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The Herald-Dispatch
February 20, 2005
Marshall, Ashland officials sign agreement
Move allows students to attend ACTC for 2 years, MU for 2 years
to receive degree
ASHLAND, Ky. -- Sheryl Jackson hardly could wait Friday afternoon to shake
hands with Marshall University interim president Michael Farrell and Lorraine
Anderson, associate dean of MU’s Lewis School of Business.
Marshall and the Ashland Community and Technical College officials formally
signed an agreement Friday giving the business management student another option
to get her bachelors degree.
"I am ecstatic," Jackson said. "I am absolutely ecstatic!"
Marshall and the community college agreed to a larger "2 and 2" program
between the schools’ business departments. The articulation will allow
students to attend the community college for two years and Marshall for two
years to receive a degree in one of the nine areas covered under Marshall’s
bachelors of business administration program. A 1997 agreement allowed ACTC
students complete their bachelors degree at Marshall in business management.
The new agreement allows students to select what area they want their degree
in within the Lewis School of Business.
Jackson, a single mother living in Rush, Ky., said she’s happy because
the agreement gives her another option to continue her education. However, she
wishes it was more affordable."Right now, ACTC has a tuition reciprocity
agreement with Morehead State but not Marshall," Jackson said. "I
need to look at the financial aspect of it because that’s going to be a
big part of deciding if I go to Marshall or not."
Farrell said the concept of regionalism between the two states has to begin
with Ashland and Huntington and that Marshall and ACTC both stand to benefit
from the agreement.
"This gives a us a stream of students that would otherwise go elsewhere,"
Farrell said. "By our two programs coming together, it will help both of
us increase our enrollment."
Anderson said the agreement will open several doors for the students and the
institutions, and she said the region stands to benefit as well.
"It will enable students to stay within the region," Anderson said.
"When I went for my master’s and doctorate, I couldn’t leave
the area I was in because I had a family."
Jackson, 40, said the agreement means a lot to her, but could mean more to
her children, who range in age from 10 to 14, because she said the decisions
she has to make daily are affected by her children.
"It’s extremely challenging being a single mom and a student,"
Jackson said. "It’s very rigorous and very demanding."
In addition to ACTC credits transferring to Marshall, Farrell said the two
programs are working together to assure students the classes they are taking
are comparable to the ones at Marshall.
Greg Adkins, president of the community college, said about 150 ACTC business
management students transfer to Marshall each year. He said that number will
grow with the new agreement. He said the community college’s enrollment
also will grow.
"We’re prepared to talk with Marshall about the possibility of creating
more ‘2 and 2’ programs between the two institutions," Adkins
said. "I think there are some areas in Marshall’s teacher education
program that we may want to explore."
The Daily Independent
February 19, 2005
Pact allows colleges to get closer together
ASHLAND - Friday's signing of a cooperative agreement between Ashland Community
and Technical College and Marshall University brought the two institutions closer
together than they've ever been before, said ACTC President Greg Adkins.
"I believe this represents the beginning of a new opportunity to develop
not only new two-plus-two agreements in business but to explore more two-plus-twos
with other colleges in Marshall," Adkins said.
With the stroke of a pen, he and interim MU president Michael J. Farrell brought
nine college degrees within the grasp of business majors at ACTC.
The agreement, called a two plus two, allows students to attend ACTC for two
years and then transfer to Marshall to earn one of nine degrees in its Lewis
College of Business.
The visit to ACTC by Ferrell was an encouraging sign that the two schools are
cementing a solid relationship that's beneficial to students and the region,
Adkins said.
"There's a growing recognition of the economic and cultural impact that
higher education has across state borders," he said. "I hope that
there's a growing awareness in the Marshall University leadership."
Since 1997, the two colleges have had an agreement for ACTC students who receive
associate degrees in business administration with the management option to transfer
their credits to Marshall for a bachelor's degree in management.
The new agreement expands options to nine areas of business administration.
That's good for students, said Lorraine Anderson, associate dean in the Lewis
College of Business. "It's so much more advantageous to the student because
they're not limited to one or two majors. It opens up all the majors,"
she said.
Both Adkins and Anderson said the agreement could enhance enrollment. "We
certainly hope to get more Kentucky students. Marshall is looking to expand
its enrollment and this enables us to open our doors to Ashland and Northeast
Kentucky," Anderson said.
"This may help enrollment," Adkins said. "One challenge we have
is that we have significant underparticipation in higher education in the Tri-State
and FIVCO area. When we can assure the option, it gives students more confidence
that they can begin their education and continue it."
Adkins hopes to explore more cooperative agreements with Marshall, he said.
