Quarterly Report
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
Work Plan for 2003-2004
Actions for First Quarter of 2003-2004
October 22, 2003
Overview
Despite the strain created by the State's fiscal circumstances,
the year has begun with renewed commitment to our students
and communities. This quarterly report, the first for the
2003-2004 academic year, communicates the progress toward
achieving annual objectives and the larger overall objectives
of the strategic plan. The colleges and universities continue
to make significant strides on the initiatives detailed in
the previous annual work plans. The focus in this report is
on a brief summary of the overall achievements for the first
quarter of this fiscal year. Greater detail is available in
two appendices, in excess of 190 pages of reporting, available
on request.
Based on the progress achieved in the first two work plans,
the colleges and universities are continuing to address a
series of issues. These are the bulleted items in the 2003-2004
work plan as approved by the Board of Trustees at their
June 18, 2003 meeting. The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
System also identified four annual priorities
requiring special attention in the 2004 fiscal year: an expansion
by college and university presidents of private (and other
external) fundraising efforts and participation in a unified
and coordinated pursuit of Federal funds; a more coordinated
and increased access to courses, full degree programs, and
student support services offered through emerging technologies;
an examination and clarification of the system's organizational
structure aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness
of programs and services; and establishment of a system leadership
development program to identify and train future institutional
and system leaders.
Results
Ongoing Initiatives
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities have increased
efforts to ensure welcoming campus climates and higher rates
of recruitment and retention for students, faculty and staff
of color. Institutions are improving the campus environment
and increasing student retention by coordinating efforts in
a more systematic, centralized fashion, including the creation
of academic enrichment and support programs providing assistance
to students from counseling and advising to requests to supplemental
instruction (for instance, tutoring).
In the area of recruitment of students of color, because
of very heavy demand, the Public Affairs division has updated
and reprinted the "Make College Part of Your Future" brochure
that was issued in four languages. More than 9,000 brochures
in Spanish, 8,000 in Somali and 8,000 in Hmong have been distributed,
in addition to 24,000 in English this past year.
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities are using grants
(Saint Cloud Technical College is using a National Science
Foundation grant of $206,248 to provide scholarships) or reallocations
(Minnesota State University Moorhead allocated $52,500) for
the recruitment of under-represented students. Other institutions
(for instance, Dakota County Technical College, Normandale
Community College and Mesabi Range Community and Technical
College) are using TRIO Upward Bound grants to promote success
in high school students who would be first generation college
students. Still others (for instance, Inver Hills Community
College and Minnesota State Community and Technical College)
have successfully obtained grants to assist special populations-education
or teaching assistants in schools or Head Start programs-attain
degrees or provide access (the Gateway program on the Minnesota
State University Moorhead campus). A large percentage of these
students are persons of color. The net overall result is a
self-reported increase in under-represented students attending
our institutions. (1)
Similar progress has begun in the staffing of campus positions.
In some cases an institution has leveraged support from the
community (for instance Ridgewater College and Minnesota West)
to hire under-represented group individuals. In others, increased
recruiting has paid dividends. Anoka-Ramsey Community College's
percentage of job applicants identifying themselves as "protected
class" already surpasses last year's number, and Minnesota
State University, Mankato's Student Health Services/Health
Education has hired an additional African American staff person.
Some progress also has been reported in the hiring of faculty-for
instance Minnesota State University, Mankato's College of
Social and Behavioral Sciences recruited and hired five faculty
of color, and Northland Community and Technical College added
a tenure-track female Latino faculty member at its East Grand
Forks campus.
Partnerships offer additional opportunities for recruitment
and retention of under-represented students, faculty and staff.
Bemidji State University, working with the American Indian
Science and Engineering Society and the Minneapolis Science
Museum is providing science training for teachers from school
districts with a high percentage of Native American students.
In addition, Bemidji State University and Leech Lake Tribal
College have entered into a reciprocal agreement to extend
library privileges to students, faculty and staff at both
institutions.
Improved coordination of Federal relations has led to improved
funding related to recruitment, retention and learning opportunities.
Dakota County Technical College received a four-year Computer
Science Engineering and Math Scholarship Grant from the National
Science Foundation for scholarships to students majoring in
the math and science programs. The Inver Hills Community College
Center for Workforce Development received a $3 million dollar
National Science Foundation grant-in conjunction with four
other colleges-to enhance networking security. Minnesota State
University, Mankato received a 5-year Long-Term Training Grant
from the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services
Administration to enhance graduate student preparation in
rehabilitation counseling and Saint Cloud State University
was awarded a $5 year grant from the Federal Government to
fund work in the area of teacher preparation.
