Maryland Higher Education Commission

May 2010 Press Release

 

 

For immediate release: May 5, 2010                                            Media Contact: Kristen Neville
                                                                                                             Communications: (410) 260-4512

                                                                                                             kneville@mhec.state.md.us

 

April 2010 MHEC Report for Governor O'Malley

April 1: Secretary Lyons participated in the Governor’s 2010 Black Saga Competition recognition ceremony at the State House in Annapolis.

April 2 and 6: Director of Finance attended House Appropriations Committee and Education and Economic Development Subcommittee and Budget and Taxation Committee operating budget decision meetings.

April 2: Director of Finance attended House Appropriations Committee and Capital Budget Subcommittee decision meetings.

April 5: Secretary Lyons attended a Maryland Internship Program reception in the House of Delegates Building in Annapolis.

April 8: Secretary Lyons joined University System of Maryland Chancellor William “Brit” Kirwan in testifying before the House of Delegate Appropriations Committee against Senate Bill 1084, legislation that would impact MHEC’s academic program approval process.

April 9: Secretary Lyons read to students at Samuel P. Massie Elementary School in Forestville, MD.

April 10: Secretary Lyons attended the Maryland Higher Education Commission Student Advisory Council meeting at Goucher College. The council is made up of students from higher education institutions throughout the state and advises the Secretary on issues of concern to students at their respective campuses.

April 12: Secretary Lyons, Director of Legislative Affairs, and Legislative Associate spent most of the day in Annapolis at the State House meeting with legislators and observing the last day of the 2010 Maryland General Assembly session.

April 14: Secretary Lyons attended a regular meeting of the Maryland Fire-Rescue Training Commission. The commission is made up of both career and volunteer fire and emergency services personnel. Secretary Lyons brought greetings and thanked the members for the sacrifices they make in service to others on behalf of the Governor.

April 15: Secretary Lyons attended the Governor’s Capital for a Day events in Capitol Heights, MD. The Secretary participated in a cabinet meeting and met with Dr. Charlene Dukes, President of Prince George’s Community College, and the college’s senior staff. Secretary Lyons discussed the very strong commitment of the O’Malley-Brown administration to higher education, community colleges and Prince George’s Community College. The Assistant Secretary for Academic Affairs met with officials at the University of Maryland, College Park, the State’s flagship institution, and toured the campus.

April 19: Secretary Lyons attended the Governor’s 2010 Volunteer Service Awards in the Miller Senate Office Building in Annapolis.

April 21: Secretary Lyons attended a meeting of the Governor’s Smart Growth Subcabinet

April 21: Secretary Lyons attended a meeting of the Maryland Workforce Corporation Board of Directors, of which he is an ex-officio member. The Corporation works to establish a plan and framework for innovative statewide workforce programs that ensure Maryland workers have educational opportunities to acquire those skills required in the workforce.

April 23: Director of Finance attended the Maryland Community College Facilities Planners Meeting.

April 26: Director of Finance prepared and presented Regional Higher Education Center presentation for Northeast Maryland Higher Education Focus Group under the Lt. Governor.

April 28: Secretary Lyons attended the BRAC to the Future 2010 conference at the HEAT Center in Aberdeen, MD and brought greetings on behalf of the O’Malley-Brown administration. The Secretary stressed the Governor’s commitment to BRAC and to our responsiveness, as well as the leadership of Lt. Governor Brown as chair of the Governor’s BRAC subcabinet.

April 28: Secretary Lyons attended the renaming of the Center for Civil Rights in Education at Morgan State University as the Robert M. Bell Center for Civil Rights in Education.

April 29: Secretary Lyons attended an Education Stat meeting at the State Stat office in the Jeffrey Building in Annapolis.

April 30: Secretary Lyons participated in a conference call of the Governor’s P-20 Leadership Council.

Career and Workforce Development
April 2: Three MHEC staff attended a developmental StudentStat meeting, downtown Annapolis.

April 7: MHEC’s Associate Director for Workforce Development represented MHEC at the monthly CTE Director’s meeting and presented information on Solicitor’s Permits.

April 9: The Associate Director for Workforce Development represented MHEC at the Maryland Community College Association of Continuing Education and Training (MCCACET) monthly meeting.

April 13: The Associate Director for Workforce Development participated in the GWIB IT Steering Committee meeting to discuss Cyber Security and Health IT issues.

April 22: The Associate Director for Workforce Development represented MHEC at the GWIB Interagency Workgroup Committee meeting. Discussion topics included Skills2Compete-Maryland, StudentStat, and workgroup goals.

