New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities committed to college opportunity for new jersey citizens

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Leading, and On the Right Path
by Paul R. Shelly
Communications Director

Trenton Times
December 24, 2005

America's renown for attracting to its institutions of higher education the world's best and brightest students is at risk.  Today we have some significant rivals that include, according to a New York Ties article last year, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and China.  In the knowledge-based world economy of the 21st century, few would dispute that premier status in higher education will surely be linked with economic might.

In July 2002, a group of higher education leaders from seven western states gathered for a meeting in San Diego to mull this and related concerns.  The meeting of the Society for College and University Planning yielded a list of operating principles that must be in place to ensure that public higher education fulfills its historic mission of knowledge dissemination and retains its worldwide leadership position.

The six operating principles are well understood by New Jersey's public college and university presidents and trustees, because many of them are written into important state statutes enacted in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s:  the autonomy and restructuring laws respectively.  In brief they are:

Carve out a niche rather than try to be all things to all people.  Laws enacted in 1985 and incentive funds helped New Jersey state colleges develop particular strengths and more of a statewide student draw.  This allowed, for example, The College of New Jersey to focus on addressing New Jersey's phenomenally high migration of high school graduates to other states to attend college.  It did this by offering faculty, facilities and programs that would draw more of the state's best and brightest students.  Today, it is better recognized and more of a statewide institution than ever.

The movement to focus on particular strengths is tied to the emerging needs of the state facilitated private fundraising, too.  For example, one of Montclair State University's focal areas is the arts.  The university received, several years ago, a multi-million dollar donation to construct its state-of-the-art Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair State also has a strong, statewide student draw and wide recognition.

Step up to the competition.  Our primary competition in New Jersey remains out-of-state institutions, causing a severe brain drain, with New Jersey by far the leading net exporter of high school graduates among the 50 states.  When state colleges and universities are not competitive, they are less attractive to students of highest potential, and it is harder to achieve student geographic, racial/ethnic and talent diversity.

Acquire greater flexibility.  This flexibility from state regulation, granted in 1985 and enhanced in 1994, has helped the colleges deal with erratic state funding and garner multi-million dollar private contributions that address donors' priorities and niche-carving school priorities.

Take the initiative on generating more public support.  In New Jersey, this was a required course and included efforts to obtain more predictable state funding and to help the public understand our aims and help keep us accountable.  The 1994 restructuring act, for example, requires each state college and university to hold a public hearing before setting tuition.

Think and act like publicly assisted rather than public supported institutions.  As the state share of higher education operating and capital costs waned over the past 15 years, state colleges and universities have had to think this way but still remain fully accountable to the public.  This kind of thinking, including the willingness to look to diverse resources, is a strength of American higher education, notes the British journal, The Economist in a September 2005 survey of higher education.  The article endeavors to explain America's secret of success, pointing out that U.S. higher education's diversity and lack of a single-system approach, characterized by a wide range of institutions, "has allowed it to combine excellence with access."

Seize the moment in times of crisis.  New Jersey law has given state colleges and universities the agility and versatility to weather the unexpected and seize opportunities in the environment to grow needed programs, seek new revenue sources and meet emerging workforce, research and public needs.  In turn, agile institutions have attracted some of the best presidents and trustee appointments our institutions have ever had.

The Senate Education Committee met recently to explore the idea of a return to a higher education structure more like the state used to have: a cumbersome bureaucracy with a department and board of higher education.  The New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities, which includes The College of New Jersey, Kean University, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University, Ramapo College, Rowan University, Richard Stockton College, Thomas Edison State College and William Paterson University, urged them not to create a new bureaucracy.  Taking such a step could result in a forfeit of past gains that now serve the institutions extraordinarily well.

New Jersey would be smart to stay on its current path that is consistent with where American higher education needs to go in the future.  There is nothing wrong with our state being in a lead position.