Services to students from pre-school through college have
been improved by means of partnerships with P-12 schools,
the Department of Education and others. The Red Lake Tribal
Council and Bemidji State University have signed a mentoring
agreement designed to enable the Red Lake Nation College to
pursue future accreditation by the Higher Education Learning
Commission. In addition, Bemidji State University, the Mahnomen
Public Schools, Cass Lake-Bena Middle School, Red Lake Middle
School and Bemidji Middle School have submitted a proposal
for a U.S. Department of Education, PT-3 Grant focusing on
the applications of technology in teaching and learning in
the classroom. A Minnesota State University Moorhead faculty
received a continuation grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation
to continue an ongoing longitudinal study aimed at improving
the reading and writing skills of middle-level students. The
study is a cooperative venture between the university and
an area school district. Saint Cloud State University's Continuing
Studies and College of Education have initiated licensure
cohorts in Walker, Pipestone, Montevideo and Anoka.
The system's two-year institutions also are active in proving
improved services and/or opportunities. Central Lakes College
initiated a collaborative project with ISD #2170 (Staples-Motley)
to provide a course in the Machine Tool program for 14 high
school students. Lake Superior College has participated in
a statewide articulation with Automotive Secondary (ASE) certified
training programs for transfer credit. Alexandria Technical
College facilitated a session at the "Rethinking the High
School Senior Year" statewide symposium held at Normandale
Community College and continues to partner with KSAX television
on the "Crystal Apple" initiative, recognizing, on a monthly
basis, one of the premier K-12 teachers in the KSAX / ATC
market area.
Efforts to address effectiveness in teacher education programs,
to improve retention of teachers and to address the changing
demographic profile of the state's students abound within
the system. Century College's initiatives to meet professional
development needs of K-12 teachers and staff, including a
summer counselor institute; their partnership program with
East African teachers at the Minneapolis International School
to provide access to a teaching license; the previously mentioned
Inver Hills Community College and Minnesota State Community
and Technical College work with educational and teacher assistants;
Minnesota West's 12-credit online Para-professional Educators
certificate; Lake Superior College's active partnership with
ten other two-year colleges in collaborating in Bemidji State
University's on-line teacher education program known as DeLITE;
and Metropolitan State's continued plans to expand the Urban
Teacher Program to address the supply and retention of educators
in urban schools represent a sample of the efforts within
the system.
The Information Technology Services division in the Office
of the Chancellor selected Desire2Learn as an instructional
management system (IMS) vendor, and the contract will include
powerful provisions allowing partnerships with K-12, Midwestern
Higher Education Compact, and other organizations. In some
cases, the partnerships may produce revenue for the system
that can be reinvested in enhanced IMS services.
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities continue to
plan significant roles in community development and economic
vitality through economic development and business-higher
education partnerships. At Bemidji State University, a research
project involving a faculty member, the Minnesota Department
of Natural Resources and the Red Lake Nation will assess the
economic potential if walleye fishing resumes on Upper Red
Lake and Lower Red Lake. Alexandria Technical College has
been a critical partner in the development of the local Regional
Development Authority. Dakota County Technical College is
working with ConAgra Foods to institute new technical skills
standards throughout the shop floor upgrading 100+ employees
over three months. The Inver Hills Community College Center
for Workforce Development's Minnesota Job Skills Partnership
grant supporting ESL training has been continued for a fourth
year for staff and managers at the Goodrich plants in Eagan
and Burnsville. South Central College's Customized
Training has signed a contract to provide PowerLift®
safety training to nearly 1,000 employees of a major Minnesota
corporation.
Southwest Minnesota State University, in partnership with
the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute has received
a Federal grant for $1 million for economic development with
a focus on renewable fuels.
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities are responsive
to the state's most critical workforce needs and the enhancement
of workforce effectiveness. Several institutions have received
Minnesota Job Skills Partnership grants and several others
have submitted proposals. Minnesota State Community and Technical
College and others (for instance, Anoka Technical College,
Century College, the Central Minnesota Nursing Education Consortium-including
Saint Cloud State University and Saint Cloud Technical College-Lake
Superior College, Minneapolis Community and Technical College
and Pine Technical College) are making plans to expand significantly
their capacity in nursing education programs. At the graduate
level, Winona State University's College of Nursing and Health
Sciences tripled the capacity of the existing Nurse Educator
Option in the MS in Nursing Program and two partners-Minnesota
State University- Mankato and Metropolitan State University-added
more capacity to the program.
It is important to note that while programs have expanded,
quality has been maintained. For example, South Central College reports that 95 percent of Practical Nursing spring
graduates and 92 percent of the college's first graduates
of Registered Nurses passed the Minnesota Board of Nursing
licensing exam. Alexandria Technical College had a 100% success
rate for Law Enforcement students taking the Minnesota POST
Board exam.
