NH Business: Will the University System & Community College System of NH become one system?

BUSINESS. I’M FRED KOCHER. WELL, THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF NEW HAMPSHIRE AND THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM OF NEW HAMPSHIRE BECOME ONE SYSTEM. WELL, THAT’S THE QUESTION I ASK MY GUESTS IN A MOMENT. BUT ONE OF THE REASONS FOR ASKING THAT QUESTION IS THIS ENROLLMENT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, PUBLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES, FULL TIME, DOWN 13.6% FROM 2019 TO 20 2223 LATE LAST YEAR, GOVERNOR SUNUNU ORDERED A TASK FORCE OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND BUSINESS LEADERS TO LOOK AT OUR TWO HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEMS DUE TO A DECLINE IN ENROLLMENTS AND A DECLINE IN NET REVENUES IN BOTH SYSTEMS, PLUS CHANGES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE’S WORKFORCE. EARLIER THIS YEAR, THAT TASK FORCE MET MADE RECOMMENDATIONS WHICH LED TO THIS BILL IN THE NEW HAMPSHIRE LEGISLATURE. HOUSE BILL 1450, PUBLIC EDUCATION STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT CREATE A ECONOMIES OF SCALE AND ENERGY. MINIMIZE DUPLICATION OF ACADEMIC PROGRAMS. STREAMLINED ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND OBLIGATIONS, COLLABORATION ON CURRICULAR PATHWAYS AND CURRICULUM PATHWAYS ACROSS INSTITUTIONS, AND RAISE EDUCATION ATTAINMENT LEVELS FOR WORKFORCE NEEDS. THE SPONSOR OF THIS BILL IS FORMER EDUCATOR HIMSELF, REPUBLICAN STATE REPRESENTATIVE RICK LADD OF HAVERHILL, CHAIR OF THE HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE AND WHO WAS PART OF THE GOVERNOR’S EDUCATION TASK FORCE EARLIER THIS YEAR. WELCOME. NICE TO HAVE YOU IN. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, FRED. YEAH. YOUR LEGISLATION CREATES THE MECHANISMS FOR PROBABLY WHAT’S THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE’S EDUCATION, PUBLIC EDUCATION, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN MY LIFETIME. SO HAS YOUR HOUSE BILL 1450 PASSED THE HOUSE AND SENATE YET? I EXPECT THE GOVERNOR WILL PROBABLY SIGN IT BECAUSE HE STARTED THIS WHOLE THING. WELL, THANK YOU, FRED. I KNOW IT’S NOT IN THE GOVERNOR’S DESK YET, BUT IT HAS CLEARED THE HOUSE ON CONSENT CALENDAR, AND IT HAS PASSED THE SENATE AS WELL. SO IT’S ON THE WAY TO THE CORNER OFFICE AFTER THAT. WHAT’S NEXT? HOPEFULLY IT’S SIGNED. AND WHAT’S NEXT IS THEN WE HAVE A REPORT THAT WE’RE PUTTING IN 1450, WHERE THERE’S GOING TO BE A AN ONGOING TASK FORCE EFFORT AND WORKING WITH THE TWO CHANCELLORS, MARK RUBENSTEIN AND KATHY PROVENCHER, THAT HAVE TO REPORT BACK TO THE THE 1450 THAT WOULD BE THE HIGHER EDUCATION COMMITTEE FOUR TIMES PER YEAR, EVERY EVERY QUARTER GIVEN THE CURRENT AND PROJECTED ENROLLMENT DECLINES IN BOTH SYSTEMS, WHICH, YOU KNOW, IN TO THE NEXT DECADE AND REVENUE DECLINES REPORTED TO BE IN THE MILLIONS, AND, OF COURSE, AND THE NEEDS OF THE WORKFORCE THAT ARE CHANGING. WHAT 1 OR 2 OBJECTIVES DO YOU THINK ARE MOST CRITICAL TO KEEP THESE SYSTEMS HEALTHY GOING FORWARD? WELL, THE SHIFT IN DEMOGRAPHICS IS CERTAINLY A HUGE ISSUE WHEN WE WE SEE THE ENROLLMENT AT THE UNH AND THE OTHER 2 TO 4 YEAR SCHOOLS DROPPING