Joint Education Committee Minutes for Meeting October 22 & 23, 2007

Committee Meeting Information

October 22-23, 2007

University of Wyoming Outreach Building

Casper, Wyoming

Committee Members Present

Senator Henry H.R. “Hank” Coe, Co-Chairman

Representative Del McOmie, Co-Chairman

Senator Jim Anderson

Senator Kit Jennings

Senator Mike Massie

Senator Michael Von Flatern

Representative Bernadine Craft

Representative Kathy Davison

Representative Ross Diercks

Representative Allen Jaggi

Representative Matt Teeters

Representative Sue Wallis

Representative Kevin White

Committee Members Absent

Representative W. Patrick Goggles

Legislative Service Office Staff

Dave Nelson, School Finance Manager, Brenda Long, School Finance Analyst

Matthew Sackett, Research Analyst, Josh Anderson, Research Associate

Other Legislators Present

Senator John Schiffer

Representative Debbie Hammonds

Others Present at Meeting

Please refer to Appendix 1 to review the Committee Sign-in Sheet
for a list of other individuals who attended the meeting.

Executive Summary

The Committee met for two days in Casper, Wyoming. The Committee heard testimony on the foundation program account, the relationship between the department of education and the state board of education, the Governor's Community College Study Commission, the Hathaway Scholarship program, higher education quality improvement initiatives and library funding.

The Committee voted to sponsor the bill draft presented regarding changes to the Community College Commission..

The Committee scheduled their next meeting for December 5 and 6, 2007.

Call To Order (10/22/2007)

Co-Chairman McOmie called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM. The following sections summarize the Committee proceedings by topic. Please refer to Appendix 2 to review the Committee Meeting Agenda.

Approval of Minutes

Minutes from the September 24, 2007 Committee meeting were approved with no changes.

Foundation Program Account

Ms. Brenda Long of the Legislative Service Office provided a handout to the Committee regarding the revenue projections for 2007-2008 (see Appendix 3 for a copy of the handout). In response to a question, Mr. Dave Nelson of the Legislative service Office stated that projection was that the Hathaway Scholarship would be able to be funded for the full $400 million during fiscal year 2008.

State Board of Education/Department of Education

Dr. Jim McBride, State Superintendent addressed the Committee concerning the relationship between the Department of Education and the State Board of Education. Dr. McBride provided a handout to the Committee outlining the respective duties of each (see Appendix 4 for a copy of the handout). Dr. McBride stated that as Superintendent he was also a member of the state board and that the duties of the state board were to outline legal responsibilities, provide guidance and help establish policy. He also stated that the board creates policy and the department implements the policy. Ms. Jennifer Stone of the Attorney General's Office stated that the board does not have any employees but can bring in experts to help with determining policy.

Ms. Michelle Sullivan of the state board of education noted that the board has a connection to community and is able to hear about issues in education. Ms. Sullivan also noted that the board has a relationship with the department and is able to connect citizens with the department. She noted that the board had had to focus on a review of state content standards and how to advise concerning those standards. She stated that there is not a consensus of what a quality education looks like and that standards should link to best available data, be developmentally appropriate, be connected to day to day learning, involve 21^st century skills and should be integrated in recognition of the fact that kids do not learn independently.

In response to a question, Dr. McBride stated that they did not have any recommendation for statutory changes to the relationship between the board and the department regarding the dissemination of rules and regulations but that the department was willing to sit down and consider some formal recommendations. Ms. Sullivan stated that the board would make that issue an agenda item to consider and refine.

In response to a question, Ms. Sullivan noted that gifted and talented education was a major topic but that the board has not focused on it as an agenda item. She noted that they have considered gifted and talented education in some areas such as the success curriculum where there is some evidence that it may backfire for students that are gifted in certain areas and that the board would be willing to pay some attention to the issue, including the possibility of preparing learning plans for every student in order to identify strengths and opportunities for each student to get to the highest level.

Governor's Community College Study Commission

Mr. Tex Boggs, Senator Michael Von Flatern, Representative Debbie Hammonds and Mr. Tom Kinnison addressed the Committee regarding the activities of the Governor's Community College Study Commission. They provided a handout of the final report of the commission to the Committee (see Appendix 5 for a copy of the handout).Mr. Kinnison noted that several subcommittees within the commission provided a series of 35 recommendations which were discussed at the last meeting of the Committee.

