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REVIVING OUR ECONOMY: THE ROLE OF HIGHER 

EDUCATION IN JOB GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 

FIELD HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION 

AND WORKFORCE TRAINING 

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION 

AND THE WORKFORCE 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

HEARING HELD IN MONROE, MI, APRIL 9, 2013 

Serial No. 113–11 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: 

www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/committee.action?chamber=house&committee=education 

or 

Committee address: http://edworkforce.house.gov 
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE 

JOHN KLINE, Minnesota, Chairman 

Thomas E. Petri, Wisconsin 

Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon, California 

Joe Wilson, South Carolina 

Virginia Foxx, North Carolina 

Tom Price, Georgia 

Kenny Marchant, Texas 

Duncan Hunter, California 

David P. Roe, Tennessee 

Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania 

Tim Walberg, Michigan 

Matt Salmon, Arizona 

Brett Guthrie, Kentucky 

Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee 

Todd Rokita, Indiana 

Larry Bucshon, Indiana 

Trey Gowdy, South Carolina 

Lou Barletta, Pennsylvania 

Martha Roby, Alabama 

Joseph J. Heck, Nevada 

Susan W. Brooks, Indiana 

Richard Hudson, North Carolina 

Luke Messer, Indiana 

George Miller, California, 

Senior Democratic Member 

Robert E. Andrews, New Jersey 

Robert C. ‘‘Bobby’’ Scott, Virginia 

Rube ́n Hinojosa, Texas 

Carolyn McCarthy, New York 

John F. Tierney, Massachusetts 

Rush Holt, New Jersey 

Susan A. Davis, California 

Rau ́l M. Grijalva, Arizona 

Timothy H. Bishop, New York 

David Loebsack, Iowa 

Joe Courtney, Connecticut 

Marcia L. Fudge, Ohio 

Jared Polis, Colorado 

Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, 

Northern Mariana Islands 

John A. Yarmuth, Kentucky 

Frederica S. Wilson, Florida 

Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon 

Juliane Sullivan, Staff Director 

Jody Calemine, Minority Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE TRAINING 

VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina, Chairwoman 

Thomas E. Petri, Wisconsin 

Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon, California 

Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania 

Tim Walberg, Michigan 

Matt Salmon, Arizona 

Brett Guthrie, Kentucky 

Lou Barletta, Pennsylvania 

Joseph J. Heck, Nevada 

Susan W. Brooks, Indiana 

Richard Hudson, North Carolina 

Luke Messer, Indiana 

Rube ́n Hinojosa, Texas, 

Ranking Minority Member 

John F. Tierney, Massachusetts 

Timothy H. Bishop, New York 

John A. Yarmuth, Kentucky 

Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon 

Carolyn McCarthy, New York 

Rush Holt, New Jersey 

Susan A. Davis, California 

David Loebsack, Iowa 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hearing held on April 9, 2013 ................................................................................ 1 

Statement of Members: 

Foxx, Hon. Virginia, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Higher Education 

and Workforce Training ............................................................................... 1 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 2 

Walberg, Hon. Tim, a Representative in Congress from the State of 

Michigan ........................................................................................................ 3 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 4 

Statement of Witnesses: 

Betz, Cheri, southeast regional director, College for Professional Studies, 

Siena Heights University ............................................................................. 35 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 37 

Dowler, Lynette, plant director, fossil generation, DTE Energy .................. 7 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 9 

Fairbanks, Dan, UAW international representative, UAW–GM Skill Development and Training Department .......................................................... 16 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 18 

Levy, Douglas A., director of financial aid, Macomb Community College ... 48 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 49 

Lievens, J. Henry, commissioner, Monroe County ........................................ 6 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 7 

Nixon, David E., Ed.D., president, Monroe County Community College ..... 28 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 31 

Shields, Michelle M., career coach, Jackson Community College ................ 44 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 46 

Smith, Susan, executive director, Economic Development Partnership, 

Hillsdale County ........................................................................................... 12 

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 15 

(1) 

REVIVING OUR ECONOMY: 

THE ROLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN 

JOB GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013 

U.S. House of Representatives 

Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

Washington, DC 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 9:04 a.m., in Administration Building, Monroe County Community College, 1555 S. 

Raisinville Rd., Monroe, MI, Hon. Virginia Foxx, [chairwoman of 

the subcommittee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Foxx and Walberg. 

