HECB Executive Director Don Bennett answers questions on TVW

On TVW’s The Impact program this week, students discuss how college budget cuts and tuition increases are affecting them. HECB Executive Director Don Bennett discusses the House and Senate budget proposals, the connection between financial aid and higher education policy, and the HECB’s role as some state leaders call for both increased tuition flexibility and greater institutional accountability.

Governor credits Legislature for work so far, calls special session to begin Tuesday

A special session of the Legislature will convene Tuesday to complete the work of adopting operations, capital and transportation budgets for the 2011-13 biennium, Gov. Chris Gregoire announced Friday. 

“This is a special session to address the budgets, period,” the Governor told reporters.  “This is a special session to get the job done that we’ve already started.”

Not only will the House and Senate attempt to reach agreement during the special session on their differing versions of the budget, they will also act upon 40 to 60 separate pieces of legislation necessary to implement the final budget, the Governor said.  “Within each are very tough policy decisions,” she said.

Among the pieces of legislation the Governor’s special session proclamation mentions as necessary to implement the budget are bills addressing changes to Washington’s Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program, and the Higher Education Funding Task Force recommendations.

Governor Gregoire said she was proud of the work accomplished by the Legislature during the 2011 regular session. She noted that the number of bills passed during the session was down dramatically from previous years, a sign that legislators were reluctant during the current fiscal crisis “to start new programs that drain our resources.”

One bill that did pass during the regular session and received special mention from the Governor Friday was E2SHB 1808, or the Launch Year Act. It requires higher education institutions to develop master lists of postsecondary courses that can be completed while a student is still in high school, through such programs as Running Start.  The Governor said the act will make it possible for more students to begin their postsecondary training while still in the 12^th grade. 

Governor Gregoire said one disappointment for her during the session was the Legislature’s lack of action on education governance. Before the session, the Governor proposed establishing a new Department of Education with a Secretary responsible to the Governor for improving educational performance.  Under the Governor’s proposal, the department would have incorporated various state-level agencies and functions from early learning through postsecondary education, and would have housed the independently elected Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Although the proposal was opposed by the state schools superintendent and others, the Governor said she would continue to work on governance with supporters in the Legislature.

Governor signs WGU bill

The Legislature’s intent to expand online access to higher education through a partnership with Western Governor’s University (WGU) was outlined in a bill signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire on Friday.

The Governor signed SHB 1822, which declares the Legislature’s intent to partner in establishing WGU-Washington, which would “offer online, competency-based degrees and provide enhanced access to postsecondary education for all Washington students, including dislocated workers and placebound students.”

The bill further seeks to facilitate the relationship with WGU-Washington by authorizing the HECB to:

·         Recognize and endorse online, competency-based education as an important component of the state’s higher education system;

·         Work to eliminate unnecessary barriers to the delivery of educational programs by WGU – Washington; and

·         Work with WGU – Washington, as appropriate, to integrate academic programs and services into the state’s higher education policy and strategy.

The bill signed by the Governor also requires the HECB to work with WGU-Washington to create data-sharing processes to assess the institution’s performance and determine the extent to which it helps the state achieve state higher education goals.

WGU is private non-profit institution created in the mid-1990s by 19 U.S. Governors, including then-Washington Gov. Mike Lowry.