House moves grad bill forward

Written by Andrew Flohr-Spence
(spenceand@mscd.edu)
Photo by Drew Jaynes
(ajaynes1@msc.edu)

Metro one step closer to adding masters's degrees

Colorado legislators took a first look this week at a bill that would allow Metro to offer master’s programs, and so far, they like what they see.

The House Education Committee voted unanimously March 9 to move House Bill 1295 forward.
The bill would amend the state statutes governing Metro allowing the college to offer master’s degrees. The House is expected to vote on it in the coming weeks. The bill will then move to the Senate and, if approved, would need Gov. Bill Ritter’s signature.

“We know that Metro has been a champion of students of all backgrounds for many, many decades,” House Rep. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, one of the bill’s sponsors, said to the committee. Todd said the change would allow Metro to broaden the opportunity for its students, offering high-quality degrees at a more affordable price than other state schools.

“We are seeing it (Metro) move with the times, making it more adaptable, more flexible and more available to more students so they can achieve their dreams,” Todd said.

John Karakoulakis, director of legislative affairs for the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, agreed with Todd and said the commission had voted to approve the legislation.

Metro President Stephen Jordan and chair of Metro’s Board of Trustees, Adele Phelan, testified to the committee in support of the bill. Jordan said studies show that offering a master’s helps a school retain both students and faculty. Offering teachers a way to continue their education, advance professionally and earn more money keeps them from moving on. Offering a higher level of qualification attracts a greater number of students who might otherwise look elsewhere, or low-income students might ordinarily be unable to afford further education.

Jordan outlined the three programs the college wants to extend to the graduate level: education, social work and accounting.

Jordan said the three departments would quickly be ready to go, with enough Ph.D. accredited professors necessary to teach at the level, and a high enough student demand for the added programs. Questionnaires the departments sent out to students came back with overwhelming approval for the idea, Jordan said.

“The board has taken this decision very seriously,” Phelan said. “We really think this continues Metro’s mission.”

The board set up a committee to make sure the areas the college developed were able to sustain the new services, and to make sure that all the proper steps were taken to establish the programs. Phelan told the education committee that the plan so far has received overwhelming endorsement from students, faculty, staff, alumni and the board of education.

There was no lack of support at the meeting. Numerous other Metro officials, not to mention a few students, also came to the public hearing prepared to testify if needed.

Chair of teacher education Ellie-Ann Shahinian Baldwin said that of the nearly 2,000 students studying in her department, around 510 students were potentially candidates for the program. She said the considerable pay increase that a teacher with a master’s degree receives over teachers with a bachelor’s degree, was something nearly every education student was interested in.

“Not to mention the doors that the higher degree opened if a person was interested in educational administration,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin brought along an ideal candidate for the program, Brian Adler, an education student currently working on his certificate at Metro. Adler said he was very interested in the master’s prospect and currently he was slowed down in his educational career because Metro couldn’t offer it.

Schools with master’s programs allow teachers to get the additional degree and their teacher certification at the same time. Currently, Adler has to wait until he is done with the certificate and then will have to find another school to do his graduate work.

Adler said he would sign up if Metro could make the change by 2010, otherwise he’d have to go elsewhere.

But if the speed at which the bill is moving through the house is any indication, Adler won’t have to leave. The committee didn’t need to hear from Baldwin or Adler: they were convinced.
“It’s really nice when things can move that quickly,” President Stephen Jordan said after the hearing. “It’s testimony to all the hard work everybody had put in.”