We end higher education week today with posts from Indiana University President Michael McRobbie.

• What is the No. 1 change you would like to see in Indiana’s higher education system that would help serve students better?

I believe that strengthening the academic core of our universities should be our highest priority, particularly in these challenging economic times. This means we must begin asking ourselves difficult questions. Are we teaching in ways that are meaningful for today’s students, using technologies to educate students more effectively, assuring that important learning goals and outcomes are met, and identifying knowledge and skills that students will need to make valuable contributions in their communities? Asking these kinds of questions is critical in an economy where knowledge is expanding at an exponential rate, where people are changing jobs many times in their lives, and many of the most important jobs and careers are new ones.

We cannot wait for others to ask and answer these questions. Indeed, we must accept this challenge ourselves, and as a matter of urgency. That is why at IU we are establishing a New Academic Directions Committee that will examine the overall structure of our academic units and, hence, ensure that we are offering the best kinds of educational opportunities for students and responding quickly to major educational trends happening around the globe. In addition, each of our campuses will establish a New Directions in Learning Committee, including top administrators, faculty members, and outstanding students, to help us renew our commitment to the quality—and currency—of the education we provide.

Since disbelief is already in the air due to the wonder that is the NCAA hoops tourney (Go Dawgs!), here’s a shocker to add to the list from the world of township governance. The Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) blog sums it up aptly, but hold onto your beverage while reading (and hopefully that beverage is just coffee since it’s only 8 a.m.):

(Thursday’s) Indianapolis Star includes an interesting article on the latest antics from the world of township government – the Washington Township (Marion County) trustee racking up $20,000 in legal bills in a dispute over $758 in poor relief aid sought by a township resident for help with her rent and water bills.

Of the many troubling issues this story raises, two stand out.  First, the idea that these sorts of fiscally imprudent decisions are being made with little or no oversight by 1,008 separately-elected township officials is disheartening given the dire financial straits of state and local governments. 

Across Indiana, local officials are debating cuts in education, infrastructure, public safety and more.  Counties and municipalities are making tough choices.  Our legislature has made these choices even tougher by not stepping to the plate and making its own difficult political decision to reform local government, at least by demanding more oversight and streamlining of township offices.  And so we continue to be burdened by another layer of government bureaucracy that consumes and squanders tax dollars.

As to the circumstances of the Washington Township case itself, it’s difficult to argue the merits of either side on the basis of any statewide or even countywide guidelines.  That’s the second issue – there are no common rules for the provision of poor relief in Indiana.  Each township sets its own, leading to a patchwork approach that’s unfair and inefficient.  More than half the state’s townships provide relief to 20 households or less, and spend three dollars in overhead for every one that actually reaches a disadvantaged family.   It’s no surprise that disputes such as the one in Washington Township arise.

While the General Assembly again failed to take action on local government reform this session, more and more communities are exploring consolidation themselves out of financial necessity.  As these efforts multiply across the state and the fiscal climate continues to worsen, let’s hope that common sense reform – starting with township government – begins to gain more converts among lawmakers.

ISU President Daniel J. Bradley explains how his university has played a significant role in American civil rights.

• Tell us something that not enough people know about your college or university that makes it such a special place.

Indiana State University is proud to have one of the most diverse student populations in Indiana. Providing access and opportunity to higher education has been an important part of Indiana State’s history since it was created as the Indiana State Normal School in 1865.

Indiana State and its alumni have also played an important part in breaking racial barriers. Willa Brown Chappell, a 1927 graduate of Indiana State, was the first African-American officer in the Civil Air Patrol. A lifelong activist, Chappell lobbied the U.S. government to integrate both the U.S. Army Air Corps and the Civilian Pilot Training Program. She was appointed as coordinator of the CPTP in Chicago and trained more than 200 pilots including some of the Tuskegee Airmen.

With basketball tournament time upon us, many people may not be aware of the role Indiana State had in integrating the national basketball scene. In 1947, the Indiana State Sycamores men’s basketball team, coached by John Wooden, won the conference title and was invited to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) tournament. (Coach Wooden, of course, would later go on to win 10 NCAA championships at UCLA.)

