CHANGING LIVES... CREATING FUTURES

Transcription

1 CHANGING LIVES... CREATING FUTURES Good afteroo Chairma Bohaa, Vice Chair Mizeur, ad members of the House Appropriatios Committee s Subcommittee o Educatio ad Ecoomic Developmet. I am grateful for the opportuity to share how, with your ogoig support, Uiversity of Marylad Uiversity College (UMUC) is chagig lives ad creatig futures for more tha 33,000 Marylad residets. A Extraordiary Uiversity UMUC cotiues to play a critical ad expadig role withi the state s public system of higher educatio. With workig adults returig to college i record umbers, UMUC is still the oly publicly fuded four-year istitutio i Marylad ad oe of very few i the Uited States dedicated etirely to meetig the uique learig eeds of such studets. As the state s ope access uiversity ad largest virtual uiversity, UMUC offers a viable ad affordable educatioal optio for both uderserved ad otraditioal studets who might ot otherwise be able to atted college. UMUC has also built a solid reputatio as the place to go for rapid-respose solutios to critical workforce developmet eeds, as ad where they emerge. I fact, our ew cybersecurity educatio iitiative has made UMUC a valuable asset i Goveror O Malley s campaig to make Marylad the atioal epiceter for cybersecurity excellece a movemet that could brig as may as 28,000 jobs ito our ow backyard. Moreover, UMUC s Master of Arts i Teachig program supports the state s Race to the Top educatio iitiative, by preparig qualified ad experieced high school teachers i vitally importat areas, such as sciece, techology, egieerig, ad math. UMUC is also educatig Marylad s ext geeratio of homelad security experts, evirometal maagemet professioals, ad biotechology leaders at a time whe the world is icreasigly more volatile ad ucertai. 1

2 A Exemplary Year Thaks to soud maagemet, strategic alliaces, ad prudet resource allocatio, UMUC marked yet aother baer year of steady growth ad solid iovatio. I 2010, the uiversity Made the top te i Global Academy Olie s list of best olie uiversities i the world. Icreased ew erollmet by 10 percet worldwide ad olie erollmets by slightly more tha 13 percet. Achieved the highest reerollmet rate i more tha five years. Awarded 7,774 degrees. Lauched a groudbreakig cybersecurity educatio iitiative that icluded oe udergraduate ad two graduate degree programs. Iitiated a ambitious project to reegieer its udergraduate curriculum. Received a $1.2 millio grat from the Kresge Foudatio to improve udergraduate studet support. Furished some $7 millio i scholarship assistace to 4,213 deservig studets. 2 3

3 A Essetial Request Accomplishmets such as these reiforce UMUC s value to the state of Marylad ad its 5.5 millio lifelog learers. There is o doubt that the eed for what UMUC offers will become eve more acute as Marylad s ecoomic growth targets evolve, its commuities become more diverse, ad its adult studet populatio expads eve further. I meetig these realities, UMUC is uiquely positioed to pioeer ay umber of forward-focused academic programs ad services. But to do so, the uiversity must have the fiacial flexibility eeded to put its best etrepreeurial foot forward while maitaiig its competitive edge, erollig qualified studets, recruitig top-otch faculty, ad retaiig experieced staff. EXPANDING OUR ENROLLMENT As erollmet umbers show (see graphs below), UMUC cotiues to grow, eve i the face of tough ecoomic times, by offerig studets the academic optios ad opportuities they ot oly eed, but have come to expect. UMUC s reputatio for quality is certaily a factor i these icreased erollmets. Recetly, UMUC made Global Academy Olie s 2010 top te list of best olie uiversities worldwide, for the fourth time i eight years. Cosidered the distace educator s U.S. News ad World Report, this Web site features the top te of more tha 300 olie uiversities ad programs worldwide raked i its publicatio Best & Worst Olie Degree Programs. Accordig to the Academy s publicatio, UMUC is beig recogized for its trailblazig work i virtual learig, havig ow become a model that may colleges ad uiversities are scramblig to emulate. Studet Headcout Stateside 33,096 34,172 39,577 Although UMUC is the atio s largest public uiversity, it presetly receives the smallest state allotmet. I fact, oly about 10 percet of its operatig budget comes from the state s geeral fud, which meas that the uiversity must rely almost etirely o tuitio fees FALL Olie Course Erollmets Worldwide At the same time, the uiversity must remai fully compliat with state-imposed cost-cuttig measures, icludig recet furloughs ad salary freezes, that make it more difficult to attract ad keep the talet eeded to maitai reveues. Ad i the curret ecoomic climate, the eed to icrease ad diversify these reveues has ever bee greater. 177, , , ,268 Therefore, we respectfully ask that i additio to its $31.2 state geeral fud request, UMUC be allowed the discretio to implemet requisite salary adjustmets, ot oly to meet its curret obligatios but also to ivest i its future. To support this request, I am pleased to preset the followig overview of this year s most sigificat accomplishmets. 153, FISCAL YEAR

