Michael Chaney
Chief Communications Officer
Ohio Board of Regents
What is Ohio's “30-mile promise?”
There is a campus offering bachelor's degrees within 30 miles of every Ohioan. By 2017 every Ohioan will have access to one of the nation's lowest cost bachelor's degrees.
How well are you doing?
So far, so good. We have more than three dozen on-ground partnerships between community colleges and four-year colleges. And the entire four-year classroom experience can take place on the community college campus. By the way, Ohio has 24 university branch campuses that we refer to as 'regional.' They are key to our delivery on the 30-mile bachelor degree promise. Students numbering in the thousands are already in their regional classrooms. Meanwhile, community colleges throughout Ohio are breaking enrollment records.
Is online higher education state-encouraged in Ohio?
Absolutely. We have technology to help as many Ohioans reach their educational goals as possible. Online learning is supported by a statewide K-16 infrastructure. Adults who are not mobile or have tight schedules are beneficiaries. So are people who reside in Ohio's rural areas. We're also using online learning as an essential piece of a new effort called 'Seniors to Sophomores."
Describe “Seniors to Sophomores.”
Governor Ted Strickland saw a further need to help high school students move on to college. In 2008-09 we funded 49 partnerships between school districts and colleges. Here's the message to parents in Ohio: Would you like your son or daughter to skip senior year and spend it on campus as a college freshman? If so, this opportunity is for you. We have 49 teams of motivated educators finding the best ways to make it work. And fortunately, we're able to fund them at a sufficient level.
Whose idea was it?
In February 2008, Governor Strickland announced an innovative way to use appropriated funds that had college participation goals with relatively few restrictions. Chancellor Eric Fingerhut immediattely welcomed the opportunity to help make it happen. Our challenge was to develop an RFP that assured respondents that the Regents would not prescribe how to do the job. Within a few months we had awarded 49 planning grants of $100,000 or less, and many of the recipients were newly formed school-to-school partnerships.
Who pays whom?
The State of Ohio pays each partnership by disbursing to the K-12 school district partner. In the process of spending that money, the partnership is expected not only to create a plan, but also to have it operational for some students. If you're familiar with education finance, you can appreciate the complexity of allocating the present and future revenue among the partners.
What are the results of its first year?
More successes than failures. The failures, however, are important to note. Some districts were not able to provide sufficient information to students and families to encourage participation. Some districts had to struggle to get remediation right. Some districts could not produce a financial model that would be sustainable in ongoing years. On the success side, there are 350 students who will be sophomores next fall, and there was less than 7 percent attrition. We've received several anecdotes from professors that the best students in their classes are those who were actually high schoolers.
What do you expect ‘Seniors to Sophomores’ to do in year 2?
We expect more than 49 partnerships and a greater number of participating sudents. During year two we expect to be on the way to setting real-world standards of college readiness. That's because we will have two years of refreshing real-world relationships between high schools and colleges. We have early survey results from students that are quite interesting.
Will you perhaps be formulating a new Ohio promise?
Our success will be measured by higher education's ability to grow the state's economy.