor of online versus traditional degrees abound, but the truth is that the recession is straining traditional public universities, tuitions are continuously rising and students are being turned away from already-overcrowded classrooms. So does online education offer a viable alternative for delivering higher education, career retraining and lifelong learning?

Ray Scheppach, executive director of the National Governors Association, thinks so. “I really believe that higher education has to move online,” he said at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers midyear meeting in Baltimore. “Private universities have done it; government will have to follow along.”

…

A Broken Model?

Ultimately the higher education system as we know it is in jeopardy, and many contend that the model is already broken.

“Particularly for the public institutions,” Breneman said, “if you think their role and purpose is to serve the public in a broad way and to be affordable and accessible, I think we are running a risk of closing out opportunities to a substantial part of the youth population if we aren’t careful. We’re shifting the cost from the general taxpayer, which is what it has historically been, over to the families.”

Help for state higher ed

On 08/06/2010, in budgets, business side of he, higher education, by Daniel Christian

Help for state higher ed — from InsideHigherEd.com by Doug Lederman

WASHINGTON — With state revenues stagnating and unemployment stuck at high levels in most states, the budget outlook for public higher education in the 2011 fiscal year remains rather bleak. But college leaders in most states are poised to get a gift from the nation’s capital this week, in the form, oddly enough, of $16 billion in Medicaid funds.

The money was part of legislation — which was approved by the Senate Thursday, and which Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has called her colleagues back to town to consider next week — that would also provide $10 billion to states to save “education jobs.” While logic might suggest that that would be the portion of the measure with implications for higher education, it really isn’t; that money is set aside to help ward off the elimination of as many as 138,000 elementary and secondary school teaching positions.

Seeking Evidence of Impact — from Educause

On 08/03/2010, in budgets, collaboration, strategy, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

From http://www.educause.edu/ELI/EDUCAUSELearningInitiative/SeekingEvidenceofImpact/206622

As the pace of technology change continues unabated, institutions are faced with numerous decisions and choices with respect to support for teaching and learning. With many options and constrained budgets, faculty and administrators must make careful decisions about what practices to adopt and about where to invest their time, effort, and fiscal resources. As critical as these decisions are, the information available about the impact of these innovations is often scarce, uneven, or both. What evidence do we have that these changes and innovation are having the impact we hope for?

What are the current effective practices that would enable us to collect that evidence? With the advent of Web 2.0, the themes of collaboration, participation, and openness have greatly changed the teaching and learning landscape. In light of these changes, what new methods for collecting evidence of impact might need to be developed?

Established practices and good data have made inroads in these areas. Often, however, they are scattered, disconnected, and at times in competition, making it challenging for the teaching and learning community to discover and compare their merits. Bringing these practices together and encouraging the invention of new ones will enable more institutions to measure impacts and produce data, providing a richer, evidence-based picture of the teaching and learning landscape on both the national and international level. The ELI announces a program intended to bring the teaching and learning community into a discussion about ways of gathering evidence of the impact of our innovations and current practices.

We hope to bring all types of higher education institutions and professional associations into a conversation on this theme. We envision an inclusive discussion that includes faculty members, instructional support professionals, librarians, students, and research experts in a collaborative exchange of insights and ideas.

Join us as we

Catalyze new collaborations to advance evidence-based applications of learning innovation to benefit higher education practices
Initiate a collective exploration that will serve to reinvigorate the community’s enthusiasm for and dedication to the task of identifying evidence of impact
Enable participants to become (re)acquainted with a variety of current effective practices, so they can make appropriate choices about which ones to adopt locally
Encourage the teaching and learning community to explore and discover options for new ways of gathering evidence
Inaugurate ongoing dialogues, projects, and collaborations that help to enable institutions to effectively gather and share evidence of impact

As the pace of technology change continues unabated, institutions are faced with numerous decisions and choices with respect to support for teaching and learning. With many options and constrained budgets, faculty and administrators must make careful decisions about what practices to adopt and about where to invest their time, effort, and fiscal resources. As critical as these decisions are, the information available about the impact of these innovations is often scarce, uneven, or both. What evidence do we have that these changes and innovation are having the impact we hope for?What are the current effective practices that would enable us to collect that evidence? With the advent of Web 2.0, the themes of collaboration, participation, and openness have greatly changed the teaching and learning landscape. In light of these changes, what new methods for collecting evidence of impact might need to be developed?

Established practices and good data have made inroads in these areas. Often, however, they are scattered, disconnected, and at times in competition, making it challenging for the teaching and learning community to discover and compare their merits. Bringing these practices together and encouraging the invention of new ones will enable more institutions to measure impacts and produce data, providing a richer, evidence-based picture of the teaching and learning landscape on both the national and international level. The ELI announces a program intended to bring the teaching and learning community into a discussion about ways of gathering evidence of the impact of our innovations and current practices.

