The Texas Commission on Community College Finance met on October 18, 2022, to discuss draft recommendations for adoption and the commission’s draft report. A copy of the meeting’s agenda can be found here. An archive of the meeting can be found here.
This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the various topics taken up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the discussions but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.
Commission Membership
Woody Hunt, Chairman
Larry Taylor, District 11 Senator
Oscar Longoria, District 35 Representative
Gary VanDeaver, District 1 Representative
Carol Scott, Chair, Del Mar College Board of Regents
Mark Escamilla, President, Del Mar College
Stephen Head, Chancellor, Lone Star College
Brenda Hellyer, Chancellor, San Jacinto College
Brenda Kays, President, Kilgore College
Brain Jones, Director, Professional Learning, Odessa College
Todd Williams, CEO The Commit Partnership
Opening Comments
- Chair Hunt – This is the final meeting; only agenda item is discussion on recommendations and draft report
- Chair Hunt – Will vote to formally adopt the final recommendation language and will direct staff to develop a report based on that vote
Harrison Keller, Higher Education Commissioner
- Updated version of recommendations letter from last meeting and conclusion from recommendation document from that meeting in the draft
- Full final report will include appendices that provide background on commission’s process and more detailed results from polling discussed in September meeting
- Five new key points in draft report that are different from draft discussed in September meeting
- Point one: Language added to outcomes-based funding recommendation include students who complete sequence of dual-credit that apply toward academic and workforce requirements at the collegiate level
- Point two: Draft clarifies that adult learners are included in student population weighted with additional incentives for completion
- Point three: Language change in dual-credit financial aid piece to maximum tuition rate from uniform tuition rate
- Point four: Language added in dual-credit financial aid rate to clarify termination of eligibility for the financial aid should be based on participation in the free reduced lunch program and aim is to make that process as easy as possible for students
- Point five: Recommendation on shared services was edited; one of the points of discussion was that colleges have multiple partnerships that would expand the range of programs they can offer that would also reduce operational costs
- New draft emphasizes there could be partnerships across all types of institutions, like four-year universities
- Taylor – Think it’s important to add that the commissioner has authority to cure any unintended consequences that cause harm to colleges during the process, some sort of hold harmless, seeing as it will be complex with all the districts and different revenue sources
- Would appreciate having flexibility to address unintended consequences so it does not have to wait until legislature reconvenes
- Hunt – Where do you stand on the model?
- Several versions of a potential model but incomplete data at state and local level; continuing parentship with TAC and work with colleges on how to collect supplemental data
- The model will need to evolve over the next months as updated data comes in later this fall and into the spring
- Another important change in the system will be more recognition of contributions that colleges make on non-credit side in workforce education
- Hellyer – Support Taylor on hold harmless; last week’s draft statement mentioned need to adjust the hold harmless state funding; sentence not there in draft received last night
- Taylor – Intention of draft is to be able to fix something that was missed in the next legislative session; not asking for longer than two years for minor changes
- Hunt – Make this outcome of models dynamic to allow community college leaderships teams to plan and grow their institutions knowing they have revenue stream to do so; will be dominant driver of workforce education system in future
- VanDeaver – Have been asked about absence of job placement data in metrics; no specific occupations in current workforce data and unemployment wage earnings; workforce commission work with stakeholders on this, part of tri-agency legislation last session
- Scott – Concerned about biennium and how data systems might align to two year hold harmless; need connection between data report and transitional period so colleges can collect right data
- Scott – Emphasis that language needs to be put back in final report for clarity to legislature for intention of hold harmless period
- Head – Commissioner, can you talk about what happens from here?
- Report in production, next need to look at what is in enabling legislation, encouraged by key legislatures to move that along so not much time to get that drafted and filed, a lot to be worked out in implementation because of such a fundamental shift
- Some model runs initially show three or four colleges in a hold harmless situation, but with more complete data that hold harmless might go away
- It’s in reach because of the effort the commission has recommended be put in the system so that it is a more temporary hold harmless; working through the legislative process, defer to VanDeaver, Longoria, and the senators
- Recommend that the commission be hyper specific in what’s laid out in legislation as to avoid undermining the commissioner’s ability to implement the legislation
- Head – Commissioner, are you thinking that the FY allocation from the state will be based on this model and current year?
- In consultation with all involved parties, argue that we move as quickly as we can to move into implementation; with a fundamental change sometimes people like to phase it in over 2 or 3 biennium; urgent workforce needs means we need to make shift soon
- Escamilla- Share concern and opinion about moving quickly; hope to incorporate the help of the Texas Administrators of Continuing Education (TACE), opportunity for guidance or support from them
- Escamilla – Start up monies and CE have synergy; looking forward to working with anyone on shared services or other opportunities there
- Escamilla – Possibility for institutions to set up programs so constituents and students can ramp up quickly
- Kays – Appreciate commission recognizing adult students needing their help; don’t want to lose sight of experiential learning activities and how to go about rewarding credit; would be beneficial for institutions across the state to have guidelines about this
- Williams – Support temporary hold harmless; want fixed amount that’s rewarded to be enough for significant change in institutional behavior; need to encourage students in post-secondary education
- Hellyer – Recommendations will be bold and transformational; looking at the whole state and not just secularly; appreciate work on this
- Hunt – Motion to adopt final recommendations using language agreed upon today or as modified; Passes
- Taylor – Motion to amend the report’s recommendations to include some form of a hold harmless, giving the commissioner some discretion to make changes in the next interim in case there are unintended consequences that harm colleges; Passes
- Hun t- Motion to delegate to Commissioner of Higher Education and his staff the authority to develop our adopted recommendations into a report due to the legislature by November 1, based on the commissions discussion and input given today; Passes
- Scott – Community College Association of Texas trustees are ready and standing by to assist; will be important that they work with CEO’s to communicate support for recommendations to the legislature