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Sunday, March 25, 2007

Ind. Gov't. - "Ivy Tech’s troubled roots: Political entanglements deter community college mission"

"Ivy Tech’s troubled roots: Political entanglements deter community college mission" is the headline to a signed editorial in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette this morning, written by Karen Francisco. Some quotes:

A new president has been named at Ivy Tech Community College, but the same old politics remain. The tumultuous search for a president is a clear indication of how politically charged Indiana’s community college system has grown and how it could disrupt the very vital role it should play in the state’s economic revitalization.

In the wake of a public airing of internal intrigue and at its transition in leadership, renewed scrutiny of Ivy Tech’s role may be in order to ensure state funds are being used efficiently and that Indiana has a seamless education system designed to serve both students and the state’s economic interests. * * *

“You don’t have to be too politically sophisticated to see (Ivy Tech) has become a place where elected officials have been hired in droves,” said Julia Vaughn, policy director for Common Cause/Indiana. “(The college) seems to have grown tremendously over a short period of time. I have to chuckle as I read the stories about the politics involved in the search. It seems rather inevitable that would be case.”

Established as a statewide vocational and technical training program less than 45 years ago, Ivy Tech is now the second-largest institution of higher education in Indiana. With a spring enrollment of almost 72,000 students on 23 campuses, it ranks behind the 91,000-student Indiana University system and just ahead of the 65,000-student Purdue University system.

And while IU and Purdue command the history and alumni support, Ivy Tech holds its own in political clout. Powerful lawmakers past and present are on its payroll, including House Speaker Patrick Bauer, former Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman William Crawford.

Publicly, there are few who will suggest that Ivy Tech benefits unfairly from the legislative muscle. Privately, however, education officials and lawmakers outside the college suggest its political status is a conflict and the source of bad policy.

A quote from later in the story, from James Jacobs of Columbia University: “It seems unusual for state legislators to be in the administration. You would hope that support for post-secondary education would be a non-partisan decision – it should just be understood that it’s important for the state.” For more on this, see this ILB entry from Oct. 8, 2006, titled "Should legislators should be allowed to serve as officers or directors of state universities and schools?"

More from today's editorial:

[C]ommunity colleges elsewhere tend to fall to the bottom of the education funding food chain – after K-12 schools and higher ed. With its tremendous political clout, Ivy Tech has quietly become the favored party.

Just look at its appropriations record: For the current academic year, the community college received a 4 percent increase in funding, according to figures from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. By comparison, Purdue University received 1.2 percent in additional dollars; Indiana University received 0.4 percent less than the previous year.

In the Democratic version of the next biennial budget, Ivy Tech stands to receive an additional 6 percent in funding, while the state’s other public universities are in line for 2 percent increases. In building projects, Ivy Tech is in line for $26.7 million for a technology center in Fort Wayne, $69.4 million for expansion at the Indianapolis campus, $1 million for a new Lamkin Center and another $30 million for centers at Logansport and Sellersburg.

Duplication? Some observers suggest that the new community college system is trying to be all things to all people. It continues to hold the lock on the vocational and technical programs it has long delivered with great success, but also has been set up by the Indiana Commission of Higher Education to serve as the higher education entry point for more and more students.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 25, 2007 08:31 AM
Posted to Indiana Government