Maintaining and Expanding Access
Increasing Productivity in Higher Education
Accountability and Performance Based Budgeting
Deregulation in Higher Education
Economic Development
A number of issues emerged from the interviews as important for
Florida. Five were mentioned repeatedly, even though they were
not necessarily perceived as equally important. They include:
(1) maintaining and expanding access to higher education for Florida
residents; (2) increasing the productivity of higher education;
(3) improving accountability and developing performance-based
budgeting; (4) "deregulating" higher education; and (5) promoting
economic development in the state.
The number of high school graduates projected to actually enroll
in the State University System is expected to increase by about
33 percent (or 40,000 FTE students) over the next ten years. Enrollment
in the community colleges is projected to increase by 32 percent
(or 66,000 FTE students) during the same period.
One strategy for accommodating growth in higher education proposed
by the Board of Regents and supported by the Governor's office,
the commissioner of education and key leaders in the House is
to "expand to allow 20 percent of Florida high school graduates
to enroll as first-time-in-college (FTIC) students at state universities."
The commissioner of education convened a special council to advise
him on this issue and the council endorsed the Regents' plan to
expand its admission for FTIC graduates by one percent for 1994,
(to 16 percent) and recommended further study to determine the
appropriate share of FTIC students by the postsecondary sector.
Since then, the number has grown steadily but slowly. Currently,
the University System admits approximately 16.9 percent FTIC.
Another option for expanding access was the recent action of the
Florida Legislature to limit the state-funded subsidy to 60 credit
hours for an associate's degree and 120 credit hours for a baccalaureate
degree. After completing a study based mostly on students attending
the University of Florida, legislators discovered that, on average,
students took about 23 credit hours beyond what was necessary
for graduation. Difficulty in getting the required classes and
poor articulation between the community colleges and senior institutions
accounted for most of the excess in credit hours taken. The intent
of the legislative limit is to increase efficiency and expand
access by making better use of student time and limiting time
to degree. As one legislator put it, "the purpose of the new initiative
is to save money through reducing the number of excess credits
the students take and to use this money to fund the new students
who are coming down the pike."
Accommodating new enrollment growth in Florida's community colleges
and increasing the vocational educational offerings around the
state are other options under discussion by elected and education
officials. While no official policy yet exists that would divert
more students to the community colleges, one state education official
stated that this is under consideration. One means to achieve
this goal would be to allow community college campuses to offer
course work for baccalaureate degrees that would then conferred
by four-years institutions.
Under the umbrella of maintaining and expanding access to higher
education in Florida, staff in the Governor's office predicted
that issues related to remedial education and academic preparation
generally would gain increasing attention. There is a perception
in the state that inadequate preparation for college is becoming
a barrier to access. Supporting this notion was the passage of
legislation in 1995 that reduced the importance of the Florida
rising junior exam (CLAST) for sophomore students. Beginning in
1996, Florida students will be allowed to use other ways to demonstrate
academic readiness for upper-division work-by scoring high enough
on the SAT or scoring good grades in certain high school or college
courses. Tensions over the use of this exam as a "gatekeeper"
since its inception in the mid-1980s have existed between community college and legislative leaders.
While one Florida official stated, "There's no way that we can
build facilities to accommodate" the growth expected in Florida
higher education, plans are underway in Florida to open one new
campus to handle growth in the southern part of the state. The
Florida Gulf Coast University is scheduled to open in 1997 with
a projected enrollment of about 1,000 FTE students. Officials
predict that enrollment will grow to 4,000 FTE students by the
year 2003. A ten-year enrollment target of 8,100 students was
recommended by the Board of Regents, with enrollment expected
to double to over 16,000 in 25 years.
A final option for accommodating student enrollment is for Florida to make better use of private colleges and universities in the state, a number of interviewees reported. Independent colleges and universities in Florida now enroll approximately 100,000 students. Legislators and other state officials mentioned with frequency their interest in "buying" spaces in independent colleges and universities. A recent report from the Business Higher Education Partnership recommended that state policies support the movement of about 10,000 students into the private colleges and universities. Also, the State Board of Community Colleges has been working with Florida's private institutions of higher education to develop a comprehensive articulation agreement to improve the articulation of students from public community colleges to private institutions.
Discussed less frequently but equally important is the law's limit
of 36 credit hours for general education courses. A legislative
staff member stated that this limit was imposed to get faculty
to pay attention to general education and make sure that students
aren't taking more than they need, simply due to faculty neglect
of the curriculum. A faculty member, however, told us that his
institution has "been forced to compromise" in the area of general
education by limiting writing courses and reducing the number
of science courses available for students.