Marshall is interested in developing the agreements too, Anderson said.
Kentucky New Era
February 17, 2005
Community college accepting submissions for its magazine
Hopkinsville Community College's literary magazine invites submissions for
its 2005 issue. The editorial staff welcomes work from anyone from preschoolers
to senior citizens who live in either Christian, Caldwell, Todd, Trigg, and
Logan counties and Fort Campbell in Kentucky or in Stewart, Montgomery and Robertson
counties in Tennessee, including Austin Peay State University.
Submissions must be received by 4:30 p.m. Feb. 25.
Those interested may submit their original poetry, prose, or artwork (see guidelines
below). All submissions will be judged anonymously, so no name should appear
anywhere on the submitted work.
Students younger than college age should, however, mark each submission in
the upper right-hand corner with the student's grade level ("elementary,"
"middle" or "high school") so it can be judged accordingly
and considered for the appropriate award category.
Submissions should also include a single notecard with name, address, phone
number, and the titles of all works being submitted by that person on one side
of the card. On the other side, provide a few sentences of biographical information
for the contributors page, should the work be chosen for inclusion.
If your name is not gender-specific, make your sex clear so that you aren't
misrepresented.
This card should be clipped to your combined submissions, so it can be removed
before the staff views the works. Please do not staple your submissions together.
Regardless of how many entries you have, each submission should include one
self-addressed, stamped envelope, so that you can be notified of the status
of your submission.
Some additional guidelines:
Poetry
Submit up to 10 pages of original poetry (and no more than 10 poems) on any
subject, in any style. Poetry submissions must be typed, single-spaced.
Prose (fiction, creative non-fiction, personal essay)
Submit up to 30 pages of prose: either a single 30-page story (or non-fiction
piece) or several briefer pieces not to exceed 30 pages. Novel excerpts of no
more than 30 pages are discouraged unless they can stand alone as complete,
satisfying pieces of writing. Prose submissions must be typed, double-spaced.
Prose poems, fiction, fables
Brief prose pieces can be submitted as fiction or poetry. They must be typed,
double-spaced.
Artwork
Up to 10 original pieces (no copies) may be submitted. Artwork must be easily
reproduced, high-contrast material such as pen-and-ink drawings, black and white
photographs, collages or block prints (woodcuts, monoprints, etc.).
For scanning purposes, pieces must be legal size (8½ X 14) or smaller.
Please note if you would like your submitted artwork to be returned. Digital
images may be submitted on a diskette or e-mailed to the address below.
Remember that all written materials must be typed and that no names should
appear on any submissions (unless a work of visual art is already signed).
Handwritten submissions will not be considered, and no written materials can
be returned.
A person may submit work in more than one category or all of them. Submissions
can be dropped off at the main desk at the HCC library, or mailed to: The Round
Table, in care of Brett Ralph, Hopkinsville Community College, P.O. Box 2100,
Hopkinsville, Ky. 42241-2100.
For more information, contact Ralph by telephone at 886-3921, extension 6203,
or by e-mail at Brett.Ralph@kctcs.edu.
The News-Enterprise
February 21, 2005
BLACK HISTORY MAKERS: Black educators see selves as catalysts for change
While a group of black educators said they don't experience blunt discrimination
in their field, some said 2005 — more than five decades since desegregation
began — is still a time for progress.
Credentials have earned them their jobs. Their colleagues and students accept
their positions. Race hasn't stifled their professional growth.
Still, diversity among teaching and administrative staffs needs to grow, they
said. And all races need to be open to discussing race relations in order to
improve them.
Earning their place
Thelma White, president of Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and
the area's highest ranking black educator, said she's always realized she would
face discrimination because of her race and her gender, but she's overcome those
challenges through education and experience.
Some people will only see her as black or as a woman and make a decision about
her on those details alone, she said.
"I've realized that, but I've never let that stop me or make me hesitate
to apply for, or accept, a job I know I'm qualified for," White said.
As she moved into higher education administration, White has often been the
first minority or woman to hold a certain position.
"I was climbing the administration ladder in the days when there were
not a lot of blacks in these fields," she said. "I've never allowed
it to be an issue for me."
White said all professionals have to concentrate on making themselves promotable.
Seniority alone can't promise advancement. Instead, education and experience
will push professionals of any background forward. For example, White said,
she has picked up projects outside her job description throughout her career
for the extra experience and an edge on her competitors.
Stan Holmes, a teacher at Brown Street Alternative Center, agreed. He said
his military experience and, more importantly, his education, have helped him
overcome any challenges he might have faced as a minority. As a former military
trainer holding a master's degree in education, Holmes said people see him as
a qualified teacher.