4 Real-Time Programs Ulike traditioal studets, adults come back to college primarily for professioal advacemet ad i tight job markets, that ofte meas that they are chagig careers altogether. So to provide these adult studets with highly marketable credetials i the very latest high-demad fields, UMUC has developed a umber of iovative strategies for quickly ad effectively rampig up ew academic programs i these areas. Ad to esure that these programs are up to speed ad our graduates up to the job the uiversity works closely with dozes of learig parters, i virtually every growth sector of the ecoomy. Cyber Educatio I respose to our coutry s urget eed for highly skilled cybersecurity warriors, UMUC lauched three cybersecurity degree programs i the fall, becomig the oly istitutio i Marylad to offer both graduate ad udergraduate degrees i that field. The programs, all of which are desiged to produce complete professioals, were developed by a team of qualified faculty leaders workig with a group of atioally recogized idustry experts. Taught predomiatly olie, these programs are already breakig studet erollmet records, with early 1,500 studets erolled last semester, ad aother 1,300 havig applied for the sprig. Faculty with Real-World Experiece UMUC cotiues to attract ad retai a outstadig faculty of more tha 4,000 scholar-practitioers, who as reowed academics, superb teachers, ad recogized experts i their fields, teach ad work i literally every corer of the globe. Oe example is Jay Liebowitz, DSc, who is the uiversity s highly esteemed Orkad Chair i its Graduate School of Maagemet ad Techology. Raked oe of the top 10 kowledge maagemet/itellectual capital research practitioers i the world, Liebowitz cotiues to drive research ad developmet efforts i this burgeoig field. Ad he is usig this tremedous expertise to help keep UMUC s programs fresh, its faculty out ahead, ad its studets o the leadig edge. Teacher Educatio Likewise, whe asked to help the Marylad State Departmet of Educatio fill critical teacher shortages, UMUC reegieered its Master of Arts i Teachig (MAT) program. By recruitig from amog our large studet pool of career chagers ad military veteras, the uiversity ow has 58 teachers ready to hit the groud ruig at graduatio. Moreover, they have all the right stuff a outstadig educatio; a workig backgroud i sciece, techology, egieerig, or math; ad a strog desire to share what they kow. Sciece Maagemet UMUC is also oe of the first uiversities aywhere to pioeer the professioal sciece master s (PSM) degree, havig ow produced five such programs i high-eed fields, all of which may be completed olie. Touted by may as the ew MBA, a PSM degree combies graduate studies i a scietific field (such as biotechology, evirometal maagemet, ad iformatio assurace) with busiess maagemet courses. Cosequetly, our PSM erollmet umbers are quickly risig from more tha 1,300 studets to early 2,000 i oly two years. 6 7