April 23: The MHEC Financial Aid Director, with staff help from the Associate Director for Workforce Development, convened a meeting of the Workforce Advisory Council to update workforce shortage occupations and discuss FY 2011 funding limitations.

April 27: The Associate Director for Workforce Development participated in a conference call to review Perkins IV Reserve Fund RFP procedures.

April 28: The Associate Director for Workforce Development performed six Perkins IV Reserve Fund RFP reviews.

April 29: The Associate Director for Workforce Development participated in one Perkins IV monitoring visit to Kent County Public Schools.

Throughout the month of April:

• 10 State Solicitor Permits were reviewed, processed, and issued.
Ongoing:
• MHEC staff continues to test the online CC-10 community college continuing education course application for State funding. When fully implemented, it will be a paperless process which will allow the MHEC inventory of continuing education courses to be publicly viewable online after approval. Testing will occur throughout FY2010, with the anticipated date for going paperless July 1, 2010.
• In accordance with the 2009 State Plan for Higher Education, MHEC continues to develop standardized annual reports for each GWIB Industry Sector that will provide yearly data comparing DOL occupational demand projections with Maryland postsecondary graduation data in related programs. Newly reconvened GWIB IT (for Cyber Security and Health IT) will be utilizing these standardized reports.
• MHEC staff continues to meet with the community colleges regarding the reporting requirements of Skills2Compete-Maryland.

Private Career Schools
• Continued the process of reviewing claims and making payments on claims from students who suffered tuition loss resulting from precipitous closure of ComputerTraining.edu at Towson and ComputerTraining.edu at Annapolis Junction. The funding sources for the payments are the closed schools’ financial guarantees and the state’s Guaranty Student Tuition Fund. This activity is about 90% complete.
• Staff met with representatives of the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General to discuss an unapproved nursing school offering unlicensed and unapproved nursing programs in Maryland.
• Staff began the process of reviewing student records for all schools approved in the last two years.
• The following actions were approved by the Secretary: three new schools, one new school location, one name change, two school closures, and one program discontinued.
• 10 Solicitors’ Permits were issued to an agent of out of state private career schools.
• Two schools were visited. One school was advised about issues related to complying with location and program delivery issues.
• Letters were sent to all schools which had not properly registered their business entity names with the Department of Assessment and Taxation advising them of the need to do so.

Office of Grants
April 7: Met with MHEC outreach and grants staff to begin developing concept for a grant proposal for federal College Access Challenge Grant (potential for $1.5 million per federal fiscal year FY 2010-2014).

April 7: Conducted site visit for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County project at North Bend Middle School under the Maryland College Access Challenge Grant Program (MCACGP).

April 7: Conducted site visit for the Metropolitan Saturday Academy Science and Technology Program, Inc. project at James Madison Middle School under the MCACGP. Students showcased their projects before a panel of judges.

April 8: Conducted site visit for the University of Maryland, Baltimore project at Diggs Johnson Middle School under the MCACGP.

April 9: Conducted site visit for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County project at Cherry Hill Middle School under the MCACGP.

April 9: Provided consultation to grants staff at Cecil Community College regarding their federal grants application on jobs training programs.

April 9: Conducted site visit for the Living Classrooms project at North Bend Middle School under the MCACGP.

April 10-11 Compiled fiscal date for the federally funded Improving Teacher Quality State Grant Program in preparation for a federal monitoring visit.

April 12: Met with MHEC and Governor’s Grants office staff to review fiscal data, fiscal feasibility and discuss next steps in MHEC’s plan to request an indirect cost rate with the U.S. Department of Education.

April 12: Conducted site visit for the Towson University project at Chinquapin Middle School under the MCACGP.

April 14: Conducted site visit for the Capitol College project at Hyattsville Middle School under the MCACGP.

April 12-16: Prepared responses to the Improving Teacher Quality State Grant Program federal monitoring protocol.

April 17: Attended Future Educators Association (FEA) Conference in Baltimore City. The project was sponsored by Towson University and Goucher. New FEA chapters were formed at 5 middle schools in Baltimore City as a result of the Maryland College Access Challenge Grant Program (MCACGP). Students gathered to showcase their digital stories and interviews with alumni of their schools and to share what they have learned about college planning and career options

April 19: Conducted site visit at Capitol College under the College Preparation Intervention Program (CPIP).

April 19: Met with National STEM Security Initiative Project Coordinator to discuss the original approved project, procedure for requesting changes and project budget.

April 21: Met with MHEC outreach and grants staff to prepare presentation and recommendations for the Secretary regarding the federal College Access Challenge Grant.

