Education Commission

Szablya is named to post for higher education board Helen Szablya of Ellicott City has been named director of communications for the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Most recently, she was public relations and marketing manager for the College Savings Plans of Maryland. Szablya was named one of Maryland's Top 100 Women in 1996 and 2001 in recognition of her professional work and civic involvement. 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.

The University of Maryland University College will have to wait until Oct. 14 for a hearing on its appeal to create a doctoral program for community college administrators. UMUC's request was denied administratively Sept. 21 by Secretary of Higher Education James E. Lyons, who said the program would duplicate a similar one at Morgan State and thus violate the historically black university's civil rights. UMUC filed a formal appeal Thursday, and the matter is now before the Maryland Higher Education Commission.

A committee of the Maryland Higher Education Commission has recommended allowing Carroll Community College to become independent.The full commission is expected to act on the recommendation when it meets Wednesday, said Rosemary Straub, CCC's coordinator of community relations.The college has been a branch campus of Catonsville Community College. Last summer, it began to accelerate plans for independence, based on a recommendation by Shaila R. Aery, state secretary of higher education.The Education Policy Committee of the Higher Education Commission met yesterday and approved independence for Carroll.

Tougher integrity policy OK'd The Anne Arundel County Board of Education passed a stronger integrity policy yesterday that reflects a need to "promote vigor and achievement" in schools, one year after a cheating scandal jolted Severna Park High School. The new regulations clearly define cheating, fraud, plagiarism and more; the old policy had no definitions. The policy goes on to say that cheating includes copying assignments, working together on independent assignments without teacher permission, and using unauthorized study aids or cheat sheets during tests.

A recent report from the Maryland Higher Education Commission confirms that Carroll Community College meets standards necessary to award associate of arts degrees and certificates as an independent institution.Last summer, the county commissioners petitioned the panel on behalf of the college (a branch campus of Catonsville Community College in Baltimore County) for authority to award two-year degrees and certificates.A team of out-of-state consultants came to examine the college against the Higher Education Commission's standards for community colleges.

Gov. William Donald Schaefer appointed Charles B. Saunders Jr. of Bethesda chairman of the Maryland Higher Education Commission yesterday.Mr. Saunders is a former senior vice president of the American Council on Education in Washington. He has been a member of the commission since 1989.He replaces Walter Sondheim Jr. of Baltimore, who was appointed chairman in March 1993 and resigned this month.The 12-member commission oversees planning and coordination for Maryland's public colleges and regulates the state's private career schools.

The University of Maryland University College will have to wait until Oct. 14 for a hearing on its appeal to create a doctoral program for community college administrators. UMUC's request was denied administratively Sept. 21 by Secretary of Higher Education James E. Lyons, who said the program would duplicate a similar one at Morgan State and thus violate the historically black university's civil rights. UMUC filed a formal appeal Thursday, and the matter is now before the Maryland Higher Education Commission.

Carroll Community College will become independent July 1, following a vote yesterday by the Maryland Higher Education Commission that granted the school autonomy."

A senior official in the state comptroller's office has recommended that legislative auditors look into "unusual" accounting practices at the Maryland Higher Education Commission. John D. Kenney, director of the General Accounting Division, also said yesterday that he will ask the commission's chief of accounting to stop spending money out of a "nonbudgeted" state account - where spending authority controls are less stringent. The account has included millions in federal grant money. Generally, nonbudgeted funds in the state treasury are used as temporary holding accounts for money that is not appropriated by the General Assembly.

J. Henry Butta said yesterday that he is resigning from the Maryland Higher Education Commission, which he has chaired since its creation in 1988, because of high blood pressure.Mr. Butta, a friend and informal adviser to the governor, said he also is quitting the Governor's Commission on Economy and Efficiency in Government, which finished work yesterday, along with the Workforce Investment Board.Mr. Butta, 64, said his doctor told him to eliminate the stress in his life. "As of tomorrow, I'm retired" from public service, said the retired chief executive officer of Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Co. "I'm really going to miss it."

