Staring Contest

There is a staring contest in the works.

For the uninitiated, a staring contest is a game in which two people stare into each other's eyes and attempt to maintain eye contact for a longer period of time than their opponent. The game ends when one participant intentionally or unintentionally looks away.

Some people use different rules, where participants not only attempt to maintain eye contact, but also must resist the urge to blink. Others prohibiting virtually any action but staring (laughing, making a face, winking, nodding, talking, et cetera). In other words, any reaction at all, other than a blank stare, is a fail.

 

This battle is brewing over financial aid (the kind that comes from the State) between the Illinois Board of Higher Education (led by Chairwoman Carrie Hightman and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) on one side, and seemingly everyone else on the other. The suggestion, proposed by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, is opposed by the Illinois Community College Board, the Illinois Community College Trustees Association, and the Illinois Council of Community College Presidents.

Some background:

The need-based Monetary Award Program (MAP), created in 1967, was designed to help low- and middle-income Illinois residents attend the colleges of their choice within the state and last year provided assistance to more than 140,000 students. About the same number of qualified students didn’t, though, because the money ran out in April, and the money is awarded on a “first-come, first-served” basis.

Unsurprisingly, the hardest-hit groups by the lack of funding were community college students, who we know typically register for classes and apply for financial aid much later than students at four-year schools.

The issue:

Selling "human capital investment bonds" to raise funds for MAP grants for community college students.

A what? Human capital bond? Sounds vaguely disturbing. Actually, the concept is quite simple. An investor's (in this case, the tax payers) total wealth typically consists of two parts. One is financial assets and the other is human capital. The latter is defined as the present value of an investor's future labor income. Although human capital isn't tradable, it is apparently bondable.

How it would work:

Under the initial proposal, up to $550 million in bonds would be issued through 2015. That borrowing would be repaid with interest. The bonds would be paid back by diverting the future income taxes paid by community college students who receive the grants. Income taxes of MAP grant-receiving community college students would be diverted from the state’s general fund to pay off the bonds for up to 10 years.

With approximately $100 million in bonds issued each year, ISAC could provide MAP grants for the 50,000 community  college students who currently receive grants plus 50,000 more students who currently miss out because the Monetary Award Program has insufficient resources to meet growing needs.

The notes would carry no state guarantee, but are expected to have 1.85 times debt service coverage based on data that showed income growth for MAP recipients and that 90 percent of students who attended Illinois community colleges remained in the state for 10 years, according to ISAC Executive Director, Andy Davis.

Oh, and Grant recipients would not be required to stay in Illinois.

The opposition:

It seems a little strange that the organization directly representing community colleges and their students would oppose such a move, no?

Well, there are three main reasons. First, those of us that deal with the State of Illinois for portions of our revenue know that things are bad and likely to get worse with respect to timely payment (if at all). One of the most significant contributing factors is the consistent and long-term underfunding of state pension systems. We have borrowed against them for so long and for so much that the burden is unbearable. Adding another borrowing scheme of any sort is not only fiscally risky, but to borrow a line, "morally repugnant".

Secondly, why is it that we want community college students to receive funds from a borrowing program while all other students get MAP money from a cash-based program that comes directly from state funds? Is there something special happening?

I know that 64% (now 70% ?) of Illinois college students attend a community college yet receive just 14% of the higher education budget.

I know that 90% of our graduates stay in Illinois.

I know that 70% stay in our district.

Want more numbers? Here they are for Parkland College:

Financial Aid Program Disbursement Amounts (2007 – 2011)
Fiscal Year	PELL	SEOG	Work Study	Student Loans	Alternative Loans	MAP	IIA	Veterans Grants	Scholarships, Grants, Fellowships, Traineeships	Talent Waivers and Scholarships	Total Disbursed	Financial Aid Applications
2007	5,017,569	165,096	162,138	6,346,939	402,701	1,958,300	171,000	889,619	172,133	513,729	15,799,224	6,578
2008	5,595,696	165,766	189,344	8,575,516	355,950	1,939,326	185,500	739,100	197,673	615,277	18,559,148	6,691
2009	6,460,403	192,509	116,311	8,800,674	195,444	1,910,757	172,250	720,139	278,291	622,285	19,469,063	7,545
2010	11,074,791	169,472	132,751	11,270,286	258,773	1,883,259	43,000	851,787	267,242	707,837	26,659,198	9,356
* 2011	6,289,935	63,012	31,439	5,394,873	229,689	851,755	0	318,272	131,826	363,705	13,674,506	9,242

                                                                                * One semester

MAP is in decline. PELL is on the rise. Student loans are way up. Total aid is up $11MM since 2007 and the number of student applying for aid after one semester is nearly equal to what it was for all of last year.

