Crystal Ball Education Higher ed challenged to prepare future generations, watch resources closely
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By Nardy Baeza Bickel | MiBiz
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WEST MICHIGAN — A stagnant economy, declining funding and ever increased need for post-secondary education. What’s a college president to do? MiBiz asked 10 West Michigan college presidents to share their predictions of the new year. Participating are:
 C. Edward Balog |
Gaylen Byker |
Lee Coggin |
John M. Dunn |
David L. Eisler |
Steven C. Ender |
Oliver H. Evans |
Thomas J. Haas |
Dale K. Nesbary |
Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran |
Haas: Our greatest value as a university lies in our ability to prepare graduates for a new Michigan and a new economy. Our curriculum must be relevant to (business’) needs, and that’s why you are seeing growth in areas like our health sciences, business and engineering programs and strong internship opportunities for our students. Our challenge is to deal responsibly with the undependable and unpredictable nature of state funding while working with the governor and the legislature to prioritize higher education.
Wilson-Oyelaran: Kalamazoo Col- lege’s greatest opportunity is rooted in the outstanding educational experience we provide. The challenge lies in a much-needed revitalization of the economy, especially here in Michigan. With a revitalized economy—and the jobs it will bring—our families will be better equipped to support their children’s education, and our donors will have increased confidence to support our mission.
Eisler: The biggest challenge is how we can help rebuild the Michigan economy, create new opportunities for jobs and get more Michigan citizens back to work. We need both financial and human capital to revitalize the state, and subsequently put higher education funding on a sustainable track. I look forward to continued innovation as our university responds to the needs of our state.
Ender: When people lose their jobs, or face losing their jobs, they begin to look at options. One option has been to attend GRCC for retraining, retooling and strengthening their education. Over 32,000 students over the course of a year have chosen this option. The opportunity for GRCC is our exploding student population. Our challenge is to keep our doors open to all who would like to further their education as our historical funding streams decline.
Coggin: Collaboration between employers and colleges will be critical if we are to produce graduates who emerge with career-ready skills necessary to compete for the most in-demand jobs. Business must be made a partner in the establishment of program and course objectives, so a college degree remains relevant in an evolving job market.
Balog: Challenges for next year are inseparable from the economy. Unemployment is holding at near record levels. Discretionary spending is slowing down. And new job creation is anemic. For students and parents to commit to a college education in this atmosphere (it) will require a significant amount of confidence in the value of that education. This is the biggest challenge for higher education.
Byker: We do manufacturing extremely well, especially in West Michigan where we have a legacy of companies that have, over the years, created products that the world wants to buy. We need to figure out ways to continue to excel and to become even better. We also need to look at healthcare and the many new opportunities in that field. As institutions of higher education we can play a critical role in these growth areas. We need to recognize the trends in industry and be ready to meet the needs of our local, regional and global economies before those needs reach a critical or crisis level. We also need to develop and train and empower graduates who can be entrepreneurs.
Nesbary: Opportunities for community colleges are to increase the percentage of our service area holding college certificates and degrees, to serve a greater number of students in our service area, to extend our online/distance learning offerings and to explain to prospective students the relative value and quality of community colleges versus 4-year public and private institutions. Challenges for community colleges are limited state budgets and reduced property tax revenues and the perception that community colleges do not offer the same quality as do public and private 4-year institutions.
Dunn: The opportunities are enormous and the challenges are significant. Our state’s research institutions, like WMU, will have the opportunity to enhance local and state economic development with technology transfer—taking research on energy-efficient vehicle design from the simulation lab to the production floor, for instance. In the short term, though, we face a tough year of making sure our students find the financial aid that will provide them access. And we face the economic challenge of protecting our core academic programs.
Evans: Kendall’s student enrollment has seen strong growth in the past five years, so we are hopeful that we will to continue see that growth into the next year.
Haas: Governor-elect Snyder has said that education will be a priority for his administration, and I understood him to have included higher education in that declaration. He’s made it clear that outcomes and “values-based budgeting” will drive decisions. I believe Mr. Snyder fully understands that the states with the most prosperous economies are the states with the most college graduates.
Wilson-Oyelaran: Governor-elect Snyder earned three degrees by age 23, so he clearly sees the value in higher education. His platform calls for an educational process based on a seamless system that starts with pre-school and continues through college. I like the sound of that. Those of us in private higher education look forward to sharing with him the critical roles that our colleges—and the Michigan Tuition Grant — play in this process.
Eisler: Governor-elect Snyder was elected on a plan to re-grow the economy of Michigan. All of education, and especially higher education, is critical to the success of these efforts. If Michigan is going to successfully compete in the global economy, we will need educated citizens who are capable of continued learning in this rapidly changing environment.
