conference update

This past Thursday and Friday, I attended the American Community College Trustees Congress with one of our board members. The hot topics were the nation's economy and the American Graduation Initiative proposed by President Obama, which has found its way through the House as HR 3221 and will be heading for a vote in the Senate very soon.

The most hotly debated topic in this bill relates to student loans. The President proposes the removal of private banks from the process and using the direct student loan plan of the federal govenrment as the only source of loans. This will eliminate the "middle man" costs which will be poured back into the amount available for lending. The banking industry is lobbying hard to get this removed.

As previously mentioned in my blogs, there is also $2.5B dedicated to community college renovations and facility construction, which has really piqued our interest.

The leadership and lobbyists of all our national associations are working long hours in their attempts to get this bill through the Senate. If it passes, we are probably a year away from the dollars actually becoming available.

The college has also been vigorously pursuing other competitive grants from the stimulus plan. Of the 3 opportunities submitted so far, we just received news that one was approved. It involves another partnership opportunity with the Local Workforce Investment Board. (This will be our second such stimulus funded project with them).

Politics and philosphy aside, it's great to know that stimulus dollars are finding their way to Mohave County. We all contribute through our taxes; it's refreshing to see it come back our way.

Mike