"If you're looking to achieve, you're going to find a way to make things
better. If someone puts up a mountain, find a way around it," he said.
Toni Perry, the lead social studies teacher at T.K. Stone Middle School, saw
signs of discrimination as a student in the 1970s, but hasn't faced such challenges
as a teacher.
She attended a predominantly white high school in Birmingham, Ala. At that
time, black and white students had different school clubs and went to separate
proms. Making up about 20 percent of the school population, black students didn't
win school elections or those held for homecoming queen and cheerleaders.
"It was difficult in those times because anything you had to vote on,
you were blocked," she said.
Perry worked as a nurse and dental assistant before she began teaching 11 years
ago. She was hired at Elizabethtown Independent Schools — the first place
she interviewed — shortly after completing her bachelor's degree in education
and said she's always felt accepted.
"Most of the kids, if you ask them, will say they're looking forward to
coming to Mrs. Perry's class," she said.
She feels she has a good relationship with parents, too. She sponsors the annual
eighth-grade trip. This year, she'll take a group to Philadelphia.
"That's a lot of responsibility and parents trust me to do that. I think
that says a lot," Perry said.
Opening communication
Progress in race relations in schools and any other area demands communication,
educators said. However, it may be a conversation some are not ready for.
While taking a graduate course, Alvin Garrison, principal at Radcliff Middle
School, was ask to analyze a case study and lead a class discussion about it.
His case study involved race and poverty issues. He was the only minority student
in the class.
After considering the assignment, Garrison was excited. It was an opportunity
to share his thoughts with a roomful of potential education leaders, and he
was ready to lead what he thought would be an important discussion.
Garrison presented the case and his analysis and opened the floor for discus-sion.
His excitement was met with silence. The class instructor, who had helped other
students get their discussions rolling, was quiet, too.
Garrison said he was disappointed, but didn't feel the others were discriminating
against him. Instead, he saw the incident as evidence that some people aren't
ready to talk about race or poverty issues in general, perhaps because they
are uncomfortable with those topics.
For all students to reach their highest potential, everyone with a stake in
education must be open with each other and committed to working together regardless
of cultural differences, Holmes said. Teachers, administrators, parents and
other members of the community have to work together for students.
"It should be a collabora-tion between us all," he said.
Spreading diversity
Black teachers and administrators do have a growing presence, but recruiting
diverse school staffs can be difficult.
"With the challenges of rural Kentucky, it's hard to recruit diversity,"
Garrison said. Professional minorities are not likely to work in a rural area
unless they already have ties to it.
At Radcliff Middle School, blacks make up about 15 percent of the 70-member
staff. Asians and Hispanics are represented to a smaller extent.
Minorities make up about half of the student population, with more than 30
percent of all students being black.
Garrison believes Hardin County Schools works to lure more minority candidates
into job pools. Yet, he said diversity is a growth area for all school districts
and will likely remain so for a while. Increasing diversity is a task that will
take time, he said.
In higher education, recruiting job applicants of all races who meet the requirements
of an accrediting agency poses challenges. White said fewer younger people are
entering the college education field just as many college professors are nearing
retirement. Colleges recruit on a national level and hope programs that increase
the awareness of careers in higher education among middle and high school students
will help.
Diversity is spreading among ECTC employees. In 1998, eight black faculty and
staff members worked at Elizabethtown Community College. That number does not
include any black instructors working at the technical college. Now, with the
community and technical colleges consolidated, ECTC employs 22 black men and
women, including White and Linda Glover, the school's provost and chief executive
officer.
Educators said attracting diverse staffs is important as it gives students
role models from different backgrounds and cultures.
Minorities have different experiences, which can be beneficial to students,
Holmes said.
"You can learn something from everyone," he said.
Educators have an opportunity to be positive role models for children. If this
story is rewritten in 20 years, those working in education now will potentially
show up on future leaders' lists of people who influenced them.
"Students need to see people who look like them," White said.
She believes the entire faculty at ECTC should strive to understand the entire
student body. But sometimes, students feel more comfortable confiding in someone
who shares their cultural background, and it is important people with similar
cultures are available at the school.
To black students, a black teacher is an example of success and makes their
own hopes for success seem more realistic, educators said. To white students,
a black teacher provides exposure to a background unlike their own and an opportunity
to dispel misconceptions about different races.
Garrison said students can see him as a black professional in a respectable
position. Maybe they look at him and think, "that could be me."
"It's a constant reinforcement every time I walk up and down these halls,
and that's why I love my job," he said.
