NYSHEI News

Under the leadership of sponsor and committee chair Senator William Stachowski the Academic Research Information Access (ARIA) act won the unanimous bipartisan support of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Economic Development, and Small Business.

With his staff working diligently to ameliorate concerns left by the 2009 Governor Paterson veto of ARIA, Senator Stachowski (D-Buffalo) again secured great support for ARIA and reported the bill to the Senate Committee on Finance.  The sponsor and his supporters are optimistic that ARIA will again win passage before the full Senate and – this time – be enacted by the Governor.

The Senate version of ARIA is keeping pace with its Assembly companion which recently won unanimous bipartisan support of the Assembly Committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry under the guidance of Assemblyman Robin Schimminger (D-Kenmore).

“ARIA is very fortunate to have such committed boosters as Senator Stachowski and Assemblyman Schimminger.  Both recognize the need for this legislation to promote and advance the innovation economy in New York.  Both are working hard to secure full enactment.  I offer my heartfelt thanks to both men on behalf of the academic and research library community,” said NYSHEI Executive Director Jason Kramer.

A vote on ARIA by the full Assembly and Senate is expected to occur before years end.

It is unusual for a state lobbying effort to gain a passing reference in a book that garnered national attention – especially if that effort is hardly the stuff of political debate and breathless editorials.  But ARIA did it.

In his book on the abbreviated administration of Eliot Spitzer, longtime friend and Spitzer confidante Lloyd Constantine references NYSHEI’s Academic Research Information Access (ARIA) act.  In the book, Journal of the Plague Year: An Insider’s Chronicle of Eliot Spitzer’s Short and Tragic Reign, Constantine writes of his frustration to advance particular policy concerns:

“I thought I was so tricky and smart – inserting promises into the State of the State speech during that chaotic last-minute drafting session, thinking that this would guarantee at least some modest delivery on the rhetoric.  In other areas, however, such as a $15 million promise to the state’s academic libraries, which I stuck into Eliot’s speech, but the budget division veterans ignored.

I also argued directly to Eliot for more funding for public higher education.  He pointed to his State of the State promise to convene a Commission on Higher Education.  The Commission would propose vastly increased funding and how it should be used.  Increased resources for higher education would begin in the 2008-2009 budget.  The next year and the next budget would be the time and place for higher ed. to become a major pillar of New York State’s bright future.”

That Commission, which was managed by Mr. Constantine, would directly recommend ARIA as the “academic library pooling of electronic information,” and that the State “invest $15 million to facilitate college and university libraries moving from individual library licenses to state-wide shared licenses.”

You will find no review of the Plague Year here (but you can read about it from the NY Times and Newsweek among others).  Instead, I only offer the sincere gratitude of NYSHEI to Mr. Constantine for doing every thing he could to adopt our issue and work toward its fulfillment.  Although the end of the Spitzer administration was  – among many other things to many other people – a setback for the ARIA initiative, the life breathed into that proposal by Mr. Constantine laid the foundation for the mounting successes of our advocacy.

The continuum of higher education that begins at two-years colleges is more important than ever.  Not only is there a need for the library to play a vital role in supporting workforce development, but it must also strive to support learners who move from two-year, to four-year, to graduate programs.

All of this points to the need for an information infrastructure as envisioned by NYSHEI, and supported by such initiatives as ARIA.

The following article is from the Business Review.

High-demand two-year degree programs attract career changers and four-year grads
The Business Review (Albany) – by Robin K. Cooper

Andrew Falkenstein knew the job market for a recent graduate with a bachelor’s degree in marketing was grim.

So he wasn’t about to wait until he graduated from the University at Albany in May 2009 to do something about it.

Falkenstein, 23, enrolled in the culinary program at Schenectady County Community College in the summer after his junior year at UAlbany to prepare for a career as a chef and restaurant owner.

He is part of a growing number of students who are seeking an associate degree as an affordable, fast-track to a well-paying job.

“People are becoming really good consumers in a tough economy,” said Penny Hayes, dean of academic affairs at SCCC.

Falkenstein, who had considered attending the Culinary Institute of America, decided that SCCC was a better value at $3,150 a year versus $24,000 a year at CIA.

“This isn’t the biggest school. But once you get here, you realize how good it is,” Falkenstein said. “It’s more of a cost-benefit analysis.”

