Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC

Present at the meeting were Rabbi Yerachmiel Barash, James Devaney, John Austin, Sheila Oesterhout, Howard Goldsmith, Anthony Stanziani, Mike Hatten, Ken Shulman, Vincent Ferrara, and Tom Rose.

The minutes from the August 17^th meeting were approved.

Benchmarking/Streamlining—The core elements in outcomes assessment are success rates and placement. During the breakout sessions, the clusters are to identify other items the schools would like to report to show their training effectiveness. Many of these factors are better for proprietary schools than other sectors. Such identifiers might be student/teacher ratio, average class size, faculty retention, pass rates on standard exams, and community/employer/student satisfaction. Initially this reporting will be voluntary, but it may come to be mandatory. Schools are encouraged to participate. School information will be posted on their websites and there will be a link between these and BPSS’ site.

Legislative Task Force—There is low attendance at these meetings. The meeting dates will now be shown on the BPSS’ website. The committee does not have the power to effect change, but can make suggestions as to what should be brought to the Legislature. Some issues discussed at the last meeting included: 1. Does director still need agent license if already licensed as director? 2. In the appearance enhancement area, students taking exams are no longer allowed to have translators. Some of the exams are no longer offered in the same languages. Possibly the schools should consider paying the cost of translation. To address these concerns, it was suggested that members of the Advisory Council attend the next Appearance Enhancement meeting. The date will be posted on the website. 3. More proprietary schools should be eligible to receive TAP. There is a national movement aimed at changing the availability of student funding. There is concern that the few schools who presently receive TAP might be jeopardized with this effort. Schools should work with Terry Zaleski of the Coalition to rally efforts for this change. It is an old law, Section 620 of the Education Law. It was a topic of discussion with Vice Chancellor McGovern when financing higher education was discussed in the fall. The following motion was passed by the Advisory Council: The New York State Proprietary School Advisory Council supports an initiative to move forward to amend Article 13 of the Education Law so as to expand state-funding eligibility to other schools licensed by the Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision.

Bureau News—Deputy Commissioner Gerald Patton will be spending the day touring several proprietary schools on January 18, 2001. There is a new mission statement for the Bureau. Schools are reminded to check the "Cutting Edge News" section of the website for the most current information. Policy guidelines (PG) continue to be added. Antonio Jefferson, Keyboard Specialist, has joined the Albany Office, and Jerry McAvoy, Senior Attorney, has joined the BPSS New York Office. Two Directors’ courses were held in 2000. The TTPs continue. From a total of 315 schools in 1999, there are now 348 schools. The number of complaints has dropped approximately 20 percent (480 in ’99 to 386 in ’00). There are 140 pending schools. The PG on licensure introduces a strict eight-month time line in which to become licensed. There are four empty seats on the Council. Howard met with the new Governor’s appointments liaison, Heidi Fessler, (518) 474-0491. Schools are encouraged to contact her regarding possible appointments. It is a requirement that four Council meetings are held yearly; only three were held in 2000. The next meeting should be scheduled at the beginning of each quarter. Schools willing to host such meetings are needed. There was disappointment in the low number of people attending this meeting. It was suggested that this issue be brought to the Legislative Task Force so that attendance might be required. A keynote speaker would bring more people. A possible chat line is being considered for Bureau use to provide technical training.

Benchmarking—The various clusters met and proposed additional factors. Allied health: certification (national/regional), success rates, national placements, trade associations, industry affiliation. Appearance Enhancement: licensure, student testimonials. As these schools teach the same subjects, there is an uneven playing field. It was suggested that percentages rather than actual numbers be used so that neither the large nor small schools are at a disadvantage. Business: success and placements rates, formula to adjust input based on unique characteristics of school (such as all ATB vs. all high school grads), school ratios and how they relate to student success (student/teacher, student/equipment ratios, class size, administrative support). Computer Training Facilities: certification, long/short programs and how statistics can be presented to minimize disparity, schools that provide upgrading of skills while still employed should be included in placement statistics. Hospitality Management: Faculty retention, accreditation, student complaints. Trade: student/teacher ratio, average class size. As the trade area is very diverse, there are many differences. There is concern over the students not counted for placement if they drop yet find a job based on training, the students who continue their education, or the foreign students who can go to school but cannot work.

There were some general questions from the audience. IEP diplomas are not recognized as high school completion. The alternative curriculum process was discussed. The list of SED evaluators is not available to the schools. The failure to prove high school graduation requires the school to use an ability-to-benefit test as approved in the curriculum. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, April 5, location to be determined.

The meeting adjourned at 1:20 P.M.