However, the tournament officials had one stipulation to their invitation. Clarence Walker, Indiana State’s one African-American player, could not attend. Coach Wooden and the entire team immediately declined the invitation.

The following year, the team again won the conference championship and was invited to the national tournament. This time, the NAIA relented and let Walker attend. He played in the 1948 tournament with the full and unrelenting support of his coaches and teammates, becoming the first African-American to play in a national collegiate basketball tournament.

Indiana State has also been an avenue to success for many first-generation college students. Helping students achieve their educational goals remains a top priority and is a key component of Indiana State’s new strategic plan, “The Pathway to Success.”

Tomorrow: Indiana University’s Michael McRobbie

Indiana State University President Daniel J. Bradley explains ISU’s contribution in the context of statewide education.

• Building on the Columbus and Richmond story of higher levels of collaboration featured in the current BizVoice, tell us how your institution fits in a statewide system of higher education with differentiated and complementary missions. 

Indiana State prides itself in the fact that our graduates not only have a solid well-rounded education but that they also have the skills needed to excel in the workplace. One of those skills is the ability to collaborate as part of a team. This is becoming increasingly more important in today’s society as a way to maximize the strengths of colleagues and partner organizations while working toward a shared vision, avoiding unnecessary duplication and solving complex problems.

In some areas the result is a new emphasis on intra- and inter-professional education. For example, Indiana State University has joined with the Indiana University School of Medicine, Union Hospital and its Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health, Ivy Tech Community College of the Wabash Valley, the Terre Haute Economic Development Corporation and the City of Terre Haute to form the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative (RHIC).

RHIC is designed to help address Indiana’s critical shortage of health care professionals, especially in rural areas. Through RHIC, future doctors, nurses, physical therapists, physician assistants, and other health care workers have opportunities to work together while being trained, thus better simulating the work environment they will experience after completing their degree programs. In addition to the synergy this arrangement will provide, resources for equipment, labs and instruction can be maximized.

The Collaborative extends beyond education to encompass economic development with the goal of attracting a range of health care companies and start-ups that will benefit from business incubator services available from Indiana State, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and Ivy Tech.

RHIC will also address neighborhood development through the revitalization of a blighted area located between the campuses of Indiana State and Union Hospital. Housing development is planned to attract students, medical residents and retirees to a revitalized part of the Terre Haute community.

Achieving the vision of this innovative concept would not be possible without the active collaboration of the RHIC partners. RHIC illustrates how the whole can truly be greater than the sum of its parts.

This concept of intra- and inter-professional education is transferable to many other disciplines and is likely to become a catalyst for education reform.

The world of public policy shook Sunday when the health care reform bill passed in the House. Now in the aftermath, supporters and detractors debate with their friends and colleagues over its impact. What’s more, many business owners are now left wondering what this means for them. The Christian Science Monitor offers about the most coherent and concise synopsis I’ve seen. Read on:

Let’s start with a caveat: that dry cleaner, and probably the restaurant, might be too small to be affected by some of the most important business-related elements in the bill. Employers with 50 or fewer workers would be exempt from coverage provisions.

But for top executives at firms with 50 workers or more, the most important question may be this: would the health care reform bill require us to offer health insurance to our employees?

The answer to that is “no,” strictly speaking. But if you don’t, you might have to pay fairly large fees to Uncle Sam.

How does the bill work for businesses?

Here’s how that works: If you are a firm with more than 50 employees, and do not offer health insurance as a benefit, and at least one of your full-time employees gets a subsidy from the federal government to purchase health insurance on his or her own, you would have to pay Washington a fee of $2,000 for every one of your full-time workers. (Company accountants take note: you could subtract the first 30 of your employees from that assessment.)

Got that?

Also, even if you do offer coverage, you might have to take some extra action to help any of your low- or middle-income workers who want to buy insurance on their own.

Take an employee who makes less than 400 percent of the federal poverty level, which today is about $10,800 for an individual, or $22,000 for a family of four.

