By RAEGAN NEUFELD
Tiger Media Network
Kansas Board of Regents President and CEO Blake Flanders spoke to the Student Government Association on Thursday about the declining college-going rate and the board’s strategic plan.
The college-going rate measures the number of high school graduates who attend a public university, community college or technical college the fall after their graduation. According to Flanders, the college-going rate in Kansas has dropped by approximately 11% in the last 10 years. This is one reason for lower enrollment, along with lower birth rates in the years college-aged students were born. The state is also seeing a decrease in college readiness.
KBOR has a strategic plan to address these issues, which Flanders discussed at the meeting.
“It’s really based on three pillars: serving Kansas families, supporting businesses and advancing economic prosperity,” he said.
The strategic plan focuses on affordability, innovation, workforce research and stimulating the economies where institutions are located. The board has also outlined specific goals for this year, one being expanding early college access, which is when juniors and seniors in high school take classes that count towards their high school curriculum and college credit.
“We’d like to have 15 credit hours that we can deliver without cost,” Flanders said.
Improving associate transfer degrees and reporting industry-recognized credentials are two of the board’s other goals. In addition to helping enrollment issues, these goals and strategies are also aimed at relieving the growing pressure on the labor market. According to a KBOR study, 54,000 jobs will have been added to the Kansas workforce between 2020 and 2030. Additionally, 180,000 jobs that require a postsecondary degree will need filling after current employees retire.
“It’s really good news to be a college graduate in this time,” Flanders said.
Flanders also reported that state funding for higher education has increased in recent years, specifically for need-based aid for students. He said that the governor and state legislators realize how important higher education is, but also that having input from students is beneficial.
“We appreciate everything you do,” he told the senators and executive staff members. “We look forward to working with you and we’re going to need your assistance during the legislative session.”
In regular SGA business, senators passed a bill to move $10,000 from the Allocations account to the Appropriation account. According to Treasurer Jackson Sinsel, money is normally set aside at the end of each year for this purpose, but he was unaware of this.
“We have rollover funds and it shouldn’t be an issue,” he said.
Sinsel pointed out that one organization and two individuals have requested appropriation funds so far this year, with the requests totaling $2,000. Sen. Madison Albers asked if the maximum amount groups or individuals can request would ever be lowered. That was the case for Allocations requests, but Sinsel said that will most likely not happen with Appropriations.
“I don’t think we’re going to adjust those just because $1,000 for a group honestly doesn’t go that far, so that’s kind of difficult,” he said.
The maximum amount an organization can request is $1,000, while an individual can request up to $500. Sen. Mickey Mason, the chair of the Appropriations Committee, confirmed that there are no plans to change the amounts.
Other SGA news
- Andrew Deges, Marissa Esparza, Hannah Gideon, Parker Rhoads, Elyssa Rucker and Julia Zadina were installed as new freshmen senators.
- Rarick Hall will be open until midnight Sunday through Thursday to provide students with more study spaces. Students will not have to have key card access to the building, which is a change from last week.
- Albers will represent SGA on the Food and Hunger Initiatives committee so the two groups can collaborate better to address food insecurity on campus.
- The annual SGA safety walk is scheduled for after the October 17 meeting.
Due to the Homecoming Bonfire, next week’s SGA meeting will be at 7 a.m. on October 3 in the Memorial Union Ballroom.