President's Choice for Education Secretary Wins Unanimous Approval From Senate Panel

Textbook cooks

Racing for A Cure

Progress, problems seen after merger

President's Choice for Education Secretary Wins Unanimous Approval From Senate Panel

Ms. Spellings, the president's domestic-policy adviser, is considered one of his most loyal aides. She has helped shape his education policies since he was governor of Texas. Higher-education groups have generally welcomed her nomination, describing the Houston native as a consensus-builder and experienced policy maker.

During a two-hour hearing before the committee, Ms. Spellings stressed the president's commitment to community colleges and the Pell Grant program and carefully answered questions about a budget shortfall in that program and the recent revision of the formula used to determine eligibility for the grants and other federal aid.

In her opening remarks, the nominee promised additional resources for community colleges and Pell Grants, and described the forthcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act as "a great opportunity to meet the needs of older students and adults." Later, responding to questions from the committee's chairman, Sen. Michael B. Enzi, Republican of Wyoming, and Sen. Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina, Ms. Spellings repeated the president's proposal -- first offered in his re-election campaign -- to allow Pell Grant recipients to use their awards year-round, rather than only over the nine months of a traditional academic year.

"We need to break down barriers in higher-education financing" that present disadvantages to lifelong learners, she said. "Community colleges are our first line of providers for training and job retraining."

In response to questions from Sen. Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, about the roughly $4-billion shortfall in the Pell Grant program, Ms. Spellings said the administration would look to his panel for increased funds. "We will be doing some lobbying of our own," she said.

Mr. Gregg, new chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, did not indicate whether he thought such efforts would be successful.

Apologetic About Formula

Answering a question from Sen. Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, about last month's change in the formula used to calculate student financial need (The Chronicle, January 7), Ms. Spellings was almost apologetic, describing the revision as something that is "unfortunately, required by Congress." Under the Higher Education Act, the federal law that governs most student-aid programs, the administration is supposed to update the formula annually to reflect changes in state and local tax burdens, although it has not done so in more than a decade.

Ms. Spellings acknowledged that the recent change in the formula would cause as many as 90,000 students to lose "some level of aid," and promised that the president would examine the issue through both his budget proposal for the 2006 fiscal year, due early next month, and the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which is expected this year.

But she was noncommittal when asked about money for the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership, known as LEAP, which matches each dollar that states commit to need-based aid. She said only that the president's budget would provide details. Mr. Bush has repeatedly sought to eliminate the LEAP program.

Ms. Spellings also said little about making colleges more accountable, though she is a self-described "accountability hawk" and was one of the chief architects of the No Child Left Behind law, which in 2002 introduced nationwide standards and mandatory testing for elementary and secondary schools. Some higher-education lobbyists fear that she could use the law as a template for similar measures in higher education.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, asked Ms. Spellings whether "colleges should be held accountable for gross disparities in retention rates" among demographic groups. She responded that the government should provide parents and policy makers with better data on graduation rates and retention.

"I'm not fully confident that we have much truth in advertising" in higher education, she said.

Earlier in the hearing, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, asked Ms. Spellings whether she would support the department's proposal to collect "unit record" data on students. The plan, which needs Congressional approval, would require colleges to provide enrollment dates, student-aid levels, and graduation dates for each of their students (The Chronicle, November 26, 2004). Senator Clinton said she had written to Mr. Paige in November expressing concerns about student privacy under the plan but had not received a response. Ms. Spellings said she had not heard of the letter and would look into it.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, warned Ms. Spellings that visa delays and decreased spending on higher education were threatening the United States' economic dominance.

"I'm afraid that we're going to wake up in 10 years and have diminished our secret weapon for job growth, and that's our colleges and universities," said the senator, who was secretary of education under President George H.W. Bush.

Textbook cooks
Culinary programs see influx of students

The semester was barely under way at Bowling Green Tech when the culinary students were given one of the biggest assignments they'd ever have. They were asked to cater the grand opening ceremonies at the new Kentucky Community and Technical College System headquarters in Versailles, in less than three weeks.

