Written on Wednesday, December 26th, 2007 at 1:29pm by Paul Wolf | 4 Comments

Today Ideas Matter More Than Ever!

The New York State Commission on Higher Education formed by Governor Eliot Spitzer, released a preliminary report containing recommendations to improve higher education in New York State.

The report states that ideas have always mattered, but today they matter more than ever. We now live in a knowledge economy that transcends disciplines, transcends organizations and transcends borders. The new reality is a deeply interconnected globe whose currency is ideas. Ideas are linked to prosperity and quality of life, they spawn new sectors of the economy and the jobs that support them.

In the last decade, Jiangsu Province in China has built over 50 universities, enrolling over 700,000 students. Ireland has invested heavily to achieve a highly educated workforce in a very short span of time. Japan, India, Singapore, Korea, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia are all major new competitors in the race for ideas and talent.

New York has many top notch institutions of higher education, but there is troubling evidence that the State has slipped in stature over the last twenty years. In 1980 New York captured 10% of the nation’s academic research and development spending. Today the number stands at 7.9%, as other states have received a greater proportion of these funds. Using just this one measure, the Commission calculates that more than $2.2 billion dollars and over 27,000 jobs have been lost in New York State.

Among the Commissions major recommendations are the following:

  • Establish a $3 billion research fund, the Empire State Innovation Fund to support research important to New York’s future.
  • Create a low-cost student loan program for residents attending college in New York State.
  • Rebuild CUNY and SUNY faculty ranks by strategically hiring an additional 2,000 full-time faculty, including 250 eminent scholars, over the next five years.
  • Provide meaningful regulatory relief for SUNY and CUNY, by removing restrictions that impede the ability to adapt quickly and promote quality.
  • Develop Educational Partnership Zones in high-need school districts, bringing together higher education and P-12 resources to improve student outcomes and enhance college participation. One idea is a program that would guarantee free college tuition for seventh and eighth graders who meet math and english standards in high-need school districts.
  • Ensure that high school graduates are well prepared for college through a College Readiness Act.
  • Address the backlog of critical maintenance at SUNY and CUNY with a sustained program of capital reinvestment.

A copy of the full report is available here: http://www.hecommission.state.ny.us

What do you think about these ideas to address higher education in New York State?

4 Comments

  1. Buffalo Blood Donor says:
    December 26, 2007 at 4:50 pm

    Combining SUNY/CUNY under a single authority was probably the dumbest idea next to the Thruway and Power authorities. The monopoly created by a signal entity all but eliminated any competitive edge amongst the schools – equality breeds mediocrity. Providing them some autonomy and self-rule may help give those administrators at the ground level some leverage in improving their specific campuses and programs.
    Improvements to the state system are long overdue; we are well behind other states, like California, which pump a significantly greater percentage of state funds into their educational systems. But just improving the universities won’t do the state much good if we don’t improve the overall business environment. I would suggest that one business incentive might be to give a state credit to any business that hires a graduate from New York State, or to otherwise tie NYS graduates to business growth within the state.
    BBD

  2. Jay says:
    December 27, 2007 at 11:26 am

    Usually you get more money and in exchange someone demands of you greater expectations and responsibilities. In this case the presidents of SUNY schools and the commission are asking for a lot of money and less oversight from the state. So I’m not sure how realistic this wish list is. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
    But I’m a SUNY supporter so I actually hope they get everything they want.

  3. jen says:
    December 27, 2007 at 8:56 pm

    “Create a low-cost student loan program for residents attending college in New York State.”
    How is this different than the federal student loan program? I understand that higher ed. is costing more and more and we need to bring a reasonable solution than private loans (which is just freaking scary to me, I would never do this, but to each his own.) We are creating a generation already hopelessly in debt before they even start their own careers. I see a problem with that.
    On the other hand…
    “…One idea is a program that would guarantee free college tuition for seventh and eighth graders who meet math and english standards in high-need school districts.”
    Why free? If they are poor enough, the government will already pay for their college. People that get something for nothing usually do not appreciate it. Paying people to do what they should be doing, which in this case, is paying kids to get good grades, I can’t agree with that.

  4. Thomas says:
    January 18, 2008 at 11:24 pm

    Mr. Kucharski, where are your industry clusters for local industries heavily into Material Science and Nanotechnology, Telecommunications, Networking (voice and data), Ecommerce and Ebusiness. Where are your industry clusters involving power generation and power distribution? Where are your calls for more research centers for excellence? Where are your calls for Buffalo Niagara to get its power back that was reallocated to downstate?….Where are your conversations with John Thomas Dean of UB Management?
    Well I hope that John Thomas reads this comment and replies because if the Dean of UBs School of Management really cared about a global mindset then it wouldnt sit on its collective arse with major local resources.
    Tell UB to turn the Center for Global Enterprise Management into a CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE then locate it on a campus surrounded by the Central Terminal, partner it with the World Trade Center of Buffalo, the Atlantic Corridor, the BNE/BNP etc then partner it with local businesses like Speed and ROAR and other logistics, supply chain, distribution and trade related companies
    DOES UB FORGET THAT BUFFALO IS NOW THE AUXILLARY PORT OF NY/NJ AND WE ARE BORDERLINE TO ATTRACTING MAJOR WAREHOUSE AND DISTRIBUTION CENTERS THAT REACH INTO CANADA, THE MIDWEST AND THE NORTHEAST!
    UB talks a good game but like most educated experts they cant get out of their big picture theories and plant their feet in the ground with the surrounding community!
    Mr. Thomas read this and give Buffalo its 2nd CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE!!!!!!

 

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