The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

IBHE met Tuesday

The Illinois Board of Higher Education selected Tuesday to set a date to respond to an amendment allowing community colleges to award bachelor's degrees. The proposal was predominate among the issues discussed at the IBHE meeting in Chicago.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education-- Student Advisory Committee recommended the proposal. It recognizes that some people, because of financial reasons or proximity, may wish to pursue a degree typically offered at a University at a community college. It was originally prompted by legislation from William Rainey Harper College.

This particular measure proposes a dramatic change to the community college setting, but suggests the change not take place before dialogue between the IBHE and community college board because of the impact it would have on the community college system known for it's commitment to quality transfer education.

It was also recognized that such a change would require community colleges to obtain the resources mandatory for an institution providing this form of education. It would also require instructors with better credentials to instruct students pursuing their baccalaureate degree.

While the Board did approve the proposal, they agreed the issue was one that needed to be researched before officially going into effect.

After agreeing there was a lot of research that needed to be done before making this official, they set a deadline date of November of 2005. By then, the Board anticipates having enough information to approve or reject the proposal.

Matt Weber, a Student Board Member of IBHE was comfortable with the resolution and the Board's decision to do more research before making a decision.

"At this point I don't think anyone wants to come out for or against it," said Weber, a student at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. "We just wanted to address the issue with this coming out across the state but we want to get information first."

Weber said that other issues, such as a possible expansion of medical facilities at SIUC and the Illinois Commitment were briefly discussed before the meeting adjourned at around 12:30 p.m.

IBHE member Mike Runestad the Illinois Commitment would simply exist as "a road map for higher education as a whole."

The proposal would provide public and private institutions with a master plan they could refer to when looking at issues concerning affordability and accountability in their institutions. If approved, the proposal would function as a guideline, not a binding contract for institutions.

Weber said he could not predict how and if allowing community colleges to grant degrees would affect enrollment at Universities. In fact, he said they could not be certain these colleges would even use the privilege immediately.

Director of External Relations for IBHE Don Sevener said that while the change would possibly expand access to those pursuing a baccalaureate degree, there are also financial concerns the board must consider while performing their research.

"We are living in a time of very scarce resources," he said.

 

 

[Macro error: Can't include because the file is larger than 32767 characters.]

Today's News | Sports | Voices - Editorial | Letters
Newsbriefs | pulse - Arts & Entertainment | Calendar | Photo Staff
Apts & Rentals | Photo Personals | Live DE NewsCam | Classified Ads