November 5th, 2014

Charting a Path for the Future:

Facing challenges with innovative solutions

Anne D. Neal, President American Council of Trustees and Alumni

Problems in Higher Ed

9 out of 10 Americans want governing boards to “take the lead in reforming higher education to lower costs and improve quality.”

Leading Higher Ed Reform

“Higher education has never been so important to the health and well-being and the future… as it is right now. If we are going to make the kind of improvement we need … [trustees] are going to have to press for it, and measure it, and demand results.”

-Mitch Daniels, President, Purdue University

http://www.goacta.org/publications/florida_rising

Colleges not providing young adults with strong educational

grounding

WHERE ARE COLLEGE GRADUATES NOW?

• Nearly a quarter of 4-year college graduates live with parents 2 years after graduation.

• 30% had full-time jobs paying less than $30,000 per year.

• More than half responded that their lives “lacked direction.”

National Perspective: The View of Employers

• Out of 50,000 employers, 50% report having trouble finding qualified recent graduates• Almost 1/3 gave colleges fair to poor marks for producing successful employees• 26% find graduate writing skills “deficient”

Free speech & free thought in peril

Tuition keeps rising—while results keep declining

Governance for a New Era

1. Trustees’ primary responsibility is to the public to ensure high quality, affordable education

2. Regularly review long-range goals and academic strategy

3. Structure board meetings so goals and performance examined at minimum annually

4. Re-evaluate general education offerings to ensure quality and cost-effectiveness

5. Be results oriented, demand data on institutional performance toward goals and evidence of student learning

“Academic program prioritization is serious business. . . . Governing boards . . . will be required to act

with the finality that only their authority permits. . . . All too often, past attempts to reduce expenses

have concentrated on the administrative, not the academic,

side of the budget. Across the board cuts, where all programs, academic and non-academic, suffer equally is

politically expedient but will inevitably diminish academic

quality. The bottom line: It takes courage to bring about difficult but

necessary reform.”

Florida Leading the WayFlorida is home to many exemplary models we encourage other governing boards to follow

• Spring/summer enrollment option

• University of Central Florida’s Direct Connect program

• Implementation of Regulation 8.005 for a more effective Core

• Performance funding model

1. Strengthen the core curriculum

2. Commit to assessing student progress in core collegiate skills

3. Make full use of existing buildings

4. Focus on four year graduation rates

5. Increase access and affordability by engaging your faculties

6. Push back against accreditor overreach

7. Exercise oversight on athletic programs and maintain academic priorities