Staff Present: Casey Buboltz, Coalitions and Member Services 

Coordinator; Amy Jones, Education Policy Counsel and Senior Advisor; Emily Slack, Legislative Assistant; Alex Sollberger, Communications Director; and John D’Elia, Minority Labor Policy Associate. 

Chairwoman FOXX. A quorum being present, the subcommittee 

will come to order. 

Good morning and welcome to the first field hearing of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training in the 

113th Congress. It is good to be here in Michigan’s 7th District 

with my esteemed colleague, Representative Walberg. Thank you 

all for joining us. 

I am a former community college president, and I am particularly glad to be on a community college campus and, I think, to see 

a group of students with us this morning. So I am glad that whoever your teachers were had good advice to send you over to the 

hearing, and we are delighted to have you with us. 

I also want to give a special thanks to our witnesses. I know you 

all have busy schedules, and we are grateful you are taking time 

to share your valuable insights with us today. 

Despite recent employment gains, these are still tough times for 

far too many Americans. Here in Michigan, the unemployment rate 

stands at 8.8 percent, higher than the national rate. Meanwhile, 

local job creators report they are unable to find workers with the 

skills necessary to compete for available jobs. This issue, called the 

‘‘skills gap,’’ was the subject of a recent two-day conference Governor Rick Snyder hosted with many of Michigan’s business, education, and government leaders. 
2 

Our nation’s economy is only as strong as its workforce. And 

right now, the federal system intended to help workers access the 

education and skills they need to succeed is broken. To support our 

workforce and tackle the skills gap problem, the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation last month that will ensure workers have access to a more efficient and effective workforce development system. The legislation, known as the SKILLS Act, will eliminate waste and better align available education and workforce development programs with the needs of local employers and workers. 

However, more must be done. In the coming months, the committee will begin its work to reform the Nation’s higher education 

system. As part of that effort, my colleagues and I will discuss responsible reforms that will help provide institutions with additional 

flexibility so they can be more responsive to the needs of students, 

the community, and the local workforce. We must also work to 

eliminate federal mandates and red tape that raise costs for schools 

and prevent innovation. 

As I said earlier, I am a former community college president and 

university administrator, and as such I understand the importance 

of forging partnerships among businesses, communities, and institutions of higher education. When I was at Mayland Community 

College, I worked with business owners and community leaders to 

collaborate on ways we could better meet the needs of the local 

economy and workforce. Investing in those relationships helps ensure businesses have a skilled workforce while also providing opportunities for students to advance their education. 

In addition to learning about the challenges and opportunities 

facing Michigan’s schools and workplaces, the committee is very interested to hear your take on federal policies that may be standing 

in the way of job creation. As we work to foster a growing economy, 

we must make sure Washington does not block the road to growth 

and prosperity. I hope we can have a productive discussion today 

on ways we can work together at the local, state, and federal level 

to help rebuild our economy and help support a more prosperous 

future for families here in Michigan and across the United States. 

Again, we appreciate the panelists’ participation in today’s hearing, and I’m looking forward to getting this discussion underway. 

Let me also thank Mr. Walberg for his gracious invitation to hold 

a field hearing here in his district, and without objection, I now 

yield to him for his opening remarks. 

[The statement of Chairwoman Foxx follows:] 

Prepared Statement of Hon. Virginia Foxx, Chairwoman, 

Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training 

Good morning, and welcome to the first field hearing of the Subcommittee on 

Higher Education and Workforce Training in the 113th Congress. It is good to be 

here in Michigan’s 7th District with my esteemed colleague Representative Walberg. 

Thank you all for joining us. I’d like to extend a special thanks to our witnesses. 

I know you all have busy schedules, and we are grateful that you are taking the 

time to share your valuable insight with us today. 

Despite recent employment gains, these are still tough times for far too many 

Americans. Here in Michigan, the unemployment rate stands at 8.8 percent—higher 

than the national rate. Meanwhile, local job creators report they are unable to find 

workers with the skills necessary to compete for available jobs. This issue, called 

the ‘‘skills gap,’’ was the subject of a recent two day conference Governor Rick Snyder hosted with many of Michigan’s business, education, and government leaders. 
3 

Our nation’s economy is only as strong as its workforce. And right now, the federal system intended to help workers access the education and skills they need to 

succeed is broken. To support our workforce and tackle the skills gap problem, the 

U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation last month that will ensure 

workers have access to a more efficient and effective workforce development system. 

The legislation, known as the SKILLS Act, will eliminate waste and better align 

available education and workforce development programs with the needs of local 

employers and workers. 