AS MUCH AS 18% IN JUST FIVE YEARS, COMMUNITY COLLEGE SIMILAR 14%. WE’RE SEEING K THROUGH 12 POPULATION DOWN BY 25% FROM WHEN I STARTED, 210,000 260,000 CHILDREN. THAT’S A HUGE DROP. AND IT IMPACTS THE ELIGIBLE STUDENTS TO THAT ARE GOING TO GO TO A FOUR YEAR OR A TWO YEAR SCHOOL, RIGHT? RIGHT, RIGHT. YOUR BILL CONTAINS THE WORDS ECONOMIES OF SCALE, WHICH YOU SAID MINIMIZE DUPLICATION, STREAMLINE ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. THOSE ARE SIMILAR WORDS THAT ARE IN THE TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE LEGISLATURE. IT SOUNDS LIKE A FORMULA FOR THE EVENTUAL MERGER OF THE TWO SYSTEMS. IS IT? NO. THAT’S NOT THE PURPOSE OF THE BILL. THE PURPOSE OF THE BILL IS TO ALIGN THE TWO SYSTEMS FOR THESE EFFICIENCY OF SCALES, FOR FOR SEAMLESS TRANSFER OF CREDIT FROM ONE LEVEL TO ANOTHER TO ENCOURAGE MORE STUDENTS TO GET ENROLLED IN THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVELS AND CONCURRENT DUAL ENROLLMENT EARLY, EARLY START, RUNNING START AND TO HAVE THEM FOLLOW THROUGH AND REMAIN IN OUR STATE. BUT THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THIS IS TO ALIGN THE SYSTEM. SO OUR SYNERGY IS GOING IN ONE DIRECTION, NOT SILOED INTO TWO DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OR EVEN THREE. IF WE COUNT THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE, THE CAREER TECH. OKAY. GOOD TO CLEAR THAT UP. NOW TAKE A LOOK AT THIS. UH, RICK, UH, A STATEMENT BY FORMER NEW HAMPSHIRE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM CHANCELLOR ED MCKAY. OTHER STATES THAT HAVE MERGED OR ATTEMPTED TO MERGE HAVE FOUND THAT THEIR COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEMS HAVE SUFFERED AS A RESULT. I’M TOLD THAT THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM IS NOT ENAMORED WITH THIS IDEA OF MOVING CLOSER INTO THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM. WHAT SAY YOU? I I’VE TALKED WITH MARK RUBENSTEIN, WHO’S THE CHANCELLOR OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM. THEY INITIALLY SAW THE WORDS CONSOLIDATION AND SAW MERGER. THAT’S NOT WHAT THIS IS ABOUT. IT’S ABOUT THE SEAMLESS TRANSFER OF CREDIT FROM ONE SCHOOL TO THE OTHER SCHOOL. GOOD. IT’S ALIGNMENT. GOOD POINT. NOW, UM, FOR THE RECORD, UH, THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM HAS FROZEN TUITION FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THEY’VE ALREADY LAID OFF SOME STAFF. THAT’S JUST FOR THE RECORD. SO MY THANKS TO STATE REPRESENTATIVE RICK LAD, CHAIR OF THE HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE FOR THE BRIEFING ON NEW HAMPSHIRE’S UNIQUE SYSTEM AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM AND STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT. AS YOU HAVE SAID, A COUPLE OF TIMES. THANKS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, FRED. AND ONE THING I WANT TO SAY IS WHAT ARE THE STAKES IF WE DO NOTHING? WHAT IS IT GOING TO LOOK LIKE IN THE STATE IN 15 YEARS HENCE? A GOOD POINT. I DON’T WANT TO THINK THAT I WANT TO ATTACK IT NOW. AND WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND MY THANKS TO CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE AND CONCORD, IF YOU MISSED PART OF THIS, YOU CA