In attendance at the Advisory Council meeting on August 17, 2000 were council members Anthony Stanziani, Howard Goldsmith, Mike Hatten, Arlene Padone, James Devaney, Rabbi Yerachmiel Barash, Ken Shulman, Clem LaPietro, Sheila Osterhout, Tom Rose, and Nancy Athanassiadif. Tom Rose, assistant to the Commissioner of Labor, has assumed the spot vacated by Vic Tosi who recently retired from the Department of Labor. Mr. Stanziani motioned that Mr. Tosi should be recognized by the Council for his efforts. Ms. Osterhout has assumed the spot vacated by Jean Noel who recently transferred to another agency. Ms. Athanassiadif was representing Val Pillai from DOB. Donna Murray of IKON welcomed the council and audience to her school, giving a synopsis of IKON’s history and offering a school tour at the conclusion of the meeting. It was noted that Anthony Stanziani has finally been appointed as chair of the council.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

Matthew Turnell, Assistant Appointments Officer to the Governor, was unable to attend the meeting. There are currently no pending candidates before the appointments office. A letter may be sent to the Governor’s Appointment Office to nominate a candidate for the council. Mr. Turnell’s number is (518) 474-0491. Members of the council are encouraged to take an active role in soliciting candidates for appointment.

Legislative Task Force—Mr. Lewis, in working with Vic Tosi and other members of the task force, has identified several legislative problems; i.e., increasing TAP funding for school and eligibility needs, the inability of foreign language-speaking students to pass ATB and nurse aide tests, students are no longer able to use the services of translators on state licensing exams in appearance enhancement, requirements for agent licensure, refund policies (Pell refund goes directly to the student), electronic recruitment practices, and the challenges facing state licensing of teachers with the new areas of study. The task force has sent letters to every legislator to keep them aware of the industry, along with a copy of reasons to attend licensed schools.

Mr. Goldsmith reminded the task force that it must remain focused. It should identify two or three priorities to move with for the next legislative session. It was suggested that some of the same issues raised by the task force surely have been faced by other sectors within higher education and that collaboration might be in order. For the next council meeting, the task force needs to identify the main priorities for the council to support. Vincent Ferrara has agreed to assume the chair of this committee. The next meeting will be held on September 21 at 10:30 at the DOL offices at 345 Hudson Street.

Committee on Benchmarking/Streamlining—The interpretation of published rates on a prospective student’s perception was discussed. Institutions that wish to participate will have their rates published on the BPSS website. Success rate is the sum of continuing students plus new students minus the drops rather than the drop out or retention rate divided by continuing and new students. It is an opportunity for institutions to explain what rates mean and how they work within the context of the student population the institution serves. The viewer may need interpretation as all students may not be included in one or more categories. It is not the intention to require additional work for the institutions. Individual cluster information may include student/teacher ratios, average class size, graduate satisfaction rates, faculty retention rates, and passing rates on standardized licensing exams. The concept is mandatory reporting with the ability to explain what the numbers mean. At this time, it is voluntary with the hope that schools will want to participate. This will not eliminate the need for OEDs reporting. Policing the validity of the statistics will be up to the task force, Advisory Council, and the peer cluster chairs. The task force will need to determine the guidelines for reporting and what action to be taken if the statistics are found to be misleading. Schools participating will be asked to sign agreements.

The following people volunteered to be chairs of the various cluster groups: A. Stanziani: computer; M. Hatten: business; V. Ferrara: appearance enhancement; B. Harrington: trade; S. Osterhout: hospitality management; S. Lewis: allied health; ESL: vacant. These names and phone numbers will be put on the Bureau’s website to encourage participation.

Streamlining—The following areas were identified: teacher licensing, curriculum approval, school licensing, aligning reports with other agency reporting, NRV, attendance reporting, and curriculum library. The difficulty with a library is that it would be burdensome to keep it current and many schools have a proprietary concern regarding their curricula. The focus area chosen was teacher licensing relief. The fact that 85 percent of the teachers licensed are under variance indicates that there is already relief. The next meeting: 10/3, BPSS’ conference room, NYC.

Distance Education Roundtable—This will be held in Albany on October 16. A policy paper will be presented. It is an opportunity for an informal information-sharing meeting. Mike Lambert, executive director of DETC, will be making a presentation. Those interested in participating must e-mail Carole Yates.

Legislative Task Force—Claudia Alexander, legislative coordinator for SED, discussed the upcoming meeting. The breakout session for proprietary schools on financing higher education will be led by Vice Chancellor McGivern. Some of the pertinent issues include TAP for profit/non-profit schools and the discrepancy in completion rates between degree and non-degree schools.

Bureau News—The $299 exemption is gone. There are 150 licenses pending. Interviews are being held for Sr. Attorney, with two more investigators to be hired for NYC. A public service announcement is run daily in the DAILY NEWS. The symbol needs more promotion. A new policy guideline regarding time lines and good faith efforts for licensure will be introduced 10/1.