According to Financial Aid Director, Tim Wendt, there are several factors for the increases:

• Awareness of the importance of a college education in the workplace,
• Increased awareness of the availability of financial aid,
• Simplification of the financial aid application process,
• Increases in the amount of the (Federal) Pell Grant program (2007 – Maximum was $4,050 and in 2010 – Maximum was $5,350)
• Increase in the amount that a student may borrow (2007 – Dependent Freshman Maximum was $3,500 and in 2010 – Maximum was $5,500)
• And last, but not least, the “Great Recession” has impacted our students, and their parents, dramatically. 

The third reason is a little more interesting. Recall that this bond proposal estimates that an additional 50,000 students would/could enroll in one of the 48 community colleges in Illinois. Someone should probably raise the question about capacity, both physical and financial.

If you understand how Illinois community colleges are funded, you will know that there are three sources; property taxes, tuition, and state funding.

Assume for a moment that property taxes and tuition are holding steady. They aren't, but I'm running out of room and you are likely running out of interest. The State's portion of public higher education for community colleges consists of a per credit hour reimbursement. Urban legend has it that 33% of the cost of delivering a credit hour was to come from the State. Today, it sits at around 12% for Parkland. It is not likely to go up anytime soon. Tuition, property taxes, and austerity make up the difference. Adding more students does not balance a budget when one of the three legs of the stool is short.

Physically, this proposal assumes that our colleges can absorb whatever percentage of the 50,000 additional students we will see. It assumes both classroom space, faculty, student support, and all the ancillary services can be scaled without additional costs. Some can, others can't. It will be an interesting problem to solve.

So, the stare-down begins. Despite objections, the Illinois Board of Higher Education announced that it formed a group to study the proposal. Director Davis from ISAC said his group has a "moral imperative" to ask the state to borrow for higher education for the state’s neediest residents.

“For us to get to the lowest-income group in our state, who have the most to gain by being educated, all of a sudden to get fiscal morality and say we have to draw the line someplace... I find that morally repugnant,” he said.

Sudden fiscal morality. So much to say...

The task force is due to make its recommendations on February 15. If the note plan is adopted, Davis said the Illinois General Assembly would need to vote to allow the student assistance commission to tap the students' income tax revenue to pay off the debt.

Remember that in a staring contest, if you blink, you fail.

What do you think?

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Thinking remedially

re·me·di·al/riˈmēdēəl/Adjective

1. Giving or intended as a remedy or cure.

2. Provided or intended for students who are experiencing learning difficulties

We don’t have a remedial program at Parkland College.

That’s a dangerous statement, isn’t it? Do you know the distinction between 'remedial" and "developmental' education?

Colleges and universities have long offered precollege-level courses designed to teach the basic academic skills necessary for success in college. We have long standing courses designed to serve students who were quite competent as poets, writers, or philosophers but lacked mathematical skills or students who had excellent potential as scientists, mathematicians, or engineers but had difficulty with the written word. Of course, we also serve students that need both.

But at Parkland, we prefer to call it developmental education and there is a difference. Modern developmental education involves a range of services designed to promote personal and academic development. These services may include counseling and advising, tutoring, individualized instruction, and courses to enhance study skills and strategies (PSY 109), promote critical thinking, and/or introduce students to the realities and expectations of college.

“Colleges never saw remedial education as their mission,” says George R. Boggs, president of the American Association of Community Colleges and former president of Palomar Community College in California. “They felt their job was giving an opportunity. If the student succeeded, great! Higher education has never been rewarded for the success of its students, only enrollments.”

In developmental education, remediation is only one of several possible options along a continuum of interventions ranging from occasional tutoring to brush up on forgotten material to a complete menu of remedial courses. In other words, remedial courses are a part of our developmental education program and the choice of interventions is based on assessment information (our Compass test) combined with the professional judgment of developmental educators.

An April 20, 2010 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education outlining the Gates Foundation plans to improve remedial education with a $110MM investment is interesting.

It says:

“Community colleges should replace weak remedial programs with innovative practices as a way to increase completion rates, Melinda F. Gates, co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, told two-year college leaders Tuesday as she delivered the closing speech here at the American Association of Community Colleges' annual meeting.

