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Based on your input and recommendations, in 2004, we introduced a series of informational e-mails to update you on the latest news and developments from the Board of Regents and the State Education Department that impact the higher education community. Consistent with the subsequent positive feedback we received from the field, we will continue to regularly share these e-mail updates. Below, please find the third update in the series. I hope you find the information to be useful and informative. To supplement the e-mail updates, important information is routinely posted on our home page.

If you have any questions about any of the items below or would like to provide us with feedback, please contact the Office of Higher Education by phone at 518-474-3862 or by e-mail at hedepcom@mail.nysed.gov.

STATE BUDGET DEVELOPMENTS

The 2005-06 Executive Budget, which was released in January, includes a number of overall cuts to higher education that would significantly impact many of your institutions, your faculty, and students' ability to enroll and persist. Recommendations affecting each of the four sectors include withholding half of all Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) grants until after students graduate, beginning with entering students. The Executive has also proposed a $10.45 million (50%) reduction to the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), among other cuts. Cuts were also proposed for supplementary student financial assistance components of:

• the State University of New York's (SUNY) Educational Opportunity Program (EOP),
• the City University of New York's (CUNY) Search for Education, Elevation and Knowledge (SEEK) program, and
• CUNY's College Discovery program.

On February 8, 2005, Commissioner Richard Mills and I presented testimony to the Joint Fiscal Committees of the State Legislature about the Executive budget proposals. We urged legislators to "Invest in New York - Support Student Success in Higher Education." Specifically:

• We reaffirmed our request for "keeping TAP whole." The proposed deferral would mean that students who can afford higher education the least would need additional loans for college or could ultimately choose not to attend.
  
  
• We urged legislators to restore funding for HEOP, EOP, SEEK, and College Discovery. The State's opportunity programs provide a broad range of services to New York State residents who, because of academic and economic circumstances, would otherwise be unable to pursue higher education.
  
  
• We called for additional support for the Teachers of Tomorrow program to expand current programs, to support teacher recruitment in subjects with shortages, and to support teacher retention.



• We encouraged legislators to provide additional support to students with disabilities in higher education and to help colleges and universities build capacity and develop programs to better serve these students.



• We also called for overall support for higher education, citing the importance of higher education to our students, our workforce, and our State.

Throughout the coming months, members of the Board of Regents and Department staff will emphasize the importance of a strong and vital higher education system and the critical need to provide funding for student financial assistance. We will continue to keep you informed of State budget developments as they occur.   top

PUBLIC HEARINGS ON THE STATEWIDE PLAN FOR HIGHER EDUCATION 2004-2012

The Statewide Plan for Higher Education 2004-2012 is under development. The Board of Regents priorities for higher education serve as the foundation for the Plan, which includes the long-range master plans of SUNY, CUNY, and New York's independent and proprietary higher education institutions. Two public hearings are being held on the Statewide Plan for representatives of the educational community and the public to comment on the priorities, initiatives, and indicators identified in the draft Statewide Plan for Higher Education as well as on the SUNY and CUNY master plans. The first public hearing is being held on March 23, 2005 at the Center for Tomorrow at the SUNY Buffalo, North Campus in Buffalo. The second is being held on April 5, 2005 at the New York City College of Technology, CUNY in Brooklyn. Registration information is available on our Website.   top

2005-06 STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT STATE BUDGET AND LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS

The 2005-06 State Education Department budget proposal and the Board of Regents State legislative proposals for 2005 include Regents priority initiatives that support the higher education community. The Regents, Commissioner Mills, and I will advocate for these priority budget and legislative proposals in 2005-06. The following priorities are highlights of major proposals to complement our overall advocacy to ensure access to quality higher education programs throughout New York State:

• Teachers of Tomorrow: The Teachers of Tomorrow program has successfully helped hard-to-staff school districts recruit, prepare, and retain qualified teachers. We are requesting that Teachers of Tomorrow be expanded to:
• provide funds to hard-to-staff school districts that develop partnerships to recruit, prepare, support and retain teachers through alternative teacher certification programs,
• provide funding to districts with programs enabling veteran skillful teachers to deliver support to novice teachers, and
• allow paraprofessionals and candidates with Transitional-B certificates to participate in the program.
  
  
• Nursing Faculty Scholarship Program: The Nursing Faculty Scholarship Program would provide scholarships to registered professional nurses admitted to master's programs in nursing or doctoral programs who agree to work in an area of nursing education in New York State upon completion of their degree. The proposed program is intended to increase the pool of adequately prepared candidates for faculty positions in New York, thereby helping to address the State's shortage of registered nurses.
  
  
• New Century Libraries: The New Century Libraries proposal features an academic and research initiative to help update and build academic collections and technology. New Century Libraries proposes to provide permanent ongoing State support for NOVEL, the New York Online Virtual Electronic Library. Another highlight of New Century Libraries' Academic and Research Initiative is CACHE--Core Academic Collections for Higher Education. A special academic component of NOVEL, CACHE would provide core collections of state-of-the-art academic and research-level electronic resources and materials free of charge to libraries and their users.
  
  
• Support for Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education: Additional resources are needed to increase access to postsecondary education for students with disabilities, encourage academic success, and expand employment opportunities. This proposal, which was developed in consultation with representatives of the SUNY, CUNY, independent colleges and universities, and degree-granting proprietary colleges, would establish a funding program to provide $15 million in the first year and up to $30 million for the next four years to improve services for students with disabilities in higher education.
  
