Charlie Earl announces retirement from State Board

Charlie Earl

The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges today announced that Executive Director Charlie Earl will retire July 31, after serving six years in the top executive position at the higher education agency.

Earl’s career in public service has spanned more than 40 years, according to a State Board news release.  Prior to his work at the State Board, Earl was president of Everett Community College for seven years.  He also served as deputy county executive in King County and was general manager of the Snohomish County Public Utility District.

With offices in Olympia and Bellevue, the State Board has 140 staff working with the community and technical colleges in education policy, operating and capital funding, accountability measurement, information technology, and statewide higher education strategy.  During Earl’s tenure, the 34 colleges have seen funded enrollment grow from 250,000 to 330,000 students.

The nine members of the State Board, who are appointed by the Governor, will launch a regional and national search for a new executive director. 

Economics and demographics suggest improved job outlook for college graduates

The Seattle Times had two articles in today’s edition discussing recent economic and demographic developments that suggest a rosier employment picture for college graduates in the years ahead.

An article by Times business reporter Erin Flemming, reported statistics from the National Association of Colleges And Employers (NACE) showing employers plan to hire 10.2 percent more new college graduates this year than last. Meanwhile, some students report a more optimistic outlook toward their employment prospects, and campus career centers report higher use by both students and employers.

The other Times article, by Christine Clarridge, reported that the Washington State Patrol is launching a major hiring campaign to fill an expected 60 vacancies created in large part by retirements. The Patrol expects to lose 25 percent of its ranks to retirement over the next five years.

The minimum educational requirement for a state trooper is a high school degree or its equivalent. However, HECB studies have long suggested that workers with college degrees and certificates will also be in heavier demand as thousands of baby boom workers reach retirement age.

The need to replace those baby boomers in the economy is one reason the state’s Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education calls for efforts to increase college participation and degree attainment among younger students and adult workers who have not yet completed degrees.

HECB to hold next-to-last meeting April 26 at Olympic College in Bremerton

The Higher Education Coordinating Board, which is transitioning to the new Student Achievement Council effective July 1, 2012, will hold its next-to-last public meeting Thursday, April 26, at Olympic College in Bremerton. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in the Humanities and Student Services Building—HSS 119-121. 

One presentation will summarize work to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the State Need Grant program in preparation for the 2013 Legislative Session and 2013-15 biennial budget. A separate study of longitudinal data on SNG student outcomes also will be conducted. Rachelle Sharpe, director of Student Financial Assistance, will make the report.

The Board, established in 1986, also has been instrumental in guiding the growth of the state’s higher education system, including the research university branch campuses and a growing number of university centers. At the Bremerton meeting, board members will hear reports on ongoing, collaborative, statewide efforts to achieve the goals of the 2008 strategic master plan for higher education.

Several presentations are scheduled, including:

• A College Bound Scholarship update. More than 9,000 College Bound students have completed financial aid forms and are expected to enroll in fall 2012.
• A progress report on the implementation of Common Core Standards. Statewide standards in math and English language arts are being aggressively implemented.
• A progress report on establishing two new higher education centers to serve Kitsap County, one at Olympic College, the other at Peninsula College.

An agenda and other materials for the April 26 meeting have been posted. The final HECB meeting will be held June 28 in Olympia.

There is a cost to not educating young people

A recent article in The Atlantic features the following headline: What’s More Expensive Than College?  Not Going To College. The article references a recent Opportunity Action Paper from the International Youth Foundation, which examines access to education for the more 1.2 billion youth aged 15-24 who now inhabit the planet.

The challenge facing youth in nations with developing economies is gaining access to effective secondary education and higher-level skills training. In developed nations, it is access to postsecondary education. No single achievement makes a greater positive impact on a nation or its people than increasing education levels, the report notes.

In the U.S. and Europe there are huge annual social costs associated with those who are not engaged in employment, education, or training, so-called “NEETS,” the IYR report notes. Many other recent studies also point to the benefits of a more educated population. Read more.

Higher education spared further deep budget cuts

After weeks of partisan infighting, the Washington Legislature passed a   2012-13 supplemental budget early Wednesday, characterized by Gov. Chris Gregoire as a budget that preserves “critical programs, including education, and sets our state on a more sustainable path.”

Cuts to the operating budgets of the state’s two- and four-year public colleges and universities ranged from .03 percent to 1.4 percent from the base funding level established in the 2011-13 biennial budget. These cuts are substantially less than those levied against higher education in the previous three years.

Capital appropriations of $1.078 billion were approved for the six four-year universities and the 34 community and technical colleges.

Prior to this session, legislators agreed on a bi-partisan basis not to impose additional deep cuts on education in this supplemental budget year, despite a revenue shortfall of about $500 million. In keeping with this priority, K-12 was cut only 1 percent overall.  On the other hand, Human Services was cut 5.7 percent, and all other state services were cut a total of 2.2 percent.

Funding for the State Need Grant program, Washington’s principal assistance program for needy students, and for the State Work Study program, which helps the state’s low and middle income students, was maintained at 2011-13 levels. Read more.