Institutions also have responded in other areas: Hibbing
Community College has opened courses to accommodate former
Blandin and EVTAC employees as did Rochester Community and
Technical College, in partnership with Workforce Development,
Inc., for Celestica employees. Saint Cloud State University's
MBA program in Maple Grove was launched in response to local
corporate needs; Bemidji State University's Northwest Regional
Development Center served 84 clients in the quarter compared
to 46 clients in the same quarter last year; with support
from Wells Fargo, Metropolitan State's College of Management
offers training to current and prospective businesswomen through
the Center for Women Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship Education;
Hennepin Technical College has been a leader in the establishment
of the Employer Services Partnership collaborative initiative
to coordinate regional services to employers; Minnesota State
University Moorhead's Customized Education and Training Program
offered contracted training for business, organizations and
non-profits, and academic credit courses for K-12 teachers
and administrators; Itasca Community College received a grant
from the Blandin Foundation to enhance collaborative efforts
with the Itasca Technology Exchange.
Collaboration to improve the coordination, responsiveness,
and quality of academic programs and services has become standard
operating procedure within the Minnesota State Colleges and
Universities. Minnesota State Colleges and Universities institutions
are continuing their collaboration across a wide range of
educational levels. The recent Guard Online Project (www.guardonline.mnscu.edu)
is a prime example. Nine Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
volunteered to offer online courses to soldiers while they
are in Bosnia, Turkey, Italy, Belgium, England and Kosovo.
A Website was created to disseminate information and instruction
for Army National Guard troops deployed on peace keeping missions.
In July, a team of advisors assisted soldiers in applying
and registering for courses at Camp Ripley. A similar operation
is planned for this month for the Kosovo deployment.
Another "classic" example of collaboration is the Seamless
Education Services Project, which directly supports increased
access and opportunity to high quality learning programs and
services in a fully integrated system for Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities students. The first phase defining
implementation contents has concluded, IT enhancements are
projected to be completed by the end of October and pilot
planning is scheduled for conclusion by November 1, 2003.
Countless other examples exist, but a sample will provide
a sense of the range of collaboration. Century College created
an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) Institute
in partnership with Metropolitan State University offering
classes to 79 students in its initial semester. Saint Cloud
Technical College and Anoka-Ramsey Community College formed
a collaborative that will provide student access to an Associate
of Arts degree-which articulates to Saint Cloud State University-from
Anoka-Ramsey. In partnership with Saint Cloud State University,
Anoka-Ramsey Community College is offering classes for the
Division of General Studies at the university campus. Saint
Cloud Technical College is collaborating with Southwest Minnesota
State University to deliver Southwest Minnesota State University's
Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Management on its campus.
A grant to develop an online program for the Building Inspection
Program has been awarded by the State's Department of Administration
to North Hennepin Community College and Inver Hills Community
College. Riverland Community College, Southwest Minnesota
State University, and South Central College collaborated
to upgrade a distance education classroom on the Riverland
Austin Campus into a new "Tandberg" [a videoconferencing system]
room.
The Chief Academic Officers of the Northeast region (Lake
Superior, Itasca, Pine Technical, Fond du Lac, Vermilion,
Hibbing, Mesabi Range, and Rainy River colleges) are engaged
in discussions on the development of a common calendar for
student start dates in fiscal year 2005 and two common all-staff
development days. Riverland Community College joined Rochester
Community and Technical College, Minnesota State College -
Southeast Technical, and South Central College in
a Southeast Minnesota consortium of academic vice presidents
and deans to discuss common concerns.
The ITS division, along with the Academic and Student Affairs
division, is a key partner in development of the Statewide
Digital Learning Plan - kicked off in July. The Minnesota
Statewide Digital Learning Plan is a collaborative planning
process to identify future direction, resources and initiatives
for digital learning in Minnesota's educational institutions.
The Statewide Digital Learning Plan will allow individual
institutions, as well as the state, to strategically plan
future technology investments in order to deliver services
efficiently and cost effectively, emphasizing interoperability
and statewide leveraging of resources. The Minnesota Statewide
Digital Learning Plan is a project of the University of Minnesota,
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, the Minnesota Office
of Technology in the Department of Administration, the Minnesota
Department of Education and the Minnesota Virtual University.
Annual Special-emphasis Initiatives
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Foundation
obtained funds from a private donor and engaged a consultant
to conduct a feasibility study on the system's ability to
raise funds. The report was presented to the foundation board,
the Leadership Council and the Board of Trustees. The consultant's
recommendation to move forward with a collaborative fundraising
model was endorsed by all three bodies.
College and university presidents have expanded their private
(and other external) fundraising efforts and are participating
in a more coordinated pursuit of Federal funds.