The selection of the menu and ordering the food was simply another class exercise, but the challenge was transporting the kitchen -- everything from a professional mixer to the tiniest of spoons -- 140 miles.

Twenty-three of the 50 students enrolled in the culinary arts program signed up to cater the event for 500 guests.

They made cheese straws and tomato roses and prepped vegetables before leaving campus. And when the guests arrived for the luncheon, the students -- in white jackets and toques -- performed. They carved parmesan-crusted beef roasts, sauteed chicken and Granny Smith apples with rum and molasses, and flambeed the shrimp scampi. The piece de resistance was an intricately designed poured-sugar centerpiece that held three levels of desserts that included flavored truffles, hazelnut shortbread and mocha tartlets.

For some of the students, it was a most extravagant event. Although many of them are only in their first or second semesters, some have had years of cooking experience.

They're all working toward filling the restaurant industry's need for qualified cooks.

Newsweek magazine reports that the career with the most job openings by the year 2006 will be that of chefs and related positions. Even now, there are four or five openings for every qualified candidate in this field.

Second-year student Joyce Carpenter joined the Bowling Green Tech program after the factory where she worked closed. The mother of eight was already an accomplished cook, but she wanted to learn more.

"There's a lot to learn," she said. "I needed to learn to eat better and feed my children better.

"Before you get in school you think you're good at cooking. They'll let you know you're not. Everything has rules. I've learned a lot of different rules, and I've included them into my home."

After almost 20 years in the restaurant business, Jolantha Butts decided to return to school to get an associate's degree "to make more money, and maybe open my own place."

Older students, like Carpenter and Butts, have found the culinary program a comfortable way to return to school. Younger students are choosing culinary arts for a career that will offer opportunities in a field they already love or, to some, a job with glamour and excitement.

George Nations transferred to Bowling Green Tech after a semester at Western Kentucky University. He recently was notified that he has been accepted for a summer internship at one of the restaurants at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

Like Nations, Jourdian Lamar transferred to Bowling Green Tech after a stint at Western. "I'll be done next May, and then I'll switch to Sullivan and get a bachelor's in hospitality management."

BGT recently joined with Sullivan University's National Center for Hospitality Studies in Louisville to offer a management program.

Sullivan, which has one of the country's top culinary schools, offers associate of science and bachelor of science degrees, as well as diplomas for professional bakers, cooks and caterers.

Sullivan University's Web site said experienced, highly regarded chefs and caterers can earn upward of $80,000 a year, based on their talent and experience.

A BGT student with experience can get an associate degree there and finish at Sullivan with a bachelor's in hospitality management and walk out the door making $40,000 to $50,000 a year, said Sullivan's public relations director Stephanie French.

But while Food TV has turned ordinary chefs into superstars, the life of an ordinary chef can be more grueling than glamourous. The Wall Street Journal reports a typical beginning position for a culinary graduate is $22,000 to $26,000 a year.

Jennifer Burchett, owner of Cafe Jennifer in Lexington, said "before you spend a dime on culinary school, I think you need to be a line cook in a busy restaurant to find out if you're cut out for it. It is not what you think. It is not glamorous, it's hot and sweaty and long hours on your feet."

Making the kitchen a classroom

The Wall Street Journal reports that since 2000, enrollment in culinary-school degree programs has increased 40 percent to about 53,000 students. Some programs can cost as much as $50,000.

If you're interested in a culinary program, here are some places to find information.

• Bowling Green Technical College in Bowling Green, www. bowlinggreen.kctcs.edu.

• The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, N.Y., www. ciachef.edu.

• French Culinary Institute in New York City, www.frenchculinary. com.

• Johnson & Wales University has six campuses located in Providence, R.I.; Charleston, S.C.; Norfolk, Va.; North Miami, Fla.; Denver; and Charlotte, N.C. Visit www.jwu.edu.