  
• Allowing Retired Public Employees to Qualify for Teaching and Educational Leadership Positions: To help to alleviate the teacher shortage, particularly in hard-to-staff subjects and geographic areas, this proposal would eliminate the salary cap in the retirement and Social Security laws to allow retired public employees who hold or will hold an appropriate school certificate to be employed in teaching and educational leadership.

Funding is also being requested for the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), Liberty Partnerships Program (LPP), the Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP), the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP), the Teacher Opportunity Corps (TOC), and the College and University Investment Program, as well as statutorily mandated aid to independent colleges and universities and for fingerprinting teacher certification applicants.  top

REGENTS FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

The Board of Regents has approved their 2005 Federal legislative agenda. The final draft includes comments and recommendations from various stakeholder groups.

The 109th Congress' agenda includes reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act, the Higher Education Act and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act. In their 2005 federal legislative agenda, the Regents recommend four priorities to members of Congress as they consider re-authorization of the Higher Education Act:

1. Make college accessible for all
2. Support public school teachers, librarians and school leaders
3. Expand higher education access for students with disabilities
Strengthen higher education's capacity to serve students

The funding charts in the Regents 2005 Federal legislative agenda will be updated to include the U.S. Education Department's Federal fiscal year 2005 allocations for New York.  top

TEACHING AND TEACHER CERTIFICATION NEWS

• Teaching Policy Changes
• Performance-based Policy Modifications regarding Faculty Staffing in Teacher Education Programs
• No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
• Best Practices for School Safety and Security Workshops

Teaching Policy Changes

Two important policy changes have recently been enacted by the New York State Board of Regents to help new teachers transition to the classroom, and to support ongoing efforts to recruit and retain teachers.

1. New teachers now have additional flexibility to complete their Masters degrees in five years (previously three) for Professional certification.
   
   
2. The Regents approved a supplementary certificate to enable certified classroom teachers in areas of oversupply who have earned specific academic credits, passed the Content Specialty Test, and are enrolled in a higher education institution, to provide instruction in a different title in a shortage area.

CEO Memo #05-02, which provides details on the policy changes, was shared widely with the field.

Performance-based Policy Modifications regarding Faculty Staffing in Teacher Education Programs

The 1998 Board of Regents Teaching Policy included a commitment to ongoing monitoring of the implementation and impact of the Policy, and a plan to consider adjustments and modifications as necessary to reflect the educational environment. College and university leadership at institutions with teacher education programs requested the Regents and the State Education Department to provide more flexibility to develop staffing plans that are consistent with the changing needs of the programs (i.e., enrollment fluctuations and the need to offer specific courses to meet the demands for teachers in certain subject areas, etc.). Consistent with that feedback, this month the Regents approved an amendment to Regulations of the Commissioner of Education to provide performance-based flexibility to institutions with teacher education programs. The performance-based policy will continue to require high standards of quality, while giving colleges and universities with demonstrated records of performance more discretion and flexibility to develop staffing plans that are consistent with their program designs. Please see CEO Memo #05-01 for more information and guidance on implementation.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

In December, the Regents approved a regulation that provides an underlying legal basis for the State Education Department's guidance to local educational agencies on the NCLB requirements relating to qualifications of teachers and paraprofessionals. The regulation requires local educational agencies to provide teachers of core academic subjects who are not new to the profession the opportunity to meet the NCLB requirement to be "highly qualified," in part, through passing a high objective uniform State standard of evaluation (HOUSSE). The report to the Regents is available on the Web. For more information on the implementation of NCLB in New York State, visit the Office of Higher Education's NCLB Web page.

Best Practices for School Safety and Security Workshops

The State Education Department is partnering with Lt. Governor Mary Donohue's office, the State Office of Homeland Security, the State Police, and the State Emergency Management Office to present a series of regional Best Practices for School Safety and Security Workshops throughout the State. The purpose of the workshops is improve and enhance existing multihazard school safety and security emergency plans by sharing the expertise and lessons learned on multihazard school safety and security through presentations by State and local officials, followed by a group discussion on safety and security best practices. Workshop participants will receive a Best Practices for School Safety and Security Guidebook, as well as a DVD of an emergency exercise taped at a New York State school.

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TRANSITIONING TO THE GRANT CONTRACT PROCESS

The Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) has directed State agencies that provide funding through the grant process to transition to a grant contract process. Most program proposals for grants administered by the Office of Higher Education will now be subject to contract. In 2004-05, we began the transition to contracts with the Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) and the Collegiate Science and Technology Program (CSTEP). Other programs expected to be transitioning to the grant contract process include the Liberty Partnerships Program (LPP), Teacher Opportunity Corps (TOC), Teacher Leader Quality Partnerships program (TLQP), and the Vocational and Technical Education Act (VTEA) programs. Schedules of future transitions will be shared with the field as soon as they become available.

The transition to the grant contract process will help to ensure that funding is being appropriately allocated to institutions committed to carrying out the goals and objectives of the grants-based programs. The grant contract process will require additional in-depth reviews of program proposals and budgets submitted by institutions, resulting in expanded timeframes for funding disbursement. We are committed to helping your institution to make this transition as seamless as possible to ensure that services and programs go uninterrupted. We will provide you and the directors of your grants-based programs additional information as it becomes available. If you have additional questions, please contact the Office of K-16 Initiatives and Access Programs at (518) 474-3719 or send an e-mail.  top

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