At the request of Governor Cuomo and SUNY, I was honored to attend the State of the State address on Wednesday and even more honored when MCC was recognized by the Governor for our leadership in regional workforce development efforts. MCC’s partnerships with industry to develop and deliver career and technical education programs targeted to local economic needs were singled out and praised by Governor Cuomo as the model for New York state. Many thanks go to Vice President Oldham, the faculty and staff within the Economic Development and Innovative Workforce Services division, and our many industry partners for helping to make MCC such a leader.
In his remarks, the Governor also outlined a new proposal for community college funding. This year, the Executive Budget will include a new pot of incentive dollars for our sector. Some history is helpful here to understand the significance of this change. Following a fast growing national trend in the funding of public higher education, New York showed interest in performance based funding for community colleges during the last budget cycle. In late fall, Albany showed a renewed and more serious interest in community college performance funding; this time, there was also concern about how effectively community colleges were meeting workforce demands.
Because of MCC’s recent success in workforce and my background in a performance based funding state (Florida), SUNY asked that I provide feedback to the Governor’s staffers on the developing plans. Over multiple meetings, I consistently underscored a fundamental point: the need to keep our existing aid (based on the number of full-time equivalent students enrolled) separate from any performance incentive funds. (In other states, base aid has been tied to performance measures, which has decreased overall higher education funding.) My experience on the Governor’s Regional Economic Development Council also led me to recommend a connection between any workforce incentives and the REDCs. More details on the Governor’s vision for performance based funding are in his NY Rising report, which was released in connection with his address.
We are grateful that the Governor’s plan keeps base aid and performance funding separate. Community colleges will have the opportunity to earn additional funding based on their performance on several metrics tied to student success and workforce readiness. This performance-based funding proposal underscores the importance of MCC’s recent efforts to improve student retention and completion, especially in career and technical education programs. Thanks to the work of so many at the College, MCC is well on its way to responding positively to the proposed performance measures.
The State of the State developed several themes that will impact MCC over the upcoming budget discussions, including strong messages about the importance of partnerships; consistent, statewide emergency response training; and the need for continued fiscal restraint across all public agencies. But, more than anything else, the recognition of the centrality of community colleges to New York’s economic future and the leadership role MCC plays in this work came through loudly and clearly. It was a great day for MCC and our community … and the beginning of another interesting budget year.
I welcome your thoughts on the blog.
Anne M. Kress
President's Office
01/10/2013 |