University Business - May 2006 - (Page 41)

TWO -YEAR SCHOOLS STEP UP work, thinking, `Just trust us.' measures for community colleges. MANY COMMUNITY COLLEGES THESE DAYS Bridges is helping two-year schools Community colleges are inherently are formulating government relations develop tools for communicating with different from four-year schools, says strategies finding their own ways to legislators, and it will soon begin orga- Boswell, and therefore can't be evaluated get in play. nizing institutes for community college with the same measures. For community Katherine Boswell is helping to make advocates. colleges, where 85 percent of your bud- that happen. A former president of the I'm not sure that the budget situa- get might be tied to personnel, you live Community College Policy Center at the tion is ever going to return to what it and die by state appropriations, says Education Commission of the States, once was, says Boswell. That means Boswell. You can't ignore your state Boswell is managing Bridges to Op- community colleges need to do a better legislators. For so long, community col- portunity, a project funded by the Ford job of telling their story. leges felt that they were doing the Lord's Foundation to work on accountability Find Citizen Friends prewritten letters to the appropriate legislators and the governor's E office. The user-friendly process helps community college officials conomic-impact data speaks volumes to state and local of- back up their own appeals with those of constituents. It's one thing ficials particularly if the numbers are supported by the if I go to a legislator and say that community colleges are impor- voice of the public. Understanding that tenet, the New Jer- tant, says Farbman. What about a student? A parent of a student? sey Council of County Colleges, a coordinating body for A son or daughter of a returning [adult] student? Those people are the state's community colleges, has turned outward to strengthen its all voters, and they have a lot of clout. funding mechanisms. According to one executive with The Soft Edge, the Virginia- As is true in many states, the 19 community colleges of New Jer- based company behind State Web, more colleges are becoming in- sey have experienced a drop in per-student funding since the start of terested in technological tools for grassroots advocacy. The trend is the decade. Full-time enrollment has blossomed by 31 percent, yet toward engagement, not just reporting, says J.C. Chamberlain, vice state funding has stayed level, translating into a net 13 percent drop president of marketing and sales. They feel that the more voices are per student over the last four years. heard, the more potential results they can get. In addition, the state's funding formula for two-year schools is In New Jersey, the council is hoping legislators and Governor out of whack. The state is supposed to pay one-third of community Jon Corzine will hear their message particularly with possible state college operating costs, but in actuality it contributes an average 26 budget cuts ahead. Advocacy is something we've done for a number percent, as do the counties. That leaves 48 percent of the average of years, says Farbman. This is just a whole new level. community college operating budget to tuition and fees. Facing flat funding, the council teamed with the New Jersey Ed- ucation Association and funneled $136,000 toward a professional Consider the Greater Good advertising campaign. This past January, state residents began seeing P ublic colleges and universities aren't the only schools to 30-second television commercials. Visit supportcommunitycol- benefit from creative government relations strategies. Some leges.com, the ad's narrators appealed. Tell your state legislators private institutions that consider community needs can also to make sure New Jersey's community colleges stay available, acces- boost funding and strengthen relationships. sible, and affordable. For Widener University, a former military college that has four We thought it was necessary to educate the public about the campuses in Pennsylvania and Delaware, recognizing the public ser- importance of community colleges, says Jacob Farbman, director vice mission in its history has helped strengthen government ties. of communications for the council. The competition for funding is Service learning is part of every Widener student's education; the fierce. The thing is, says Farbman, with our state budget in New university feels that students who engage in meeting the needs of Jersey, which has a huge deficit, we felt we really needed to pull out all others will become citizens of character, contributing to the well- the stops and focus like a laser beam. being of communities. Until two years ago, Widener a university with about 6,700 stu- Seek Out Software dents total did not have a separate department with a dedicated T staff for government work. Instead, Marcus Lingenfelter, assistant he commercial acts as the front end of the council's ad cam- to President James Harris III, oversaw government relations along paign. But the back end is a website that allows residents to with his other tasks. directly contact their legislators. Utilizing a software pack- The school was missing opportunities for government support. age called State Web, the website asks visitors to provide Unlike many states, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania grants a name, a mailing address, and an e-mail address. It then sends off universitybusiness.com May 2006 | 41 towngown.indd 41 4/24/06 1:17:00 PM http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - May 2006

Contents
COLLEGE INDEX
COMPANY INDEX
ADVISORY BOARD
EDITOR'S NOTE
STATS WATCH
SENSE OF PLACE
PEOPLE WATCH
Viewpoint
Human Resources
Marketing
Community Colleges
State of Affairs
2006 Higher Education Consultants Guide
Where's the Beef?
Big Picture AV Planning
Gifts with Strings Attached
Internet Postage Is Here
Enrollment Management Grows Up
Steve Wozniak: Education Technology Champion
Business Technology
WHAT'S NEW
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
DIRECT CONNECT
END NOTE

University Business - May 2006