To that end, Ms. Gates said that her foundation is spending up to $110-million to work with dozens of partners, including colleges and school districts, to develop groundbreaking models for remedial education and to replicate effective practices. About half of the foundation's commitment has already been given to colleges and programs. The remaining $57-million will be given as grants over the next two years.”

Remedial (developmental) education, it appears, is an “afterthought” at many community colleges. We know from experience at Parkland that some 70-75% of recent high school graduates come to Parkland in need of one or more remedial courses from our developmental curriculum. Most often, deficits are in mathematics. There is no doubt that many of the students we see have a long road to travel before taking a college-level course. It can be terribly disheartening.

Melinda Gates described remedial programs as the “…biggest obstacles students must overcome in pursuit of a college degree”. In addition, she provided evidence from several community colleges that seem to be doing remedial education well. Let’s take a look.

El Paso Community College is working with local high schools to make sure students making the transition to college know what's expected. Students who plan to attend El Paso take the college's placement test while they are still in high school, and they can take a summer course at the college before they enroll for their first year if they don't pass the test.

Parkland College has offered placement tests to area juniors and seniors since 2003. Hundreds, if not thousands of students have been provided free access to placement testing and post-test advising in order to help students understand the value of taking four years of mathematics and encouraging good use of the senior year. Been there, done that, still doing it.

Mountain Empire Community College, in Virginia, has designed new lesson plans and textbooks geared toward helping students get through the remedial phase much faster. Students in these fast-track courses review basic mathematics in a single week during the summer, and algebra in just two weeks.

At Parkland College, accelerated-format, remedial mathematics is not even close to a new program. We have piloted and implemented self-paced, technology supported courses in both the traditional classroom as well as in modular format. The Math Department has made significant technology improvements in many classrooms to include LCD projectors tied to tablet monitors, allowing faculty to annotate in real-time, incorporate specialized software, and simulations to enhance comprehension.

We do faculty tutoring and peer tutoring. We have math faculty advisors in the summer. Our pre-placement test website contains problem sets and answers for students that want to study. Faculty and resources are available for students at no charge before they are even a Parkland student.

And maybe the most important piece, the faculty in the Mathematics Department have tables outside their offices. It is not uncommon to find groups of students studying and doing homework right outside the faculty office. I have witnessed many times, faculty sitting at these tables working with students at all hours of the day. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the most effective practice of all that I have mentioned. These are the hallmarks of a quality developmental program.

In Washington state, a program called I-Best lets students do college-level work while they are still taking basic-skills classes, instead of having to pass all their remedial classes first. In pilot studies, students in I-Best were four times more likely to graduate than their peers, Ms. Gates said.

Other things that are not new at Parkland include co-enrollment, learning communities, the writing center, and of course, our Center for Academic Success with its mission to provide more in-depth integration of academic support and student development services:

ú  Tutoring and learning assistance services provided by faculty, learning assistance professionals, and student peer tutors.  This includes academic support for students who place into developmental coursework and/or who have learning disabilities.

ú  For-credit modules or courses to supplement developmental coursework requirements and to support college-level courses with significant attrition rates.

ú  Needs-assessment and student development services to identify and support academically at-risk students.

Perhaps the best piece of data that supports the effectiveness question relative to the Center for Academic Success is usage. Our students visit the Center some 40,000 times throughout the academic year. Voluntarily.

It is clear to me that our community college cares deeply about the developmental portion of our mission, despite the fact that it is dramatically underfunded by the state in comparison to college-level courses. Parkland receives approximately $9 per credit hour in reimbursement for remedial courses as compared with nearly $40 per credit hour for baccalaureate courses. We staff these courses with fully-qualified full and part-time faculty.

We spend considerable time, energy and resources on our developmental mission and for good reason. All too often, our college is the first, last, and best hope.

What do you think?

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France and Lebanon

When I decided to begin writing in this space about seven months ago, I didn't plan on making it a weekly experience, nor did I believe that it would turn out the way it has. I fully expected to write a paragraph or two about a grant received or award won. I thought I would highlight athletic success, the latest theater production or Art Gallery showing.


This is the 28th time I have posted something on this website and I have come to realize that although my grammar and spelling is not perfect, the 200 or so weekly readers have overlooked my imperfections and sufficiently encouraged continuation. For that, I am both grateful and encouraged.


