Ridgewater College FAN

Ridgewater is back in!

noreply@blogger.com (mnscufan) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:30:00 +0000

Senate Finance Approves Smaller Bonding Proposal
Thursday morning, the Senate Finance Committee approved a second package of bonding projects and advanced the proposal to the full Senate.

At the request of Sen. Keith Langseth, DFL-Glyndon, the Senate bonding chariman, the committee adopted an amendment to SF2538, containing a $925 million bonding package. (This brings the original total down from $965 million). Langseth said the governor has indicated he wants a package of about $825 million. Putting a $925 million proposal out is intended to establish a Senate position on a slightly smaller bill for conference committee purposes, Langseth said. Changes to the proposal for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities do not include any cuts, there is however additional funding of $3.5 million for Ridgewater College, and $2.4 million for Hennepin Technical College (these projects were not included in the Senate's original bill). For this proposal, this puts the system total at $277 million. According to The Bemidji Pioneer yesterday, both Rep. Alice Hausman, the House Capital Investment Chair and Langseth neither knew the next step in finishing a bonding bill. "If this goes to the floor, it is to make a statement to the position we are in," Langseth said. "It is a long, long way from passing." Stay tuned.

Legislature Releases Bonding Proposals

noreply@blogger.com (mnscufan) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:47:00 +0000

Over the past week the Minnesota Senate and House of Representatives have released their respective bonding proposals. The bill put forth by the House provides for full funding of Ridgewater's $3.5 million request. Unfortunately, the Senate's bonding bill, which was approved earlier this week, allocates NO FUNDING for Ridgewater College's capital project. Once approved, the House and Senate bills will end up in conference committee, where a final bill will be crafted and delivered to the governor.

It is VITAL that those who support Ridgewater College and higher education in Central Minnesota contact their legislators in support of Ridgewater's inclusion in a final bill.
The new and remodeled instructional space will provide the enhanced functionality and technological infrastructure necessary to prepare students for the 21st century workforce. Advanced instruction will be made possible in areas such as agriculture-related biotechnology, and expansion into emerging fields such as fiber optics, power-limited low voltage, and renewable energies.

The recent news of Minnesota's large budget deficit makes your support even more crucial. The anticipated allocation for capital bonding projects is expected to decrease by over $140 million in light of the gloomy economic forecast. Please contact your legislators to let them know how important the future of Ridgewater College is to you and our communities.

Congress acts on appropriations

noreply@blogger.com (mnscufan) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 23:28:00 +0000

There was much activity in Washington over the weekend. Congress was working hard crafting a compromise bill to hold to the President's overall budget. A $517 billion appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008 was released late Sunday night and combines the remaining 11 appropriations bills that were not finished into one large omnibus appropriations bill.

Under the compromise bill, the Perkins Loans and LEAP (Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership) would get roughly $1.1 million less than the FY2007 spending level, and spending on TRIO and Gear Up programs, which prepare low-income students for college, would be frozen at FY2007 levels.

Spending on the Pell Grant program would be cut by $69 million from the maximum Pell Grant amount of $4,310 to $4,241. However the actual award would rise to $4,731 once funds from the budget reconciliation bill enacted in September are included. The budget reconciliation bill provided enough money for a $490 increase to the maximum award contained in the new spending bill for 2008. The increase is cautioned with the fact that it might not be long-term. Many higher education advocates are concerned about what might happen in five years, when the mandatory money runs out.

Many folks have been wondering what would happen with the earmarks in the spending bills given the latest sentiment over the last couple years about members of Congress directing funding back to specific projects/programs in their districts. However, earmarks were largely contained in the omnibus bill and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system made it into the bill for six of the system’s 12 earmark requests. Here are the six earmarks that made it into the bill;

1. Baccalaureate Nursing Program - Bemidji State University - $243,000 (Labor-HHS-Education)
2. Engineering Technology - Bemidji State University - $341,000 (Labor-HHS-Education)
3. Minnesota Center for Renewable Energy - Minnesota State University, Mankato and Minnesota West Community and Technical College - $500,000 (Energy-Water)
4. Minnesota National Child Protection Training Center - Winona State University - $775,000 (Commerce-Justice-Science)
5. Veterans Re-entry Education Program - $1,119,000 (Labor-HHS-Education)
6. Workplace Diversity Needs in Urban Nursing - Metropolitan State University - $487,000 (Labor-HHS-Education)

Other provisions in the bill include $2 million for two new programs to help colleges train more graduates in math, science, and foreign languages to become schoolteachers. This falls far short of the $276 million that Congress authorized for those programs this summer in the America Competes Act. In addition, the bill would expand federal support for training health-care workers. The budget for nursing education would increase by 4.3 percent, to $156 million.

The National Science Foundation would receive $6.07 billion in FY2008, an increase of only 2.5 percent over last year's budget, or less than the projected rate of inflation.

The bill also contains a provision that would prohibit the Department of Education from issuing regulations on accreditation until after Congress passes a bill to renew the Higher Education Act. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, who is hoping to introduce new measures of "student-learning outcomes" into accreditation, has agreed not to act until a reauthorization bill is enacted.

The House began debate yesterday evening and the Senate is expected to take it up shortly. The bill is expected to pass both the House and Senate. It remains to be seen whether the President will veto the bill. We will continue to keep you updated. Stay tuned.

Federal Budget, Emergency Preparedness and High School Redesign

noreply@blogger.com (mnscufan) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:55:00 +0000

Here is a brief update on where things stand with the Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations bill. As you know, in November, Congress passed the bill which contained $3 billion worth of increases to education programs. President Bush vetoed it because it was over his budget request, and the House failed to override the President's veto by just two votes.

Currently, Congress is working on one large omnibus appropriations bill, combining the 11 unfinished spending bills (including Labor, HHS, Education), which would split the difference between the President’s budget request and the Congressional bills that were vetoed. Congressional staff has indicated that they will account for the difference by scaling back increases to programs such as No Child Left Behind, Pell Grants, IDEA, and other programs that received increases, in addition to removing some earmarks, but would not make cuts to programs from their FY2007 levels if they have not already done so.

The House is expected to start action on the bill today, with hopes of getting the bill to the Senate on Wednesday and having a final bill passed by the end of the year. Stay tuned.

State Update
Here in Minnesota, the Legislative Coordinating Commission, Preparedness for Terrorism and Disaster Working Group, is meeting today at 3:00 in Room 318 of the State Capitol to look at Minnesota's emergency and disaster-related programs and plans, areas of improvement, and opportunities for collaboration. Included on the agenda will be folks from the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities to talk about what we are doing in the area of emergency response.

Tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. in Room 200 of the State Office Building, representatives from the St. Cloud Technical College's Discovery Academy will present to the House E-12 Education Committee's High School Redesign Working Group. St. Cloud Technical College's initiative provides an opportunity for high school students to take college courses in a high school setting.