• Sullivan University in Louisville, www.sullivan.edu.

• Transylvania University in-Lexington, www.transy.edu.

• University of Kentucky offers food science classes. Visit www.uky.edu.

Community College Week
December 20, 2004

Racing for A Cure
The U.S. nursing shortage is looming larger by the year. But community colleges are coming up with new-and-improved ways to ease the pain of a problem that’s likely to get worse before it gets better.

PHOENIX — One nursing school administrator has likened America’s nursing shortage to the perfect storm.
“We have this convergence of baby boomers growing older and needing care. We have nurses reaching the end of their careers and getting burned out, and we have fewer people choosing nursing because of the long hours and low pay,” said Margaret Souders, who oversees seven nursing programs at the Maricopa Community Colleges in and around Phoenix.

“The average age of the RN is later 40s, and a lot are not choosing to work in hospitals,” preferring less stressful settings with less demanding hours, Souders added.

A 2002 study by the University of Pennsylvania found a direct link between patient deaths and the nursing shortage, arguably the most alarming news yet in a climate where shortages run into the hundreds of thousands. And with states like California instituting new nurse-to-patient ratios, that shortage is going to get worse before it gets better. The shortfall could reach 400,000 in the next 20 years, according to Dr. Joyce Thompson at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

The nursing shortage isn’t news — it’s only gotten more critical as the years pass. What’s noteworthy is how community colleges are stepping in as never before to recruit and ready future nurses.

Through creative course options, programs that serve particular niches, alliances with health-care providers and the addition of traditional programs, community colleges are striving to fill the nursing pipeline.

A Hospital’s Helping Hand
A common partner in the nursing education realm is the local hospital. When a hospital works with a school, the health-care provider often picks up the tab in return for first dibs at recruiting graduates, while the school maintains administrative and academic control.

Nursing schools are expensive to start with because of the required small class sizes and the need for expensive equipment. Experienced instructors aren’t cheap either. But when a hospital or health-care provider is part of the mix, there are myriad ways for both to benefit.

Some hospitals work with local institutions to provide training for certain types of nurses — pediatric, critical-care and other specializations — and some health-care organizations donate money or equipment.

Still other hospitals donate an instructor — and when a hospital donates staff time, the school gets a professional, who instead of working a 40-hour week at the hospital, takes a few of those hours to instruct students. Along with the shortage of nurses, there is also a shortage of qualified instructors and the money with which to pay them.

“We’ve got a severe shortage, and the shortage of nurse educators is even more troubling,” said Dr. Mary Anne Rizzolo, director of professional development at the National League for Nursing in New York. Asked about the shortage, she said, “We’ve got a lot of students banging down the doors, and schools don’t have the faculty.”

While it’s an increasingly common solution for a hospital to donate the paid time of a clinician to act as instructor, Rizzolo cautioned against seeing that as a simple solution. “Just because someone is an excellent, experienced clinician doesn’t mean they’re a good instructor,” she said. Schools need to be proactive in making sure that a clinician brought in to teach is given support and guidance in instruction and assessment, so that the instructor doesn’t end up frustrated and the students shortchanged.

Another way schools and hospitals can work together is to have the spots in the nursing class reserved for employees of the hospital — the hospital can grow its next crop of nursing professionals, while the students get hands-on experience through extern programs in the same hospital with which they are already familiar.

Building Bridges
Just as there’s a shortage of nurses, there’s also a shortage of open slots in nursing programs. At Nassau Community College in Garden City, N.Y., there were more than 400 prospective students for only 54 spots for the fall of 2004.

One way schools are ramping up their ability to handle more students is through bi-level programs, such as the one at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Mo., where after one year, students receive a vocational certificate and may become Licensed Practical Nurses after taking the state board exam. If the student continues on for the second year, they receive an associate’s degree and can take the licensing exam for Registered Nurses.