Several institutions have begun advance work for or initiated
major capital (for instance Century College) and/or annual
campaigns. Several are employing the Raising More Money® model.
Initial reports indicate some degree of success (for example,
the Saint Cloud State University Foundation has raised double
the funds for its endowment compared to a comparable period
last year; Alexandria Technical College, Anoka-Ramsey Community
College, Inver Hills Community College, Lake Superior College,
and Metropolitan State University also report progress).
A number of institutions note increased activity in submission
of grant proposals to private foundations and state and federal
agencies. For instance, Ridgewater College submitted a rural
health proposal to USDA in partnership with local educational
and non-profit agencies, and Pine Technical College partnered
with the East Central Regional Development Commission to prepare
an application for the JOBZ tax abatement zone program. Minnesota
State University Moorhead received a major continuation grant
from the Otto Bremer Foundation for its TOCAR consortium program.
Minnesota State University Moorhead faculty were awarded
grants from the National Science Foundation and the National
Center for Preservation Technology and Training for research
on a plant enzyme vital to corn and sorghum crops and an assessment
of a new instrument that will help archaeologists, soil scientists
and geologists identify buried sites and investigate subsurface
features.
Winona State University received official notice in August
of a $993,000 grant award from the United States Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. This federal
appropriation has been used to launch the National Child Protection
Training Center on the campus. During the quarter, grants
awarded to Minnesota State University, Mankato equalled $3,873,582.
Two-year institutions also enjoyed success in the grants
arena: a collaborative effort between Itasca Community College,
Hibbing Community College and Rainy River Community College
resulted in a nearly half-million dollar grant from the Department
of Health and Human a Career Ladder for Education and Advancement
of Nursing (CLEAN) Project.
Greater coordination and increased access to courses, full
degree programs, and student support services is occurring
through emerging technologies. Saint Paul College is utilizing
new software to electronically assess ESL student basic skills.
Century College implemented the electronic portfolio by integrating
it into several programs. Additionally, an on-line non-credit
medical billing and trained medication aide program has been
developed and offered.
Bemidji State University's Center for Extended Learning
offered a workshop for faculty at the Minnesota Tribal Colleges
on the use of technology in teaching and learning. Twenty-five
faculty attended the day long workshop. Metropolitan State
just received approval from the Higher Learning Commission
to offer completely on-line all programs, graduate and undergraduate,
in the College of Management, School of Nursing, School of
Law Enforcement/Criminal Justice and Individualized Degree
Programs (First College). North Hennepin Community College
is developing an online Associate of Science degree in Business
Management for introduction in Spring Semester. South Central College's online credits for the fall semester are
already 48 percent higher than the online credits for the
entire 2002-2003 academic year. Rochester Community and Technical
College offered nearly 60 online courses this fall compared
to 27 in the fall of 2002. Nearly 1,200 people are enrolled
in online courses, representing five percent of the total
fall enrollment.
Numerous institutions have set aside dollars for classroom
technology upgrades: Minnesota State University Moorhead will
identify classrooms in the fall semester; Saint Cloud State
University has installed eight new electronic classrooms and
is in the process of upgrading several existing classrooms;
Winona State University continues to upgrade and install LCD
projectors in all classrooms and labs to ensure the latest
in technology and operational efficiency. All WSU classrooms/labs
are 100% media ready, with over 63% with installed projection
systems; and Saint Cloud State University has wireless access
available in six buildings on campus.
An examination and clarification of the system's organizational
structure has begun. The Services Advisory Group, established
in the previous fiscal year, has met and reviewed its purpose
and guiding principles; several models for funding services;
and the shared services components for Finance, Human Resources
and Information Technology.
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Administrative
Leadership Preparation Program has been adopted by the Office
of the Chancellor to develop the capacity for leadership from
within our Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.
It is designed to help campus professionals (senior staff
and mid-level managers) prepare for the growing challenges
facing our system's leaders. Proposed guidelines and models
of leadership development have been drafted and distributed
for comment and suggestions from the presidents. In addition,
we have had two individuals who were nominated and subsequently
accepted to participate in the Association of Community College
Trustees leadership academy which was held in Colorado this
September.
On the campuses, Minnesota State University Moorhead selected
two campus leaders to participate in the Fargo-Moorhead Chamber
of Commerce's Leadership Program, a nine-month leadership
development course.
Conclusion
The first quarter of the year saw noteworthy strides toward
our new goals. The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
have made real progress on the road to becoming a successful
system. We are confident that the progress will continue and
will move the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities forward
as a system to better serve students and citizens.
End Notes
(1) Official
figures, taken on the 30th day, are not yet available. Additional
processing time will be required to ascertain their ethnic
and/or racial characteristics. Data may be available by the
second quarter's report in January 2004.
