Leadership Institute

Monday, December 5, 2005

1.00 - 1.15 pm

Welcome and Opening Comments

Speakers:
Julie Davis Bell, Education Group Director, National Conference of State Legislatures
David Longanecker, Executive Director, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education

1.15 - 2.30 pm

View from the States

Policymakers and stakeholders often learn the most about emerging issues, including what issues states are facing and strategies for tackling the inevitable challenges to problem resolution, through direct conversation with their colleagues from other states. Through targeted questions posed to participants, this session will provide each state with the opportunity to share their experiences and perspectives on important issues related to the integration of higher education appropriations, financial aid, and tuition policy.

Speaker:
Julie Davis Bell, Education Group Director, National Conference of State Legislatures

2:45 - 4.00 pm

Jones' presentation

Policies in Sync: Aligning Appropriations, Financial Aid, and Tuition

Regardless of the near-term economic outlook, some states will spend the remaining years of this decade recovering from the effects of the recent revenue and appropriations seesaw and the attendant effects on tuition and financial aid. In this environment, state leaders must learn to strategically deploy financing policy toward ends rather than means. This session will help participants strategize about how to better align policy to encourage educational outcomes consistent with the economic benefits and enhanced quality of life for a state’s citizens.

Moderator:
Demarée Michelau, Project Coordinator for Policy Analysis and Research, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education

Speaker:
Dennis Jones, President, National Center for Higher Education Management Systems

4.00 - 5.00 pm

Lenth's presentation

Linking Funding Strategies to Accountability: Meeting Changing Demands

As state budgets are beginning to recover from the most recent economic downturn, policymakers now are starting to think in new ways about higher education funding and how it fits in with accountability in an effort to better reflect long-term state higher education goals. Join us for a discussion about the challenges facing states and what state legislators might consider doing in the future to address accountability.

Moderator:
Charles Lenth, Senior Associate, State Higher Education Executive Officers

Respondent:
Representative Timm Ormsby, Washington

Tuesday, December 6, 2005

9.00 - 10.00 am

Aligning State and Federal Policy: Appropriations, Financial Aid and Tuition

State policymakers too often make piecemeal decisions about appropriations, financial aid, and tuition policy—resulting in a hodgepodge of disconnected policies that sometimes are in conflict and federal policymaking rarely is created with state policy impacts in mind or vice versa. Through an interactive discussion, this session will explore the intersection between federal and state policy decisions using specific examples and how they can be better integrated to increase access.

Moderator:
David Longanecker, Executive Director, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education

Respondents:
Travis Reindl, Director of State Policy Analysis and Assistant to the President, American Association of State Colleges and Universities

10.30 - 11.45 am

New Strategies For Finding Higher Education

As states are less able, and less willing in some cases, to provide the necessary financial support for higher education, states are exploring new ways of providing services to students, including increased independence for institutions and in some cases, privatization. This session will explore the reasons for and consequences of reduced state support for higher education and a potentially redefined role of the state by closely examining the context and strategies of two states, Virginia and Colorado, from both the perspectives of the policymaker and the implementer.

Moderator: Senator Dave Nething, North Dakota

Speakers:
Daniel LaVista, Executive Director, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
Amy Sebring, Legislative Staff, Senate Finance Committee, Virginia General Assembly
Matt Gianneschi, Chief Academic Officer, Colorado Commission on Higher Education
Michelle Hanigsberg, Senior Staff Attorney, Legislative Legal Services, Colorado

1.00 - 2:00 pm

Vukovich's presentation

Twigg's presentation

Efficiency and Productivity: The Next Generation of Approaches

When aligning financing and financial aid policies, states might consider analysis of system and institutional efficiency and productivity. The competing education, health care, and public safety—and demographic shifts—guarantee leaders will have to consider redesigning how the educational product is feature promising practices in enterprise management and program design states better focus and leverage their fiscal and personnel investments.

Moderator: Cheryl Blanco, Senior Program Director, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education

Speakers:

Linda Vukovich, Director of Budget Analysis, University System of Maryland

Carol Twigg, Executive Director, Center for Academic Transformation

2:00 - 2:30 pm

Closing Discussion