Though the program has been popular since its inception in 1990, the nursing shortage has led to even more interest, and the school has started an evening and weekend program to keep up with the increased enrollment.
“Needless to say, we are already investigating further options to expand our bi-level program,” said Roger Barrentine, public relations director for Jefferson.

“One reason the program has been successful is because of its multiple-entry points,” said Michele Soest, the director of health technology at Jefferson.

A student can enter with no experience and have an LPN within a year, or can begin when they’ve already been working as an LPN and take coursework toward the RN.

Another newer focus for two-year programs is the seamless transfer option: as with many community-college programs in other disciplines, the associate’s degree isn’t necessarily an end in itself and is often an entrée into more advanced education, with increased career and earning opportunities. The bi-level approach simplifies that even further — after one year the student can work in the field; after two years the student is prepared to take on more professional responsibility and is also eligible to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

“The two-year associate’s degree focuses more on technical skills than theory, and is a stepping stone to the BSN (bachelor of science degree in nursing). It allows a student to become a Registered Nurse and earn money more quickly than a four-year BSN program, so it works better for many students,” according to All Nursing Schools, a Web site that provides a guide to U.S. and Canadian nursing schools.

One school offering the transfer option is Raritan Valley Community College in North Branch, N.J., which recently announced an agreement with Kean University. After completing the coursework for the RN at RVCC, a student may then enroll at Kean to take the remaining classes to earn the BSN, with an adviser’s approval.

“The department of nursing is excited about this partnership and its goal is to provide quality, convenient, accessible education to the Registered Nurse student who is typically juggling responsibilities,” Dr. Susan Salmond, chairwoman of the department at Kean, said in a statement.
The extra-educational responsibilities most students and potential students face are often at the forefront of educators’ priorities.

At Souders’ schools, for example, a range of program styles lure nursing recruits. “We’ve gotten rid of the traditional college mentality,” she said. “We have online, part-time, 15- to 18-month programs — the focus is on how can we meet the needs and still have a quality program.”

She added that the needs of the population are unique — in the Phoenix area the population is growing exponentially, which means more opportunity — but it also means there are more people in need of care.

“It’s a good-news bad-news situation — more facilities and lots of jobs, but we’re expanding so rapidly that it’s impossible to keep up with the population growth,” Souders said.

Plus, because of technology, the number of sicker hospital patients has increased — a situation not unique to Arizona. In the past, patients could stay in the hospital to recover, but these days they’re being discharged earlier, leaving only the sickest patients in hospital beds and making the demands on staff nurses that much more challenging.

“There’s no doubt about it; you’ve got to love what you do,” Souders said.

The New Face of Nursing
In addition to bi-level and transfer programs, community colleges also are launching initiatives to draw more disadvantaged and minority students into nursing.

At Kentucky’s Gateway Community and Technical College, for example, the Gateway to Nursing Program seeks out students from local high schools, the college’s adult education program and current pool of applicants, and from an inner-city college program for low-income residents, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. To help keep students enrolled and successful, the program will keep track of each student’s “success plan, counseling, study groups, mentoring, tutoring, and enrichment activities,” according to HRSA. The Gateway program started this past July and will run through mid-2007.

Terry L. Mayo, Gateway’s nurse coordinator, said the program is especially important because the state is currently dealing with a severe shortage of nurses that wasn’t expected until 2006. The program also will recruit and retain minorities, helping feed a diverse pool of qualified health- care professionals who can then care for the diverse patient populations, Mayo said.

Meanwhile, the new Minorities in Nursing Education program at South Carolina’s Horry-Georgetown Technical College was created to “mine” the “significant and untapped minority population” within the college’s community, according to HRSA. The program will work with students, supporting them through their studies to graduation and beyond — helping them prepare for licensing tests and pursue bachelor’s degrees in nursing.