5 Real Access Thaks i large part to UMUC s ever-expadig Commuity College Alliace Program, trasfer studets accout for early 50 percet of UMUC s erollmets worldwide. I fact, UMUC erolls more trasfer studets from commuity colleges tha ay other Marylad istitutio. Iaugurated more tha a decade ago, the Alliace Program takes full advatage of UMUC s olie offerigs to implemet more tha 400 articulatio agreemets with commuity colleges icludig all 16 of Marylad s commuity colleges, as well as 52 schools from out of state, may of which have multiple campuses ad/or substatial erollmets. For example, out-of-state alliace parters iclude Miami Dade College, which serves some 170,000 studets o eight campuses ad at umerous outreach ceters, ad Cetral Texas College, which is oe of the largest providers of two-year educatioal services to the U.S. military. The commuity colleges of Maricopa, Loe Star, ad Dallas Couties the largest commuity college districts i the Uited States ad Ozarks Techical Commuity College oe of the atio s fastest growig two-year istitutios are also parters. Through alliaces with schools like these, thousads of studets are able to move smoothly from a associate s degree to a bachelor s degree, without losig credits or ever leavig home. I retur, UMUC attracts a steady stream of accomplished trasfer studets who have cosistetly prove to be amog its most taleted ad successful graduates. As the program grows to iclude thousads of studets, from coast to coast, it also serves as a exceptioal coduit for attractig out-of-state tuitio reveues a importat factor i sustaiig UMUC s busiess model. The Alliace Program also supports Presidet Obama s America Graduatio Iitiative, by offerig expaded olie access to four-year degree programs ad providig scholarship support. EMPOWERING OUR STUDENTS As a ope access uiversity, committed to servig all qualified applicats, UMUC attracts a exceptioally diverse studet body, represetig myriad ages ad abilities, cultural traditios, ad socioecoomic circumstaces. This studet base also ecompasses a substatial umber of the state s otraditioal ad uderserved studet populatios, icludig more Africa America udergraduates tha ay other four-year Marylad istitutio ad almost twice the umber of Africa America graduate degree cadidates tha i all of Marylad s historically black colleges ad uiversities. Fall 2010 STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS 10% 40% 41% 44% 55% Sigle First Married Miority Female with geeratio with group childre childre member UMUC also caters to studets who face sigificat disadvatages i pursuig traditioal academic optios. Nearly all UMUC studets are busy workig adults, for whom the school day begis oce the eveig rush hour is over. So to ear a degree, these hardworkig me ad wome eed all the support they ca get from experietial learig eviromets, prior learig credit optios, ad 24-hour help desks to olie writig assistace, digital library resources, ad career guidace. These resources require substatial ivestmets, a great deal of teamwork, ad more tha a little igeuity to esure that the support provided is as empowerig as it is effective. 8 9

6 Practical Desig Last fall, UMUC s School of Udergraduate Studies lauched a ambitious curriculum redesig project with oe essetial goal i mid: to esure that UMUC graduates move successfully from coursework to real work. Sice the, hudreds of UMUC udergraduate faculty members have joied forces across disciplies, departmets, ad divisios to determie what studets should actually be capable of doig oce they graduate. So with plety of iput from idustry experts, they are rewritig program curricula ad realigig program outcomes across the board to alig better with both idustry stadards ad best practices for teachig ad learig. Virtual Coectios Although UMUC s virtual campus was origially developed as a academic delivery system, it is also a exceptioal veue for coectig our studets with the uiversity commuity at large ad service support i particular. For example, UMUC s Studet Success Ceter furishes olie access to metors ad tutors, clubs ad hoor societies, experts, ad future colleagues i various fields of study. Ad sice may adults still equate educatio with desks i a classroom, UMUC created UMUC 411, a olie orietatio that eables prospective studets to actually test-drive a olie course, at o cost, before they eroll a importat first step to a successful academic experiece. Moreover, to boost retetio ad completio rates amog busy workig adults, the School of Udergraduate Studies is movig all of its classes olie ad o-site to a eight-week format. These shorter terms are desiged to eable UMUC studets may of whom must atted school part-time to complete a degree withi roughly the same timeframe as their full-time couterparts, without havig to load up o courses. The uiversity also hosts virtual job fairs, which provide a effective way for studets ad alumi to etwork without havig to actually miss work. Usig a customized Web site, prospective employers set up virtual booths that UMUC studets ad alumi may visit at ay time, from aywhere, to research the compay, chat with represetatives, ad submit résumés. By all accouts, the process has bee exceedigly effective for everyoe cocered

