House committee to discuss workforce needs report in Thursday session

The House Higher Education Committee will hold a workshop Thursday to discuss a new joint report on the state’s future workforce needs, including the challenge to produce more workers trained for high demand occupations in Washington.

The report, a joint effort by the HECB, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, and the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, predicts increased demand for trained workers in a range of employment categories that require postsecondary education.

Titled “A Skilled and Educated Workforce,” the report is the third in a series of biennial reports required by state law to assess forecasted net job openings at each level of higher education and the number of credentials needed to match the forecast of net job openings. A summary of the report's main conclusions was provided at the January HECB meeting.

To meet expected worker demand in the years ahead, the state will need to increase higher education system capacity to produce more trained workers at all education levels, the report notes.  In the past, Washington employers have responded to similar shortages of Washington trained workers by hiring them from other states and countries. 

About two-thirds of job openings in Washington between 2014 and 2019 will require at least a year of postsecondary education. To fill those jobs, an additional 9,000 degree holders above 2010 production level will be needed annually at the mid (two-year) level, 33,000 at the bachelor’s level, and 9,000 annual at the graduate level, the report indicates.

Washington is now well behind meeting increased degree targets set in the 2008 Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education and in a recent plan update adopted by the HECB. The final joint report will be published later this month and also will be available soon on the HECB, SBCTC and WTECB websites.  

The report includes a gap analysis of projected worker shortages in various employment categories requiring various levels of educational attainment.  For example, the analysis projects a relatively large shortage of trained workers to fill installation, maintenance and repair positions that require mid-level degrees between 2014 and 2019.

For positions requiring bachelor’s degrees, the largest gaps between 2010 degree production and future demand are in computer science and engineering, software engineering and architecture. In positions requiring a graduate degree, the biggest gaps are projected in the health professions and computer sciences.    

The report also cites the state’s long-standing shortages of registered nurses as an example of the progress that can be made when the entire system works toward the goal of narrowing the trained worker gap.   Since 2003, the state has increased the annual number of associate and bachelor’s level nursing graduates by over 68 percent. 

“This was possible because state agencies, public and private institutions, labor and the industry remained focused on the nursing shortage over the long term and the Legislature and the Governor provided support for growth in this area.”

A similar emphasis has now been placed on the training of aerospace workers, a development that could lead to substantial progress in filling the needs of that employment area, the report says.

News Release: Higher Education Coordinating Board voices alarm at continued state funding cuts

OLYMPIA – The 10 citizen members of the Higher Education Coordinating Board, which provides coordination and oversight for the state’s higher education system, say they are ‘deeply troubled’ by the state’s inability to deliver on its central planning goal of raising educational attainment.

In forwarding the 2012 update of the state’s Strategic Master Plan to the Governor, board members emphasized the state is losing ground in efforts to increase the percentage of citizens who have completed postsecondary education:  apprenticeships, certificates, or degrees.

Washington is 9,000 degrees short of being on track to raise annual bachelor’s degree production to 39,000 — one of the principal strategies approved in the 2008 Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education in Washington, board members noted.

Progress to increase the number of mid-level and advanced degrees and certificates has been equally stymied by deep budget cuts over the last four years.

In a letter sent with the 2012 Plan Update to the Governor, legislators, education stakeholders, and the media, board members stated they could no longer sit by quietly watching the erosion of ‘our excellent higher education system… and not raise our collective voice in alarm.’

The grave possibility of continued deep budget cuts this year, continued reductions in student financial aid, and unprecedented tuition increases are creating a firestorm that is reducing academic options, limiting access, and eroding affordability for thousands of students, board members stated.

“When we cut higher education funding, we disinvest in a critical economic priority and we abdicate our responsibility to offer and incent educational opportunity to all our citizens,” the letter said.

The citizen board is charged by statute to represent the broad public interest in higher education above the interests of the individual institutions.  In existence since 1985, the board will complete its work later this spring, when it is replaced by a new council composed of institutional representatives and citizen members under legislation currently being considered.

Strategic Master Plan Update 2012

Board Letter to Governor and Legislators

Bill addressing differential tuition under consideration in Senate

In 2011, the Legislature passed a law allowing the state’s higher education institutions to charge differential fees for specific, high-cost courses such as engineering. These differential fees would not be required of all students.

The Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program, which is administered by the HECB, published a short background paper Wednesday on the impact a new differential fee bill, SSB 6399, could have on the GET program.

