Are you paying attention to your state legislature? Mike Reilly, Executive Director of AACRAO, thinks you should be. In the late Monday morning session at the AACRAO Annual Meeting, he walked attendees through an easy-to-follow process that will help them keep track of and affect their legislature.
Paying attention to issues on the state level is imperative as the amount of money that comes from the states combined is almost equal to that of the federal level – nearly $80 USD. More than that, however, are the affects state laws have on your institutions. This includes everything from state authorization, tuition policy, and state (performance) funding to residency requirements and degree authorization and review.
Do you know how your legislature works and who is keeping track?
You, as individual and an institution need to pay attention to how laws are made in your state. A surprising number of higher education issues that come up are within the enrollment arena. Find out who handles your government relations staff. Then, let them know your areas of expertise while paying attention to what is happening in other states and coordinating with other institutions. The Inner College Relations Commission is an example of a group where institutions work together to help positively impact their legislature.
When asked what to say and how to say it in states where there is political turmoil, Mr. Reilly suggested institutions neither take positions on issues nor discuss money or workload. Instead, describe what the real potential impacts are for students. The Lumina issue paper, “Employing Postsecondary Data for Effective State Finance Policymaking,” provides an excellent chart of where to find core student access and success measures data sets available to you and your team, as well as policy makers.
Download handouts from the presentation here.
Big state-level issues you may face:
Performance Funding
Reverse Transfer
State Authorization (AACRAO webinar)
Veterans Benefits
Undocumented Students
Guns on Campus
Secondary/Postsecondary Education Alignment
Free community college (free cc vs free first two years)
Dual Credit
Consumer Protection (for-profit colleges)
Pay It Forward Proposals (20 states discussed this last year)
Privacy Laws (105 bills introduced in 35 states, 15 states enacted tougher privacy protection laws for student records – mostly affects K12)
Disciplinary Notations on Transcripts (already mandated in New York and Virginia)