According to an abstract on the HRSA Web site, the area served by Horry-Georgetown will have the largest employment and population growth in South Carolina during the next 15 years. “Lack of access to medical care, lack of diversity among the health care workforce, and a shortage of health professionals presently combine to exacerbate the health problems of residents of this coastal region, especially minorities and low income residents,” the abstract says. Horry-Georgetown’s MINE program intends to help alleviate these problems by bolstering the area’s nursing work force.

Another previously underrepresented population also is seeking out the nursing profession: men. Maricopa’s Souders said that the hours (usually three 12-hour shifts a week) are attractive, allowing students to pursue other interests and those who have families to spend more time with loved ones. Another attractive feature of the nursing profession is that salaries are going up as a result of increased demand.

“Recareerers” are another recruiting godsend — most of these individuals have bachelor’s degrees in other fields and are changing vocations. Nursing administrators say these students are especially dedicated and motivated.

“As a team player already working in a local hospital, I’m contributing to the community,” said Philip Ong, a nursing student at the College of Southern Maryland. Ong has a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical science, and he spent 22 years with the Navy before returning to school.

Filling the Void
While most nursing advocates espouse more homegrown ways of stemming the dearth of nurses, one controversial way of finding more nurses is to go abroad. Companies such as CoreMedical Group, a nurse recruitment firm, go to countries where they can find qualified nurses who are underpaid compared to those in the United States. In South Africa, for example, doctors are scarce, so the nurses handle more complicated situations than they would in other countries. But before South African nurses are allowed to practice in U.S. hospitals, they still need to pass board exams.

At the Maricopa Community Colleges, there is a program specifically geared to helping foreign-born nurses study for and pass the nursing boards. Another program offered at Maricopa is the bilingual program, which focuses on producing completely bilingual nurses, which are high demand in the Southwest. To be accepted, students must be fluent in both Spanish and English, and commit to the full three years of the program. Federally funded, the program offers a $250 monthly stipend as incentive to future nurses.

The City Colleges of Chicago have devised their own response to the nursing shortage. In conjunction with a wide range of partners, including hospitals, advocacy groups and government agencies, the Chicago-Mexico Nurses Initiative is both bilingual and for foreign-qualified nurses. Focusing on a group of nurses who have either been unable to work because of a lack of credentials or been underemployed, the program has recruited eligible students in the area. Program officials estimate that there are up to 1,000 more candidates waiting to enroll. The program has been so successful that Mercy Hospital in Chicago has a standing job offer for anyone who completes the program.

Despite these efforts, quelling the nursing shortage won’t be easy. But two-year institutions have proven that they are a stalwart contributor to the solution, with their creative and flexible responses.

“Community-college nursing programs offer multiple entry and exit points, and understand that students may have family obligations and need to work,” said the National League for Nursing’s Rizzolo. “These nursing programs truly benefit the community they’re in because they attract students who have roots in the area, and then go on to work in local hospitals.”

Courier-Journal
January 9, 2005

Progress, problems seen after merger
Study: City lags in poverty, education

Two years after merger, Louisville has made strides in rejuvenating downtown, increasing university research grants and reducing the high school dropout rate.

But Louisville's progress continues to be hindered by its poorly educated work force. Many of its poorer families can't afford to own homes — and sprawling development is clogging roads and lengthening commutes.

Those are some of the conclusions of a report to be released Thursday that examines Louisville's evolution since the city and county governments merged in 2003.

The report concludes that education at all levels — public schools, technical and community colleges, universities and worker training programs — must be the metro government's top priority.

The community also should continue its focus on revitalizing downtown and craft an agenda to lift poor families out of poverty, the report states.

Fifty-year-old James Alvis, who was born and raised in Louisville, can relate to the report's findings. After working as a horse exerciser for most of his life, he's now without a job.

With no formal education, Alvis said he can't find good-paying work in Louisville and is considering moving.

"I can't find nothing," he said.

Looking ahead

Using data from local organizations, the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources, the new report is intended, its creators said, to create a snapshot of where Louisville stands — and where it should go.

