Author Topic: Higher ed vital to future  (Read 3757 times)

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Offline pmp6nl

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Higher ed vital to future
« on: February 18, 2011, 01:14:36 PM »
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Higher ed vital to future
By: Mike Krueger, Fargo

I’m concerned about recent actions by the Environment and Education Subcommittee of the North Dakota House of Representatives Appropriations Committee. I hope the full Appropriations Committee will recognize the value of investment in the North Dakota higher education and particularly the research universities.

I am an alumnus of our state higher education system and in fact currently serve as the president of the North Dakota State University alumni association. But I am also a conservative, taxpaying North Dakota businessman who works in an agriculture-related industry. Because of that, I look at our state’s higher education system, and particularly its two flagship research universities, as the unparalleled economic engines that they are. You don’t have to take my word for that – Moody’s Investments, one of the nation’s most respected independent investment analysis firms, recently ranked higher education as a leading economic engine of the state, second only to overall agriculture.

Here is my fear. They have recommended a virtual freeze to additional investment in our higher education system. This is at a time when we are fortunate to be enjoying economic vitality that is unprecedented both in its immediate impact and dependability via a strong agriculture economy and robust energy boom. We know that can change, and the agriculture and energy bounty may not have the same benefit into the future. Now is when we can and should invest in strengthening and diversifying our economy beyond its traditional, single-source foundation of agriculture. News of projected additional state revenues serves to further bolster that position.

While educating the majority of North Dakota’s college students, both NDSU and the University of North Dakota are engaged in research and development that leads to new businesses, new jobs, and new economic diversity for North Dakota. In doing so, they draw the best and brightest students, faculty, researchers and workers from other states. What other economic engine in North Dakota can say that?

Worth noting and contrary to popular misperceptions, those out-of-state students – as they should – pay more to be here than our resident students, while a large and growing portion of them end up staying here to work, pay taxes, and strengthen the shrinking pool of young people in North Dakota.

Our state’s investment opportunity with higher education, and our unique capacity to invest in it while competing states have no ability to do so, is so obvious and so well known by most legislators that I find the Education and Environment Subcommittee’s vote to be at best disappointingly ill-advised, and I’m concerned it represents something far worse – a callous disregard for state interests.

My intention is to sound a wake-up call to our lawmakers. North Dakotans are watching, and expect them to do their job to invest in priorities that enhance our state’s economic future. We are facing a window of opportunity – and a competitive advantage – that has never before been available to North Dakota. As other states struggle back, that window will close. I hope we won’t find ourselves someday looking through a closed window and wishing our legislative representatives hadn’t played games with our state’s future.

From: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/309089/group/Opinion/
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Offline Sal Atticum

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Re: Higher ed vital to future
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2011, 05:24:36 PM »
IMHO, the state should be looking to improve education at the state level rather than picking fights with the NCAA.  But that would just make too much sense.
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Offline pmp6nl

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Re: Higher ed vital to future
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2011, 11:40:39 PM »
IMHO, the state should be looking to improve education at the state level rather than picking fights with the NCAA.  But that would just make too much sense.

Frankly I think a lot of the reps are out of touch.  Some are very foolish it would seem.  They want to increase tuition for students, but dont mind giving it away for free to seniors.

Perhaps the problem is the age makeup of the legislature?  I dont have any specific numbers, but are the numbers proportionate to age in the state?

I think the whole UND thing is dumb, but thats for another topic.  Sigh, no wonder young people are leaving the state (well that stuff and jobs).
« Last Edit: February 22, 2011, 12:31:18 AM by pmp6nl »
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Offline Sal Atticum

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Re: Higher ed vital to future
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2011, 10:31:51 AM »
I think I saw in a headline today that there are fewer people in ND working multiple jobs than last year, which is a good thing.  Jobs are still hard to find though for anyone who has gone through the trouble to get a higher education degree.
JUST EXTRA POLISH. I DO SOME WORK WITH EXCELL SO I KEEP THE CAPS LOCK ON :-P

 

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