However, more must be done. In the coming months, the committee will begin its 

work to reform the nation’s higher education system. As part of that effort, my colleagues and I will discuss responsible reforms that will help provide institutions 

with additional flexibility so they can be more responsive to the needs of students, 

the community, and the local workforce. We must also work to eliminate federal 

mandates and red tape that raise costs for schools and prevent innovation. 

As a former community college president and university administrator, I understand the importance of forging partnerships between businesses, communities, and 

institutions of higher education. When I was at Mayland Community College, I 

worked with business owners and community leaders to collaborate on ways we 

could better meet the needs of the local economy and workforce. Investing in those 

relationships helps ensure businesses have a skilled workforce while also providing 

opportunities for students to advance their education. 

In addition to learning about the challenges and opportunities facing Michigan’s 

schools and workplaces, the committee is very interested to hear your take on federal policies that may be standing in the way of job creation. As we work to foster 

a growing economy, we must make sure Washington does not block the road to 

growth and prosperity. I hope we can have a productive discussion today on ways 

we can work together—at the local, state, and federal level—to help rebuild our 

economy and help support a more prosperous future for families here in Michigan 

and across the United States. 

Again, we appreciate our panelists’ participation in today’s hearing, and I’m looking forward to getting this discussion underway. Let me also thank Mr. Walberg for 

his gracious invitation to hold a field hearing here in his district, and without objection, I now yield to him for his opening remarks. 

Mr. WALBERG. I thank the Chairwoman for this opportunity. I 

have attended a number of field hearings a long ways from my district, so it is nice to have one in my district and have the opportunity for my district, as well as others, to speak on a crucial issue. 

Chairwoman Foxx, I appreciate the time that you have given this 

morning to travel from beautiful North Carolina—North Carolina; 

is that how you say it?—all the way up to extremely beautiful and 

productive Michigan, Southeast Michigan specifically here. I would 

like to thank all of the staff here at Monroe County Community 

College and its president, David Nixon, for the time it took to prepare for this hearing and allowing us to use their facilities. To our 

witnesses, I would also like to thank you for making time to participate today. 

This is a unique opportunity to shine a national spotlight on how 

higher education, community leaders and businesses in Michigan 

are effectively bridging what has now come to be known as the 

skills gap. 

Well before the financial crisis of 2008, our communities here in 

Michigan wrestled with the challenge of ensuring the skills processed or possessed by our workforce meet the skills demanded by 

our ever-evolving work needs. Bridging this gap ensures our ability 

to grow businesses and compete domestically and internationally. 

In Michigan, the unemployment rate is near 9 percent, and yet 

we hear from entrepreneurs every day that Michigan is open for 

business. The predicament many businesses face is that they simply cannot find enough employees with the skills and training to 
4 

fill their demands for jobs. In fact, MITalent.org, one of the premier 

sites that Michigan employers use to recruit talent, shows the demand for jobs. A search within 50 miles of where we are sitting 

today shows there are more than 16,000 jobs currently available. 

Remarkably, that number would be substantially higher if it were 

not for some of the institutions of higher education, businesses, and 

workforce development agencies across the region that are represented in this room this morning. 

Despite the tough economic circumstances we face, employers 

like DTE and many others that call our region home continue to 

renew and expand their operations and demand educated employees. They see the value in working with schools like Siena Heights 

University and community colleges like those in Jackson and Monroe and others to teach future employees the skills needed to fill 

these good-paying jobs which can support their families. 

One of our tasks on the Subcommittee on Higher Education and 

Workforce Training requires us to examine actions we can be taking on the federal level in using hard-working taxpayer dollars effectively—let me say that again, effectively using hard-working 

taxpayer dollars—to encourage our institutions of higher education 

and job creators to work in collaboration in getting job seekers prepared for the careers currently available in the market today. 

One such action we recently took, as the Chairwoman expressed, 

was to pass the SKILLS Act that was authored by my colleague sitting next to me, the Chairwoman of this subcommittee. The 

SKILLS Act would consolidate and streamline our workforce development processes to make them more efficient and ensure that 

hard-working taxpayers see their money spent wisely. The legislation places an emphasis on workforce development at the local level 

by requiring local workforce boards to set aside a portion of their 

funding for training programs. This will enable community colleges, such as Monroe and Jackson, to contract with their local 

boards to more adequately address the needs of their community 

and their students. I believe the SKILLS Act was a significant step 

to help Michigan’s job seekers. 