They provided a copy of draft legislation, Community college commission-duties (08LSO-0148.C2) for consideration by the Committee (see Appendix 6 for a copy of the draft bill). Representative Hammonds noted that the draft bill would keep the current system of seven community college boards with a central coordinating board but that it gives the coordinating board more power. She noted that states which have a successful community college program were those states that had a statewide strategic plan. She noted that the plan could be a five year plan that would be looked at every biennium. Representative Hammonds also noted that the bill would provide a mechanism for the community college commission to review and modify community college service areas on request. The bill would also give authority to the commission to approve, terminate, consolidate or transfer programs offered by the community colleges. Representative Hammonds noted that while the provision will be controversial the Governor's Community College Study Commission felt that it was critical factor to strengthen the community college commission.

Mr. Kinnison stated that 70% of the funding for community colleges was state funding and that the suggested changes would give the commission authority to conduct audits in order to have uniform reports.

Mr. Boggs noted that the strategic plan would help to assure that all colleges would work together to ensure delivery of programs and services to the citizens. He noted that while the community college commission would be responsible for the statewide strategic plan it would not prevent individual colleges from having their own strategic plans. Mr. Boggs also noted that in determining any change to community college service areas there would be a public hearing and any decision would be subject to review under the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act.

Dr. Jim Rose noted that funding for community colleges was determined in large part by enrolment. Dr. Rose also noted that seven counties were responsible for supporting the statewide system and that some of the other counties do not directly contribute. In response to a question, Dr. Rose noted that obtaining funding contributions from outside counties has not been addressed completely and that it may be necessary to reconstruct the funding system to address that issue.

Senator Von Flatern noted that workforce training as discussed by the Governor's Community College Study Commission was not in the draft bill. Senator Von Flatern suggested that the Committee consider an amendment to provide funding for workforce training, $60 million ($15 million per year over 4 years). Mr. Kinnison stated that to move forward it would be necessary to address workforce training and that housing is also a critical consideration. In response to a question, Senator Von Flatern stated that the commission focused on technical training instead of the blending together of technical and academic because the colleges were already focused on the academic side of education.

Mr. Boggs noted that the commission thought that the priority should be to address workforce training and recommended that the Committee should consider providing funding to fund startup costs and establish a workforce training council with private sector members. He noted that it was important for the colleges to offer courses for those who are seeking to focus workforce skills and that an early start would help Wyoming citizens take up more of the high paying jobs instead of out of state workers.

Ms. Lynn Birleffi, commission member, noted that there is a problem with the number of available workers in Wyoming. Ms. Birleffi noted that one possible solution would be to use legal foreign workers, entice people to remain in Wyoming and to recruit in non-traditional areas such as seniors and prisoners.

Dr. Walt Nolte, President of Casper College stated that the college offered a bachelor’s of applied science and that it was possible to transfer from the community college to the university. Dr. Nolte also noted that he was concerned about the ability of the commission to terminate programs and that although he was not necessarily against it he was concerned about the details. He noted that the college had approximately 50 articulation agreements with high schools and that those agreements are conditioned on the ability of the college to control its curriculum.

Dr. Jo Anne McFarland, President of Central Wyoming College stated that the current system has been working well and that it was important not to tamper with the system too much. Dr. McFarland stated that if they go too far with centralization the community college system could lose its innovative and responsive nature. Dr. McFarland stated that the college would welcome additional accountability because it is expending local funds but that they did not want to see duplication of audits.

Challenges as an administrator include resources, requests for new programs, facilities for those programs, working with a large service area and all the various reports

Senator Jennings moved that the Committee sponsor the draft (08LSO-0148.C2) as a house bill.

Senator Massie offered an amendment, on page 3, line 2 after "requested by" insert “the board of county commissioners representing a” and page 3, line 6 after "requesting" delete "community" and insert "board", the amendment was adopted.

Senator Massie offered an amendment, on page 4, lines 21 through 23 delete new language and page 4 after line 23 insert "(ii) Review existing programs and terminate those with consistently low enrollment;", the amendment was adopted.

Senator Massie offered an amendment, on page 4, line 1 before "Review" insert "Following a public hearing,", page 4, line 2 after "areas" insert “, provided all affected counties in a community college service area are contiguous to the service area.” and delete the balance of line, and delete lines 3 through 12. The amendment was adopted.

The Committee held a roll call vote to sponsor the draft (08LSO-0094.W1) as a House Bill. The motion passed with a vote of 10 ayes, 1 no, 3 excused (see Appendix 7 for the record of the vote).

Hathaway Scholarship Program

Senator Schiffer addressed the Committee regarding the Hathaway Scholarship program. Senator Schiffer suggested that the Committee consider the inclusion of American sign language as a foreign language for the foreign language requirement under the program. Senator Schiffer stated that American sign language is its own language, distinct from signed English. He stated that to require a hearing disabled studying to learn a foreign language through a foreign language would put the student at a disadvantage.

