The President’s Blog

Will Governor Bredesen roll out a plan to reorganize higher education this year?  Will UT and TBR be combined and THEC dropped from the list of state organizations?  Probably not.  At least that is what I am hearing from those who work in and around Nashville.   Apparently the political realities of reorganizing higher education are too much to tackle, even by a term-limited governor who has tremendous credibility and support among the people of the state and in the legislature.

There are issues that Governor Bredesen will tackle, however, and those issues revolve around funding and accountability.  The Governor and an unofficial taskforce are looking into “reorganizing” the funding formula for higher education.  When this issue is brought up, my greatest fear is that the real agenda is how to get more money into UTK’s hands at the expense of Pellissippi State.  In other words, how to give more money to fewer and fewer people rather than to provide funding where the people are going.   I hope that the conversation about the funding formula can move quickly  in the direction of “how can we serve the people of Tennessee” and “how can we improve the fortunes and opportunities for our state.”   Our mission is no less important than that of the University of Tennessee and I hope a new formula will honor that reality.

The thinking about accountability and about measuring student achievement usually starts out with graduation rates.  We know how to have great graduation rates.  We just do the same thing that Harvard and Yale have done: raise the entrance requirements to a point that most of those who enter will graduate.  We can do that, but it is not our mission.

For community colleges, student achievement will need many measures if we are to be judged accurately.  With an open door policy,  we serve students with diverse levels of  preparation, motivation, and broad intentions, so, we will need to measure many things to get a fair record of our students’ achievement.  Fortunately, there are some good discussions being held around the nation.  Here are some milestones suggested by the National Governor’s Association:

1.  Successful completion of remedial/developmental and core courses.

2. Advancement from remedial/developmental to college credit-bearing courses.

3. Transfer from a two-years institution to a four-year institution.

4.  Attainment of credentials (licensure, certification, certificates, diplomas less than a degree).

I think that these measures are a good point from which to start the discussion about measuring student achievement, and I hope that Governor Bredesen and THEC will give these standards serious consideration.  Without a fair and equitable level of funding, our ability to provide quality instruction is hampered by lack of full-time faculty, equipment, and professional development opportunities.   And quality matters to us and to those we serve.