higher education

In this morning's news: possible cap on FOIA fees, Lansing's budget showdown, education for inmates

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:52:30 +0000

Legislation in Michigan House could cap FOIA fees

There is new legislation up for initial hearing this week in Lansing. It is a response to local governments and state agencies charging hefty fees for people to see government records.

"One of the bills would limit most charges for requests filed under the state’s Freedom of Information Act to no more than 10 cents a page. Another would create a Michigan Open Government Commission to hear challenges to government denials of information requests," Michigan Radio's Rick Pluta reports.

Lansing City Council vs. Mayor Virg Bernero

The Lansing city council will vote tonight on a budget for next year. Michigan Radio's Steve Carmody reports that "the vote will likely put the council at odds with Mayor Virg Bernero."

The mayor wants to add annual fees for city water and electricity customers. Conversely, the council wants to make several spending cuts including eliminating several new positions the mayor wants to add to the city's payroll. Mayor Virg Bernero will have until Thursday to veto parts of the city budget he doesn’t like. The Lansing city council has until early June to try to override the mayor’s expected vetoes.

Higher education opportunities piloted in Michigan prisons

"After years without funding for prisoners to access higher education, the Michigan Department of Corrections is immersed in several efforts to teach community college courses and vocational training in-house to a small number of inmates who are near parole. Michigan will join a pilot project that hopes to gather enough evidence to possibly resurrect publicly supported postsecondary education in prisons nationally," reports The Detroit News.

A freshman Representative's bill could fix Michigan's 'Brain Drain'

Stateside Staff — Mon, 06 May 2013 21:04:35 +0000

As new grads drift out of Ann Arbor after last weekend's commencement, where will they go?

Degrees in hand, they're on the job search - which doesn't mean they're staying in Michigan.

State Representative Andy Schor, D-Lansing, is the sponsor of House Bill 4182, which would provide tax credits to college graduates of public or private four-year colleges and universities in Michigan.

Michigan high school curriculum could be changing - for better or worse?

Stateside Staff — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:13:00 +0000

Education is front and center these days in Michigan.

Governor Snyder spoke today to a summit of education leaders, calling for businesses to get more closely involved with public education.

Snyder believes many students might be being pushed toward getting a four-year college degree when vocation education – technical career training or community college – might make just as much sense for them.

In the state House and Senate, there is movement towards changing Michigan’s high school graduation requirements.

Is the Kalamazoo Promise worth keeping?

Stateside Staff — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:57:23 +0000

Students who attend a public Kalamazoo high school for their entire high school career and live in the district during those four years have the opportunity to attend a Michigan college or University for free.

This, of course, is old news.

The Kalamazoo Promise was announced in November 2005 and has since proven to be one of the most groundbreaking educational programs in the state.

Commentary: Higher education and the future

Jack Lessenberry — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:00:34 +0000

Governor Snyder’s budget includes a two percent increase for higher ed. That’s close to the current inflation rate, which means, essentially, no extra money for state colleges and universities.

Now, you can argue that times are still tough and everyone has to watch spending. But in fact, higher education has been hit harder than any other major budget category since Rick Snyder became governor two years ago. Over that time, the state has cut support for higher ed by more than 11 percent.

Stateside: Higher education at the core of Michigan's revival

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 19:20:48 +0000

Creating cities with educated populations will play a large role in Michigan's revitalization.

Lou Glazer, President and co-founder of Michigan Future Inc., says that globalization and technology are more powerful in creating a new Michigan than politics or policy.

“You have to be inventing what’s next," he said.

Glazer's new agenda aims to create a city in which talent wants to live.

To do so, he claims, there has to be a high population of college-educated citizens.

“The places that are doing the best... have a community DNA that values learning, entrepreneurship and being welcoming to all," said Glazer.

For more of Glazer's interview, listen to the audio above.

There are two ways you can podcast "Stateside with Cynthia Canty"

Michigan governor signs bill allowing community colleges to offer some bachelor's degrees

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 20:58:35 +0000

For the first time, Michigan's community colleges will be able to offer baccalaureate degrees for certain programs.

Gov. Rick Snyder has signed a bill that allows the state's community colleges to expand some of their two-year associate degree programs into four-year programs.

The bill allows these colleges to offer degrees in cement technology, maritime technology, energy production technology and culinary arts.

Michigan universities opposed the idea because it breaks their exclusive right to offer bachelor's degrees.

State representative John Walsh introduced the bill. He says the new programs will help advance a students' career and keep their talent in state.

"With a better education, a more thorough education, you can move up into management or take on other responsibilities that an Associate Degree student wouldn't be able to," he said.

With strike threat looming, Wayne State and professors talk through the holidays

Sarah Cwiek — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 20:54:48 +0000

With the threat of a faculty strike looming, both sides in Wayne State University contract talks say they'll continue working toward a deal.

The two sides have met over the holidays, and additional bargaining sessions scheduled. In the meantime, the faculty contract that expired last summer has been extended once again, this time through mid-February.