“We pride ourselves on the reputation of our culinary program,” Hayes said.

The college also has been working more with area employers such as General Electric and GlobalFoundries to ensure that the school prepares students to satisfy the work force needs of the business community.

A recent study by Demos, a New York City-based public policy research organization, found that 31 percent of associate degree holders earn more than someone holding a bachelor’s degree.

That finding reiterated an earlier study by a researcher at Georgetown University.

Since the recession began, enrollments have increased at most two-year and four-year schools.

SCCC in Schenectady has seen enrollment spikes in its semiconductor or nanoscale technology program as well as in math and science. Humanities, business and human services classes also are attracting more students.

Similar growth has occurred at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, where its three-year-old semiconductor program prepares technicians to work at the $4.2 billion computer-chip fabrication plant GlobalFoundries is building nearby in Saratoga County.

HVCC’s nursing, electrical construction maintenance and architectural technology program have seen steady growth in the past few years.

The college also has generated interest in its programs in wind, solar and semiconductor technology by constructing a new $15 million Tec-Smart satellite campus in Malta, about a mile from the GlobalFoundries chip plant, which is expected to employ 1,400 workers.

Tec-Smart opened in January and has an enrollment of 150 students. That number is expected to grow this fall.

“Most community colleges have seen an enrollment increase because of the economy,” said Carolyn Curtis, HVCC’s vice president for academic affairs.

Two-year schools that are focusing on training students for well-paying jobs in technical fields and other high-demand areas are positioned well to help rebuild the economy, Curtis said.

Community colleges offer a lot more than a solid education and good value for students who are finishing high school, said SCCC President Quintin Bullock.

“We are seeing people who are looking to be retrained or who are looking to make a career change,” he said.

That’s what Valerie Inman was looking for.

The 40-year-old Watervliet resident spent 10 years as a clerical worker for the state Department of Taxation and Finance before deciding to enroll into SCCC’s culinary program.

When the state’s fiscal problems escalated, Inman said opportunities for promotions became limited.

“With all the talk about [hiring freezes] there wasn’t a lot of room for growth,” she said.

That’s when she decided to attend SCCC, which has given her an opportunity to work with well-known area chefs including Dale Miller, owner and executive chef at Dale Miller restaurant in Albany.

Miller, a graduate and board member at CIA, said he has worked with or hired 25 to 30 students and graduates of SCCC’s culinary program over the years.

“It’s a great training ground,” said Miller, who currently has two interns from SCCC and two from CIA.

He worked with Inman and several master chefs during the grand opening of his restaurant last year.

Inman, who expects to graduate in May, will move to Florida, where she plans to open her own bakery.

Classmate Andrew Falkenstein, who grew up in Manhattan, has no immediate plans to leave.

He’s hoping to find a job working in the kitchen at a local fine dining restaurant for the next five years as he prepares to open his own restaurant.

Once he opens his own place, Falkenstein said, his marketing and business degree also could come in handy.

Leaders of NYSHEI member institutions in Western New York recently visited the offices of ARIA sponsors.  The delegation specifically applauded the efforts of Assemblyman Robin Schimminger and Senator William Stachowski, the lead sponsors of ARIA.

Pictured, from left to right, are David Schoen, Library Director of Niagara University, H. Austin Booth, Collections Director of the University at Buffalo, Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, Maryruth Glogowski, Assistant Vice President for Library and Instructional Technology at Buffalo State College, Randy Gadikian, Library Director of SUNY Fredonia, and Joel Cohen, Associate Vice President for Library and Informational Services at Canisius College.

NYSHEI Executive Director Jason Kramer also joined they group as they traveled around Erie County to personally encourage state legislators to continue pressing ARIA at the State Capitol.

The Rockefeller Institute released a new report on the importance of higher education to economic growth.  Authored by David Schaffer (a speaker at the 2008 NYSHEI annual meeting), the report describes trends and policies that are serving to push the academy to the fore in economic development.

Strongly supporting the same arguments NYSHEI has used to propel academic and research libraries into public policy debates in New York State, Mr. Schaffer’s report defines a “new paradigm for economic development programs – one that puts higher education at the center of states’ efforts to succeed in the knowledge economy.”