We hope to bring all types of higher education institutions and professional associations into a conversation on this theme. We envision an inclusive discussion that includes faculty members, instructional support professionals, librarians, students, and research experts in a collaborative exchange of insights and ideas.

Join us as we

Catalyze new collaborations to advance evidence-based applications of learning innovation to benefit higher education practices
Initiate a collective exploration that will serve to reinvigorate the community’s enthusiasm for and dedication to the task of identifying evidence of impact
Enable participants to become (re)acquainted with a variety of current effective practices, so they can make appropriate choices about which ones to adopt locally
Encourage the teaching and learning community to explore and discover options for new ways of gathering evidence
Inaugurate ongoing dialogues, projects, and collaborations that help to enable institutions to effectively gather and share evidence of impact

Higher ed: The bubble

On 07/29/2010, in budgets, business side of he, cost of getting a degree, future of higher education, game-changing environment, by Daniel Christian

Higher Ed's bubble

Also see:

“It’s a story of an industry that may sound familiar. The buyers think what they’re buying will appreciate in value, making them rich in the future. The product grows more and more elaborate, and more and more expensive, but the expense is offset by cheap credit provided by sellers eager to encourage buyers to buy.

Buyers see that everyone else is taking on mounds of debt, and so are more comfortable when they do so themselves; besides, for a generation, the value of what they’re buying has gone up steadily. What could go wrong? Everything continues smoothly until, at some point, it doesn’t.

Yes, this sounds like the housing bubble, but I’m afraid it’s also sounding a lot like a still-inflating higher education bubble. And despite (or because of) the fact that my day job involves higher education, I think it’s better for us to face up to what’s going on before the bubble bursts messily.”

Outsourced Ed: Colleges Hire Companies to Build Their Online Courses

On 07/28/2010, in budgets, business side of he, higher education, online learning, using teams, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Here’s an article that gets at the use of TEAMS of specialists:

Outsourced Ed: Colleges Hire Companies to Build Their Online Courses — from The Chronicle by Marc Parry

Game-changing environment continues…

On 07/28/2010, in budgets, business side of he, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, by Daniel Christian

Some recent postings from Ray Schroeder’s “Recession Realities in Higher Education”

University plans for budget reduction – Catherine Threlkeld, Daily Reveille
Every university in the LSU System is preparing for a 23-percent budget reduction for the 2011-12 fiscal year. Before its meeting Friday, the Board of Supervisors members listened to each chancellor from the system give a detailed plan of how a budget cut this great would affect that particular university. “These projections are all the result of our discussion with the legislature,” LSU System President John Lombardi said. “We’re trying to be very clear to ourselves and our constituents about the consequence of the reduction of state revenues.”
Arizona Universities: More than 2,900 positions eliminated as a result of cuts – Molly Kissler and Sarah Macdonald – Phoenix Business Journal
Area institutes of higher education plan for deep budget cuts (TX) – Jared Janes, The Monitor
Now the state has asked agencies to trim another 10 percent for the 2012-2013 biennium. The total reduction in state funding is estimated at $21.8 million at UTPA, which will collect $111.6 million in general fund revenue over the next two years
Tuition increases at UT spark talk of accessibility – Megan Boehnke, Knoxnews.com
Tuition keeps rising and the University of Tennessee keeps advertising its lower-than-average comparative sticker price. But when it comes to the everyday family making the median income in the state, UT is less affordable than other public schools across the South. Those families making the median household income of $39,702 would have to fork over 18.5 percent of it to send their child to the state’s flagship college.

For colleges in some states, financial relief is far off

On 07/14/2010, in budgets, colleges, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

For colleges in some states, financial relief is far off — from The Chronicle by Goldie Blumenstyk

Even when the economy begins to recover and employment picks up, public colleges shouldn’t expect much immediate relief from their states, warns a report this month from Moody’s Investors Service. Some states will very likely recover much more slowly than others. In more than half of the states, recovery is not projected to kick in until at least 2013, 2014, or later. And even then, the report notes, states will still face pressures for spending on public-employee pensions, health care, primary education, and other services.

A marriage made in Indiana — from InsideHigherEd.com

On 07/14/2010, in budgets, future of higher education, game-changing environment, innovation, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, by Daniel Christian

A marriage made in Indiana — from InsideHigherEd.com

Just about everywhere you turn, state leaders are searching for a way to use online education to expand the reach of their public higher education systems at a time of diminished resources.

