HOUSE BILL REPORT

                 SCR 8428

             As Reported By House Committee On:

                      Higher Education

Brief Description:  Approving recommendations of the 1996 higher education master plan.

Sponsors:  Senators Bauer, Wood, Kohl, Hale, Sheldon, Prince, Drew, McAuliffe and Rasmussen.

Brief History:

  Committee Activity:

Higher Education:  2/16/96, 2/20/96 [DPA].

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.  Signed by 11 members:  Representatives Carlson, Chairman; Mulliken, Vice Chairman; Jacobsen, Ranking Minority Member; Mason, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Benton; Blanton; Delvin; Goldsmith; Mastin; Scheuerman and Sheahan.

Staff:  Susan Morrissey (786-7120).

Background:   The Higher Education Coordinating Board was created to provide planning, coordination, monitoring, and policy analysis for higher education in the state of Washington.  The board was directed to consult institutions and other segments of postsecondary education as it carried out these responsibilities.  The board was also directed to represent the broad public interest above the interests of the individual colleges and universities.

By statute, the board must prepare a comprehensive master plan, updated every four years.  The plan and updates must be submitted to the Governor and appropriate legislative policy committees.  Following public hearings, the Legislature must, by concurrent resolution, approve or recommend changes to the initial plan and subsequent updates.  The plan will then become state higher education policy unless legislation is enacted to alter the policies in the plan. 

The initial master plan was submitted to the Legislature in December 1987.  During the 1988 session, ESSCR 8429 was adopted by the Legislature in response to the plan.  The master plan was formally updated in 1992.  During the 1993 session, SHCR 4408 was adopted in response to the update.  In addition to the resolution, legislation was adopted to implement several recommendations in the updated plan. 

The board updated the plan again in 1995.  The resulting document, entitled The Challenge for Higher Education, challenged the state to provide educational opportunities for 84,100 new full-time equivalent (FTE) students by the year 2010.  The board recommended a phased enrollment plan to accommodate the growth.  In the year 2010, the community and technical college sector would enroll 24,400 additional FTE students, the public baccalaureate institutions would accommodate 24,600 additional FTE students, and the independent sector would educate an additional 7,700 students.  These targets would leave 27,400 students unserved.  The board proposed some possible solutions to serving the remaining students and improving the education of all students.  In its description of possible solutions, the board raised a series of questions posed by each possibility.

Summary of Amended Bill:  The Legislature commends the Higher Education Coordinating Board for its dedication and commitment to the state.  The Legislature thanks the board for describing many of the challenges facing the state in its attempts to provide the postsecondary education and training needed by the state's citizens. 

The Legislature approves the following recommendations in the updated plan:

(1)by the year 2010, the state will need to provide additional higher education opportunities for 84,100 FTE students; and

(2)solutions to the enrollment challenge may, in part, be found through technology, shifting the educational focus from teaching to learning, expanding partnerships, providing financial aid to needy and meritorious students, and using existing facilities in more effective ways.

The Legislature asks the board to refine the plan over the next year and to report to the 1997 Legislature with its refinements.   As it works on the refinements, the Legislature suggests that the board consult a diverse group of people and use innovative approaches to develop further the solutions described in the updated plan.   In addition, the Legislature requests that the board focus its attention on the following areas:

(1)recommendations on a governance structure and framework for the integration of technology into the educational enterprise;

(2)provision of an initial list of duplicative and low-productivity programs, and description of a process for examining ways to reconfigure, consolidate, or eliminate the programs;

(3)recommendations on ways institutions can increase access while maintaining quality and reducing costs.  The recommendations may, in part, be based on draft restructuring plans created by colleges and universities;

(4)recommendations on appropriate state and institutional roles for providing remedial and developmental education;

(5)  the development of a student information system; and

(6)a study of physical capacity in public and private colleges in the state.

The Legislature asks the 1997 Legislature to respond, by concurrent resolution, to the refinements submitted by the board.

The Legislature also requests that, by December 15, 1996, the board provide to the citizens and the Legislature a statutorily required annual report on the status of higher education expenditures, performance measures, and accomplishments.

Amended Bill Compared to Original Bill:   The committee convened to assist the board in its efforts to refine the plan will include persons from distinct ethnic backgrounds and will use innovative approaches to refine solutions to the challenges identified by the board.  The areas to be refined by the board are reordered and consolidated.  The board will develop a student information system, and will study the physical capacity of public and private colleges in the state.  The Legislature asks that the board provide a statutorily required report on higher education.  The legislation approves financial aid for needy and meritorious students.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date of Amended Bill:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  This resolution will assist the Higher Education Coordinating Board as it begins to refine possible solutions to the challenge facing the state as it attempts to provide access to college for young people graduating from high school during the next 15 to 20 years.  In the resolution, the board is hoping that the Legislature has listed the proposed refinements in priority order.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Susan Patrick, Higher Education Coordinating Board (pro).