Comments about Oklahoma education by V. Burns Hargis, President of Oklahoma State Univ

THESE ARE MY NOTES FROM THE GREATER OKLAHOMA CITY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE “STATE OF THE SCHOOLS” LUNCHEON ON 21 AUGUST 2008. THESE ARE COMMENTS BY BURNS HARGIS PRIOR TO LUNCH.

The announcement yesterday by Devon Energy is further evidence of the contributions they are making to the state of Oklahoma

If an of you have an opportunity to be a university president, do it! It is very exciting to be around all these young people and their energy

there is no place on earth with as much intellectual capital as a university campus
– the trick is having access to that

When I went to college I went to my business college and went back to my dorm
– a little to the library
– I didn’t know a lot about other things happening at the university

one of the challenges is to bring that energy, intellect and enthusiasm to everyone

for the money we are putting into it, our educational system is doing quite well
– we built our universities because of access
– they serve as cultural hubs for those areas
– it is expensive, however

We were flat again for funding this year
– when we were in school the state provided about 2/3 of cost, and tuition and fees paid 1/3
– now that is turned around, state support is under 30%

OSU and OU have raised tuition and fees about 10% per year, year in and year out
– I think we are reaching an elasticity point in this
– even though OU and OSU are the best bargains in the Big 12 that would require a 6% increase in tuition

we had inflationary costs of $3.5 million, at OSU that would require

Both OSU and OU lag in the big 12 for average faculty salaries

we really would need a 30% increase in

this reliance on tuition increases is a short term increase
– eventually this will lead to many of our young people not choosing to go to our flagship universities

the thing that is most difficult and frustrating is the number of kids we have to remediate
– it is almost 10% of all our students
– that is not a surprise if you look at the most recent ACT numbers for Oklahoma
– only 17% were predicted to make a B in core courses
– we think the ACT is a pretty good predictor of being able to do the work you need to do in college

We have a common ed system led by Sandy Garrett, we have a career tech system, and a higher ed regents system
– the communication between these silos is not very good now

If you are going to teach to a test today, teach to the ACT
– that is the test the kids are going to have to take
– that will be a major push in higher ed: to work with Sandy Garrett to be on teh same page

college degrees and per capita income line up exactly: they are linear

Who has the most college grads? Connecticut
– who has the highest per capita income? Connecticut

Part of the problem also is: many of us in education are still making the kids fit into our system
– in society today we are tailored to the individual’s needs
– many times now in schools we don’t teach the relevance, put it in the world of kids (an internet-based world increasingly now)

My 6 year old grandson came over to the house the other night, saw “Night at the Museum”
– next day Preston comes in after seeing that movie dressed up as Teddy Roosevelt, our former President
– he learned that from seeing that movie
– even my Latin degree earning wife from UT said she didn’t know that is who Atilla the Hun was

Story of a past pastor whose sermons were not very good
– Told him I heard a great speaker the other day, who did it telling stories
– if you are in 4th grade and kids are bouncing off the walls, tell them it is story time
– what we don’t do enough

that is why our regional robotics event is so great: it shows kids the relevance of science and technology, puts it in

the state of education in many respects is fine, it is falling short in others

if we don’t find a new way to approach these problems, we are going to continue having problems
– when kids can’t read on grade level by 4th grade, it spiral

we have to find ways to deliver this material to kids in a frame they understand
– when we find out what they are interested in, then we can do lots of things

we are trying to constantly deliver education at the same pace, in the same way

story of Nancy, Andrew Lloyd Webber choreographer (THIS IS THE STORY THAT SIR KEN ROBINSON TELLS IN HIS TED TALK)
– she couldn’t be still in school
– psychologist turned on radio and left with the mother, and saw that her daughter

we have got to discover that passion

I tell students at OSU all the time we are in the dream business
– never let money trump your passion

story of a comedian in England, sort of like Eddie Murphy
– he kept cutting up and getting kicked out of class
– new year, had to meet student after school, asked student to write a screenplay of his ideas, now he is one of the most successful screenwriters

that is what it takes: a teacher taking the time to find out what makes kids tick

this is the greatest need we have

I have been on every reform commission for education, we all seem to keep pedaling in the same place
– to get this where we need to go, to raise our per capita income and serve the Devon Energy companies of the world, we have to come up with a system that lets all these kids be successful
– every one of them can if we’ll just let them

Technorati Tags:
oklahoma, school, education, reform, change, business, osu, hargis, oklahomacity

If you enjoyed this post and found it useful, subscribe to Wes’ free newsletter. Check out Wes’ video tutorial library, “Playing with Media.” Information about more ways to learn with Dr. Wesley Fryer are available on wesfryer.com/after.

Comments about Oklahoma education by V. Burns Hargis, President of Oklahoma State Univ

On this day..