OEIB: new funding for community colleges

I’m sending this message to let you know about some upcoming, big changes to the way the state of Oregon funds education. This will eventually affect all of us.

Oregon Education Investment Board (OEIB)

·         Senate Bill 909 created OEIB

·         8 year phase-in (~2012 to 2021 or 2025)

·         Proficiency-based standards (we ask ourselves “What does this mean?”)

·         Higher Ed Taskforce: http://www.ous.edu/state_board/jointb/sis

Goals:

·         Teens are ready for college-level work

·         Oregonians able to compete globally

·         40% of Oregonians get B.A. or higher, 40% get post-secondary credential, 100% get high school diploma

·         Indicators will be, among others, increased voter turnout and decreased crime and jail sentences

Issues for CCC

·         Funding no longer driven by FTE

·         Funding now driven by results (certificates, degrees, etcetera)

·         Things are moving fast

CCC (and other community colleges) must fundamentally change their philosophy and methodology. Funding will be based on student sustainability and performance.  We are shifting from “education activity” to “learner proficiency”. This requires shifting the basis for funding from time-based activities to proficiency-based outcomes.

For CCC (and all public educational institutions), there is not yet a full understanding of how funding will be allotted to the community colleges. One way will be through “Achievement Compacts”*. If the educational institution does not meet its own goals, and so loses funding, the compact can be amended to get funding flowing again.

CCC’s problem: how to measure “proficiency-based outcomes”. The new “outcomes” model will probably be more intrusive (meaning community colleges will have less discretion) and more of a “prescription” by the state than the FTE model.