A senior official in the state comptroller's office has recommended that legislative auditors look into "unusual" accounting practices at the Maryland Higher Education Commission. John D. Kenney, director of the General Accounting Division, also said yesterday that he will ask the commission's chief of accounting to stop spending money out of a "nonbudgeted" state account - where spending authority controls are less stringent. The account has included millions in federal grant money. Generally, nonbudgeted funds in the state treasury are used as temporary holding accounts for money that is not appropriated by the General Assembly.

It's a problem most government agencies wouldn't mind having: millions of tax dollars to spend, and not enough places to spend them. But for the Maryland Higher Education Commission - the agency that administers state-funded college scholarship programs - the looming threat of getting stuck this year with millions of dollars in undistributed student grants could threaten future financial aid funding, officials say. That's why the commission is anxious...

When the Board of Education convenes Wednesday, members are expected to vote on a legislative wish list that tackles a national problem: the teacher shortage. A statement that supports substantial scholarship programs for students who enter the teaching profession -- and commit to teaching in Maryland -- is one of the newer additions to the Carroll County school board's legislative positions for the 2007 General Assembly. "Our state universities do not graduate enough teachers to fill all the vacancies there are each year," said Jimmie Saylor, director of human resources for county schools.

National group honors Grasmick Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick received a national education award yesterday for her "outstanding contributions to American education." The James Bryant Conant Award is given by the Education Commission of the States, a Denver-based nonprofit that monitors education trends and policies for state governors and legislators. The Education Commission of the States praised Grasmick's focus on student achievement, parental involvement and early childhood education.

State taking applications for loan repayment program The Maryland Higher Education Commission is accepting applications for a loan repayment program for those who work in certain fields and provide service to low-income or under-served Maryland residents. Through the Janet L. Hoffman Loan Assistance Repayment Program, qualified applicants may receive up to $7,500 annually to repay college loans. Applicants' gross salary cannot exceed $60,000, or $130,000 if married. Eligible teachers must have graduated from a Maryland college and be employed full-time at a Maryland public school designated as a Title I school or one identified for improvement by the state.

A state commission cleared the way yesterday for Towson University to begin offering an MBA program, rejecting protests by Morgan State University, which argued that students should instead get their graduate business degrees at the historically black college. The Maryland Higher Education Commission voted 10-1 to uphold an earlier decision permitting Towson to grant a joint MBA degree with the University of Baltimore. Towson, which boasts a large undergraduate business school, will launch its first graduate-level business classes next fall.

Calvin W. Burnett, the interim state higher education secretary, was appointed to the job yesterday by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Burnett, 72, the former president of Coppin State University, had been leading the Maryland Higher Education Commission on a temporary basis since January. The commission coordinates policy and administers financial aid to all of the state's colleges and universities. A spokesman said Ehrlich had been conducting a nationwide search to fill the position but concluded that Burnett was the right man for the job. Since taking over the commission, Burnett has created a group that includes Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele to make long-term plans for the state's higher education system.

John L. Green Jr., executive vice president of corporate services for MedStar Health and a member of the Maryland Higher Education Commission, died of cancer Sunday at Howard County General Hospital. The Columbia resident was 61. Mr. Green's involvement in education included serving for more than two decades as a member of Morgan State University's board of regents, and from 1990 to 1995 as its chairman. Since 1983, Mr. Green had been vice president of corporate services for Columbia-based MedStar Health, which owns and operates seven hospitals in the Baltimore-Washington area.

Szablya is named to post for higher education board Helen Szablya of Ellicott City has been named director of communications for the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Most recently, she was public relations and marketing manager for the College Savings Plans of Maryland. Szablya was named one of Maryland's Top 100 Women in 1996 and 2001 in recognition of her professional work and civic involvement. 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.

ANOTHER INDEPENDENT report - this time from the Maryland Higher Education Commission - paints a devastating portrait of disarray and questionable educational services at Baltimore City Community College. It validates earlier, similarly negative analyses of Maryland's only state-run community college. And it provides even more reason to call for a thorough overhaul of an institution that should play a key role in improving Baltimore's work force. In an interview this week, the college's interim president and its new board chair insisted that a full-scale rebuilding effort has been under way at BCCC for months - since August, when the MHEC team studied the college for its recently released report.