Published: Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Higher ed must drive Valley's turnaround, Fingerhut says
The governor wants an educational system that will spur the state's economy.
By HAROLD GWIN
YOUNGSTOWN — Ohio's new chancellor of higher education says the Mahoning Valley must decide what it needs from higher education.
This community needs to be very clear about what is required to drive its economy and on what areas higher education should focus its attention to meet that demand, said Eric D. Fingerhut.
"I believe that's the conversation we need to have," he said, during a stop Tuesday at The Vindicator.
And the state and Youngstown State University need to come to terms on that as well as figure out how to measure its success and how to fund it, he said.
The recently formed Northeast Ohio Universities Collaboration and Innovation Study Commission involving five northeastern Ohio universities, including YSU, is the place to begin determining individual institutional focuses, strengths and missions as the state moves toward creating a system of higher education that drives economic development, Fingerhut said.
Ohio doesn't have a "system," or a master plan for higher education, he said, explaining that most institutions now go their own way.
Gov. Ted Strickland's goal is to develop an educational system as a critical component of turning Ohio around economically, he said.
What's required
Fingerhut said the state needs a system that makes Ohio competitive, and no single institution can do that, but it can be done collectively.
That means we need to be clear about missions and centers of excellence in each school, and then be sure funding is adequate to support them, he said.
Affordability of a college education is the immediate top issue in the governor's plan, Fingerhut said, pointing out that Ohio is 47 percent above the national average in tuition costs.
Controlling those costs is one part of the governor's proposed "compact" with higher education, he said.
Strickland has proposed a 5 percent increase in state instructional funds to state colleges and universities in return for a promise of no tuition increase next year and no more than a 3 percent increase the following year.
YSU officials have expressed concern that channeling the 5 percent through the traditional state funding formula would result in YSU's getting only a 1.7 percent increase (about $500,000) if it joins the compact.
However, Fingerhut said the state won't use the old formula and it will be possible for YSU — and other schools — to see a true 5 percent increase next year. The compact is meant to be a "negotiation," he said, adding that he has been charged with working out the distribution formula.
The compact will break the cycle of "disinvestment" in higher education, he said, noting that state aid has been flat for six years. The compact would put another $200 million into funding, he said.
Other provisions
The compact also calls for participating schools to take efficiency steps to reduce spending by 1 percent next year and 3 percent the following year.
YSU officials have said that the university is already the most efficient in the state system, spending less per student and with a lower tuition rate than any of the other major colleges and universities. They have suggested that YSU should be given some credit for the efficiencies it has already created.
Fingerhut said the state is looking beyond what individual institutions have done and wants to concentrate on system-wide savings through shared services.
"We don't work together to achieve efficiencies of scale," he said, adding that human resources and data systems as well as energy purchases and health care are areas where schools can work together to reduce costs.
Fingerhut said the state favors the creation of a community college in the Mahoning Valley, something that YSU has been working on for the past year.
"I'm very supportive of the general notion," he said, adding that the Valley — and the state — must have a community college as part of work force development, and a four-year college to offer further development for the high-level, innovative talent.
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