The News-Enterprise
February 20, 2005
Metal of honor: Matt Clark is one of the best young welders in the country
In the welder's workshop at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College,
dressed in a baseball cap, a T-shirt and jeans ripped at the knee, Matt Clark
isn't the sort of guy to tell you how great he is.
The 19-year-old student is more likely to tell you, in his slow, matter-of-fact
voice, how great he isn't.
Clark seems so reserved he might not even take the time to say that.
But Clark's work, and his teacher, speak more clearly than the words he doesn't
say.
Clark is one of the country's best young welders, but you would never know
it by asking him.
"He's just the average Joe, he doesn't really stand out," said Jared
Spalding, his welding instructor. "But he does work pretty hard. Other
than his work ethic, he seems pretty laid back. But he'll work after hours,
no problem."
His work has qualified him for several competitions, including a regional and
state championship last year. This year, he finished sixth at the national competition,
but his biggest test may be yet to come.
He is currently competing against 24 students in a national welding trials
competition. If he does well in that, he will be eligible for an invitation
to compete in Dallas, Texas, at the U.S. Open Weld Trials. If he wins in Dallas,
he will earn a $40,000 scholarship, and the opportunity to represent the United
States in the Youth Skills Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.
If the pressure affects him at all, he doesn't show it.
"I might do all right, I guess," he said.
Being invited to Dallas will be the cap on a career path that almost never
started.
Clark is a welder by accident. At Grayson County High School, he wanted to
take an automotive class. That class was filled, so Clark did the next best
thing: He enrolled in a welding class.
Even then, if it wasn't for another student who boasted about his skills, Clark
may not have realized his welding potential.
"I wanted to be better than him," Clark said. "I beat him in
a competition."
Clark may seem laid back, and even lackadaisical. But after speaking with him
for only a few moments, it becomes apparent he thrives on competition.
In his first year of welding, he won the regional welding competitions, before
he "choked" at the state competition, he said. He remedied that loss
with a victory last year.
Mary Jo King, campus contact for ECTC, said she believes Clark is a "perfectionist,"
a claim which he tried to deny, but eventually agreed with.
"I try to be, but sometimes you can't," he said. "I never think
it's good enough — I'm picky."
After high school, Clark enrolled at ECTC. He is one of 15 to 20 students who
are training for future jobs in the profession.
Spalding, the instructor for the course, graduated from the technical school
just a few years ago. He competed in the national competition twice, finishing
in seventh and 11th places.
He understands the pressure, and is confident in Clark's chances.
"I think he has a good shot at it," he said.
Besides the national trials, which involves mailing in pieces of work under
tense deadlines, Clark also works a full-time job at nights welding at Altech
Industries in Elizabethtown. From there, with the help of caffeine and nicotine,
he attends morning classes at ECTC.
"They (coworkers) all tease me," he said. "They say I am going
to school so I can get a job welding."
Welding is something he does enjoy at times, and Clark intends to make a living
at it. He has a couple of different career paths he prefers.
"I'm motivated to get a good job, and retire in 10 years," he laughed.
Failing that, he said he would like to complete his education at Western Kentucky
University, and then find a place in the region where he can teach other people
his trade.
Job opportunities for this kind of skilled position aren't hard to come by,
Spalding said. At some of the weld-offs, or competitions he competed in, he
said many companies offered competitors jobs on the spot.
As an instructor, he helps Clark out in whatever areas he needs.
"He critiques his own work quite a bit," Spalding said. "I try
to encourage him as much as I can."
For Clark, despite his laid-back image, he is full of confidence, and even
shows a cautious optimism.
"I think I can probably do anything with enough practice," he said.
"I'd be glad to go to Dallas."
The News-Enterprise
February 22, 2005
E'town woman now top nurse of Army Reserves
Col. Mauhee Edmondson never imagined she'd end up in the Army, let alone as
the highest-ranking nurse in the Army Reserves.
The Hardin County native is the Chief Nurse of the U.S. Army Reserves Command
and serves as deputy surgeon-clinical for the Reserves from its headquarters
in Fort McPherson, Ga., where she spends most of her time.
She's been in the position for about four months, and she is only the third
person and second woman to hold the job. A 20-year Army Reserve veteran, she
feels she's reached the top of her career.
"This is the highest position I've held and about the highest I could
hold," she said.
Growing up in Hardin County, the only thing Edmondson knew about the military
came from her father, a World War II and Korean War veteran. But she never figured
she'd follow him into military service.
After graduating from Glendale High School, she knew she wanted to be a nurse.
Although she's too modest to admit it, she could be considered a nursing pioneer
in the region.
Edmondson was a graduate of the first nursing class at Elizabethtown Community
College, a graduate of the first two-year nursing program at Bellarmine University
in Louisville and a graduate of the first master's program in nursing at the
University of Louisville.
