FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  October 21, 2009

Draft System Design Plan to be discussed at Oct. 27 HECB meeting in Tacoma

     OLYMPIA—A draft plan for developing Washington’s higher education system based on a concept called “expand on demand” will be discussed by the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) and its Advisory Council when they meet Tuesday Oct. 27 on the University of Washington Tacoma campus. The meeting will include time for public comment on the plan.

     The draft System Design Plan was launched last year by the HECB and later mandated by the 2009 Legislature. It is intended to help guide lawmakers as they make decisions on how best to meet the state’s ambitious higher education goals in a time of reduced institutional budgets, rising tuition costs, and other challenges.

     The state’s 2008 Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education, which was adopted before the current recession, called for a 40 percent annual increase in degree production by 2018, and expanded access to higher education to meet projected demand for college-educated workers in the years to come. 

     The expand-on-demand concept would base future capital and technology investments in higher education on a statewide policy framework and demonstrated need.

     A study group consisting of HECB and other higher education representatives has been at work on the System Design Plan, which is expected to be finalized at the Board’s Nov. 19 meeting and then delivered to the Legislature.

    When completed, the plan is expected to include:

• A set of guiding principles for future growth of the higher education system;

• Near-term enrollment growth strategies focusing on how to increase degree production without requiring major new capital investments;

• HECB and locally initiated processes for developing and evaluating proposals for major, new-system expansion; and

• A Fund for Innovation to encourage competitive grants to institutions to foster innovation, pilot programs, collaboration and system-wide productivity.

     In addition to a staff report and discussion by the HECB and Advisory Council, the Oct.27 meeting will include an opportunity for the public to comment on the draft plan.   

     The HECB meets four times a year with its Advisory Council, which includes K-12 and higher education representatives.

     During the HECB regular meeting, which will follow the joint meeting, the Board will hear a report on an update of an earlier study by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges that examined the track record of two-year college graduates who transferred to four-year institutions to complete the baccalaureate degrees.

     The Board also will consider adoption of the State Board for Community & Technical Colleges’ new performance measurement system, called the Student Achievement Initiative.

Briefing materials for the meeting are available at:
www.hecb.wa.gov/boardmtgs/OCT2009Boardmtg.asp

Who:        Higher Education Coordinating Board

                 w/Advisory Council

What:      October regular meeting

                 Advisory Council meeting

Where:    UW Tacoma, William Phillip Hall,

                 Milgard Assembly Room

When:     Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 – 9:30 a.m.- 3 p.m.

For more information: Gary Larson

(360) 753-7817 or garyl@hecb.wa.gov