2021 March MHEC news
Spring is slowly creeping across the Midwest, offering signs of green and hope that we’ll soon be together. We’re hosting our annual state visits virtually this year and the conversations have been engaging and robust. We look forward to being with you again in each of your beautiful state capitols. I’m proud of the work that our staff has been able to continue this past year under unusual circumstances. A word of gratitude to our many volunteers - committee members, commissioners and other leaders who enable us to do this important work and serve our region well. Please be sure to let us know how we can best meet your needs; our door is always open. By the way, don’t forget to check out our interactive data dashboard where you can compare your state to your neighbors, the rest of the Midwest, or the entire country.
Be well, stay safe and have fun.
Susan Heegaard, MHEC President
POLICY & RESEARCH
New Website Launched for Searchable Database for Graduate Course Options
MHEC launched its new website designed to help teachers in the MHEC states find the graduate courses they need to take to qualify to teach concurrent enrollment courses in high schools. The site, Graduate Credit Quest, not only allows teachers to search for and learn about various graduate course options, but it also provides Midwestern graduate schools with a way to reach a wider audience of potential graduate students. If you would like more information about Graduate Credit Quest, please contact Jenny Parks, vice president.
CONVENING
Midwest Credential Alliance Kick Off Planned for May 13
MHEC and Credential Engine will hold a Zoom kick-off May 13, for the Midwest Credential Transparency Alliance (MCTA). The objective for this meeting is to bring together key stakeholders from across the Midwest region to begin to define a regional approach to making credentials more transparent, focused on credential transparency for students, educators and employers. The work of defining, accessing, combining, describing, and sharing information about credentials is often confusing and too often falls upon isolated individuals with limited context, resources, or support. The initiative focuses on changing this situation in the Midwest. For more information contact Sara Appel, associate director for policy initiatives.
MHEC Holds 23rd Annual Loss Control Workshop Virtually
Members of MHEC Master Property Program gathered for the 23rd Annual Loss Control Workshop on March 2, 4, and 9. Over 165 attendees represented the professional areas of risk management, facilities, public safety, finance, and emergency management and safety. Highlights of this year’s program included COVID-19 in 2021, managing risk in adversity, information security trends, calculating business interruption, campus partnerships, and a final presentation on lessons learned from a campus incident. Available presentations have been posted to the MHEC website.
MHEC Supports Events During Open Education Week
Open Education Week (OEW), March 1-5, was an opportunity for actively sharing and learning about the latest achievements in Open Education worldwide. Institutions, organizations, and individuals from around the world engaged and contributed to Open Education Week, and the Midwestern states were no exception.
Both North Dakota and Missouri hosted their annual conferences during OEW. MHEC had the privilege to support Missouri with a virtual conferencing platform for the convening, and MHEC staff facilitated the registration process and were behind the scenes of every session making sure presenters and attendees had a positive experience. Supporting virtual state OER conferences is one of the activities in which MHEC is engaged under the Hewlett grant received in tandem with the other three regional compacts under the National Consortium for OER (NCOER). This was the first of twelve meetings MHEC is supporting in our states over the 18-month life of the grant.
Technology and the New World of Education
MHEC's annual Technologies Community convening was held on February 17 and 18. Nearly 100 IT innovators and specialists from areas such as technology, academia, students, and administration gathered virtually to talk about current topics around technology in higher education. The conversations covered perspectives on the impact of technology on all kinds of minds, offered practical guidance for developing diversity strategies, facilitated foresight exercises and networking conversations, and closed with an enlightening discussion regarding the intersection between digital accessibility and efficiency.
Midwest Student Exchange Program Council to Meet in April
The Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP) Council will meet Tuesday, April 6, for discussion and potential recommendations on improvements to MSEP stemming from MHEC's recent report, Student Reciprocity Programs and MSEP in the 21st Century. This report looks at the history of MSEP, student exchange and tuition reciprocity programs in general, and includes an analysis of MSEP in relation to higher education reciprocity and student exchange programs as well as recommendations and conclusions. Any questions may be directed to Sara Appel, associate director for policy initiatives.
MHEC Announces Three New Contract Awards
e-Transcripts and Supportive Services
Parchment (MHEC-01312021)
Virtualization and Data Center Modernization
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (MHEC-12152020)
Software
Oracle (MHEC US-OMA-1164550)
Access the list of available contracts or contact Nathan Sorensen , director of government contracts, with additional questions at (612) 677-2767.
COMMISSIONER APPOINTMENTS
Jacob Bossman
State Representative
Iowa Legislature
Term: 2/11/2021 to 1/8/2023 Commissioner Alternate
Tim Goodwin
State Senator
Iowa Legislature
Term: 1/22/2021 to 1/8/2023
Herman Quirmbach
State Senator
Iowa Legislature
Term: 2/19/2021 to 1/8/2023 Commissioner Alternate
Kim LaSata
State Senator
Michigan Legislature
Term: 1/25/2021-1/25/2023 (reappointment)
Devinder Malhotra
Chancellor
Minnesota State
Term: 3/3/2021 to 1/6/2025 (reappointment)
Ohio
Jack Hershey
President
Ohio Association of Community Colleges
Term: 3/3/2021 to 1/8/2025 (reappointment)
TEAM UPDATES
Virtual State Annual Visits
MHEC president Susan Heegaard along with MHEC staff and MHEC officers has held state visits virtually with Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and North Dakota. Indiana is scheduled for March 25. These engaging one-hour focused conversations have been helpful in identifying and understanding postsecondary issues being encountered in MHEC member states. Remaining state visits are being scheduled. Topics highlighted to-date include funding, distanced learning challenges, internet and technology access, enrollment shifts, affordability, learning gaps exacerbated by COVID and remote testing integrity.
Concurrent Enrollment
MHEC’s work in the area of concurrent enrollment continues this spring as Jenny Parks, MHEC vice president, presents with Amy Williams, executive director of the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP), at the annual Higher Learning Commission Conference (HLC) on Wednesday, April 7. Their presentation is entitled, Responses to the Concurrent Enrollment Teacher Credentialing Crisis, focuses upon helping various concurrent enrollment stakeholders understand the history of the issue.
New Staff
Liz Van Pay has joined the staff as a digital communications & marketing intern. Her primary responsibility will be to support the new Graduate Credit Quest website.
ARTICLES AND RESOURCES OF INTEREST
$350 Billion for State and Local Governments Comes at Crucial Time for Higher Education Budgets
NASFAA | March 17, 2021
Public Policy Series - Broadband Update, Distance Learning Resources Friday Webinar Series
United States Distance Learning Association | April 16, 2021
The Future of Credentialing of Servicemembers and Veterans
The American Legion | March 15, 2021
American Rescue Plan gives lift to neediest students
University Business | March 12, 2021
System Launches Missouri Online
Inside Higher Ed | March 10, 2021
Leveraging Regional Partnerships for a State-wide OER Community
WCET Frontiers | March 3, 2021
The Cost of Insuring Colleges Continues to Rise. And Covid’s Not the Reason.
The Chronicle | March 3, 2021
About 1 in 3 colleges have cut funding for veteran-support programs, survey says
Military Times | February 22, 2021
Talking Points - State Authorization and Military Students
WCET-SAN | February 2021
MHEC COVID-19 Resources
MHEC recognizes the difficult time postsecondary institutions are experiencing in the Midwest and across the nation. Feedback is welcome on how we might be helpful from a regional perspective to institutions and states. Midwestern Higher Education Compact