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Statement by
Robert R. Davila
Vice President
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology
on
Fiscal Year 1998 Budget Request for the
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
I am pleased to present the President's fiscal year 1998 budget request for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.
The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), one of seven colleges on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), provides a continuum of learning and living options for 1,085 students who are deaf on a campus of approximately 13,000 students. NTID was created by Congress to provide postsecondary technical education for the Nation's youth who are deaf to prepare them for successful employment in the economic mainstream of America. NTID has fulfilled this mandate with distinction and extremely positive results for the past 30 years.
NTID also conducts research into educational achievement, cognition, communication, personal/social interaction, and economic and employment issues related to people who are deaf and trains professionals to serve the Nation's deaf population. The President's 1998 request for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf is $43,041,000. The specifics of the fiscal year 1998 request are as follows.
The fiscal year 1998 request of $43,041,000 for operations is the same amount as the fiscal year 1997 appropriation. Funds that will be received by NTID for tuition, room and board, and fees are not expected to generate additional income in 1998 above the total expected in 1997 due to a decision NTID has made not to increase tuition charges for the next academic year. Room, board and fees will increase, but only to cover increased costs. Therefore, no additional income will be available from this source for other purposes. We estimate that the Federal appropriation for NTID will constitute approximately 80 percent of total funding in 1998.
In 1990, NTID undertook a strategic planning process to create a vision, and plan of action, to carry it into the 21st century. While many institutions undertake strategic planning to resolve a crisis, this was not the case at NTID. We wanted to ensure that we allocated our resources to the areas of greatest need in the most efficient and effective way. Given the many changes occurring in the work place, we felt the time had come for a comprehensive review of our academic enterprise. The strategic plan is a blueprint for NTID's future. It focused our available resources on students, called for a complete reorganization of the institution, and prescribed a comprehensive and coordinated assessment and revitalization of NTID's academic programs and curriculum. NTID's strategic plan appropriately complements the RIT strategic plan, which was also recently completed.
We promised the Department and Congress that we would implement our plan at no extra cost to the taxpayers by reallocating existing resources. At the time, we did not expect that we would end up delivering on our promise without increases in Federal funding during fiscal years 1995 to 1998, but as circumstances developed, we did. Funding for this 3-year period actually represents a decrease because of our need to absorb increased costs due to inflation. However, our strategic plan provided us with a map for making reductions to balance our annual budgets and still achieve the fundamental change prescribed.
We stand before this Committee, a fiscally healthy, and vibrant academic institution. We are well positioned for the year 2000 and beyond, and support the appropriation level requested by the President for 1998. We can do this in the face of major change because we anticipated the current fiscal climate and initiated significant reductions in a measured way, while preserving our academic mission. These actions are worth enumerating for the Committee and are as follows:
We have accomplished, or are about to accomplish, the goals set by our strategic plan in spite of some difficult financial circumstances and are doing so with 117 fewer faculty and staff positions, a 19 percent reduction. While I'm pleased that we have accomplished such a significant reduction in expenditures without negatively impacting on our students, this did not occur without expending enormous institutional energy. It has required extraordinary good will, trust, and cooperation on the part of our faculty, staff and administration.
These efforts have taken their toll. Time we could have spent on our strategic plan was spent focusing on cost reductions. Morale at NTID dropped, but as the new Vice President of NTID, I am anxious to revitalize morale and refocus our energies on the important work of educating deaf students.
This Committee has publicly complimented NTID on its actions to control costs. I hope our most recent efforts increase your confidence in our stewardship of NTID. Now that we have reduced our costs, we can move forward with a new sense of purpose and refocus on the serious business of NTID, educating deaf students for successful and rewarding careers.
New admissions of deaf students for the fall of 1996 (fiscal year 1997) totaled 371, the same number as in fiscal year 1996, but 18.5 percent higher than in 1995. It has resulted in a 1.1 percent increase in the total enrollment of deaf students. For the fall of 1997 (fiscal year 1998), NTID is on schedule to admit approximately 375 new deaf students, which will increase enrollment to approximately 1,100 students. In addition, NTID enrolled 72 students in its educational interpreter training program and 16 students in its master's in secondary education program for the fall of 1997.