Ender: I suspect that higher education will be a significant priority and that additional funding to support higher education will be based on some type of accountability/performance model. We look forward to working with the new administration. We applaud the fact that education is in the top ten focus areas of their strategy for success.
Coggin: Michigan ranks behind many states in its number of residents with a college degree. This must be corrected if we are to attract businesses and industries that are looking to locate and expand into markets with a college-educated workforce. The governor can demonstrate Michigan’s seriousness in addressing this higher education gap by supporting increased investments in education at all levels. Furthermore, the governor must lead the way in advocating that citizens embrace the importance of investing in their own education.
Balog: I would certainly expect a more entrepreneurial approach, which will encourage institutions to find ways to distinguish themselves from each other to find the right fit for the right student. We must all find ways to continue to provide access to higher education through new business models. For private institutions, this means a maintenance of our extensive financial aid programs.
Byker: The state of Michigan has cut support for college students dramatically the past several years. It is, and will be, a significant challenge for our colleges and universities and for the Michigan economy. I am hopeful that we can work with the state’s new administration to make the case for why funding of our private and public colleges and universities is an investment both now in our students and long-term in our state economy.
Nesbary: I see the Snyder administration applying “value for money” principles to higher education programs and budget processes.
Dunn: The new administration, like the previous one, is faced with some enormous budget challenges for which there are no easy answers. I believe Governor-elect Snyder has been very clear that he sees higher education as a critical part of the recipe for the state’s economic recovery. We stand ready to work to ensure that more Michigan citizens earn degrees and are ready for Michigan’s new economic needs.
Evans: We have reason to believe that with continued student growth we’ve already enjoyed, the new administration’s plan for more jobs will make higher education even more affordable.
Haas: Many of the families of our students are hurting financially, and we cannot carry on as though that does not matter to us. We decided to make changes that affected faculty and staff personally, but left our student programs alone. All employees accepted a wage freeze at a time in which we are also asking them to shoulder a greater percentage of their healthcare costs. We have reduced expenditure trends by more than $17 million from university budgets over the past two years.
Wilson-Oyelaran: In 2009, Kalamazoo instituted a three-year, $3 million budget reduction plan that allows us to remain good stewards of the college’s finances, while we ensure academic excellence and maintain institutional momentum. Our goal is to come out stronger on the other side of this economic downturn. This year, we began a longer term effort to enhance our resource base that will put us on solid footing for educating the next generation of students.
Eisler: We at Ferris State have worked very hard to be proactive about budgeting rather than having to react to cuts. We have been able to manage costs strategically, minimizing the impact on our students, and improving our education at the same time. Today, we teach one third more students than we did less than a decade ago and do so with essentially the same number of employees. These reductions have been achieved through attrition and early retirement incentives for our non-teaching staff.
Ender: GRCC has been focusing on financial accountability, utilizing cost savings while maintaining the quality of our educational programs. One specific example has been the deployment of large numbers of adjunct and temporary full-time faculty to accommodate the additional 3,000 credit students who have enrolled in the past two academic years. We are hopeful to reduce this dependence on part-timers in the next two to three years as budget conditions improve.
Coggin: Empowering students to take more ownership in their education provides an opportunity to control costs without sacrificing quality. Online services allow students to access information, register for classes, apply for financial aid, buy and sale textbooks, and verify academic progress once they become comfortable with processes and procedures.
Balog: We constantly monitor the allocation of resources so that we may direct them into the areas that will most significantly contribute to our graduates’ path to career preparation and lifelong learning. This means that no personnel decision is automatic.
Byker: To maintain educational quality, while also keeping tuition on the low end of the private college spectrum, Calvin employs numerous strategies, including a robust fundraising program. Our most recent capital campaign raised $155 million and almost a third of that was dedicated to scholarships and financial aid ($22.3 million) and faculty research and development.
Nesbary: Reductions in state and local funding may lead to the elimination of important academic faculty and staff, while at the same time, our enrollments continue to increase.
Dunn: We have long put an emphasis on preserving the resources we have in our faculty and in the classroom and laboratory so our students are able to learn from the best and with the equipment and settings they deserve. Over the past dozen years, we’ve increased the square footage of our campus facilities by 19 percent and at the same time decreased our energy usage by 17 percent. In every corner of campus you’ll find initiatives that save energy and enhance the environment. And we have reached out to our sister institutions to save money by purchasing items like energy and insurance as a group.
Evans: We have been fortunate to have continued to add faculty in order to sustain the strength of our programs. We have been very cautious, however, in adding administrative infrastructure.