Indiana Partnership for Statewide Education
September 21, 2007
Meeting Notes

Present: Rebecca Nickoli, Co-Chair, Ivy Tech; Allyn Beekman, Indiana Wesleyan; Mike Eddy, PU; Tim Garner, Franklin; Don Kaufman, Vincennes; Ron Payne for Ed Kinley, ISU; Dennis Trinkle, Valparaiso
IHETS staff: Alison Jensen, Bill Kramer, Bob Noe, Tim Paige, Susan Scott, Ed Stockey

Nickoli called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. Minutes of the July 6 meeting were approved as circulated. There were no corrections to the notes of the July 27 ad hoc task group meeting.

Home Institution Model Revision
Nickoli called attention to the sections of the Home Institution Model changed in the version circulated prior to the meeting. There were no objections raised to the substance of those changes, and members agreed that biennial review of the revenue allocation formula seemed reasonable. Kaufman moved:
         That the IPSE accept the revision of the Home Institution Model as presented.
Garner seconded the motion, which was unanimously approved on a roll-call vote.

The document will move to the IHETS Board of Directors with a recommendation to approve.

Consolidated reporting to Commission for Higher Education
Scott reviewed the rationale for and previous discussion of adopting a consolidated report to the CHE staff as an interim step to assure accurate redirection of cross-registrations for purposes of enrollment adjustment funding. She summarized the staff feasibility review as favorable with the caution that the ICN Coordinators, who will presumably be front-line participants in validating the data, need to be engaged in determining the process. Payne reported that ISU is not in favor of a consolidated report based on the perception that, since the institution will still need to report SIS data to the CHE, an aggregate report would be duplicative. Eddy added that Purdue is still discussing the possibility in terms of implementation; the data will come from Banner, not from the ICN Coordinator’s office. Kramer questioned whether this would be an appropriate use of IHETS funds since the official enrollment authority rests with the institutions.

Scott and Nickoli provided further explanation of the intended purpose of the report:

• The new Home Institution Model provides that Home Institutions will continue to enroll students in courses even if taught by other institutions.
• The Commission’s SIS policy provides that Originating Institutions should be identified and reimbursed for their instructional role, with corresponding student data tracked to the institution teaching them.
• To align the two policies, the Home Institution Model now provides that the Originating Institution will receive enrollment adjustment funding as part of its overall reimbursement for its instructional expenses.
• The SIS data warehouse and reporting mechanisms cannot be changed to add or alter fields that accommodate the reporting before 2008-09 at earliest.
• The suggested compromise is that the institutions work together through IHETS to provide a consolidated report to correct the official institutional data reports about enrollments to enable enrollment adjustment funding to flow to the correct institutions.

There was further discussion about how the process would work. There was agreement that the ICN Coordinators need to discuss the subject (and will do so on September 28) but that the shape of the mechanism needs to come from the IPSE. It is important to understand what impact there will be on registrars, enrollment management offices, and other campus personnel. Staff was directed to organize a video conference to involve all these parties in discussion and to copy IPSE members on the arrangements and background information to share with others at their campuses.

Information updates
Kramer reported that staff and partners are still working with the State Budget Agency to secure release of funds for I-Light connections and for the public affairs channel. Apparently all earmarks are under scrutiny and consequent delay, not solely those for IHETS. The IHETS Board of Directors will meet October 30, and the goal is to have various projects and recommendations ready for Board action at that time, now including approval of the Home Institution Model. These others are expected to include a renegotiated contract for lease of 23 EBS licenses, with the hope of substantial revenue increase for IHETS, as well as a recommendation from the Board’s Executive Director Search Committee, which is being chaired by Board Chairman Jeff Pittman of Ivy Tech.

Members agreed that October 5 would be too soon to expect action on the consolidated reporting question, so the next IPSE meeting will be an audio conference on Friday, October 19, from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. EDT.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:05 a.m.