Nearly 95 percent of NTID's 3,700 graduates have been successfully placed in jobs commensurate with their training for the past 27 years. Seventy percent are employed in business and industry. Research conducted by NTID and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) shows that our deaf graduates with bachelor degrees earn 93 percent of what their hearing peers earn. National statistics indicate that disabled workers earn only 70% of what their non-disabled peers in general earn. In addition, a deaf RIT graduate with a bachelor's degree, in his or her lifetime, will pay back over three times the cost of his or her education to the Federal Treasury in taxes alone.
NTID has maintained a balanced array of services that are responsive to the needs of students from various educational settings--public high schools, as well as residential schools and day programs for individuals who are deaf. Student-centered and outcome-oriented curricula, programs and services that lead students to successful careers are the rule at NTID.
A student who has the ability and desire can enroll in baccalaureate, master's or doctoral degree programs with hearing peers in the other colleges of RIT, through NTID. Last year approximately 39 percent of our students were cross-registered or fully matriculated in the other colleges of RIT. They received 81,000 hours of interpreting, and 42,000 hours of notetaking, and 15,000 hours of tutoring, as well as counseling, advising, and other professional services. For students with other talents and interests, there are associate degrees and diplomas offered at NTID in classes wholly comprised of their peers who are deaf. Associate of applied science students complete their liberal arts requirements in the RIT College of Liberal Arts and their physical education requirements are met through RIT's Physical Education Department, in courses with both deaf and hearing students. In total, nearly 900 of NTID's 1,085 deaf students have ongoing contact with hearing peers through coursework and other activities in the other colleges of RIT.
In addition to the various learning environments that provide for students' intellectual development, there are a variety of living options that provide for the personal and social development of deaf students. For example, students can live on dormitory floors comprised predominately of their deaf peers, on floors comprised predominately of their hearing peers, or on floors where they may select to be the only deaf person. These living arrangements provide students the opportunity to develop their interpersonal skills in an environment that expands their personal development. Thus, the learning and living environment at RIT and NTID fosters well rounded graduates who are well prepared to live and work in the mainstream of society.
Studies performed through NTID's efforts benefit NTID's students and adults who are deaf throughout the country. The research program and agenda are guided and organized according to five general priority areas: economic and occupational assimilation; academic and technical skills; communication skills; effective instruction; and institutional planning, evaluation, and change.
NTID's educational outreach efforts will continue in accordance with the Institute's mission and strategic plan. They are designed to address the needs of alumni and other deaf adults, teachers of deaf students, employers, vocational rehabilitation personnel, deaf secondary school students, and parents of deaf children.
We are reaching out to these audiences with programs such as Explore Your Future, a career sampling program for high school juniors who are deaf. Last year, 166 students participated in this program. In addition, a Summer Institute for deaf alumni and other deaf adults addresses topics such as computer skills, small business opportunities, and networking for career mobility and enhancement. Workshops and training sessions also were offered to over 100 employer representatives and school personnel last year. Through these and a variety of other outreach efforts, we work to expand opportunities for people who are deaf.
No specific amount is requested for this program. However, the Budget Request gives us the flexibility to set aside operational dollars that could be used to match privately raised funds. The endowment matching fund was established as an inducement to help NTID raise private funds and to reduce NTID's dependence on Federal appropriations. NTID is engaged in its first major capital campaign, which seeks to attract $10 million to support its endowment, the acquisition of technology, and instruction, outreach and research projects. Our priority is to develop ongoing revenue streams to supplement NTID's operating budget. Commitments totaling $6.6 million have been received to date. The campaign will not only attract funds for current institutional needs, but build relationships that will support future fund raising efforts by the college. The current market value of NTID's total endowment stands at over $11 million.
The 1998 request will allow NTID to continue its mission of preparing deaf people to enter the workplace and society and compete on equal terms with their peers who hear. In the Institute's brief history, our alumni have demonstrated that they can be outstanding, contributing members of society and that they can improve their quality of life as a result of the postsecondary education we provide. Collaborative research between NTID and the Internal Revenue Service indicates that, on average, NTID graduates pay back the cost of their education in 10 to 13 years, and have lifetime earnings that are two to three times greater than deaf people without a college degree. Initial analysis of recent collaborative work with the Statistics and Research Division of the Social Security Administration indicates that education significantly reduces the percentage of individuals receiving Supplemental Security Income.
Mr. Chairman, my colleagues and I will be pleased to respond to your questions.
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