7 Customized Support Digital techology also affords ay umber of optios for customizig support services for specific studet populatios ad idividual learig eeds. As the uiversity of choice for early 40 percet of all Latio/Hispaic graduate studets erolled i Marylad s public istitutios, UMUC recetly uveiled a iovative Web-based support system desiged to help these graduate studets address ay cultural obstacles they might ecouter. The system icorporates olie Eglish laguage ad writig assistace; oe-o-oe tutorig, as eeded; peer advisig; ad hads-o professioal developmet experieces. Ad thaks to a $1.2 millio grat from the Kresge Foudatio, UMUC is workig with two of its Marylad commuity college parters to create a groudbreakig data miig program. By capturig a wealth of iformatio to support various predictive learig models, this program will eable UMUC to furish far better support for udergraduate studets as they move through the higher educatio pipelie. Fiacial Relief For workig adults who are jugglig tuitio fees with grocery bills ad mortgage paymets, the cost of higher educatio ca make it difficult to afford eve a few courses here ad there, much less a degree. So these studets look for grats ad scholarships that will help defray tuitio expese ad reduce studet loa debt. Because of this eed, UMUC has made scholarship assistace its umber oe fudraisig priority a commitmet that paid off last year to the tue of some $7 millio i awards to more tha 4,200 worthy studets. UMUC also makes sure studets are aware of all the ways they ca make study more affordable from military beefits ad work-study optios to employer-provided assistace ad iterest-free mothly paymets olie at Digital techology is also beig used to develop udergraduate courses i cojuctio with the Caregie Mello Ope Learig Iitiative. This cuttigedge project uses the latest techologies to foster a far more dyamic, flexible, ad resposive e-learig eviromet for all studets, regardless of their idividual learig prefereces ad prior academic experiece. The model provides data about studet use ad learig for both faculty ad course desigers ad uses cotiuous evaluatio of class performace to give faculty the iformatio they eed to effectively modify or supplemet istructio to meet learig objectives

8 EXTENDING OUR REACH As the uiversity s erollmet grows, so does its footprit both here ad abroad. Although its roots are firmly plated here i Marylad, UMUC is truly a global academic eterprise, operatig o four cotiets ad servig more tha 90,000 studets i 27 coutries ad territories, all 50 states, ad the atio s capital. At Home Last year, UMUC opeed its ew ad much-eeded Academic Ceter at Largo, coveietly located i the heart of Largo s ever-expadig busiess ad techology district. I additio to cosolidatig the uiversity s rapidly expadig academic eterprise, this facility fully supports the state s gree buildig iitiative. Ideed, it is the oly buildig i the world that has bee refurbished to achieve LEED Gold Certificatio. Aroud the World 27 COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES AROUND THE WORLD Afghaista Australia Bahrai Belgium Bulgaria Diego Garcia/ British Idia Ocea Territory Djibouti Egypt Germay Greece Guam Iraq Italy Japa Kosovo Kuwait Marshall Islads Netherlads Portugal Qatar Sigapore South Korea Spai Thailad Turkey Uited Kigdom Uited States Raked by Military Times Edge as the most popular istitutio amog active-duty military persoel, UMUC is the uiversity of choice for some 50,000 servicemembers, military veteras, ad their family members. I keepig with its log traditio of servig U.S. military persoel, UMUC cotiues to offer classes or advisory services (or both) at every military base i Marylad, as well as at bases across Asia ad Europe icludig 36 military field sites i Iraq ad Afghaista. Needless to say, this outreach gives Marylad yet aother competitive advatage whe base realigmet ad closure decisios are made. Uder a cotract from the Departmet of Defese, UMUC has opeed 10 ew Natioal Test Ceters i Europe ad the Middle East, with 15 more scheduled for completio. These ceters house UMUC computer labs that are authorized to admiister stadardized tests for college credit, military exams, ad various commercial certificatio tests. Ad while the govermet is extremely pleased with our speed ad efficiecy i gettig this project off the groud, we are eve more delighted with the tremedous visibility it affords

9 FULFILLING OUR COMMITMENT UMUC exemplifies may of the values we prize here i Marylad: lifelog learig, coscietious leadership, equal opportuity, ad public service. The studets who atted this great uiversity truly represet its bold spirit, tremedous itegrity, ad high academic stadards. Ideed, they are this uiversity s greatest legacy ad the oe costat barometer of its success. Therefore, we owe them the very best that higher educatio has to offer. With your support, UMUC will cotiue to fulfill that commitmet with the same ethusiasm ad iovatio that has always set this uiversity apart from its competitio. 16