She had worked as a nurse and was teaching nursing at ECC when she came in
contact with an Army medical unit from Louisville.
"I was very impressed with their professionalism. That's really what sparked
my interest in the Army Reserves," she said.
She joined in 1984, serving as an emergency room nurse and a labor/delivery
nurse with the 5010th Army Hospital in Louisville. She was deployed during operations
Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991, serving as a nurse at Fort
Knox, Fort Sill, Okla., and Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
In 1995, she joined the Active Guard program and began serving as a training
officer at the combat support hospital in Johnson City, Tenn. She next traveled
to the 108th division to run the practical nurse program before serving in the
personnel and readiness office at the Pentagon.
As chief nurse of the Reserves, Edmondson is responsible for training of Reserves
medical staff and for ensuring adequate care for wounded soldiers and their
families.
She also crafts medical policies for the Army Reserves medical department and
writes testimony for individuals testifying before Congress.
Since beginning her job, she has visited several injured soldiers, including
those returning from Iraq, Afghanistan and other deployments. She considers
the visits not only part of her job, but a personal honor.
"My intent for going is to let them know they're loved ... and we value
the sacrifice and commitment they have made," she said.
Edmondson said she and her husband, Bill, maintain a home in Elizabethtown,
and she tries to make it back as often as she can.
Edmondson said she plans to stay at Fort McPherson until 2007, when she will
retire from the Reserves and resume permanent residency in Elizabethtown.
"Then my career will end, and I'll come on home," she said.
The Chonicle of Higher Education
February 25, 2005
A businessman bridges the political aisle
Virginia's governor won tax increases that helped colleges. Now
he wants a return on the investment.
Gov. Mark R. Warner is grinning, a glass of white wine in hand, as he greets
state lawmakers and other guests attending a reception at the governor's mansion
here on a balmy evening in January.
Mr. Warner, a tall, sandy-haired Democrat, has just delivered his final State
of the Commonwealth address, and he has reason to celebrate.
He is still basking in a legislative victory of the year before, when he and
moderate Republicans cobbled together a coalition of lawmakers in the Republican-controlled
General Assembly to pass a $1.3-billion package of tax increases and reforms.
The governor argued that the infusion of dollars was needed to bring public
colleges and other core state agencies back from the brink of decline after
several years of budget cuts.
In his State of the Commonwealth speech, Mr. Warner touted the fact that the
budget that passed last year included, among other things, $267-million more
for the state's colleges. "As a result," the governor said, "Virginia
ranked second in the nation last year in increased spending for higher education."
Improving Virginia's public colleges, and how they serve the state, has become
one of Mr. Warner's top priorities as governor, even as he embarks on his last
year in this one-term state. As the first in his family with a college degree,
Mr. Warner says he has seen firsthand the power of higher education to transform
a life and wants to improve access to that opportunity across Virginia.
A former businessman who has amassed an estimated net worth of $200-million
through investments in cellular phones and other technology ventures, Mr. Warner
has also tried to ensure that Virginia gets a better return on the money it
provides to higher education. To that end, the governor has tried to get Virginia's
independent-minded colleges to push more students through the system, and more
quickly, and to contribute to regional economies through increased research
and by other means.
"I'm a huge supporter of higher education," Mr. Warner says in an
interview. "I'm a friend, but just because I'm a friend doesn't mean I'm
going to agree with everything they say."
At a time when college leaders in many states are complaining that their governors
are cutting their budgets and are focused on other issues, Mr. Warner's efforts
here, and elsewhere, are attracting national attention. As chairman of the National
Governors Association, he is spending this year urging other states to adopt
reforms he has pressed for in Virginia that would make the senior year of high
school more productive. He wants seniors to be able to earn a full semester's
worth of college credit or to pursue training to win certifications they need
to gain certain technical jobs.
Mr. Warner's efforts to position himself as a governor with a strong education
legacy, in Virginia and across the country, may also serve to raise his political
capital. The Southern governor's ability to coax tax increases from a Republican-controlled
legislature while remaining popular among constituents has already fueled talk
about where Mr. Warner might try to take his agenda next. He could try to unseat
U.S. Sen. George Allen, a Republican, in 2006; he might make a play for the
Democratic presidential nomination in 2008; or he might even run again for governor
in 2009.
Mr. Warner is not without his critics. Anti-tax activists, for example, say
they are salivating over the possibility that Mr. Warner would campaign for
president or for the U.S. Senate. They note that he pushed for tax increases
after promising in his campaign that he would not.
