Appalachian Higher Education Network Meeting Summaries

July 2012
The Appalachian Higher Education (AHE) Network's 2012 summer meeting, held July 17–19 in Charleston, West Virginia, was hosted by the West Virginia Access Center for Higher Education at Bluefield State College. With the theme "The State of AHE Network Programs," the meeting was designed to help AHE Network program directors understand how their work fits with and contributes to state college-going efforts. It provided an overview of the pre-K–12 and higher education approaches to supporting college-going in West Virginia; identified national trends impacting college-going; and updated the status of programs in the AHE Network.

The meeting speakers included West Virginia State Superintendent of Schools Jorea Marple, who spoke on college-going strategies in the state. Noting the long-lasting effects of poverty, Marple affirmed that "education needs to be about the whole child." She shared information on her three key goals for improving education in West Virginia: 1) Know: Expand the curriculum rather than cut it; 2) Behave: Teach and cultivate good citizenship and wellness behaviors; and 3) Accomplish: Identify and address learning needs. Marple's office is working on policy revisions in support of these three goals.

Two staff members of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission—Adam Green, senior director of student success and P-20 initiatives, and Sara Tucker, director of planning and research—identified key strategies the commission is using to help increase postsecondary education attainment. These include development of the Web portal College Foundation of West Virginia (www.cfwv.com), which provides one-stop shopping for college and career planning. Green and Tucker reported that the commission's recent environmental scan of college-access providers identified gaps in service and the need to strengthen school counselors' preparation.

College Board director of state policy and strategy Dane Linn noted that across the nation, higher education institutions are being challenged by the huge focus on the workforce, competition for fewer resources, and increasing numbers and diversity of students. He stated that higher education institutions need to work to "reclaim the agenda" and identified several trends that complicate this goal, including increased expectations of institutions but reduced capacity, and an increasing focus on outputs and outcomes.

The meeting's business discussions focused on center-specific sustainability progress and the identification of other college-going programs serving schools in Appalachia; on a process for identifying and codifying best practices; and on exploration of the results of a recent AHE Network survey to inform development of a sharper picture of the network and its programs.

April 2012
The Appalachian Higher Education (AHE) Network's 2012 annual meeting was held April 22–25 in Washington, D.C. Participants attended sessions on topics aimed at helping strengthen network members' efforts to increase postsecondary education attainment; explored national education policy by participating in the Institute for Educational Leadership's 2012 Washington Policy Seminar; and visited their state's congressional delegation on Capitol Hill.

A U.S. Department of Education (ED) briefing introduced participants to ED's rural priorities and resources. John White, deputy assistant secretary for rural outreach; Maisha Challenger, awareness and outreach specialist in the Office of Federal Student Aid; and Ben Miller, policy advisor with the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, identified resources, described competitive and formula grant programs, and provided Web site and contact information for ED staff. They also discussed a new database providing information on the number of students at individual high schools who complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). (Students who complete the FAFSA are more likely to pursue postsecondary education.)

AHE Network–specific sessions included training by the Foundation Center on applying for funding from corporations and foundations. The trainer introduced two Web-based services offered by the center: grantspace.org, a free resource including examples of winning proposals, and a subscription-based online database of funding sources. In addition, participants reported on the progress made in establishing program connections with economic development organizations, identifying additional funding sources, and addressing the overall challenges of sustainability.

The Washington Policy Seminar sessions immersed participants in education policy by exploring challenges related to reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the disagreements about the recent No Child Left Behind waiver process. Marc Tucker, president and CEO of the National Center on Education and the Economy, spoke on lessons that can be learned from nations with the best education systems, including their emphasis on placing teacher quality at the core of education reform agendas.

Following the policy discussions, participants visited with congressional members and staff to share information on work serving their constituents.

Freeman Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland–Baltimore County, closed the meeting by sharing strategies that work in raising the education achievement gap and serving disadvantaged students.

April 2011
The Appalachian Higher Education (AHE) Network held its 2011 annual spring meeting April 3–6 in Washington, D.C. Participants attended sessions focused on rural programming in support of postsecondary education access and success, and joined sessions of the Institute for Educational Leadership's 2011 Washington Policy Seminar (WPS) to explore education policy making at the federal and national levels.

The meeting began with a session with Maria Kefalas, professor of sociology at Saint Joseph's University and co-author of Hollowing Out the Middle: The Rural Brain Drain and What It Means for America. Kefalas described the study and led a discussion on its implications for the AHE Network's programs.

In sessions focused on the network, each of the eight AHE Network center directors discussed sustainability challenges, with a focus on the development of business plans, annual reports, newsletters, brochures, and Web sites. They reported on their efforts to generate support for their programs through grant proposal writing, relationship building with potential donors and other stakeholders, and collection and analysis of data to demonstrate program effectiveness. In addition, they highlighted activities of their states' Principals Networks, which support the professional development of school principals in Appalachia.

The WPS sessions attended by the AHE Network members examined the actors, institutions, and forces influencing federal education policy making and featured speakers from a range of viewpoints. Representatives from the administration, congressional committees, and a lobbying firm provided insight into the likely timing and shape of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and Norman Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, provided an insider's view of Washington legislative processes, highlighting Congress's current efforts to reach consensus. Center directors spent the following day on Capitol Hill meeting with their state's congressional delegation and/or staff.

The meeting closed with a lecture by Freeman Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland–Baltimore County, on the leadership necessary to ensure a quality education for all of Appalachia's youth.