Schools

Nation's Top Educators Meet and Advise at Stockton College

The Steering Council is tackling issues of access and affordability in higher education.

A group of the country’s top educators met at the this week, and determined the top policy challenges in the state and in the country are the basic financial support for colleges, affordability and building public trust, Stockton announced this week.

The school's Center for Higher Education Strategic Information and Governance (HESIG) formed a Policy Steering Council, made up of 30 top national, state, regional and college leaders. The council met in an informal setting this week to exchange ideas, Stockton said in a release.

“The work of this group is critically important to the future of higher education,” Stockton President Herman Saatkamp said.  “We are positioned to be the leading state and national resource in college opportunity, affordability and public accountability.”

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Stockton Senior Fellow Darryl G. Greer facilitated the meeting, Stockton said. According to Stockton, Greer recently came to the school after a 25-year career s CEO of the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities (NJASCU).

“We have much work ahead of us, as New Jersey faces huge challenges related to college capacity for accepting students, price of higher education, equity and the workforce readiness of our graduates,” Greer said. “Collaborating with others, HESIG can play a vital role in helping find solutions tied to a broad public agenda.”

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Greer said the problems the council identified “provide opportunities to find solutions,” including “accelerated degree completion by students, forging new partnerships of groups sharing an interest in higher education, and developing a broader public higher education agenda with a well-coordinated effort and defined roles for each segment of the higher education community.”

According to Stockton, the Steering Council advised:

  • recommending and evaluating strategic policy options and priorities for higher education that complement larger regional and state needs;
  • promoting public engagement strategies to build public trust, (such as scientific polling) to help define the means by which policy makers and citizens can agree on outcomes and means for achieving and measuring success;
  • serving as an “honest broker” that is an objective voice for policy options related to higher education and to recommend strategies free of political or institutional interest;
  • working closely with the New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education and the legislature as well as all segments of the higher education community, schools, business and labor to create a collaborative model for access to college and policy for completion of degree;
  • identifying, disseminating and encouraging “best practices” using empirical data leading to effective policy solutions on college affordability and productivity;
  • seeking advice from the business and labor communities regarding workforce needs and useful college outcomes for graduates related to civility, participation in the democratic process, and global awareness; and
  • creating a technical working group to assist in evaluating innovative business models to help finance college and to help families pay for it.

According to Stockton, Greer said the immediate next step is to “synthesize advice, consult further with Stockton colleagues and others, and to prepare a specific plan of engagement for 2012-13.” This would include seeking national and state funding partners, according to the school.

Several members of the Steering Council commented on the steps they advised HESIG to take in a release from the college.

“Stockton is to be congratulated for investing in the process of bringing together these talented individuals to focus squarely on what is needed to enhance higher education capacity to serve our citizens.  Working together, we can improve our policy, productivity and we can help inform and lead a national discussion in a positive policy direction,” New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education Rochelle Hendricks said. 

 “I applaud President Saatkamp and Richard Stockton College for taking this big step forward,” Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald said. “Higher educational opportunity should be a top priority for our citizens’ future; one I strongly support. I am extremely pleased that Stockton is providing the leadership to help accomplish this, in service to all New Jerseyans.”

“While there is little doubt that colleges need greater public investment, they also need to do more to demonstrate cost effectiveness and productivity, and to innovate in instructional delivery to serve and graduate more students in a timely fashion. Stockton is a perfect place to test out new ideas, and to use HESIG to help others understand how to adopt them to achieve even better service delivery, backed by measurable results,” said Jane Wellman, a leading analyst on college productivity.

Dennis Jones, President of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), one of the nation’s leading data management centers for higher education, stated, “New Jersey is blessed with having a highly educated population, but relies heavily on other states to educate its citizens and prepare its workforce. Serious questions remain as to how the state can best create- and pay for- the higher education capacity it will need to remain competitive in the future. HESIG is positioned to be the one place in New Jersey that can frame the policy agenda the state so badly needs. NCHEMS looks forward to collaborating on this critically important work.”

Richard Novak, Senior Vice President, The Association of Governing Boards (AGB), the nation’s leading association on college governance and university trusteeship, commented on bringing all stakeholders to the decision-making table. He said, “New Jersey has long been seeking a public agenda with higher education playing a critical role in improving the lives of its citizens. Improving college access and affordability are extremely important goals, but so too is the continuing public support and trust in the educational enterprise, to serve the larger public good. HESIG’s mission recognizes this important link, and its work will benefit educators, trustees, public policy makers and citizens in making sound collective decisions about the future of higher education.”

John Walda, President of the National Association of College and University Business Officers shared that “NACUBO looks forward to working with HESIG and to sharing information about new business models for higher education that serve the dual goals of mission accomplishment and affordability. HESIG is welcome as an innovative new voice in this very important national conversation.”

Dan Hurley, an expert on state-level policy of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) added, “Among AASCU’s 400 members, Stockton stands out for its innovative educational approach. HESIG’s mission follows in this tradition. It will help to bridge theory and practice, to move us to some empirically based policy decisions that educators, governors, legislators, business leaders and citizens can embrace to achieve the goals of college access, affordability and accountability. HESIG will be an important asset in AASCU’s partnership with Stockton.”

The complete list of Steering Council members is as follows:

  • Peter Anthony Caporilli, Founder & CEO of Tidewater Workshop
  • Henry A. Coleman, Professor of Public Policy, Rutgers University
  • Jan Colijn, Dean of General Studies

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

  • Daniel J. Douglas, Director, William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

  • Stanley Ellis, Chairman of the Board of Trustees

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

  • Michael L. Frank, Professor of Psychology

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

  • Thomasa González, Vice President for Student Affairs

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey  

  • Lou Greenwald, Assembly Majority Leader, New Jersey’s 6th Legislative District
  • Darryl G. Greer, Senior Fellow, The William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

  • Brad Hartman, Economics Major, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
  • Rochelle Robinson Hendricks, Secretary of Education, State of New Jersey
  • David Hespe, Chief of Staff, New Jersey Department of Education
  • Daniel J. Hurley, Director, State Relations and Policy Analysis

American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)

  • Dennis P. Jones, President

National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS)

  • Cheryl Kaus, Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

  • Claudine Keenan, Dean of Education

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

  • Harvey Kesselman, Provost and Executive Vice President

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

  • Philip Kirschner, President, New Jersey Business and Industry Association
  • Michael W. Klein, Executive Director

New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities (NJASCU

  • Kurt Landgraf, President & CEO, Educational Testing Service
  • Lewis A. Leitner, Dean of Graduate and Continuing Studies

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

  • Lawrence A. Nespoli, President, New Jersey Council of County Colleges
  • Richard Novak, Senior Vice President

Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB)

  • David Payne, Vice President & COO, Higher Education Division

Educational Testing Service

  • Jon M. Regis, President & CEO, Reliance Medical Group
  • Herman Saatkamp, President

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

  • Sharon E. Schulman, Special Assistant to the President for External Affairs and Institutional Research, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
  • Alex Vervoort, President of Student Senate 2012-2013

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

  • John Wald, President & CEO

National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO)

  • Steven D. Weinstein, Florio Perrucci, Steinhardt & Fader
  • Dennis Weiss, Dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

  • Jane Wellman

Executive Director, National Association of System Heads (NASH)

Founding Director, Delta Project on Postsecondary Costs, Productivity and Accountability

  • Corrine Wilsey, Student MA in Criminal Justice Program, Forensic Psychology

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

  • John B. Wilson, President & CEO

Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

David Wolfe, Assemblyman, New Jersey’s 10th Legislative District


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