Board of Directors

President Reports to the Members, WESTOP Board, and National Board

COE Board of Directors Meeting
September 16, 2008 

HEOA- Higher Education Opportunity Act
Congress passed and the President signed the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The Reauthorization contains various provisions that benefit TRiO. Highlights include:

1. Voids the Absolute Priority
2. Creation of an appeals process
3. Allows branch campuses of a college to apply to host separate SSS programs
4. Extending all TRiO grant awards to five years
5. Protects Prior Experience from manipulation by defining the criteria in law

Talent Search changes

1. Purpose of program was modified to include college completion;
2. Created an expanded definition of prior experience (formerly defined by the Dept of Education);
3. Created a Required Services section that specifies the types of information and assistance that TS projects must provide for students;
4. Enhanced Permissible Services section to include a broader range of project formats and participants.

HEOA became effective upon signing, but clarification is needed on how it will be implemented, Particularly important are: 1. Changes in TS expectations and funding in response to newly delineated Prior Experience criteria and 2. The transition of current grants to five-year cycles. No decision has been made on this, but the Department will be looking at the SSS and TS programs first as those are the competitions coming up.

FY 2009 Appropriations
Labor- HHS reported out a TRiO increase of 29.8 million and a GEAR UP increase of 14.6 million. Since the Appropriations Committee adjourned without voting (bickering about change in language), next step in the House is unclear. The Senate Appropriations Committee passed it FY 2009 Labor-HHS App bill which included a 10 million increase for TRiO and a 5 million increase for GEAR UP. COE is extremely concerned about the level of funding.

SSS Competition
Department withdrew application from the approval process until changes can be made that reflect the Higher Education Opportunity Act. The Department has not made a decision on when the next competition will take place. One option is to go ahead and have the competition this year as soon as the HEOA changes have been incorporated and another option being considered is to give an extension to all SSS programs and have the next competition in three years. COE has taken the position that the competition should be this year and Dr. Mitchem has issued a statement explaining the reasoning behind the decision. The letter has been posted on the WESTOP website.

On-Site Monitoring of TRiO Programs
A contract has been awarded to the American Institutes of Research (AIR) to monitor TRiO grantees. No final list of the institutions will be released but a list of 86 possible institutions (based on the Institutions Monitoring Index) has been circulated. Any institution selected for review will receive a notification letter approximately three weeks in advance of the site visit. There are 11 institutions from the WESTOP region that are on the list. If you are selected for a site visit, please notify me or your Chapter President so that we may be able to provide you with information and support.

OIG’s Investigation of Talent Search/EOC Competition:
The Office of the Inspector General forwarded to Congress its review of the Office of Postsecondary Education’s warding of Prior Experience Points in the 2006 EOC and TS competitions. OIG found:

1. Awarding of PE points was not in compliance with the regulations because
1. Improperly awarded partial points and
2. Did not evaluate an objective in the TS competition
2. OPE awarded points to grantees that did not meet minimum program requirements
3. OPE made errors in the execution of its PE points assessment
1. EOC- OPE used incorrect source data, made documentation errors and made math and transcription errors
2. TS- OPE made documentation errors
4. OPE changed its process for awarding PE points without having the appropriate data to evaluate grantees

Dr. Byrd-Johnson explained that those programs that were not funded (and were affected by the miscalculation of Prior Experience Points) will not be funded unless the Department is directed to do so.

Other Department of Education Updates
Brand new programs were asked to submit Interim Reports so that the Department can determine if “substantial progress” is being made in meeting the program’s objectives. There is an expectation that the program will maintain communication with the Department and that there is an ongoing dialogue if the program is having trouble meeting its objectives. Dr. Byrd-Johnson was hesitant about giving numbers on what would constitute “substantial progress”, but provided the following:
            Talent Search- 85% of students are being served
            VUB- 60% of participants
            UB/SSS- None was provided

The Department will also be looking at how much money has been spent and also looking for documentation on how the rest of the money will be spent. She encourages institutions to draw down money as it is used rather than wait until the end of the year or draw down too much at one time.

If you are interested in receiving more detailed information on anything mentioned above, please feel free to contact me.

[TOP]