With the start of another academic year approaching, and with the State System of Higher Education working to change the way it operates, the president of the faculty union at the state-owned universities (APSCUF) last week offered the Board of Governors some suggestions for improvement, and promised more in the near future.
Dr. Kenneth Mash told the governors that he’s been soliciting ideas from his colleagues about what the State System can and ought to do. The three immediate suggestions he put forth were:
- Creating a joint application process so students can apply to more than one State System school at a time.
- Creating a system of tuition collection and allocation, fee collection, transcript services, and necessary agreements with the union to allow two or more faculty members to create collaborative programs.
- Creating a “gateway” page listing all distance-education programs and courses at the State System schools and allowing students to register for a course, regardless of the university they attend or their matriculation status.
Mash said they’ve been asking for implementation of those ideas for years and they should not be a surprise to anyone. He said that when the recommendations are complete, they will share them with the board, the new chancellor, and others working on changes to the State System.