Dr. McBride stated that he would concur in general and that it may be appropriate to have American sign language as a substitute for a foreign language. In response to a question, Dr. McBride stated that there are well established criteria to determine proficiency in American sign language.

Mr. Michael Walden-Newman of the State Treasurers office provided a handout to the Committee concerning the Hathaway Scholarship Endowment Fund (see Appendix 8 for a copy of the handout). Ms. Sharon Garland of the State Treasurer's office stated that the endowment fund would have full funding in the second quarter of fiscal year 2008, and that the Excellence in Higher Education Endowment fund would reach fully funded status in March 2008.

Mr. Walden-Newman stated that when the State Treasurer projects permanent fund revenues, it does not forecast any capital gains until those gains are realized. Mr. Walden-Newman noted that there is a statutory cap of 55% on investment in common stock.

Dr. McBride provided a handout to the Committee addressing Hathaway Scholarship statistics for the 2006-2007 academic year (see Appendix 9 for a copy of the handout). Dr. McBride noted that there were approximately 2500 applicants, 1903 awards and of those who were awarded a scholarship, 1854 are currently enrolled.

In response to a question, Mr. Geir Solvang of the department of education noted that the reason there were more applicants than awards was because of GPA and ACT requirements and non academic eligibility requirements. Dr. McBride noted that there was an issue with retention and the data indicates that there is a weakness in the counseling requirements but noted that there is a need for more data to draw conclusions. Dr. McBride suggested that for students who lose eligibility there should be a change to let them earn back eligibility. In response to a question, Dr. McBride noted that it is possible to track students who transfer from a community college to the University and those students are not counted as dropouts. Dr. McBride noted that there are several reasons for a student to not be retained, failing to meet GPA, failing to enroll or failing to maintain credit. The Committee agreed to consider proposed legislative changes recommended by the Department, the University and the colleges.

Ms. Greta Hinderliter of the Natrona County homeless student program provided special testimony to Committee and stated that she has visited with over 1000 homeless children throughout her time with the program and that she currently has 94 students age 4 through high school in her program. She stated that some of the homeless students attend 5 to 8 different schools in a school year and that each of them is at least 6 months behind. Ms. Hinderliter stated that there are a growing number of homeless children in the state and there are unaccompanied youth as young as 13 years old which contributes to the dropout rate.

Meeting Recess

The Committee recessed at 5:00 PM.

Call To Order (10/23/2007)

Co-Chairman McOmie called the meeting to order at 8:30 AM. The following sections summarize the Committee proceedings by topic.

Hathaway Scholarship Program (Continued from 10/22/2007)

Dr. McBride provided a handout to the Committee dealing with graduation requirements and standards (see Appendix 10 for a copy of the handout). Dr. McBride noted that there is one school district that has not submitted information related to the success curriculum. Dr. McBride stated that the Department did not recommend any present changes to the core but one suggestion may be to pick 3 of 5 in social studies. Dr. McBride noted that to satisfy the requirements for computer science the class cannot be only a keyboard and word processing class. For foreign language, some schools may not be able to offer a class, an online class with a Rosetta stone supplement may be a solution. Dr. McBride noted that for the English requirement they may want to clarify that an ESL class would not qualify as part of the success curriculum.

Dr. McBride noted that there was a decrease in enrolment in AP classes, international bacheloreat classes and dual enrolment and that it may be appropriate to consider a multiplier that would raise a grade for GPA purposes for those classes. Dr McBride noted that the department would try to determine if they can accept American sign language as a substitution for the foreign language requirement through rule and regulation and will report this information at a subsequent meeting.

Higher Education Quality Improvement Initiatives

Dr. Mark Northam of the University of Wyoming provided a handout to the Committee regarding the School of Energy Resources (see Appendix 11 for a copy of the handout). Dr. Northam stated that they were in their 3^rd 5 year planning exercise and that the goal was to expand state revenue, smooth the boom and bust cycle, protect the environment and add to the state's resources and talent. In response to a question, Dr. Northam stated that there is a priority in dealing with carbon and noted that there are three main challenges for state, to optimize the technology in order to keep the cost down, legal issues including policy and public opinion and the need to present the facts to the public. Dr. Northam stated that the school was planning to expand outreach significantly and was looking to add more faculty. In response to a question, Dr. Northam stated that while uranium is part of the curriculum the school has no special emphasis on it at this point.

Dr. Myron Allen of the University of Wyoming provided a report to the Committee on the Excellence in Hinder Education Endowment (see Appendix 12 for a copy of the handout). Dr. Allen described the searches for faculty members that the University is currently conducting and those that have been recently completed.