As we go about our work in the U.S. House of Representatives 

and the Education and Workforce Committee, we need to continue 

on the path of working to reform our federal policies that enable 

job creation for a healthy economy. It is my goal to highlight what 

many schools and businesses in our great state are already doing 

by collaborating with job creators to ensure students learn the 

skills necessary for what is currently in demand, as well as what 

we will need for the future. 

And so again, I thank the chairman of this subcommittee for 

hosting and carrying on this field hearing, and I am expecting 

great opportunities to flow from it. Thank you. 

[The statement of Mr. Walberg follows:] 

Prepared Statement of Hon. Tim Walberg, a Representative in 

Congress From the State of Michigan 

Chairwoman Foxx, I appreciate your time this morning to travel from North Carolina to be here with us. I would like to thank all of the staff here at Monroe County 

Community College for the time it took them to prepare for this hearing and allowing us to use their facilities. To our witnesses, I would also like to thank you for 

making time to participate today. This is a unique opportunity to shine a national 
5 

spotlight on how higher education, community leaders and businesses in Michigan 

are effectively bridging what is now come to be known as the Skills Gap. 

Well before the financial crisis of 2008, our communities here in Michigan wrestled with the challenge of ensuring the skills possessed by our workforce meet the 

skills demanded by our ever-evolving job market. Bridging this gap ensures our ability to grow business and compete domestically and internationally. 

In Michigan the unemployment rate is near 9 percent and yet we hear from entrepreneurs every day that Michigan is ‘‘open for business.’’ The predicament many 

businesses face is that they simply cannot find enough employees with the skills 

and training to fill their demand for jobs. In fact, M-I-Talent.org—one of the premier 

sites that Michigan employers use to recruit talent—shows that demand for jobs. 

A search within 50 miles of where we are sitting shows there are more than 16 

thousand jobs currently available today. Remarkably, that number would be substantially higher if it were not for some of the institutions of higher education, businesses, and workforce development agencies across the region that are represented 

in this room. 

Despite the tough economic circumstances we face, employers like DTE and many 

others that call our region home continue to renew and expand their operations and 

demand educated employees. They see the value in working with schools like Siena 

Heights University and community colleges like those in Jackson and Monroe County to teach future employees the skills needed to fill these good paying jobs which 

can support their families. 

One of our tasks on the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training requires us to examine actions we can be taking on the federal level in using 

hard-working taxpayer dollars effectively to encourage our institutions of higher 

education and job creators to work in collaboration in getting job seekers prepared 

for the careers currently available. 

One such action we recently took was to pass the SKILLS Act that was authored 

by my colleague sitting next to me and the Chairwoman of this Subcommittee, Dr. 

Foxx. The SKILLS Act would consolidate and streamline our workforce development 

processes to make them more efficient and ensure that hardworking taxpayers see 

their money spent wisely. The legislation places an emphasis on workforce development at the local level by requiring local workforce boards to set aside a portion 

of their funding for training programs. This will enable community colleges, such 

as Monroe and Jackson, to contract with their local boards to more adequately address the needs of their community and students. 

I believe the SKILLS Act was a significant step to help Michigan’s job seekers. 

As we go about our work in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Education 

and Workforce Committee we need to continue on the path of working to reform our 

federal policies that enable job creation for a healthy economy. It is my goal to highlight what many schools and businesses in our great state are already doing by collaborating with job creators to ensure students learn the skills necessary for what 

is currently in demand as well as what will be in the future. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you, Congressman Walberg. 

I also want to say thank you to the staff and the administration 

here at the community college for their work in setting up the 

hearing, and our staff. Most people have no idea how much work 

goes into having a hearing, even in Washington, and then to have 

one remotely takes a lot of effort. So I want to thank Amy and 

Casey and Emily and all the folks who worked to put this hearing 

together today. 

Pursuant to committee Rule 7(c), all committee members will be 

permitted to submit written statements to be included in the permanent hearing record. And without objection, the hearing record 

will remain open for 14 days to allow statements, questions for the 

record, and other extraneous material referenced during the hearing to be submitted in the official hearing record. 

We have two distinguished panels of witnesses today, and I 

would like to begin by introducing the first panel. 

Mr. Henry Lievens is currently serving his eighth year as a Monroe County Commissioner. As a member of the County Board of 
6 

Commissioners, Mr. Lievens chairs the Personnel Services and 

Human Resources Committee that deals with all Monroe County 

employment issues. 

Ms. Lynette Dowler serves as Plant Director within the Fossil 

Generation organization at DTE Energy and is currently a Foundation member for Monroe Community College Board of Directors. 