"Our purpose here is to give leaders in Louisville the information that they need to raise the bar and surface issues that need attention," said Carolyn Gatz, director of the Greater Louisville Project, a nonprofit Louisville group that prepared the report as a follow-up to the 2002 study it sponsored, "Beyond Merger," which examined Louisville's strengths and weaknesses as it prepared to become the nation's 16th largest city.

Abramson said the report would help his administration set an agenda for improving Louisville as it gets deeper into merger.

"I think the good news is the report shows that the needle is moving in the right directions," Abramson said.

Among the findings:

Jefferson County Public Schools are improving, but some students still struggle. Elementary school students outperform 56percent of their national peers in reading, while high school students outperform 51percent. Middle school students, however, scored lower, outperforming only 46percent.

The number of students earning technical or similar degrees doubled in 2002-2003, indicating demand among workers to improve their skills. And while Louisville is seeing more people with at least a bachelor's degree, competing cities such as Nashville and Cincinnati are seeing larger increases.

Louisville has too few highly skilled workers. "Louisville's economic standing suffered badly in the national shift from a manufacturing economy, in which it excelled, to a knowledge economy, in which it did not," the report states.

Sprawl is causing more problems in eastern Louisville, neighboring Oldham County and other areas, including increasing traffic congestion. Louisville drivers spend 38 hours a year in rush-hour traffic, compared with 25.5 hours for commuters in comparable cities.

The sprawling development comes at the expense of older neighborhoods, including suburbs just outside the Watterson Expressway that are starting to experience the same problems that plague inner-city communities.

The report also points out several positive initiatives and indicators.

The "Every 1 Reads" project, announced last year by the public school system, has a goal of having every student reading at grade level by 2008. Recent state test results showed that about 13,500 students, or about 14percent, read below grade level.

The number of residents living in distressed neighborhoods — those with high poverty rates and a large number of single parents, among other things — dropped between 1990 and 2000.

And the demand for downtown housing continues to rise, improving the odds of having 5,000 new residents in the city's center by 2010, as the 2002 study recommended.

Christina Lueken and Leslie Newkirk, who work downtown, both said they've noticed downtown improvements in recent years, ranging from Fourth Street Live and its chain bars and restaurants to locally owned businesses along Main and Market streets.

"I see a lot of people walking around," Lueken said.

UofL to play a role

University of Louisville President James Ramsey said the report reminds the community about its commitments, and he said his university is making strides in increasing its student retention and graduation rates and recruiting better students.

"There's no question that there's a direct correlation between the quality of students and graduation rates," Ramsey said. "We are no longer open admissions."

Jefferson County public schools Superintendent Stephen Daeschner called the report, "OK. ... I'd write it a little differently." He believes the report should have stated that Louisville residents historically have had low education levels; but Daeschner said the indicators show the district is improving.

The 2002 study recommended five areas in which Louisville should concentrate: education; economic development; community assets and amenities (including downtown and the arts); neighborhoods; supporting families; and influencing growth.

Progress has been made in each category, but Gatz said supporting families and influencing growth need more attention. Poor families, for example, need help paying for day care, finding affordable housing and getting health care coverage.

A study by Norton Healthcare found that the number of people in the Louisville region without health-care coverage grew nearly 10percent in three years, now reaching more than 100,000.

"Supporting working families has not yet assumed the level of importance" as other community issues, Gatz said.

Jane Walsh, executive director of the Metropolitan Housing Coalition, which promotes housing affordable to low and moderate-income families, said the Brookings report echoes what her organization already knows.

"We are absolutely not making progress in lifting the working poor out of poverty," she said.

One method to increase the number of affordable homes and apartments is to create an affordable housing trust fund, which would give or loan money to developers who build housing for low-income families, Walsh said.

Abramson said his administration also is taking steps to influence development, including devising a plan that will ensure that every neighborhood in Jefferson County will have housing at all price points.