• Gee returns to lead governor-backed plan to rethink higher education in Ohio | Inside Higher Ed

  "During the speech at Columbus State Community College, Kasich said the state needs to do more to commercialize its college-generated intellectual property, citing Stanford University, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as examples to follow. The governor said the state could easily fix roadblocks to commercialization, which he said had become a “bugaboo” for some of its critics."

  tags: returns plan higher higher education eLearning education inside higher ed ohio Gee Kasich

  • how to curb college costs for the state and for students while improving quality.

  • Both men suggested that all options are on the table in Ohio.

    • It’s strange how something so hopeful like this can sound so ominous!
  • Kasich hinted that the solution could be found amid a mix of privatization, commercialization, dual enrollment high school and college, and online college courses.

    • I’m sure this sounds terrifying.  I wonder how truly radical or dramatic these suggested changes will be, particularly as Gee formerly led a highly "traditional" state school.
  • Neither man mentioned it, but faculty members may be closely watching to see if the effort ends up making recommendations about faculty unions. In 2011, Kasich signed a bill that would have severely restricted collective bargaining by public employees, but voters repealed the law.

    • This is the elephant in the room.  It’s one of those things that needs to be addressed, that is never addressed, that should be addressed if we’re going to move forward.  
  • During the speech at Columbus State Community College, Kasich said the state needs to do more to commercialize its college-generated intellectual property, citing Stanford University, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as examples to follow. The governor said the state could easily fix roadblocks to commercialization, which he said had become a “bugaboo” for some of its critics.

    • So, I’m not sure the focus should be on "commercializing" content.  How about promoting, creating, and working with OER content?  (Open Educational Resources).  Why are we looking at what other (unlike) institutions have done in order to solve totally different problems at different types of institutions.  It seems counterintuitive to commercialize content when you’re trying to reduce costs, unless you’re thinking that other students or other states will be buying this content from Ohio, which seems unlikely.  Unless they’re considering actually making standardized resources across institutions, which you could do but couldn’t be dictated to be used in any real way, at least not with our current structure – academic freedom, etc.
  • Kasich said “online has a place” in solving the cost question but that he isn’t keen for it to ever fully replace the traditional campus experience because “hanging out at the university is part of growing up and part of life.”

    • Super amusing that the distinguishing factor mentioned as the value add for traditional on-campus educational experiences is hanging out on campus to grow up.  
  • Another revamped the state’s funding formula for higher education, resting 50 percent of operating funds at four-year colleges on graduation rates — the highest percentage in the nation.

    • The jury is still out on whether these funding formulas are going to work.  They might work incredibly well.  They might be an unmitigated disaster.  My concern is that our state needs the necessary agility to respond to unintended consequences that might occur because of the funding changes, should they have adverse effects.

  • “Now we need to ask, how do we increase quality but do so without increasing funding?” Gee said in a telephone interview Sunday.

     

    The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is interested in Ohio’s efforts, Gee said.

    • I’m interested to see where this is going with Bill and Melinda Gates.

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