Perhaps that employee is finding firm-offered insurance expensive. If their share of health premiums is more than 8 percent of their income (but less than 9.8 percent), they would have the option of going out and buying insurance on their own through the new-fangled “exchange” marketplaces the health care reform bill would establish.

And you, as an employer, would have to help them. You’d have to provide them a “free choice voucher” equal to what the firm would have kicked in to provide coverage in the company plan.

When do the changes take effect?
All of the above changes would take effect beginning on Jan. 1, 2014.

One final item: if you’re a firm with more than 200 employees, and you do offer health insurance, you would have to automatically enroll your workers in the plan.

They could opt out of the coverage. But they are the ones that would have to make that decision.

Here is a video from last week of Indiana Chamber President Kevin Brinegar discussing the bill, labeling it "poor public policy" due to its tax increases on payroll, medical devices, etc., which will lead to job cuts. You agree?

Governor Mitch Daniels spoke to a capacity crowd at the Economic Club of Indiana luncheon today. Daniels, who replaced Steve Forbes as the original keynote for the event, had the audience laughing early by comparing himself to Forbes in a quip about his own future ambitions.

“He’s run for President of the United States…I’ll just leave it at that,” Daniels teased.

Daniels’ presentation came on the heels of a legislative session he characterized as hard-fought and the passage of a national health insurance reform bill he strongly opposes.

“It is fraudulent to assert it (health insurance legislation) will not add to the debt of this country,” Daniels stated. Asked if Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller would join other state attorneys general in pursuing legal challenges to the legislation, Daniels replied, “I believe he will; I’ve encouraged him to,” adding, “This is the first time the federal government has ordered citizens to purchase something.”

On the home front, Daniels spoke of previous accomplishments – receiving loud applause for reducing BMV wait times – and reiterated his administration’s stated mission from day one of making Indiana a better place to live and do business. He outlined why the state has achieved high marks for business friendliness and how everyone can help attract jobs to Indiana.

In looking forward, Daniels acknowledged some looming economic challenges, telling business owners, “If you think budgeting was difficult last year, just wait.” He stressed the need to meet these challenges by building on our strengths and continuing to stand out among our peers.

“Every month that goes by that we find a way to not raise taxes and other states raise them, Indiana gets a little more competitive.”

The next Economic Club event will be held on April 28 and feature C-SPAN founder and CEO Brian Lamb.

Purdue’s France Córdova explains what’s so great about being a Boilermaker:

• Tell us something that not enough people know about your college or university that makes it such a special place.

Three points come to mind immediately. First, the Purdue brand is a global one; Purdue’s star shines brightly no matter how far one travels from Indiana. As president I have had the opportunity to meet alumni across the globe, and I’ve seen that Purdue graduates are highly successful leaders in business, government, education, and cultural and civic affairs worldwide. Their contributions have been transformational. This makes Purdue special—its graduates have traveled as far as the Moon, and made an impact wherever they have landed.

Second, Purdue focuses on its students. Purdue is a large university, but its colleges, residence halls, and student organizations allow students to enjoy the benefits of a large university and, at the same time, feel the closeness of a smaller institution. Alumni tell me that what they remember most about their Purdue years is that faculty, staff and friends encouraged and challenged them, and would not let them fail. When they graduated, they had confidence and knew they could compete with anyone. 

As Purdue enters a new decade, we are implementing a strategic plan that is focused on launching our students to be tomorrow’s leaders. We are examining the entire learning experience, beginning with admissions standards to ensure proper preparation, thematic learning communities, and orientation programs to build social networks and enhance retention. We have developed technology that alerts students if their grades are slipping so that they can modify behaviors before it’s too late. We are also expanding our scholarship program, with a blend of need-based and merit-based awards. We give our students the skills, experiences and high-quality education to become leaders, scholars, entrepreneurs, and well-informed citizens.

Finally, we connect our students to Purdue’s storied past. Our alumni have remained close to their alma mater, and they help our students both enjoy the college experience and reach for big goals, just as they did. We connect our present and past students through our many traditions. First-year freshman or 40-year alumnus, we are all Boilermakers.

Hail Purdue! 

Tomorrow: Indiana State’s Daniel J. Bradley