Eric Fingerhut, Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, has announced that he will soon release a draft of one part of his 10-year strategic plan for higher education in Ohio. Fingerhut’s plan seems to revolve most notably around freezing tuition payments for two years at state universities in order to make college more accessible and affordable for everyone. Governor Ted Strickland and the General Assembly appointed Chancellor Fingerhut with the charge to create a 10-year plan in order to accommodate the growing population and establish a university system that is truly globally competitive.
The deadline set for Fingerhut to develop the 10-year plan is March 31, 2008. Fingerhut must hold down tuition and figure out a way to pay for enrollment growth. “It cannot all come from taxpayers,” Fingerhut insisted. In other words, universities will need to find “other, private sources of funding.”
Released to the community was the information that the first draft will contain statewide goals and metrics in five areas: educational attainment, quality, affordability, funding and economic development. Recently Fingerhut sought proposals for the Choose Ohio First Scholarship Program. After the General Assembly’s creation of the Ohio Innovation Partnership, Chancellor Fingerhut requested proposals from Ohio’s higher education institutions that seek to recruit and graduate more Ohio students in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (the “STEM Fields”). It appears that this proposal request reflects a part of Chancellor Fingerhut’s 10-year strategic plan.
“Ohio’s public universities and community colleges will be united under one banner to focus on their common goals, while maintaining their own identities,” Gov. Ted Strickland stated.
“We expect these will be major decisions,” Chancellor Fingerhut added.
It appears that the 10-year plan will consist of primary goals and procedures to better Ohio colleges around the state. Enrollment and scholarship opportunities appear to be the main focus. Fingerhut does not have a set timetable for when drafts of the plan will be released after the first peek in a few weeks. Only time will tell where the direction of many Ohio community and state colleges are headed.
Once published, Chancellor Fingerhut’s plan will be viewable on the University System of Ohio web site at universitysystem.oho.gov .