A Point of Departure CHAPTER 3. PHILOSOPHY FOR THE FUTURE Planning for the future course of post secondary education should reflect clear statements about the most important elements which will guide developments to come. Following are Master Planning Commission statements of position relative to goals for postsecondary education, role of postsecondary institutions, financing, performance and governance. GOALS FOR KANSAS POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION Among the goals for postsecondary education in Kansas are the following: To provide an educated citizenry by developing • To provide a pool of well-qualified personnel to serve the To serve as a catalyst in shaping the future economic, ⚫ To foster excellence in teaching and research in the best To encourage and facilitate lifelong learning by adults so To utilize the resources and expertise of postsecondary INTEGRATION OF ACADEMIC AND The MPC strongly believes that academic and occupational education should be integrated to the fullest extent possible. That is, unification should be exercised through governance, organization, staffing and curriculum as well as philosophically. Only through such a total commitment will it be possible to: • Provide conditions conducive to up-grading occupational Provide a mix of courses to meet the training require- • Provide an integrated training atmosphere that is • Provide expanded exploratory opportunities for the undecided and facilitate program changes to accommodate changes in career objectives. • Provide a basis for statewide planning. • Provide efficiencies by achieving economies of scale. • Provide a better match between the economic needs of the state and the skills of persons preparing for job entry. ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS The role of the various institutions should be guided but not limited by a set of rules. The state-wide system of governance should be sufficiently flexible to allow individual institutions to be responsive to the changing needs of the economy and of students. Although guidelines should be facilitating, they should provide sufficient checks and balances to insure that major institutional changes in role be coordinated on a state-wide basis to best serve the total needs of Kansas. The following general guidelines are presented for institutional types. Role of Public Four-year Institutions The state universities should concentrate on: the pursuit of research in the arts and sciences; preparation of leaders, scholars, scientists and other professionals which the specialized faculties of graduate universities are equipped to do; provision of educational experiences for capable undergraduate students interested in types of interaction which only universities can offer; and provision of special and highly specialized services to other institutions and groups of the broad community outside of the university. The state colleges and the municipal university should perform the same functions as the universities but with less emphasis on research and graduate studies. Role of Public Two-year Institutions The public two-year institutions should concentrate on: preparation of students for transfer to four-year institutions, preparation of persons for entry into occupational positions, provision of services to meet the non-educational needs of the community served (e.g., recreational, cultural, planning and other community services.) These opportunities should be directed to all members of society including the handicapped, the disadvantaged, the person with non-saleable skills, the minority, the adult, as well as those normally classified as "college material". Private Institutions The MPC does not believe it appropriate to make recommendations regarding the role of non-public educational institutions. It does believe that private colleges have made significant contributions to Kansas postsecondary education. The strength of these institutions has been primarily in the following areas: provision of alternatives for those desiring nonsecular educational opportunities; preparation at the undergraduate level of leaders, scholars, scientists and other professionals; provision of educational experiences for capable undergraduate students interested in types of interaction which only such colleges can offer; and the ability for some to experiment with instructional innovations beyond those generally available to public institutions. The private sector provides important alternatives for postsecondary education. The continuance of private education is considered to be in the best interest of the state. PERFORMANCE In order to best meet the future postsecondary needs of Kansas the MPC holds that a continuous procedure of evaluation should be an integral part of the planning process. The degree to which priorities and objectives are achieved should be the basis for assessing outcomes. Performance measurements should be made at all levels the state, institution, program, course and section. The accomplishment of effective methods of establishing goals and priorities and methods of measuring performance is contingent on the availability of current and uniform data. Thus it is also necessary that a systematic procedure for identifying, collecting, standardizing and disseminating data critical to the statewide planning and review process be instituted and operated on a continuing basis. FINANCE The problem of finance is a large one, for a viable postsecondary educational system cannot exist without a strong elementary and secondary school system. The state cannot abdicate its responsibilities for education from the kindergarten through the graduate school level by passing on the costs for education to parents and students by hidden tuition costs at the lower levels and by rising tuition costs and fees at the higher levels. Although sources of revenue are limited, the state needs to achieve an equitable means for distributing these sources so that all elementary and secondary school students may receive a quality education on as nearly a comparable basis as possible. Above the high school level, the same principle holds except that the burden of tuition costs or fees for individual students should never become excessive. Above the high school level, all public postsecondary educational institutions should generally be treated alike as regards financing from state sources. That is, the percentages coming from local taxes, tuition and fees, and state aid should be relatively the same. COORDINATION In order that the educational resources of the state may be most advantageously used to meet the public need for education and the needs of the state, it is important that the state have the responsibility for coordinating the use of resources and of educational programs across the state. In the past, coordination has been limited and while there is some evidence of developing cooperation during the period which the MPC has been in operation, there is no statutory provision for its continuation or for its development across all institutions. As a matter of fact, there are really no provisions for coordination of education programs, resource use or planning between the various types of institutions. The MPC is committed to the development of a system of postsecondary education in which the various parts both institutions and programs are related one to another in such a way as to best meet the needs of the public. Thus lodging with some state authority the responsibility for coordination and fiscal management is an important objective. INSTITUTIONAL AUTONOMY The MPC holds further that while the state has a clear and definite responsibility for overall coordination and management, the state control should not extend into the individual institutions. Rather, each institution should be independent while operating within the dimensions of overall state plans, coordination and fiscal management. The MPC does not believe that state management should concern itself with matters which are related to the management of individual institutions. For example, each institution must have the freedom to select its own faculty and to determine the qualifications necessary for that faculty to most advantageously carry out the programs of the institution. State management rightly must be concerned with the ultimate success and evaluation of the product of individual institutions, but the state role does not extend to matters of how each institution is to accomplish its objectives. PLANNING The MPC holds firmly to the position that provision for continuous planning to meet the needs of the public for postsecondary education and to effectively utilize the resources of the state for that education is of great importance. In order to be more effective, the group designated to carry out the research and planning function should be independent of the group charged with overall management of postsecondary education. If such independence is not established, the planning and research function will have its priorities established by the management group and these may or may not be the priorities important in terms of the educational needs of the public across the state nor will those priorities necessarily reflect the optimum utilization of the state's educational resources through time. |