"He lied his way into office," says Grover G. Norquist, president
of Americans for Tax Reform. "We bury Democrats who do this on a regular
basis."
How Mr. Warner's legacy on higher-education and budget issues plays out may
be tested later this year, in the race to succeed him. Jerry W. Kilgore, a former
attorney general in Virginia and the likely Republican candidate for governor,
opposed last year's tax increases and is expected to make them an issue against
Timothy M. Kaine, the lieutenant governor and presumed Democratic candidate,
who has embraced Mr. Warner's budget strategy.
Businesslike Approach
As governor, Mr. Warner operates much like a businessman. He is data-driven,
traipsing around Virginia last year with a PowerPoint presentation to argue
his case on the budget. He homes in on bottom-line realities: In talking about
the importance of getting more students to graduate from college, he says people
need to be made aware that their earning power increases more with an associate
degree than if they spend three years at the University of Virginia without
graduating.
He is also pragmatic. Limited by state law to one term, Mr. Warner has staked
out an agenda in higher education and other areas that he hopes will produce
measurable results in a short time frame. He delights, for instance, that he
was able to get public and private colleges in the state to agree last fall
to a set of subjects in which high-school students could take advanced courses
and be assured of receiving college credit.
And he says he chose, as chairman of the national-governors group, to push
reform of the senior year of high school because the goal is "doable."
Other governors in that role, Mr. Warner says, have selected campaigns like
curing poverty, tackling health-care problems, or fixing every school. "While
those are noble goals," he says, "a lot of times the recommendations
end up sitting on a shelf."
In conversations Mr. Warner is intense and animated. He makes sustained eye
contact and often leans forward to emphasize points. But he is also quick to
crack a joke and break into a wide, embracing smile. After practicing his State
of the Commonwealth address with aides, for example, he laughs about his pronunciation
gaffes and suggests having a football referee interrupt his speech and call
a penalty if he becomes too long-winded or performs poorly, as in a recent series
of beer commercials.
"This is a person who is overwhelmingly relaxed and personable,"
says Aims C. McGuinness Jr., a senior associate at the National Center for Higher
Education Management Systems, a nonprofit group that works to improve the way
colleges are run. When Mr. Warner first asked to meet with him, in February
2003, Mr. McGuinness remembers that he had donned a formal suit, but the governor
arrived wearing blue jeans.
Mr. Warner is, at the same time, serious and thoroughly engrossed in exploring
policy nuances, Mr. McGuinness says. Their meeting, he estimates, lasted four
hours.
Learning the Ropes
Nevertheless, many college leaders say Mr. Warner got off to a slow start on
higher education.
When he took office in 2002, his attention was largely consumed with attacking
the $3.8-billion budget deficit the state then faced and with meeting other
high-priority needs, such as transportation. The governor slashed state appropriations
to colleges, along with those of most other agencies, to try to get Virginia
out of the red. The first spending plan adopted under his watch cut higher education
by 9.3 percent in 2002-3 and by 12.4 percent in 2003-4.
"There was kind of a general disappointment in years one and two as he
was feeling his way and learning the ropes," says David W. Breneman, dean
of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia.
Even as he was cutting college budgets, though, Mr. Warner was beginning to
win some favor from higher-education leaders. Within a month of taking office,
he issued an executive order to establish a commission to screen candidates
for university governing boards. Many college presidents praise the action for
improving the quality of their boards, which they felt had become too political
under previous governors.
Mr. Warner also reached into the community-college ranks for his education
secretary, selecting Belle S. Wheelan, president of Northern Virginia Community
College.
In the fall of his first year in office, Mr. Warner aggressively campaigned
for a $900-million bond package, which had been proposed by Republican lawmakers,
to pay for campus construction projects. Proponents of the package credit the
governor with helping to persuade voters to approve the plan by an overwhelming
margin. The next spring, Mr. Warner immersed himself in helping to get Virginia
Tech into the Atlantic Coast Conference in athletics. He pressured administrators
at the University of Virginia, already a conference member, to lobby on behalf
of Virginia Tech, which stood to gain greater national visibility and more television
money by becoming an ACC member.
Charles W. Steger, president of Virginia Tech, says Governor Warner's involvement
was significant in getting his university invited to join the conference. "Many
times a university president may not speak to a governor more than four or five
times in one term," Mr. Steger says. During the ACC negotiations, "I
talked with him four or five times in one day."
Mr. Warner's tenacity serves him particularly well in one-on-one encounters
with lawmakers, college leaders, and others, and it is in those private meetings
where many say he is most effective.