In response to a question, Dr. Tom Buchanan, President of the University of Wyoming, stated that the quality of the library is critical and that attracting applicants is not just about money but is about the work environment, support and access to resources and is more critical for distinguished faculty who rely on information access.

Dr. James Baumann of the University of Wyoming stated that when deciding to accept a position at the University he did inquire about the libraries and although the number of volumes was not as high as some other institutions he felt that he had an opportunity to request sources and stated that the online access is good.

Dr. Allen provided a handout to the Committee of the vision and goals of the University (see Appendix 13 for a copy of the handout). Dr. Allen stated that they were in the strategic planning process for the five year period of 2009 to 2014. He stated that they will continue to produce position papers on the likely issues that they will encounter in that time frame every few months until the new strategic plan is created in 2009. Dr. Allen noted that they were interested in institution wide accreditation and that new or emerging programs was an explicit component in accreditation. Dr. Allen also noted that outreach to the state was an important component and provided a handout to the Committee of a map of the outreach network of the University (see Appendix 14 for a copy of the handout). He stated that there is an effort to establish a common course numbering, and that there is currently a course transfer guide to help with the transfer process.

Wyoming Libraries Funding Report

Ms. Lesley Boughton, State Librarian, provided a report to the Committee on the Wyoming State Library (see Appendix 15 for a copy of the handout). Ms. Boughton noted that funds provided for in 2006 House Enrolled Act 11 were not released until they were sure that the county had not decreased funding, the funds were used for enhancements not as replacement funds.

Ms. Karen Lange of Laramie County Community College provided a handout to the Committee on community college library funding (see Appendix 16 for a copy of the handout). Ms. Lange noted that the community colleges were able to purchase online journals and online reference materials and that the resources are available at all hours for students. Ms. Lange noted that individually the community colleges cannot negotiate lower prices but they were able to work as group and obtain lower prices. Ms. Lange noted that there is $2.4 million in the budget request to continue databases.

Ms. Maggie Farrell of the University of Wyoming provided a handout to the Committee regarding the University of Wyoming libraries (see Appendix 17 for a copy of the handout). Ms. Farrell noted that the greater western library alliance denied membership to the University of Wyoming. Ms. Farrell noted that 1.7 million volumes is the target and stated that there is a formula based on collection size, budget and staff. She noted that in 2014 the University could apply for membership and that the ultimate goal is to build a world class university and support faculty and students.

Dr. Rose and Dr. Walter Nolte provided a handout to the Committee of legislative requests for community colleges (see Appendix 18 for a copy of the handout). Dr Nolte noted that the colleges are very appreciative of the endowment programs.

Next Meeting

Co-Chairman Coe set the next meeting for December 5 and 6, 2007.

Meeting Adjournment

There being no further business, Co-Chairman Coe adjourned the meeting at 12:30 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Senator Henry H.R. “Hank” Coe, Co-Chairman Representative Del McOmie, Co-Chairman

Appendix	Appendix Topic	Appendix Description	Appendix Provider
1	Committee Sign-In Sheet	Lists meeting attendees	Legislative Service Office
2	Committee Meeting Agenda	Provides an outline of the topics the Committee planned to address at meeting	Legislative Service Office
3	Revenue Projections	Fiscal Profile of Funding Sources	Legislative Service Office
4	Department of Education	Duties of Department and Board of Ed	Department of Education
5	Governor's Community College Study Commission	Governor's Community College Study Commission Final Report	Community College Study Commission
6	08LSO-0148.C2	Community College Commission-duties	Legislative Service Office
7	Roll call vote	Record of roll call vote on 08LSO-0148.C2	Legislative Service Office
7	Hathaway Scholarship	Hathaway Scholarship Endowment Funds	State Treasurer
8	Hathaway Scholarship	Hathaway Scholarship Statistics	Department of Education
9	Hathaway Scholarship	Hathaway Scholarship Graduation Standards	Department of Education
10	School of Energy	School of Energy Resources Annual Report	School of Energy
11	University of Wyoming	Excellence in Higher Education Endowment Report	University of Wyoming
12	University of Wyoming	Vision and Goals	University of Wyoming
13	University of Wyoming	Outreach network	University of Wyoming
14	Wyoming State Library	Wyoming State Library Report	Wyoming State Library
15	Community College Libraries	Community College Library Report	Library Funding Committee
16	University of Wyoming	University of Wyoming Libraries Report	University of Wyoming
17	Community Colleges	Legislative Requests	Community Colleges