Coleman: Business, political leaders must maintain higher ed. commitment

Updated 10:00 AM November 14, 2005

Coleman: Business, political leaders
must maintain higher ed. commitment

By Kevin Brown

President Mary Sue Coleman told a Detroit Economic Club forum Nov. 7 that leaders must stay committed to funding higher education and to efforts to boost the number of students seeking higher education degrees, to best prepare students for the future.

"We are blessed in Michigan because for decades and decades the citizens of this state realized they wanted these universities to grow and prosper, and now we need to make sure that we don't lose that future," Coleman told several hundred people gathered for the lunchtime forum at Cobo Center in Detroit.

Her comments came during a panel discussion featuring Coleman; former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, a Western Michigan University trustee; former Detroit Piston Dave Bing, chairman & CEO of The Bing Group; and John Cherry, lieutenant governor and chairman of the State of Michigan Commission on Higher Education and Economic Growth. The talk was moderated by Nolan Finley, Detroit News editorial page editor.

The panelists addressed the topic," Growing Minds, Growing the Economy: Forging Higher Expectations about Higher Education."

In the wake of the recent Delphi bankruptcy filing, the latest in a number of economic setbacks for the state, panel members took turns lamenting what they said was a notion still held by a sizeable number of Michigan parents—that a high school education is good enough preparation for the job market.

"The first way to solve the problem is we need to talk about it," Coleman said. "The first time you say it, it doesn't necessarily sink in. You have to say it over and over and over again. I need to say it, government needs to say it, and business leaders need to say it.

"We need to raise our expectations," she continued. "If we don't expect much of them they won't expect much of themselves. If they have the will to do it we'll find the way for them to do it, so part of this is assuring them about access."

Bing and Archer said their parents insisted they attend college. "I think there have to be some demands made," said Bing, adding that too many parents let children decide whether or not to pursue education after high school.

To help underscore the point that Michigan must increase the number of higher education students, Archer said China is graduating more engineers than the United States, by a 5-to-1 ratio, and action is needed now. "We can't afford to wait," he said.

Referring to cuts in recent years in the percentage of state appropriations to colleges and universities, Coleman urged government and business leaders to consider the commitment needed to boost the number of youths attending these institutions. "I don't see how we can continue to cut funding to higher education and continue to meet our goals; it's unrealistic," she said.

Finley asked Coleman what distinguishes current college freshmen. "Their computer skills and their abilities to use technology are unsurpassed," Coleman remarked.

But she joined other panelists in calling for improved K-12 education, to get students as ready as possible for college. "Our expectations of the high schools should be much greater," Coleman said.

Coleman: Business, political leaders must maintain higher ed. commitment

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Coleman: Business, political leaders
must maintain higher ed. commitment