In last year's budget debate, Mr. Warner says, he worked to appeal to the "sensible
center" of Virginia's political parties as he went back to lawmakers, again
and again, to try to persuade them to vote for the tax package. "You can't
be some raging partisan," Mr. Warner says. "I don't think every good
policy idea comes with a D or an R next to it. You have to be relentless in
making your case."
The governor also had allies in the budget debate among higher-education and
business leaders.
Paul S. Trible Jr., president of Christopher Newport University, who formerly
served Virginia in the U.S. Senate as a Republican, led a group of college presidents
and others who stumped for the tax package. Mr. Trible says that budget cuts
earlier this decade had forced him to eliminate his university's programs in
nursing and other areas, increase class sizes, and lay off faculty members.
"One can be conservative and also believe there are times that it is necessary
and important to make investments in important government services," Mr.
Trible says. "Mark deserves much of the credit that higher education once
again is now a priority in the minds of the people of Virginia."
Critics of some of the governor's policies, though, argue that such praise
for Mr. Warner overstates his impact and overlooks how Republican lawmakers
pushed for higher education, such as in the 2002 bond measure.
G. Paul Nardo, chief adviser to Del. William J. Howell, speaker of the Virginia
House of Delegates, says that most members of the General Assembly want to support
the state's high-quality colleges as much as the governor does. And he questions
how far some of the governor's policies, such as his plan to improve the senior
year of high school, will go in making widespread changes.
"Some of the things he pledged in higher education is amorphous stuff,"
Mr. Nardo says.
Meeting State Needs
For his part, Mr. Warner hopes that some of his higher-education legacy will
evolve from a debate this year over university governance.
Last year the College of William and Mary, the University of Virginia, and
Virginia Tech began pushing a proposal to sever many of their ties with the
state and become state-assisted charter universities, a new kind of institution.
Governor Warner was skeptical about how much money the institutions would actually
save by winning some of the operating flexibilities they sought. And, like many
lawmakers, he was hesitant to create a whole new class of university, fearing
that the institutions might stray from their public missions.
Timothy J. Sullivan, president of the College of William and Mary, says he
got a phone call last summer from the governor. "He said, 'OK, Tim, I've
been reading in the newspapers what all of you want,'" Mr. Sullivan recounts.
"'Do you think we ought to sit down and talk about it?'"
Mr. Sullivan says he and other university presidents seeking charter status
shared a two-hour lunch with the governor to discuss their views. "In my
13 years as president, that has never happened," Mr. Sullivan says, praising
the governor for being candid and establishing a clear process for continuing
talks.
The legislation now moving through the General Assembly, and supported by the
governor, does not go as far as the three universities had proposed. But Mr.
Sullivan and the other presidents praise the plan for granting them more flexibility
and laying out a process by which they could seek more freedom in management
decisions. The state's other college leaders also embrace the legislation for
extending the new leeway to all state colleges.
In exchange for less regulation, the state's public institutions would have
to develop six-year financial, academic, and enrollment plans to spell out how
they would help meet state needs. Colleges, for instance, would have to detail
such factors as how much tuition they would charge each year under different
scenarios for how much state aid they might receive, and how they planned to
forge closer ties with elementary and secondary schools.
That is where Governor Warner hopes he can help make a lasting mark. "Governors
come and go," he says. "Even legislators come and go. The people with
the longest terms often are college presidents.
"This is a way to get a long-term commitment from them. If we can get
them to put that in writing, that'd be pretty cool."
Governor Warner's approach to higher education has won plaudits from some national
experts. Gordon K. Davies, executive director of the National Collaborative
for Postsecondary Education Policy and a former director of Virginia's higher-education
coordinating board, especially praises Mr. Warner's way of approaching institutions
as a means to fulfilling broad state needs rather than as an end in themselves.
"This is a crucial shift in policy perspective," Mr. Davies writes
in an e-mail message. He adds that it is an especially hard one to make in Virginia,
where all of the state's universities strive to be elite, like the University
of Virginia and the College of William and Mary.
Patrick M. Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher
Education, also credits Mr. Warner with pulling Virginia out of a spiral of
declining spending on higher education. "He has a remarkable set of initiatives
moving forward in Virginia and is starting to energize the discussions around
the country," he says. "I can't imagine that he's not going to be
a player in American politics for a long time to come."
Presidential Aspirations
But Governor Warner, who is 50, says he is not so sure what his future holds.
As he sits in his office in the Capitol, just over a week into his final legislative
session, he is flanked by portraits of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison on
the wall behind him. Just below them, on side tables, he has displayed several
photos of his wife, Lisa Collis, and their three daughters.
He says he will have to reconcile his political and personal worlds in deciding
what to do next. His wife and children aren't "real keen on all of this,"
he says.
