October 20, 1999
9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Northern Virginia Community College - Annandale Campus
Richard J. Ernst Community Cultural Center
Recorder:
Dr. Steven M. Janosik
Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
Ed Flippen, Commission Chairman, welcomed the attending members and thanked the President of Northern Virginia Community College, Dr. Belle S. Wheelan for hosting the session. Mr. Flippen introduced Dr. Wheelan who gave a brief history of the Cultural Center and welcomed the Commission.
Dr. Jerry Davis reminded Commission members that, on average, college costs consist of the following:
He suggested that 40% of college costs are being paid by parents and students, 30% by federal loans, 21% by grants, and 12% by tuition discounts and other sources.
The average college student graduates from a four-year public institution with $11,000 of debt. The average is $17,000 if the student graduates from a private school. On average the debt is paid off in seven years. The default rate among students who receive a degree is very low. When debt amounts to 8% or more of a student's starting salary, paying the loan off becomes difficult. When the loan is over 10% of a student's starting salary, the default rate increases significantly.
Today, despite the increases in tuition, it takes about two more days of work for parents to absorb the cost of college than it did in 1970. Upper income families have not experienced any difficulties in paying for college. Their salary increases and net worth have increased faster than the increases in college costs. Middle income families have not had much difficulty on the whole. Lower income families have had the most difficulty keeping up.
On average, graduates recover their undergraduate college costs in 36 months of steady employment.
Dr. Davis suggested that the American system of higher education and financing policies encourage borrowing.
Dr. Merten suggested that there were three critical workforce questions that need to be answered. First, how does Virginia supply the right people for the right jobs? The second question is, Does Virginia have enough people to fill the jobs? Finally, what is the nature of the worker shortage and under what conditions do these shortages exist? Three particularly important job/career areas are: (a) information technology workers, (b) public school teachers, and (c) health care workers.
Dr. Merten also reviewed "Workforce Needs in Information Technology" a project of the National Academy of Science.
The Honorable Cheri Yecke reviewed the nature of the current teacher shortage in Virginia. She discussed the need to maintain quality in the teacher ranks while increasing the number of teachers in the workforce. She reviewed several initiatives designed to ensure quality. She reviewed the Department of Education's mentoring program designed to increase retention of new teachers.
Mr. Willie Blanton discussed the Workforce Investment Act and how his office provided second chance opportunities for older or displaced workers. This Act gives states and localities a great deal of flexibility in developing a comprehensive plan for workforce training. The Act does require Virginia to develop a workforce strategy. The Virginia Workforce Council is developing this plan now. A draft should be available in mid-November.
Mr. Upson, Secretary of Technology, briefly reviewed the findings of the Governor's Commission on Technology. He said that one of the Commission's major goals is to link education, business, and technology in a better way to benefit the Commonwealth. Because technology companies have grown so fast, there has been no time to develop these relationships.
The Commission found that Virginia is producing more IT graduates than almost anyone but that 50% of those graduates leave the state. While salaries may be an issue, Virginia ranks second in technology wages.
Secretary Upson suggested that a patchwork of laws in Virginia may stand to inhibit research and development at our colleges and universities. Unresolved issues surrounding intellectual property rights may also pose problems.
The Secretary also discussed how college and university presidents, along with representatives from the Governor's office, organized the first annual presentation to Congress. He suggested that Virginia colleges and universities and technology businesses must do a better job of letting Congress know what Virginia can do for them.
Dr. Joy Hughes, Vice President for Information Technology at George Mason University, discussed her meetings with GMU IT graduates. She said that they were delighted to discuss what GMU had done right. They were also anxious to help GMU reposition itself for the future. Dr. Hughes suggested that the dollars spent on Y2K should be re-deployed to upgrade IT infrastructure.
She said the hot IT areas of the future would be:
Dr. Rachel Fowlkes, Executive Director of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, reviewed how technology is being used to deliver educational opportunities to citizens in southwest Virginia.
Ms Anne Armstrong, the new President of the Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology, reviewed for Commission members the two major programs CIT coordinates. The first is to provide start-up funding for new technology centers. The second program is to fund small awards and grants to help companies partner with colleges and universities to solve problems.
Mr. Rob McClintock, Research Director of the VEDP, reviewed the role of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in bringing new jobs to Virginia. He discussed the importance of attracting new high tech jobs. Simply put, the average high tech salary is $56K. The average salary in basic services jobs is $30K.
In years past, the most important task was to get water, power, and sewer services to a location. Now the real issue is to ensure that there is a strong worker pipeline for new companies locating in a state. In addition, we need to solve the issue of cooperation among institutions so that they can get business what they need.
Dr. David Hudson, Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Virginia, spoke to the importance of research at universities. Research creates: (a) knowledge for society, (b) provides academic support and training for students, and (c) means jobs for students and faculty. Seventy to eighty percent of federal research money, for example, goes for salaries.
There are several benefits of small businesses being located near college campuses. They can (a) create job sites for graduates, (b) provide consulting opportunities for faculty, (c) create work opportunities for spouses, and (d) provide internships for students.
Mr. John Rocovich, Jr. suggested that the Commonwealth really ought to create a mechanism for matching grants where the federal government and the state could encourage research and development activities on college campuses. Research equals economic development. Wealth will come from high tech jobs and the state must be involved in bringing these jobs to Virginia.
Dr. Kenneth P. Walker, President of Edison Community College encouraged the Commission to consider authorizing community colleges to offer selected four-year degrees. He suggested that these four-year degrees could be offered at 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of the college or university alternative. Further, he suggested that some community colleges had qualified faculty and excess capacity.
Mr. Sid Dewberry supported the idea and suggested that legislation should be drafted that would give the community colleges this authorization. He also suggested that Virginia community college graduates should get automatic admission to the Virginia senior college or university of their choice in the major of his or her AA degree. Other members of the Commission expressed some reservation about these ideas.
Mr. Flippen reminded everyone that the next Commission meeting would be held on November 23, 1999 in Richmond at the General Assembly Building, House Room C. The First Lady will address the Commission. Task Force chairpersons will present recommendations to the group. There will be no presentation or other speakers.
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Posted: October 27, 1999
By The
Educational Policy Institute of Virginia Tech
sjanosik@vt.edu