The Fingerhut Report

[ZachTheZip]

It's here. We're not going to merge, apparently. Or even have any name-changes. Just a general program-consolidation thing, where the universities become more specialized by eliminating redundant programs.

There is no recommendation to merge the University of Akron and Cleveland State or to move the local medical school from Rootstown Township.Those ideas did not make their way into the final report released Friday by the Northeast Ohio Universities Collaboration and Innovation Study Commission.But the report does list 18 ways in which the five publicly supported institutions in Northeast Ohio can reduce costs, collaborate more and compete less.Officials from UA, Can't State, Youngstown State, CSU and the Northeast Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy, plus legislators and corporate leaders, spent almost a year looking at ways to curb Ohio's high tuition rate while hiking the number of students in college.On Friday, Eric Fingerhut, chancellor of the OhioBoard of Regents, said the report was ''a good first step. But I wouldn't say this is everything that needs to be done in Northeast Ohio.'' The regents coordinate public higher education statewide.The Ohio General Assembly created the commission in the waning days of the 2005-2006 biennium to spur cooperation among Northeast Ohio's state-supported institutions.They compete for students, state funding, research dollars and prominence, and all five, unique in Ohio, are in four contiguous counties.Fingerhut is developing his own 10-year master plan for the entire state to present to Gov. Ted Strickland in March. He said his report may include some of the Northeast Ohio commission's recommendations.''I don't think they expect 100 percent of what they recommend to end up as policy for the state,'' he said. But their basic points will be the cornerstone of the statewide plan, he said.The report emphasizes the need to increase the number of college graduates in Northeast Ohio, especially in the high demand fields of science, technology, engineering and math, the so-called ''STEM'' disciplines.While Northeast Ohio is home to 35 percent of residents from 18 to 64 years of age statewide, its public universities award only 25 percent of the public bachelor's degrees and 30 percent of the public graduate degrees statewide, according to the report.The commission also recommended the creation of a community college in the Mahoning Valley, the only area in the region not served by one; eliminating state-mandated tuition and fee caps; and allowing institutions to charge varying tuition rates based on time of day, ranking of programs and other criteria.It also would lessen the amount of ''seat time'' required in online classes as a way to create ''accelerated innovative academic programs'' for nontraditional students, those older than the typical college-going ages of 18 to 24.The older students are the ones the public colleges must capture if they are to achieve Strickland's goal of increasing the number of college graduates statewide by 230,000 in the next 10 years, Can't State President Lester Lefton said.''The high school-going rate is about at the national average,'' he pointed out, while older people who once counted on manufacturing jobs are behind the average.The commission also wants universities to move from being everything to all students to differentiating their missions.That could mean deep-sixing underutilized programs, consolidating them with those at other institutions or strengthening them to produce more graduates. Specific programs are not named.Also, because each of the nine two- and four-year institutions in Northeast Ohio has health-care contracts with Medical Mutual of Ohio, they may be able to collaborate to get better pricing or services, although the report stops short of recommending a common medical plan for all.UA President Luis Proenza said commission members decided the rumored merger of CSU and UA was ''not one of those that it could deal with'' in its work. That potential has been rumored for months.And the commission also was silent about the rumored idea of moving NEOUCOM from rural Portage County to Akron or Cleveland, where there are more hospitals and support programs.More funding needed NEOUCOM President Lois Nora said she was happy about the recommendations the commission did make, which include training CSU students in a physician program, a longtime goal of CSU President Michael Schwartz. Currently, the medical school only accepts students from Can't State, UA and Youngstown State. The expansion would require more state funding to achieve, she said.In fact, many of the recommendations need money from the legislature or administrative changes by the Board of Regents. Others, such as the presidents reporting their progress on the recommendations yearly to the regents, could be achieved quickly.Proenza, the UA president, said he was disappointed the commission did not study ''just what do we need to get ahead of the strange curve that the future is throwing at us,'' he said.''But we had relatively little time and we chose to focus on practical matters,'' he said.

[akronzip12345]

Cool

[zen]

I wonder how much Ohio State has to limit it's programs so it doesn't compete too much with OU, or Dayton? None I bet.This is still a bunch of interfering politicians with columbus bias

[UADavid]

Dayton is a private catholic school and won't have any bearing on what osu does.

[Zipsrifle]

Interesting. They talk of eliminating redundant programs, but CSU gets to add a physicians program to get a foot into NEOCOM. Seems to me that this was a lot of talk and not a lot of action. This blurb should bode well for Akron:

The report emphasizes the need to increase the number of college graduates in Northeast Ohio, especially in the high demand fields of science, technology, engineering and math, the so-called ''STEM'' disciplines.

I think we have the best Engineering programs in NE Ohio, excluding Case (Is that a private school?). I see Akron as a Science and Technology leader. In general, I don't know that the article really said all that much. Again, I think some serious cost could be taken out of the state college system, but someone needs to make the hard call and start yanking programs out of schools, and that includes OSU! Proenza seemed frustrated. He's the man, and I have a feeling he has more up his sleeve to push Akron to the top.

[akronzip12345]

Interesting. They talk of eliminating redundant programs, but CSU gets to add a physicians program to get a foot into NEOCOM. Seems to me that this was a lot of talk and not a lot of action. This blurb should bode well for Akron:

The report emphasizes the need to increase the number of college graduates in Northeast Ohio, especially in the high demand fields of science, technology, engineering and math, the so-called ''STEM'' disciplines.

I think we have the best Engineering programs in NE Ohio, excluding Case (Is that a private school?). I see Akron as a Science and Technology leader. In general, I don't know that the article really said all that much. Again, I think some serious cost could be taken out of the state college system, but someone needs to make the hard call and start yanking programs out of schools, and that includes OSU! Proenza seemed frustrated. He's the man, and I have a feeling he has more up his sleeve to push Akron to the top.

What will happen is Akron would become a STEMM school (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine) or thats what our president wants us to be.Can't is slated to become the Miami of NE Ohio, and thats been something that has been in the works for quite some time, say what you want but Can't will become the selective traditional liberal arts research school. Which isn't bad for us, we will become a research intensive school concentrating on what we do well. It will be interesting to see how our Athletics do if this is what happens, but I don't see anything bad coming from it.If you want to read the report its at http://www.neostudycommission.org/PDFs/_St...FinalReport.pdfOne thing to worry about, Can't State is taking leadership roles in a lot of what is going to happen, which makes sense, as much as we all hate to hear Can't is this or that, we have to realize we are not Can't, and shouldn't try to be like them. We need to make our own niche and my personal opinion is that Akron has been copying Can't too much...Say what you want but thats how I feel.

[GoZips]

One thing to remember. Liberalism always generates the exact opposite of its stated intent. Fingerhut is a Liberal. And, in my eyes, a fool

[Zip Watcher]

This is NOT the Fingerhut report. This is the commission of the related universities. His report & 10 year vision is due to be presented to the state some time this quarter I believe.

[Zipsrifle]

I'm watching Fingerhut on TV right now (PBS). His main point is to establish centers of excellence in specific disciplines that are accessable to all throughout the state. Specifically pointed out that each school can't have the top program in the same discipline. Seems to me that some areas of study will get axed at some schools and will grow at other schools. Then, I anticipate expanded internet based "Distance Learning" will allow all to access to these centers of excellence to all. Oh, and a great quote from the program:"My friend says he graduated from Can't State with a degree in unemployment!"Yup, sounds about right!

[akronzip12345]

The sad thing is that people are graduating from all Ohio schools with degrees in unemployment, I'm sure there are some from U of Akron