Higher Education & the Workforce
Today, more and more, the economy is playing a major role in the shape of higher education. In our increasingly competitive global economy, how can our region and our states, along with the nation as a whole, remain economically vital? This is the question policymakers and educators in the West are struggling with today, and it has become an important issue for WICHE, as well. Over the last several months, WICHE has held meetings and published papers focused on this theme.
In July WICHE hosted the Western Summit on Workforce Certification and Higher Education in South Lake Tahoe, CA. The meeting, which drew some 70 attendees from all 15 WICHE states, was held in response to the national demand for more highly skilled workers in a host of fields, from healthcare to high tech. Participants explored how states might use a workforce certification system – which would allow business and higher education to communicate with a common language about workforce demand and supply – to improve their ability to prepare individuals for productive careers and enhance the health of their economies. A highlight of the summit: A presentation by Jimmy Clarke, former chief of staff to former Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, in which he shared lessons learned in the wake of the Katrina and Rita hurricanes and how they can be applied to meeting workforce development and educational challenges.
In April the State Scholars Initiative (SSI) staged the National Summit on Academic Rigor and Relevance in Boston. The summit brought together national business and education leaders who spoke about how we can improve high school rigor and relevance, with a goal to better preparing students for work and college. Also present were teams from 36 states and territories, from Alaska to Guam. Speakers included Leon Lederman, Nobel Prize winner in physics; Roy Romer, former governor of Colorado and Los Angeles school superintendent, as well as head of Strong American Schools, which is working to put education on the political agenda; Belle Whelan, president of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; and David Kolb, president of the Committee for Economic Development. A detailed follow-up report will be available on the SSI website (www.wiche.edu/statescholars).
In April the steering board of the WICHE Internet Course Exchange (WICHE ICE), which helps institutions share online courses and programs, met at Boise State University to discuss the initiative’s future growth and sustainability. ICE’s meeting dovetailed with the annual meeting of the Northwest Academic Forum (WICHE provides NWAF with staff support and is its fiscal agent), where members explored the theme “Local to Global: Partnerships and Strategies for Improvement,” focusing on globalization, accountability for higher education, and course redesign.
The West’s demographics, along with its geography and population distribution, present unique challenges to preparing our students to participate in the economy and also to meeting workforce needs, especially in areas like healthcare. In May WICHE released a workforce brief on medical education for physicians. The brief, the third in a series that looks specifically at the West’s healthcare workforce needs, highlights three interrelated workforce issues of importance to physicians and medical schools: the shortage of physicians and the planned expansion of medical school enrollment; medical student indebtedness; and primary care physician service, with an emphasis on care delivery in rural areas. The report suggests strategies for helping Western states to join resources, particularly in higher education. WICHE also completed two companion surveys: one details medical school expansion plans in the WICHE region; and the second addresses Western schools’ rural track programs and other rural-related activities for medical students. These publications, along with additional briefs addressing health information technology and pharmacy, are available at www.wiche.edu/SEP/PSEP. Also available: The Inventory of Rural Health Practice Incentives in the Western WICHE States, which looks at recruitment tools used in the West to help attract healthcare professional graduates to rural and underserved areas.Other WICHE News
WICHE staff collaborated with Alaska and Nevada to apply for the College Access Challenge Grant Program, a new federal formula-grant program designed to foster partnerships among federal, state, and local governments and philanthropic organizations through matching challenge grants that aim at increasing the number of low-income students prepared to succeed in postsecondary education. Through a consortium and network, Western states will have the opportunity to network, learn from each other, share best practices and lessons learned, and explore evidence-based research related to these grant programs.
In addition, as part of a project funded by Lumina Foundation for Education, Non-traditional No More: Policy Solutions for Adult Learners, WICHE held meetings in Arkansas, Colorado, and Nevada (the three project states) to launch efforts for helping “ready adults”: those who are close to earning a college degree but have not yet returned to postsecondary education. This comprehensive effort will continue through October 2009. WICHE is working with Lumina to create a network in which more states can be a part of this important effort.
In June WICHE launched its new Lumina-funded project, Getting What You Pay For: Understanding Higher Education Appropriations, Tuition, and Financial Aid. The goal of this project is to promote informed decision making and the alignment of higher education appropriations, tuition, and financial aid policy by educating state legislators; news media, especially state house and higher education reporters; and others about these issues in an effort to increase student access and success. Together with the National Conference of State Legislatures, and in collaboration with the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, WICHE will produce eight policy briefs targeted to the state legislative audience, so that they may better understand the importance of policy alignment.
Mixed Media
Knocking at the College Door, WICHE’s projections of high school graduates, can now be downloaded at no cost from the WICHE website (www.wiche.edu). Knocking, whose 7th edition was published earlier this year, offers new data on high school graduation rates by state and region, as well as information about the demographic make-up of each year’s graduating class, projected from 2005-06 through 2021-22. Another new WICHE publication that reflects on forthcoming demographic changes and education is “Beyond Social Justice,” by Patrick Kelly of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.
Contacts
David Longanecker, President - Phone: (303) 541-0201, email dlonganecker@wiche.edu
Jere Mock, Vice President, Programs and Services - Phone: (303) 541-0222, email jmock@wiche.edu
The fifteen member states of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education work collaboratively to expand educational access and excellence for all citizens of the West. By promoting innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy among states and institutions, WICHE strengthens higher education's contributions to the region's social, economic, and civic life.