In response to the limit on the number of credit hours, the University
of Florida has offered high-demand courses during the evenings
and weekends. Additionally, this institution has guaranteed that
students can finish their degree programs within the caps.
The Legislature has also been active in convening community college
presidents with university presidents to address the issues of
transfer and course requirements for various fields. Many of the
excessive credit hours were being taken by community college transfer
students who could not transfer courses or who were required to
retake many of the university's general education courses.
Concerning other issues, the Legislature has introduced incentives for good teaching, with up to $5,000 increases in base salaries for exemplary teachers. One legislator noted that upcoming legislative sessions are expected to focus on teaching excellence-through an explicit discussion of tenure and the appropriate criteria for tenure. In addition, the Board of Regents held a "retreat" to talk about tenure, and alternatives to it, in early 1996. As one newspaper editor noted, "Tenure will be under fire in 1996." Already, Florida Gulf Coast University, due to open in 1997, is hiring professors on multiyear contracts instead of offering tenure.
Both the State University System and the community college system
have been requested to submit accountability plans, the first
step in implementing performance-based budgeting. The community
colleges, the first to use the performance-based budgeting system,
will be the "guinea pigs," as described by legislative staff.
The first performance-based budget will be submitted to the Legislature
by the community colleges in 1996-97. Three major areas driving
the performance-based budget for the community colleges are measures
of effectiveness related to the AA degree, the AS degree, and
remedial and college preparatory course work. The State University
System will be required by the Legislature to produce a performance-based
budget in the next few years. Several years ago the University
System was granted increased flexibility through a lump-sum budget
(based on a formula) rather than a line-item budget for each institution.
Some state education officials are skeptical that performance would be the driving force for budget decisions in the future. If performance of key indicators were the primary drivers of the budget for community colleges, one official stated, you would see a redistribution of dollars from South Florida, particularly in the Miami-Dade area, to other institutions across the state. This is unlikely, he speculated, given the political power of South Florida in the Legislature. More likely, he said, a small pool of new dollars would be set aside to address performance-related criteria.
In the last few months of 1995, more talk about "deregulation"
surfaced, this time in a proposal by UF President John Lombardi.
As a result of Lombardi's close work with legislative leaders
on the credit-hour issue, discussions were being held about how
to reduce the costs of higher education over the long term. Lombardi
wrote a draft proposal, "Improving Efficiency and Accountability:
Deregulating University Instructional Funding," that called for
providing a maximum number of educational credits to Florida students
admitted to any Florida college or university. The credits would
be transferable from institution to institution. Students would
choose where to use their educational credits, based on institutional
programs and a whole host of other market-related factors. Institutional
leaders would set tuition according to the market value of their
programs and services. Tuition differentials would exist within
the University System.
Prior to a full discussion of the proposal with the SUS chancellor
and presidents, the Lombardi proposal was shared with legislative
leaders, their staff, and the media. Some regents, concerned that
the proposal was shared publicly before it was discussed with
the full board and with other SUS officials, immediately criticized
Lombardi. Legislative leaders who had been discussing ideas with
Lombardi for several months believed that the system was trying
to silence him and that the Regents were threatened by the idea
of change and deregulation. Editorial writers came to Lombardi's
defense and portrayed the system as an entrenched bureaucracy.
Meanwhile, some regents and the chancellor's office accused Lombardi
of sandbagging them and making end-runs to the Legislature. The
chair of the Regents chastised Lombardi in a handwritten letter,
later made public, suggesting that this type of behavior was inappropriate
and, if continued, might result in the president looking elsewhere
for employment.
Since the controversy erupted, the rhetoric from all sides has
cooled. Legislators, however, still angered by the system's actions,
introduced a bill that would have significantly weakened the authority
of the system office and changed the chancellor's title to executive
director. The legislation was not enacted.
Since the conflict over John Lombardi's proposal for deregulation
in late 1995, the Business/Higher Education Partnership has endorsed
a recommendation in their recent report to increase student tuition
in the near term, but to also authorize a phased-in plan for privatization
and decentralization of the state universities. This recommendation
includes giving presidents latitude to set tuition as they think
appropriate to their markets.
Staff from the Legislature and the Governor's office discussed the importance of vocational education and school-to-work programs as a critical strategy for economic development. A legislative committee chair said that he finds it disconcerting that many students, after earning a bachelor's degree, return to the community colleges and technical institutions to learn job skills. He sees the connection between education and work as critical not just for the individual but also for the state.
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