Under existing law, tuition consists of building fees and operating fees charged to all students registering at state colleges and universities. Under the GET program, a family’s decision to purchase 100 GET units today guarantees a year of future resident undergraduate tuition and state-mandated fees at the most expensive public university in Washington. The state-mandated fees that are covered by GET are those charged to all students. This original GET guarantee is honored for all participants. SSB 6399 would make it clear that the term operating fee does not apply to differential fees that are unique to specific programs of study.

The HECB supports the legislation to ensure the continued solvency of the GET program. The language of SSB 6399 is in line with the current GET statute and GET’s Master Agreement. Increasing the amount of fees GET is responsible for would result in a substantial increase in GET’s unit price, putting college savings further out of reach for thousands of families.

SSB 6399 was passed by the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee Wednesday and sent to the Ways and Means Committee. The substitute included amendments requiring institutions to consult with student associations before establishing differential fees and further defines such fees.

House, Senate offer two versions of a bill to replace HECB

Hearings continued this week on House and Senate bills that would transfer many of the responsibilities of the Higher Education Coordinating Board to a successor entity – either a Council for Higher Education or a Student Achievement Council.

The public hearings for these bills were held last week, when inclement weather prohibited many interested parties from attending. To enable a full discussion, the chairs of the House Higher Education Committee and the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee scheduled additional public hearings this week.

The House bill, HB 2483, under a proposed substitute, would create a Student Achievement Council as a state agency with a director appointed by the Governor from a list provided by the citizen members of the council.  This bill and its Senate companion bill, SB 6232, are based on the Higher Education Steering Committee recommendations.

SB 6269, an alternative to the Governor’s request legislation, would create a Council for Higher Education with a director selected by the council.

Legislative staff have prepared a comparison of key differences in the bills. Briefly, the House bill would create a nine-member council with five citizen representatives and the Senate bill would create a 14-member council with eight citizen representatives.  Institutional or sector representatives would be named to each council.

The House bill focuses on coordination and collaboration to increase statewide educational attainment; the Senate bill focuses more on policy development and coordination in higher education. The Senate bill would require the council to conduct a study and make recommendations on how best to expand its duties to include coordinating transitions from secondary to postsecondary education.

Testifying before the Senate committee Tuesday, Don Bennett, HECB executive director, said the proposed legislation would provide new emphasis on getting the relationship right between the legislature, the executive branch, and the institutions of higher education as they work to achieve the important central goal of raising statewide educational attainment.

The board has, over the years, served as a focal point for these discussions, Bennett said. A non-partisan entity is needed as the state attempts to guide institutional priorities toward meeting current and future economic and workforce needs while helping institutions fulfill their ongoing teaching, research and public service missions.  The new office or council should be expected to continue this important work, he said.

Bennett said additional attention would be needed to clarify how data needed to measure progress toward goals is gathered and analyzed – especially in light of the national movement to fund higher education on the basis of outcomes achieved rather than by student enrollments.   He also emphasized the need to fully integrate student financial assistance administration within the overall work of the new council.

Bills focus on improved efficiency, student success

Faced with a continued revenue shortfall, legislators have introduced a number of bills to promote cost efficiencies in higher education and improve student success. Many of these bills would impact the workload of the public colleges and universities, the HECB successor agency, and the public schools. However, most specify the additional work should be carried out within existing resources.

Student Auditing Committees

HB 2478 would create a seven-member student auditing committee at each four-year higher education institution to review at least one major institutional project annually; identify programs, practices, and processes that could be improved; and make recommendations to achieve cost reductions. The committees would be required to consult with the staff of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee and HECB successor for guidance on choosing appropriate projects, methodology, and presentation of information.

Completing a Baccalaureate Degree in Three Years

SB 6029 would amend the Launch Year Act by adding a requirement that all public high schools inform students and their families about opportunities to complete a baccalaureate degree in three years. The bill would require each higher education institution to publicize information on accelerated bachelor’s degree programs and any additional opportunities to complete a bachelor’s degree within three years and to provide this information to the HECB successor agency for distribution to OSPI.

Financial Aid Counseling Curriculum
SB 6121 would require the HECB or its successor to provide an online financial aid counseling curriculum to higher education institutions that includes an explanation of State Need Grant program rules; information on campus and private scholarships and work-study opportunities; an overview of student loan options (including the consequences of default); an overview of financial literacy; and average salaries for a wide range of jobs. Institutions would be required to take reasonable steps to ensure each State Need Grant recipient participates and completes the counseling.

