There went my last hope of being able to work in Minnesota in higher education anytime soon... According to him, higher education soon won't need the pesky things like buildings and professors--everything should be digital. Finishing what Ventura began with his ignorant If-they're-smart-enough-to-go-to-college-they're-smart-enough-to-figure-out-how-to-pay-for-college attitude, Pawlenty has assured that Minnesota will continue to define "Education" as K-12...
This is what he announced this week at a visit to Mankato: (from the Free Press)
Asked by a university employee about the prospects for funding for state colleges in the upcoming legislative session, Pawlenty provided a prediction for 2010 and a long-term forecast.
“It’s going to be reduced somewhat,” he said, referencing the state’s budget shortfall.
The bigger issue for colleges and college towns is the more dramatic change coming to higher education as teaching moves from classrooms to computers.
“I think higher education is going to be radically transformed in the next 20 years in a way that people in higher education don’t see coming,” Pawlenty said.
College officials are planning for new buildings — “clinging to the status quo” — even in the face of a digital revolution that offers more efficient, and possibly more effective, ways of teaching students, he said.
“You’re going to see the higher education establishment have the rug pulled out from under them in a way that totally blindsides them,” he said.
“They better get ready. If I was Mankato State University, I’d be less worried about how many undergraduate buildings I’m going to be building and more worried about how I’m going to lead the digital revolution that’s coming.”
Budget bleakness
Pawlenty served some fiscal gloom with the doughnuts and coffee at the gathering.
The worst news is at the federal level, where entitlement programs such as Medicare, Social Security and other promised benefits carry a price tag that the nation’s economy can’t support, he said. Total unfunded liabilities are $65 trillion for a federal government that generates annual revenue of $2.2 trillion.
“They’re broke,” he said.
Pawlenty didn’t offer much more hope for flush budgets at the state level either after he was asked to be “compassionate” on salaries for aides to people with developmental disabilities. Spending on health and social services programs is rising at unsustainable rate and must be curtailed, he said. A few years ago, those programs represented 15 percent of the budget, now it’s 25 percent, and it’s projected to grow to 75 percent or more within 20 years.
“There’s going to be no money left for anything unless we reform our health and human services budget.”
Protecting prosperity
After a seven-year tenure where budget deficits have come frequently, where Democratic lawmakers have proposed tax increases to erase some of the red ink, and where Pawlenty has remained steadfast in opposition to new state taxes, the eighth year might seem like a bit of a rerun.
Facing a $1.2 billion projected budget shortfall, the governor said he will block any efforts to boost tax revenue. The reason is that business owners in the state already face competitive disadvantages because of Minnesota’s tax rates, Pawlenty said.
“Thank you,” one man in the audience shouted.
“Yeah, you’re welcome,” the governor answered.
Minnesota can’t return to its high-tax, high-service model of the 1970s, he continued. Everything from schools to health care must become more efficient. And newly hired public employees can’t be given the level of benefits promised to those in the past.
“It’s going to be reduced somewhat,” he said, referencing the state’s budget shortfall.
The bigger issue for colleges and college towns is the more dramatic change coming to higher education as teaching moves from classrooms to computers.
“I think higher education is going to be radically transformed in the next 20 years in a way that people in higher education don’t see coming,” Pawlenty said.
College officials are planning for new buildings — “clinging to the status quo” — even in the face of a digital revolution that offers more efficient, and possibly more effective, ways of teaching students, he said.
“You’re going to see the higher education establishment have the rug pulled out from under them in a way that totally blindsides them,” he said.
“They better get ready. If I was Mankato State University, I’d be less worried about how many undergraduate buildings I’m going to be building and more worried about how I’m going to lead the digital revolution that’s coming.”
Budget bleakness
Pawlenty served some fiscal gloom with the doughnuts and coffee at the gathering.
The worst news is at the federal level, where entitlement programs such as Medicare, Social Security and other promised benefits carry a price tag that the nation’s economy can’t support, he said. Total unfunded liabilities are $65 trillion for a federal government that generates annual revenue of $2.2 trillion.
“They’re broke,” he said.
Pawlenty didn’t offer much more hope for flush budgets at the state level either after he was asked to be “compassionate” on salaries for aides to people with developmental disabilities. Spending on health and social services programs is rising at unsustainable rate and must be curtailed, he said. A few years ago, those programs represented 15 percent of the budget, now it’s 25 percent, and it’s projected to grow to 75 percent or more within 20 years.
“There’s going to be no money left for anything unless we reform our health and human services budget.”
Protecting prosperity
After a seven-year tenure where budget deficits have come frequently, where Democratic lawmakers have proposed tax increases to erase some of the red ink, and where Pawlenty has remained steadfast in opposition to new state taxes, the eighth year might seem like a bit of a rerun.
Facing a $1.2 billion projected budget shortfall, the governor said he will block any efforts to boost tax revenue. The reason is that business owners in the state already face competitive disadvantages because of Minnesota’s tax rates, Pawlenty said.
“Thank you,” one man in the audience shouted.
“Yeah, you’re welcome,” the governor answered.
Minnesota can’t return to its high-tax, high-service model of the 1970s, he continued. Everything from schools to health care must become more efficient. And newly hired public employees can’t be given the level of benefits promised to those in the past.
This is just a excerpt. Quickly following it, yesterday MSU announced which programs will be cut all together to try and prepare for the 2012 "Abyss" as it's been deemed to be much larger than the "Cliff" which is what we were calling it at the beginning of the school year. The Department of Theatre and Dance and all of it programs made the cut. Hustoles is an evil genius that way...or rather, smarter, more passionate and more shameless to push his agenda than most people in any room where the people who make such decisions reside. He's done something amazing with that.
However the programs to be cut are: aviation, computer science and undergraduate music programs, art’s BFA in fiber and sculpture programs, one of chemistry’s BA/BS programs, computer information technology, curriculum and instruction, mass communications’ journalism program, business education, geography’s BS in GIS and plant science, nursing’s accelerated BS program, food science technology, infomatics, statistics’ BS in computer science, social studies and vocational technical education.
For more info on the state of higher education in America and where Minnesota ranks, check out: http://measuringup2008.highereducation.org/print/NCPPHEMUNationalRpt.pdf
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