BATON ROUGE — Over the past several months, the Louisiana Board of Regents has engaged key supporters from across the state to reshape higher education through a newly formed group of partners called the Board of Regents Stakeholder Collaborative. This think tank consists of higher education leaders, state policy entities, representatives from state agencies and business and industry to address issues central to higher education and make recommendations for improvement.
With the increased demand for a more skilled and educated workforce, much of the discussion has centered on policy recommendations for addressing workforce shortages. The overarching goal is to foster input for the development of a long-term strategy and plan for public higher education, known as the revised Master Plan.
“Louisiana’s economy is growing at an unprecedented rate,” said Roy O. Martin, Chairman of the Board of Regents. “The state needs to fill more than 70,000 jobs each year, and we must appropriate adequate resources to institutions that play a vital role in closing the employment gaps in high demand jobs and education sectors.” Annual job openings exceed the number of graduates who seek employment. To close this gap, Louisiana must bring into the workforce more than 500,000 citizens who have some college credit, as well as individuals who have some high school education.
“These individuals must be given the opportunity to improve their own lives, as well as contribute to the economic prosperity of the state,” said Commissioner for Higher Education, Joseph C. Rallo. “At the same time, higher education must continue to invest in research that supports innovation and economic development. These concepts will be the guiding philosophy for the Board of Regents new Master Plan. We believe that utilizing the recommendations from the Stakeholder Collaborative will allow us to move toward the alignment of higher education and economic opportunities to benefit our citizens.”
The Stakeholder Collaborative is comprised of the heads of Blueprint LA, CABL, Committee of 100 Louisiana, LABI, LA Budget Project, PAR, a Regional Chamber Representative, the Workforce Investment Council, State Agency Partners (DOE, LED/LED FastStart, LWC), the Presidents of the four higher education systems, the Commissioner of Higher Education and members of the BOR. Members of the Collaborative are also tasked with making recommendations for the future of higher education in preparation for the next governor. Areas of focus included Governance, Funding Support for Higher Education, Allocation of Higher Education Resources, Addressing Louisiana’s Education Pipeline, and Higher Education’s Role in Louisiana’s Economy.
As a part of the Stakeholder Collaborative, partners also had the opportunity to engage with the current gubernatorial candidates to gain their perspectives on the direction higher education is moving. Regents Chair Roy O. Martin, III said, “It is apparent that both candidates are clearly vested in the progression of higher education; and we appreciate that.”
In lieu of a formal Gubernatorial Forum, originally set for December 1, Regents plans to continue fine tuning the collective recommendations from the Stakeholder Collaborative meetings and will present them to the new governor in the coming weeks. Commissioner Rallo added, “The level of engagement and the positive feedback that we’ve garnered throughout our stakeholder engagement process is indicative of the interest in improving higher education. This is a new beginning, and I’m optimistic that we are headed in the right direction."
Some comments/ quotes from members of the Stakeholder Collaborative and the Gubernatorial Candidates during the Stakeholder Meetings include:
“Identifying ways for our schools to effectively address our workforce demand is good for our students and good for our economy. If we truly want to stop the brain drain, we have to train our kids for the jobs of tomorrow. We are glad to participate in this effort and hope this collaborative approach will lead to sensible solutions to today’s challenges.”
– Stephen Waguespack, President of LABI on the Stakeholder Collaborative
“The private sector supports a higher education strategy to improve on delivering a capable workforce to meet business and industry needs now and in the future. The Regents strategy recognizes the need to align education from K through 16 to produce a qualified capable workforce for today and tomorrow."
– Michael J. Olivier, CEO-Committee of 100 on the Stakeholder Collaborative
"When Louisiana invests in higher education, we invest in providing opportunity and the American Dream for our citizens while providing for the incredible expansion of business and industry in our state."
– Dr. Phillip Rozeman, Chairman – Blueprint Louisiana on the Stakeholder Collaborative
"We keep hearing that Higher Education must meet workforce demands. We get it … The new Higher Education is Hire Education! Understanding that when we talk about meeting the demands of the workforce that definition must encompass the entire spectrum of education from skills training and certification to relevant cutting-edge research, innovation and commercialization to align educational attainment to current and future jobs in areas of highest priority for Louisiana."
– Dr. Lisa Vosper, Associate Commissioner of Workforce Education and
Training – Board of Regents and Collaborative Facilitator
"Over the last eight years higher education in Louisiana has been cut more, and tuition has been raised more, than under any governor of the state. My administration will fund a higher education first, not as an afterthought. I will return state funding and tuition to a 50-50 balance. Our universities should be centers of excellence that are prioritized. I refuse to tax the dreams of our students and punish middle class families as we work to reinvest in higher education. When I am governor, we will end double digit tuition increases to make TOPS sustainable and we will end the cuts and closure threats while we work towards real solutions that will support our colleges and universities."
– John Bel Edwards
“Louisiana needs a stable, fast-rate affordable higher education system. Our economy depends on it. Even more importantly, our young people deserve it.”
– David Vitter