April 22: Met with MHEC scholarship and grants staff to discuss the progress of the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) scholarship.

April 22: Conducted site visit for the Minority Access project at Nicholas Orem Middle School under the MCACGP.

April 22: Participated in Capital for a Day in Capitol Heights, Maryland by distributing MHEC materials and speaking with various church leaders on options for financial aid.

April 23: Attended regional GEAR UP meeting in Garrett County, Maryland.

April 24: Conducted three site visits for Improving Teacher Quality Grant Programs – Teacher Quality Biology, Teacher Quality Chemistry and Teacher Training Opportunities in Physics and Physical Sciences.

April 26-30 Worked with John Pirro, Department of Budget and Management to revise the Governor’s Policy Fellow “Unofficial” Guide.

April 26: Conference call with Jade Gingerich at the Department of Disabilities to discuss status of the Community College Students with Learning Disabilities grant program.

April 27: Attended regional GEAR UP meeting in Baltimore County, Maryland.

April 27: Conducted site visit at Dundalk High School for the University of Maryland, Baltimore project under CPIP.

April 28: Met with 100 Black Men of Maryland, Inc. to discuss the progress of their project under the MCACGP.

April 29: Deadline for CPIP FY 2011 grant applications. CPIP supports Maryland GEAR UP sites by funding institutions of higher education projects to work with students, parents, and teachers.

April 29: Met with project coordinator for the National STEM Security Initiative to assist with development of contact lists for potential advisory board members.

April 29: Conducted site visit for the In Reach, Inc. project at Charles Carroll Middle School under MCACGP.

April 30: Finalized second employment rotation for Governor’s Policy Fellow Matt Schmid.

April 30: Presented information with community college directors of disability services about final reporting and grant closeout for the Community College Students with Learning Disabilities state grant program.

April 30: Attended regional GEAR UP meeting in Somerset County, Maryland.

April 30: Conducted site visit for the EduSerc, Inc. /Young Innovators Club project at Harlem Park Middle School under MCACGP. Students presented on STEM/robotics program and college preparation.

Items ongoing throughout the month of April:

• Set up introductions at four agencies for Governor’s Policy Fellows to explore fellowship opportunities.
• Communicated with and issued final FY 2010 grant payments to Wellmobile, UMCP Leadership Academy, Harry Hughes Center for Agro-ecology and the Washington Center.
• Reviewed five requests for grant project extensions. All five requests were approved and authorization letters mailed.
• Fielded numerous questions about final reporting and grant closeout from university and college grants staff and project directors for Improving Teacher Quality State Grants FY 2008 projects.
• Reviewed the UMBI-Israeli Partnership grant file, spoke with Dean Drake, UMBI about closure of UMBI and reorganization of various programs, including the UMBI-Israeli Partnership grant program.
• Reviewed the Washington Center quarterly report
• Reviewer interim and final reports for the College Preparation Intervention Program (CPIP).
• Prepared invoices to make second payment disbursements for CPIP grant projects.
• Prepared Annual Federal Report (APR) for the College Access Challenge Grant Program (CACGP) for submission to the U.S. Department of Education.

Office of Student Financial Assistance

OSFA staff participated in three financial aid outreach activities at high schools in Beltsville (1) and Baltimore (2).

The Marketing and Outreach Manager completed the following activities:

• Conducted 8 college Access Challenge Program site visits in Prince George’s County and Baltimore City Middle Schools

• Attended a Science Fair in Prince George’s County

• Attended a College and Career Fair in Baltimore City-Stevenson University

• Attended a Future Educators Association Conference in Baltimore City

• Attended the NAACP ACT-SO Local Competition of the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics at Montgomery College, Rockville Campus.

• Attended Capital for a Day in Capitol Heights

OSFA awarded FY 2010 funds to waitlisted students in the Edward T. Conroy Memorial Scholarship and the Veterans of the Afghanistan & Iraqi Conflicts Scholarship programs.

OSFA completed FY 2011 renewal awards for the following financial assistance programs:
• Howard P. Rawlings Guaranteed Access Grant 1
• Howard P. Rawlings Educational Assistance Grant 1
• Senatorial Scholarship
• Edward T. Conroy Memorial Scholarship
• Veterans of Afghanistan & Iraqi Conflicts Scholarship
• Distinguished Scholar
• Distinguished Scholar Community College Transfer

 

The Maryland Higher Education Commission is a 12-member coordinating board responsible for establishing statewide policies for Maryland public and independent colleges and universities and private career schools. It serves as an advocate for more than 350,000 college students in Maryland, for the State and its needs, and for business and industry in Maryland.

 

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