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Cleveland
Plain Dealer...
Ohio Gov. John
Kasich’s proposed university reforms draw praise and criticism
Friday, March 18, 2011
By Karen Farkas, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- College officials and faculty, braced for major cuts
in state support, were encouraged by the portion of Gov. John Kasich’s
budget proposal that would actually increase basic aid slightly over
the next two years.
But his blueprint to rein in the cost of public higher education also
includes dictating that faculty members teach more classes and
requiring universities to develop a faster path to a degree.
That’s where the governor’s plan met some resistance.
Under his proposal, a faculty member would teach an extra class every
two years. Universities also would have to develop three-year
undergraduate degrees.
Those are issues that should be decided on campus, not in the
Statehouse, said Bruce Johnson, president of the Inter-University
Council of Ohio, an association that represents Ohio’s 14 public
universities.
“I know presidents would not support legislation on how much teaching
loads should be,” Johnson said. “To suggest that when the legislature
works only twice a week - that’s silly.”
Kasich addressed higher education reform because the cost of higher
education is rising faster than health care and the funding model is
unsustainable, his spokesman Rob Nichols said in an e-mailed response
to Johnson’s comments.
“The budget brings costs-containment to higher education to protect
Ohio taxpayers as well as students and families struggling to pay
tuition,” he wrote.
In fact, the idea of a three-year undergraduate degree gained
prominence in October 1991 when S. Frederick Starr, then president of
private Oberlin College, wrote in an opinion piece for the New York
Times that higher education was too expensive and that one solution
would be to offer students a degree in three years.
But Jeff Karem, an associate professor of English at Cleveland State
University and president of its chapter of the American Association of
University Professors, said he was puzzled by Kasich’s support of
three-year degrees.
“It’s like an academic Jiffy Lube,” said Karem. “I’m not sure what the
point of this is other than to speed up delivery time. It is hard to
imagine that happening without quality being sacrificed.”
For students and their families, Kasich’s proposal to continue a 3.5
percent cap on tuition increases is some comfort.
But any tuition increase will be tough to absorb, said Heather Duer,
27, a junior civil engineering major at CSU.
“Since I and my husband are putting myself through school, it is a huge
issue,” said Duer, of Madison.
She and others wonder if universities will have to find another way to
make up for the loss of one-time federal stimulus money -- about $590
million -- that propped up the higher education budget over the last
two years. That could lead to higher fees or increases for room and
board -- all outside the tuition cap.
Duer, who uses loans and scholarships to supplement the cost of her
education, said she’s hoping overall costs remain low “as long as I can
still get the same quality education.”
College officials, including CSU President Ronald Berkman, have been
trying to counter expected budget shortfalls by not filling positions
and examining all non-personnel expenditures.
“One of the unique missions to CSU is that we have a special obligation
to make higher education as accessible as possible,” said spokesman Joe
Mosbrook. “It is a balance because at the same time you don’t want to
compromise the quality of education.”
Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee and Kent State University
President Lester Lefton were among those who issued statements praising
Kasich for doing what he could to support higher education during
challenging financial times. They also said they were happy to see the
governor float the idea of freeing universities from some regulations.
Among the governor’s proposed reforms is to establish a charter
university program, in which colleges would lose some of their state
money but gain authority to set tuition, control construction projects
and manage employee salaries and benefits.
Under Kasich’s plan, the Board of Regents also will work with
universities to reduce their cost of remedial education and require
local school districts to revamp courses to make sure their graduates
are ready for college-level classes.
Faculty leaders seemed united in their skepticism about some elements
of the governor’s proposal.
Harvey Sterns, professor of psychology and chairman of the faculty
senate at the University of Akron, said it appears Kasich believes
faculty aren’t teaching enough when many, including himself, take on
extra assignments.
At his university, faculty generally teach two courses a semester. But
the teaching load may be adjusted based on whether a professor is
teaching doctoral, master’s or undergraduate students, conducting
research, writing a book or involved in other campus activities -- all
things that benefit the institution, said Stearns, who has been at the
university for about 40 years.”
Donald “Mack” Hassler, professor of English and chair of the faculty
senate at Kent State University, dislikes the idea of a three-year
degree, but said he was pleased Kasich’s budget didn’t decimate funding
for universities.
“I am so pleased with his generosity toward us in terms of economics
that I am willing to listen to his faulty educational ideas,” he said.
“He is a very smart man, but in a sense this (three-year degree) is
kind of a harebrained idea.”
Read it at the Cleveland Plain Dealer
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