College Degree Completion and Workforce Development Initiatives
Increasing the number of college degree holders in Oklahoma is critical for our state’s future economic success. The State Regents play a key role not only in assisting our colleges and universities’ efforts to increase the number of graduates produced each year through the Complete College America (CCA) initiative, but also in ensuring that the academic programs offered at our campuses are linked to business needs and workforce demand. Oklahoma’s five-point degree completion plan, which focuses on improving college readiness, transforming remediation, strengthening pathways to certificates and degrees, increasing adult degree completion, and rewarding performance, has already been identified as a national model by CCA. Participation in CCA strongly complements our state system of higher education’s role as a key partner in Gov. Fallin’s Oklahoma Works initiative and the Launch Oklahoma goal of increasing the percentage of working-age Oklahomans with some postsecondary credential, certificate or degree to 70% by the year 2025.
Charge
Review current college degree completion initiatives and develop recommendations for the State Regents to consider related to increasing college degree completion rates and aligning academic programs to meet current and future workforce needs.
Questions for Consideration
- How can we better scale best practices in each of our CCA degree completion plan areas?
- As we consider restructuring and realignment, what resources and facilities are needed to help our colleges and universities meet their CCA goals?
- How can we more effectively partner with the business community to produce the graduates needed to meet current and projected workforce needs?
Members
- Dr. Thomas K. McKeon, Chair
- Dr. Ann Ackerman
- Chief Gary Batton
- Leonard Court
- Lee R. Denney
- Jeffrey T. Dunn
- President Tim Faltyn
- Lt. Gen. Lee K. Levy II
- Fred Morgan
- Mike Neal
- Dr. Marion Paden
- Bob Ross
- Secretary of Education and Workforce Development Natalie Shirley
- Dr. Dennis Shockley
- Roy H. Williams
- State Regent Andy Lester (ex-officio)
- State Regent Michael C. Turpen (ex-officio)
Lead OSRHE Staff
- Tony Hutchison, Vice Chancellor for Workforce and Economic Development and Strategic Planning and Analysis
Academic Program Innovations and Online Education
Innovative academic programs, such as the Reach Higher adult degree completion program, have enabled Oklahoma’s colleges and universities to reach nontraditional student populations and collaborate to deliver flexible degree programs. Additionally, joint degree programs, such as the Bachelor of Science in nursing program offered by East Central University and Southeastern Oklahoma State University, allow colleges and universities to provide educational programs with high employer and student demand without duplication of effort or resources. Related to academic program innovations, the State Regents created the Online Education Task Force in 2012 to develop a coordinated, systemwide approach to online learning as a component of higher education. The work of the Online Education Task Force seeks to eliminate barriers to online education, encourage educational innovation and maintain academic rigor.
Charge
Review best practices in academic program delivery and online education and develop recommendations for the State Regents to consider related to encouraging innovative academic program delivery models, including increased collaboration among state system colleges and universities and scaling online education in Oklahoma.
Questions for Consideration
- In what ways can institutions collaborate to leverage existing resources for academic programs?
- What opportunities exist for the establishment of additional joint degree programs?
- What online education best practices can be effectively implemented, given the budgetary constraints faced by our colleges and universities?
- How can online education initiatives be scaled to benefit all public colleges and universities in the state system?
Members
- President Don Betz, Co-Chair
- Ken Parker, Co-Chair
- Chief Bill John Baker
- Steve Jordan
- Karen Keith
- President John McArthur
- Dennis Neill
- Rep. Jadine Nollan
- Dee Replogle
- Richard Ruhl
- Dr. Kayse Shrum
- Sean Trauschke
- State Regent Jeff Hickman (ex-officio)
- State Regent Ann Holloway (ex-officio)
- State Regent Jody Parker (ex-officio)
Lead OSRHE Staff
- Dr. Debbie Blanke, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
System Structure
The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education is the state’s legal structure for providing public education at the collegiate level. It is a coordinated system of colleges and universities located throughout the state. The state system is currently comprised of 25 colleges and universities – including two research universities, 10 regional universities, one public liberal arts university and 12 community colleges – 11 constituent agencies and two university centers. The state system is coordinated by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, and each institution is governed by a board of regents.
Charge
Conduct a systematic and thorough review of the overall structure of the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education, which will include, but not be limited to, governance models, institutional missions and geographic service regions.
Questions for Consideration
- How does Oklahoma’s higher education governance structure compare with other states, and which states have efficient and successful systems?
- Are there opportunities for institutions to engage in consortial arrangements or realignments to reduce costs, deliver programs and improve student outcomes?
Members
- Dan Little, Chair
- Phil B. Albert
- Calvin J. Anthony
- President Randy Beutler
- President David Boren
- Lake Carpenter
- Rick Davis
- President Cheryl Evans
- John Ford
- President Leigh Goodson
- Edward F. Keller
- Bert H. Mackie
- Tyler Norvell
- Carl R. Renfro
- Steven W. Taylor
- State Regent Toney Stricklin (ex-officio)
- State Regent Ron White (ex-officio)
Lead OSRHE Staff
- Chancellor Glen D. Johnson
- Kylie Smith, Vice Chancellor for Administration, ksmith@osrhe.edu, 405.225.9122
Fiscal Solutions, Efficiencies, Affordability and Technology
Increasing operational efficiencies and leveraging technology are critical to lowering the costs associated with providing postsecondary education. Oklahoma’s state system of higher education is currently engaged in several cost-saving initiatives, including the provision of shared legal services, energy efficiency efforts and technology purchasing consortiums through the State Regents’ Council on Information Technology. Despite cost-saving efforts, the FY 2016 and FY 2017 budget cuts have resulted in significant negative impacts to our colleges and universities. Given the trend in declining state appropriations, other sources of revenue will become increasingly important. These include grants and contracts, private support, and a wide variety of operational efficiencies, reallocation and/or new sources.
Charge
Review current resource allocation within the state system, revenue trends and projections, alternative sources of revenue, and capacity for improving operational efficiencies through institutional collaboration and technology.
Questions for Consideration
- What is the continued fiscal viability of each public college and university, given the trend of declining state support for higher education?
- How does the State Regents’ current performance funding formula compare to performance funding models in other states?
- What opportunities exist for institutions to leverage joint purchasing contracts in areas such as printing services, textbooks, insurance and technology?
- In what ways can business services be shared by institutions to reduce costs?
Members
- Bruce Benbrook, Chair
- Gov. Bill Anoatubby
- Bill W. Burgess
- President Sean Burrage
- John Carey
- Michael A. Cawley
- Sam Combs
- Robert Gardner
- Jeff Greenlee
- President Burns Hargis
- Dr. Terry Mosley
- Cathy O’Connor
- Gary Parker
- Dr. Jason Sanders
- Claudia San Pedro
- President Jerry Steward
- Avilla Williams
- State Regent Jay Helm (ex-officio)
- State Regent John Massey (ex-officio)
Lead OSRHE Staff
- Amanda Paliotta, Vice Chancellor for Budget and Finance, Information Technology, Telecommunications and OneNet