The approaches vary: In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Pawlenty has heralded a future of “iCollege,” while in Pennsylvania, the state college system envisions using distance learning to help its campuses sustain their offerings by sharing courses in underenrolled programs. California’s community college system turned to a for-profit provider, Kaplan University, to work around its budget-related enrollment restrictions. And a grand experiment to create a fully online branch of the University of Illinois, meanwhile, crashed and burned last fall.

Most public colleges face budget cut threats in 2011

On 07/13/2010, in budgets, colleges, community colleges, legislatures / government / legal, universities, by Daniel Christian

Most public colleges face budget cut threats in 2011 — from usnews.com (via Academic Impressions) by Kim Clark
Map shows which state university systems are more likely to suffer budget cuts.

Financing Higher Education Worldwide

On 06/24/2010, in budgets, business side of he, future of higher education, higher education, student-related, by Daniel Christian

Original posting from Biz Deans Talk

Converge Education Funding Report: Classroom Technologies — by Converge and the Center for Digital Education

On 05/26/2010, in budgets, business side of he, education technology, funding / grants, by Daniel Christian

Converge Education Funding Report: Classroom Technologies — by Converge and the Center for Digital Education

Also see:

Connected Classrooms: Powering the Entire Learning Experience
Teachers today have to engage students differently than previous generations.

U of California resuscitates the Master Plan — Anya Kamenetz

On 05/21/2010, in budgets, business side of he, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, by Daniel Christian

U of California resuscitates the Master Plan — from huffingtonpost.com by Anya Kamenetz

Yesterday the University of California made a groundbreaking announcement that has the potential to break the tuition cost crisis and finally deliver the crucial benefits of higher education to millions of Americans and to tens of millions who demand it and deserve it around the world. They are putting $5 to $6 million into a pilot project to create online versions of courses with an eye toward eventually creating completely online degree programs.

More than one in four US college students already take at least one online class. So why is this an important announcement?

Because a public university system is declaring that it will innovate its way out of recession, and even more importantly, that it will not cede the banner of innovation to the for-profit sector that is encroaching more and more on public higher education’s territory (emphasis DSC).

And it’s not just any public university system that’s doing this, but the largest public university system in the country and the global template for mass higher education for over fifty years. Clark Kerr’s Master Plan in 1960 introduced the idea that higher education would be a massive, state-run, open and democratic, publicly accessible resource for all.

Also see:

U. of California Considers Online Classes, or Even Degrees — from The Chronicle of Higher Education by Josh Keller and Marc Parry
Proposal for virtual courses challenges beliefs about what an elite university is—and isn’t

(Oakland, Calif.) Online education is booming, but not at elite universities—at least not when it comes to courses for credit.

Leaders at the University of California want to break that mold. This fall they hope to put $5-million to $6-million into a pilot project that could clear the way for the system to offer online undergraduate degrees and push distance learning further into the mainstream.

The vision is UC’s most ambitious—and controversial—effort to reshape itself after cuts in public financial support have left the esteemed system in crisis (emphasis DSC).

Supporters of the plan believe online degrees will make money, expand the number of California students who can enroll, and re-establish the system’s reputation as an innovator.

“Somebody is going to figure out how to deliver online education for credit and for degrees in the quality sector—i.e., in the elite sector,” said Christopher Edley Jr., dean at Berkeley’s law school and the plan’s most prominent advocate. “I think it ought to be us—not MIT, not Columbia, not Caltech, certainly not Stanford.”

Congress rejected grant, but free online courses growing — USA Today/Inside Higher Ed

On 05/08/2010, in budgets, business side of he, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, online learning, open courseware and systems, by Daniel Christian

Congress rejected grant, but free online courses growing — USA Today –by Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed

President Obama’s original plan for community colleges included $500 million to create free online courses that individual institutions could then customize for their students. That money never materialized — it was left out of the student aid legislation in last month’s health care bill.

But a foundation-supported effort with similar goals is actually growing. The National Repository for Online Courses (NROC) was hoping for that government money to help expand its existing vault of free courses, says Gary Lopez, the repository’s director. Still, with online education becoming mainstream and many community colleges experiencing enrollment booms beyond their physical capacity, NROC’s membership is on the rise. At the same time, the repository’s reliance on membership fees calls into question how “free” its courses actually are.

Learning Ecosystems

Saving public universities

Help for state higher ed

Seeking Evidence of Impact — from Educause

Higher ed: The bubble

Outsourced Ed: Colleges Hire Companies to Build Their Online Courses

Game-changing environment continues…

For colleges in some states, financial relief is far off

A marriage made in Indiana — from InsideHigherEd.com

Most public colleges face budget cut threats in 2011

Converge Education Funding Report: Classroom Technologies — by Converge and the Center for Digital Education

U of California resuscitates the Master Plan — Anya Kamenetz

Congress rejected grant, but free online courses growing — USA Today/Inside Higher Ed

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