Quarterly Academic Advising for Students

HB 2436 would direct higher education institutions to require students to meet with an academic adviser at least once per quarter to ensure they remain on track to complete a degree or certificate.  The student’s goals, degree program requirements and academic progress would be reviewed during the advising sessions.   

Financial Literacy as a High School Graduation Requirement
HB 2268 would require Washington high school students to successfully complete a half-credit course in financial literacy to qualify for graduation. The course would cover concepts such as saving, credit, insurance, inflation, and household budgeting.  The requirement would not add to the total number of credits students must have for graduation.

Requiring School Districts to Provide Remedial Postsecondary Education
SB 6438 would require school districts, under certain circumstances, to provide remedial education for recent high school graduates or pay the cost of providing state-supported remedial education for those students. Average instructional costs for remediation would be established and reports from public higher education institutions would be provided annually showing the number of students enrolled and the types of remedial courses taken. School districts would have the option of conducting remedial courses themselves or paying for the cost. The act would be applicable to students who earned their high school diplomas within three years of enrolling in remedial courses.

Creating Laboratory School Partnerships

 SB 6348 would create laboratory school partnerships that bring together Washington's institutions of higher education and low-achieving public schools to collaborate and implement plans to accelerate student achievement and deepen the knowledge and skills of educators. The synergy of the collaboration is expected to advance educator preparation and student learning practices within both the public school and higher education systems.

Statewide online transfer and advising system back on legislative agenda

In 2006, the state’s two- and four-year colleges and universities piloted an online transfer and student advising system designed to make it easier for students who attend two or more postsecondary institutions to earn a degree.

Subsequently, a proposal to fund full statewide implementation of the system was not approved by the Legislature and the initiative has been on the shelf since.

However, legislation introduced in the first week of this session would require state education agencies and the higher education institutions to create and maintain such a system under the direction of the Higher Education Coordinating Board or its successor agency.

A little more than two weeks into the current legislative session, this is one of a number of bills focusing on student success that would assign new duties to the Higher Education Coordinating Board or its successor agency.  

The bill, HB 2258, would establish a statewide online transfer and student advising system that “integrates information related to programs, advising, registration, admissions, and transfer.”

The system would improve service delivery to students by providing easy access to information on programs, resources, and transferability of courses, the bill states.  

Featuring an inventory of postsecondary degrees and certificates available in the state, including online options, the system also would outline educational requirements for various occupations, including labor market information.

Other required elements of the system:

• Specify educational requirements, admissions requirements, and prerequisites for all postsecondary programs.
• Identify course options that meet the requirements of selected path toward a degree or certificate.
• Provide registration and admissions information for institutions of higher education.
• Provide a method for students to assess which courses and programs are transferrable from one institution of higher education to another and which programs will transfer with credit towards completion of their chosen degree or certificate.

Key legislator supports maintaining SWS program funding

The chair of the House Higher Education Committee said last week that some money should be preserved for the State Work Study program in the final year of this biennium because it is highly effective in helping students achieve their educational goals.

Rep. Larry Seaquist said he would propose restoring some money for the SWS program in 2012-13. The Governor has recommended suspending the program’s funding to help offset the state’s revenue shortfall.

“Even though we are looking at ways to shrink the budget, we might want to add back some work study money because of its high effectiveness,” Seaquist said during a hearing on the SWS and State Need Grant programs before the House Education Appropriations Committee last week.  

Rachelle Sharpe, director of Student Financial Assistance, said program is helping more than 7,500 Washington students to support themselves while earning a degree. SWS also provides students marketable employment skills and reduces their debt upon graduation, she said.

The SWS program will distribute $20.6 million in state and employer contributions this fiscal year in the form of student wages.  About 2,000 public and private employers will provide $6.3 million of the program’s total expenditures.  Fifty-five public and private two- and four-year institutions participate.

Washington’s SWS program is more than 35 years old, making it the second oldest program of its type in the country. Prior to recent reductions, it was also the largest in the nation. SWS eligibility is based on student financial need, and it is the state’s only need-based program open to both graduate and undergraduate students.

Whenever possible, SWS students fill positions that relate to their academic and career interests, making the work study experience a potential springboard to jobs in their chosen fields after graduation. Many graduates ultimately are hired full-time by the same organizations that employed them as SWS students.

Two years ago, state funding for the SWS program was cut by two-thirds and employer match requirements were increased significantly. Other policy changes were implemented to continue providing as many SWS positions as possible in light of reduced funding. Sharpe said the program has experienced a decrease in off-campus placements, but it is unclear whether that is the result of increasing employer contributions or the decrease in the size of the program overall.