Talks “made some progress” on Thursday—but not enough, says Charles Parrish, a political science professor and lead negotiator for the faculty union

New grant will help support foster youth in college

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 16:13:00 +0000

When a child grows up in the foster care system, they face some unique challenges as college students. They may lack the financial and emotional support their classmates get from families.

The Michigan Department of Human Services is trying help them out.

They awarded seven universities in Michigan shares of an $800,000 grant.

The money will pay on-campus coaches at Michigan State University, Wayne State University, Baker College of Flint, Ferris State University, Saginaw Valley University, Eastern Michigan University and the University of Michigan-Flint who will work with former foster youth.

In move to Dartmouth, UM provost calls tuition increases 'unsustainable'

Mark Brush — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 15:55:44 +0000

It was announced yesterday that University of Michigan provost Phil Hanlon will become the next president of Dartmouth College starting July 1, 2013.

Hanlon, 57, is a graduate of Dartmouth and will become the college's 18th president.

In a New York Times piece, Hanlon indicated that university funding, in its current form, is reaching a breaking point:

Dr. Hanlon, who will be the 10th Dartmouth graduate to become its president, said he expected to focus closely on the college’s cost structure and finances. “The historic funding model for higher ed is close to unsustainable,” he said. “We can’t continue superinflationary tuition increases.”

U of M Provost to become Dartmouth president

Sarah Hulett — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 20:19:36 +0000

University of Michigan Provost Philip Hanlon will be the new president of Dartmouth College. Hanlon has served as provost since 2010.

"(Hanlon) has steered the University through some of its most fiscally challenging years, all the while advancing our academic excellence and impact," U of M President Mary Sue Coleman said in a statement.

Hanlon started with the university in the mathematics department in 1986. He's a graduate of Dartmouth.

Top five Michigan colleges in 'tuition restraint,' all 15 receive the bonus

Mark Brush — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:30:02 +0000

Gov. Rick Snyder and Republicans in the legislature made significant cuts to the state's public university system when they first came into office.

As part of the cuts, they set up bonus payments to schools if they met certain performance measures, and if they kept their tuition increases in check.

Earlier this month, the State House Fiscal Agency released a breakdown of how much each school will get in bonus payments.

All 15 public universities kept their tuition increases at or below 4 percent, so all 15 schools will receive a 'tuition restraint' bonus payment.

This fiscal year, the pot for 'tuition restraint' bonus money is set at $9.1 million for all 15 universities.

Central Michigan will receive the biggest payment. From the Detroit Free Press:

Central Michigan University's decision to keep its tuition rate increase for this school year lower than that of other state schools is paying off to the tune of almost $1.8 million in extra state aid from a fund set up to reward universities for smaller hikes.
CMU raised its tuition rate by 2%, the lowest in the state. It will get 19.6% of the bonus money.

The top five schools for keeping tuition hikes in check (and their associated bonus payments) are:

Central Michigan University - $1.8 million
Ferris State University - $1.3 million
UM in Ann Arbor - $1.1 million
Lake Superior State - $1.0 million
Oakland - $930,000

The Detroit Free Press has a breakdown of tuition increases and bonus payments for all 15 public universities.

Too much emphasis on a four-year degree, says Michigan Governor

Rick Pluta — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 21:27:43 +0000

Governor Rick Snyder said Michigan and the rest of the country lost sight of the value of vocational training as young people were encouraged to get four-year college degrees. The governor spoke today at a business conference in Grand Rapids, the West Michigan Policy Forum.

He said too many students have been pushed toward getting four-year college degrees when vocational education or community college might have made more sense.

“And so we sorta messed up over the past 20 or 30 years, 40 years. We’ve lost the focus on how important those roles are,” said Snyder.

The governor said the result is thousands of jobs in skilled trades go unfilled while people are looking for work.

“How dumb was that? I mean, if you stop and think about it. So we did supply on one chart, demand on another chart, and when everyone knows we need to have one chart where we bring supply and demand together, and create talent, and connect it,” said Snyder.

Snyder says he intends to convene a summit of educators and employers early next year to get a better sense of where the demand for jobs is strongest – and use that information to help re-design Michigan’s education system.

The governor has also called for stronger integration of pre-school through post-high school education.

Oakland University, professors reach 3-year deal

The Associated Press — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:04:45 +0000

ROCHESTER, Mich. (AP) - Oakland University in suburban Detroit and its professors have reached a three-year proposed tentative contract agreement.

The agreement was announced early Friday in a posting on the website of the 700-member Oakland University chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

Details of the proposed agreement are expected to be made public later. It's expected to include pay increases, merit pay adjustments and changes to benefits.

Classes begin Tuesday at the school. Voting to ratify the contract likely will take place in a few weeks.

In 2009, professors at the school went on strike for a week starting the day classes were expected to begin before a tentative contract agreement was reached.

EMU and professors' union reach tentative 3-year contract agreement

Mark Brush — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 17:06:58 +0000

Eastern Michigan University officials announced today they've reached a tentative agreement with the union representing EMU faculty members.

The current contract with the union was set to expire at midnight on August 31. EMU students start classes on Wednesday, September 5.

EMU officials say the contract "provides for salary increases of 2 percent per year for each year of the contract, as well as changes to health care plans."