Just the day before, in chilly Washington weather, the governor attended President
Bush's second inauguration. So with all the buzz around him as potential presidential
material, did he indulge in any visions of himself on the podium?
Mr. Warner smiles, shakes his head no. Then, he adds, "Also, I had cold
feet."
It takes a moment for him to catch his double entendre. His smile widens, and
he nods. "That was a good one," he says, chuckling. But before he
dwells too long on the prospects, he pulls himself back to the present.
The businessman is back on task. People keep asking him to reflect on his term
as governor, he says. But "we've got a lot of things still to do this year,"
he notes. "I've still got 25 percent of my job left."
The Chonicle of Higher Education
February 25, 2005
House panel approves job-training bill
Community colleges would receive $250-million in new federal job-training grants
under a bill that the education committee of the U.S. House of Representatives
approved last week.
The Job Training Improvement Act (H.R. 27) would put into effect President
Bush's proposal to award grants to two-year institutions to work with businesses
and local work-force-investment boards to provide job training in high-growth,
high-skill fields with labor shortages. Half of that money would come from a
"pilot and demonstration" account in the bill, and half would come
from national reserve funds for worker-training programs.
The bill also clarifies that only community colleges would be eligible for
the new grants and would allow governors, in consultation with state work-force-investment
boards, to determine how much money each partner that uses one-stop career centers
should contribute to their costs.
Under current law, all partners that use the centers -- which provide labor-market
information, job counseling, and training referrals to job seekers -- are required
to contribute, including community colleges.
The Chonicle of Higher Education
February 25, 2005
Vocational-education plan draws fire
President Bush's plan to eliminate vocational- and technical-education funds
for community colleges got a cool reception last week from Democrats, as well
as a key Republican, at a Congressional hearing on extending the federal law
that governs the programs.
In his 2006 budget proposal, released this month, the president called for
abolishing the $1.33-billion programs, which had been set up under the Carl
D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act. About 40 percent of the money
goes annually to community colleges.
The education committees in both chambers of Congress approved legislation
last year to renew the Perkins Act but could not agree on a final bill before
the 108th Congress adjourned. Now, with a new Congress, the bills must go through
the legislative process again.
Given Mr. Bush's budget proposal, however, some members of the education-reform
subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives wondered at the hearing whether
their work on the bill would be a wasted effort.
The Chonicle of Higher Education
February 25, 2005
Oregon court rules against 2-year colleges
The Oregon Court of Appeals has ruled against Central Oregon Community College
in its battle to change the formula by which the state's two-year colleges receive
state funds. The college's Board of Trustees has decided not to appeal the ruling,
bringing the two-year-long legal case to a close.
In its lawsuit, filed in December 2002, Central Oregon argued that colleges
that get more funds from local property taxes are unfairly penalized when state
appropriations are doled out.
The 1,100-student college, located in the fast-growing city of Bend, was later
joined by Rogue and Southwestern Oregon Community Colleges in the suit, which
was filed against the State Board of Education and the state commissioner for
community colleges and work-force development.
A lower-court judge ruled against the colleges in November 2003, and the Court
of Appeals affirmed that ruling this month.
James E. Middleton, president of Central Oregon, said he was disappointed by
the appellate court's decision. "Although COCC remains on a positive instructional
and fiscal foundation," he said, "this decision will increase long-term
challenges for the institution."
Mr. Middleton said that he was most discouraged that the court had issued no
opinion with the ruling. The colleges had sought clarification over the State
Board of Education's authority to change the formula.
The suit did, however, bring attention to the issue. A committee of presidents,
faculty members, and trustees from the state's 17 community colleges studied
alternative formulas and presented recommendations to the commissioner, Camille
Preus-Braly, last month.
While acknowledging that the panel's hearing was meant to discuss the reauthorization
of the Perkins Act, Rep. Tom Osborne, a Republican from Nebraska, said the president's
spending plan had put "the issue of funding on the front burner."
The bill was a topic of conversation at the National Legislative Seminar, a
conference that brought some 1,200 presidents and trustees of two-year colleges
to Washington last week. Speaking there, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
suggested that community-college officials had not offered enough hard data.
"Current and potential students need to base their decisions on information,
not anecdotes," she said.
The bill (HR 366) discussed by the House panel mirrors the legislation that
the full education committee approved last year. Community-college officials
largely supported that legislation, except for a provision that would have lumped
federal support for Tech-Prep programs, as they are called, into large block
grants for states.
The programs, which give students a technical education over two years of high
school and two years of community college, would not have been given a high
priority if states were not required to spend money on them, the officials said.
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