Unfortunately, fiscal crisis has descended upon Rhode Island at a time when state investment in higher education already was in decline. Our state appropriation to support public higher education operations fell from $182.3 million in FY2007 to $174.9 million in FY2008 before sinking to $155.8 million in the current fiscal year. State support declined despite the rich economic and social rewards that the state and its residents continue to reap from the system’s role in producing a well-educated work force.
In FY2009, state investment in higher education accounts for just 11 percent of the operating budget at the University of Rhode Island, 30 percent at Rhode Island College and 36 percent at the Community College of Rhode Island.
Contrast that with expenditures for the state prison system. The state’s appropriation for the R.I. Department of Corrections rose from $155.8 million in FY 2007 to $185.1 million in FY2008 before declining slightly to $178.7 million for FY2009. (Incidentally, the per-student cost to educate someone at CCRI is approximately $9,700 per year. The cost to care for one inmate at the ACI is about $44,000 per year.)
It is important for Rhode Islanders to know that URI, RIC and CCRI continue to have their eye on the prize – a greater number of Rhode Islanders with postsecondary degrees – and continue to increase their enrollment while cutting costs.
Yet it may be impossible for any one institution, acting individually and in isolation, to maintain its current operational structure and academic integrity in these dire times. So in December, the R.I. Board of Governors for Higher Education moved to protect public higher education by undertaking a broad and comprehensive analysis of system-wide opportunities for achieving program consolidation, cost containment, further revenue enhancement and system reengineering. Indeed, one can argue that the very circumstances of the state’s fiscal crisis underscore the need, value and role for a system governing board in Rhode Island.
These actions included amending our policy to almost double the threshold for triggering reviews of academic programs that have been under-enrolled at our institutions over the past three years. The elimination of academic programs with low completion rates is necessary to ensure adequate operational support for emerging new programs as well as for the growth of high-demand programs.
The board also has directed the commissioner of higher education to recommend the potential consolidation of unnecessarily duplicated programs. Some duplication is necessary to provide geographical access to high-demand programs and courses as well as to meet state and student needs. However, admissions will be halted to those programs deemed unnecessary and a plan developed for current majors in that program to complete their course of study so the program can be eliminated or consolidated as appropriate.
The board and the commissioner also have charged our three institutions to limit standard credit requirements for degree attainment to 120 credits for a bachelor’s degree and 60 credits for an associate’s degree, while still ensuring student attainment of specified learning outcomes and accreditation standards.
Measures containing total credits required for graduation have been enacted in some states as a means of controlling credit inflation in degree programs. There are compelling reasons for exceptions in some cases, such as when a particular program is defined as a five-year baccalaureate program, when professional accreditation requirements stipulate a higher number of courses that cannot be realistically completed within 120 credits or when a program is governed by certification requirements that result in a need for credits in excess of 60 or 120. However, it is clear to us that the number of credits required for degree attainment is one factor in extending student time-to-degree, thereby compounding both institutional and student costs of degree attainment.
We have intensified the system’s ongoing reengineering of our administrative, fiscal and other operating functions. While the scope of these reviews will require varying timetables, the board is determined that the pace be accelerated to the greatest extent possible. We are about to receive delegated purchasing authority from the state to eliminate delays and avoid duplication of effort. Our legal activities have been consolidated as well. We are currently working on doing the same for our human resources and payroll functions.
The board also has implemented a review of the programmatic operations of all traditional and nontraditional academic units of our institutions. This will include all departments, divisions, schools and colleges as well as centers, agencies, institutes and outreach centers. We hope to achieve possible consolidation or elimination of several units, or partner them with other public or private entities. Nontraditional units often provide services consistent with a respective institution’s mission for the regional community. However, due to the current economic climate, it is imperative that these units operate at least as revenue-neutral entities.
Finally, the board is also establishing a task force to develop, refine and recommend a long-term vision for the state’s public higher education system.
Have we fine-tuned the academic year so as to maximize use of the system’s physical and human assets? Are we sufficiently entrepreneurial to identify and leverage new markets for our education, training and research? Have we adequately explored and invested in public-private partnerships that can facilitate the growth of the system and generate nontraditional income?
These and other questions like them can and should be thoroughly vetted with an intensified focus that is likely to bring to the surface any number of potential solutions. We will report on our findings and the actions we propose to take in the coming months. •
Frank Caprio is chair of the R.I. Board of Governors for Higher Education; Jack R. Warner is the state commissioner of higher education.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
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