I chose to post my thoughts (I hate the word "blog". It sounds more like a noise than a word) on this particular website because, if you have not yet noticed, all the way down on the bottom of the page, is a place where you can post comment or your own thoughts. You can agree, disagree, question my choice of verb tense and over use of commas, present a differing viewpoint, raise a question, or whatever. You can even do it anonymously (civility expected, please). I want you to know that. I want to encourage you to use this space for a conversation. We can "talk" about anything you like and very little is off-limits. Those things, as you might expect surround legal or ethical obligations, but when you hear me and other administrators talk about transparency, I/we mean it.


In one of our faculty forums not too long ago, I was asked about who my intended audience might be. Were these weekly episodes published someplace else and for some unknown publication? I was a bit taken aback by the question, not because there was anything wrong with asking, but because, in my mind, it never occurred to me that anyone else outside a handful of my Parkland College colleagues (and my wife) would read it, and even there I had some doubts. 

I've been surprised. Over the past seven months, students, staff, faculty, trustees, community members, random strangers, and errant Google searches have landed here. Most weeks, I am amazed. I have no explanation for the 29 visits from people in France and 19 in Lebanon. That aside, each week I write the words that appear here for the people interested in Parkland College and the things that affect us. I write it because it is connected to our mission -- to engage the community in learning.


So, let's get the conversations going.

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Yesterday was a good day for Parkland College. The State of Illinois wired us a good chunk of the money owed us for FY10. This includes:

Fourth Quarter Equalization - $426,434
Student Success Grant - $367,477
Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) Spring 2010 - $104,429
Facilitating and Coordinating Ag Education (FCAE) Grant - $297,784.00
Adult Education State Public Assistance - $6,315.50
Adult Education State Performance - $31,672.50
Adult Education State Basic - $29,764.50

Still outstanding:

IVG Summer 2010 - $86,746
IVG Fall 2010 - $224,706
MAP Fall 2010 - $886,000

Personally, it was a great day as well. I began the day with two classroom visits with Lauren O'Connor. Her English sections were giving presentations as part of their final projects and she was ever so kind to invite me to listen in. The students covered a broad range of topics from creation of an Equine Center, a residential component to the Fire Service Technology program, College-run housing, extended hours in our Child Development Lab, and more. It was very enlightening and entertaining to hear our student's perspectives on these issues. I intend to do some follow-up on a few of them.

At noon, I had the opportunity to visit with our pre-Bridge program graduates. We have 13 students completing the 12 hour class which qualifies them to take the GED Bridge to Health Careers class beginning in January. (Another group will be qualified the week of January 10). My thanks to Janet and Terri for the invitation.

Later in the day, a group of us visited Steve Brown's Speech 200 class. Via a modified Delphi process, students identify the top responses to the question, "Of the things that Parkland College might reasonably do, what improvements would you like to see as priorities for the college?" For your enjoyment and consideration, I present their list:

1) (Tie) Lower the cost of textbooks -and-

2) Make more reasonable the delays in instructor-to-student academic feedback

3) Require faculty to provide better feedback in online courses

4) Do not offer courses that are only taught online.

5) Improve WIFI access, speed, and reliability

6) Prohibit faculty from penalizing students for absences from course meetings

7) Lower the cost of food on campus

8) Improve crowd control (mostly refers to the congestion and noise in the college center)

Thoughts?

Last week, I wrote about performance funding and that caused a half -dozen or so conversations off-line. A couple days after I posted it, an article in The Daily Herald appeared. Good timing.

This morning I was reading The Next Big Thing: Crisis and Transformation in American Higher Education by John V. Lombardi.

In it, he talked about, "...optimal behavior of institutions suffering through the peaks and valleys of these serial crises? Some common sense guidelines may be helpful. The primary imperative surprises none of us: Pay attention to the fundamentals, all of which speak to the competitive performance of institutions within their sector and subsector of the higher education industry."

His list of the fundamentals included:

a. Enroll students.
b. Graduate students.
c. Focus on revenue.
d. Track expenses precisely.
e. Measure faculty, staff, and student performance.
f. Understand the difference between core activity and enhancements.
g. Do the core activities first and do them well.
h. Innovate to improve the fundamentals.
i. Save speculative academic enterprises for the good times.
j. Carefully define the institutional mission.
k. Compete within the mission on quality and productivity against the best.

What do you think? What's missing? How does this list reconcile with your perspective?

I'm all ears, even you folks in France and Lebanon.

 

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