Ms. Susan Smith has served as the Executive Director of the 

Economic Development Partnership of Hillsdale County since 2009. 

Prior to serving in this role, she worked with the Lenawee Economic Development Corporation, as well as the Lenawee Training 

and Education Consortium. 

Mr. Dan Fairbanks serves as the UAW International Representative for the UAW-GM Skilled Development and Training Department. 

Before I recognize each of you to provide your testimony, let me 

briefly explain our lighting system. You will each have 5 minutes 

to present your testimony. When you begin, the light in front of you 

will turn green. When 1 minute is left, the light will turn yellow; 

and when your time has expired, the light will turn red, at which 

point I ask that you wrap up your remarks as best as you are able. 

After everyone has testified, members will each have 5 minutes to 

ask questions of the panel. 

I now recognize Commissioner Henry Lievens for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF HENRY LIEVENS, COMMISSIONER, 

MONROE COUNTY 

Mr. LIEVENS. Thank you. I’m not sure that I’ll need the entire 

5 minutes. I always like to think that brevity is the soul of wit, so 

I will keep it to a minimum. 

I am both a county commissioner and a practicing attorney, so 

my thoughts and observations are on two points. And if I could 

begin with a mile-high perspective of Monroe County. 

Monroe County has an approximate labor force of 68,500 folks, 

of which about 5,600 or 8.2 percent are currently unemployed. I understand that that is less than the state average, but it is still unacceptable. While unemployment numbers are improving, the devastating effects of the peak 2009 14 percent unemployment rates 

are still being felt. 

I took office in 2005, graduating from law school in 2003, and my 

entire professional and political career has been marked by war 

and recession. These have been challenging times for the Nation, 

and particularly for the State of Michigan, being the home of manufacturing. 

Of the changes in the specific industries, the largest job losses 

were in manufacturing here locally, approximately 2,818 jobs being 

lost in manufacturing and construction of 1,346. I would never 

argue that government should be the main employer. I am a big 

proponent of the private sector. In the County of Monroe, when I 

took office, there were approximately 725 employees. With the loss 

of jobs, how that has corresponded in housing and our general tax 

revenue streams, we have downsized to now 400, almost half of the 

employees we once had. 

What that means is the increased need for technology. The days 

of the typist pools, the filing clerks are now giving way to more 
7 

tech savvy type jobs, going paperless. The prosecutor’s office now 

is currently or has been working on a paperless system whereby 

the police report to the prosecution to the court is done via computer systems electronically and the rest. This is translating into 

higher technology jobs for the county. 

In addition to that, in my private practice, a lot of the folks that 

I see that come before me are having problems with jobs. A big assistance to them is the skilled trades. There aren’t the jobs anymore for the unskilled trades. These are folks that need to be 

trained in welding, in other types of things that the community college is providing. So that is one of the things that we see in gains 

in the skilled trades, especially health care. Those jobs in the county are up 1,850. 

So the lasting consequences I am seeing the change in the county 

is the need for more skilled trades and professional service-sector 

jobs, and that is one of the things that the community college is 

helping provide, and I would like to see the resources provided to 

them to help encourage the reinvigoration of our local county economy. 

Thank you. 

[The statement of Mr. Lievens follows:] 

Prepared Statement of J. Henry Lievens, 

Monroe County Commissioner 

Good morning, Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, Congressman Tim Walberg, Mayor 

Robert Clark, Monroe County Community College President Dr. David Nixon, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. My name is J. Henry Lievens. I have been 

a Monroe County Commissioner for 8 years and a practicing attorney for 9 years. 

For the past 6 years I have served the Board of Commissioners as Chairman for 

the Personnel Services and Human Resources Committee. 

I am also a member of the local Exchange Club, Monroe Center for Health Aging 

and Land Bank. I would like to thank you for this opportunity to discuss my observations with you today. 

The uncertain state of the economy remains a primary concern for many in Michigan and especially so for the residents of Monroe County. 

Monroe County has an approximate labor force of 68,500 of which 5,600 or 8.2% 

are unemployed. 

While unemployment numbers are improving, the devastating effects of the peak 

2009 14% unemployment rate are still being felt. 

Of the changes within specific industries, the largest job losses were in manufacturing (¥2,818) and construction (¥1,346) while gains were made in service sector 

jobs, especially health care and social assistance (+1,850). 

Thus, the lasting consequence is the necessity for education for skilled trades and 

professional sector jobs. 

In Monroe County, an individual without a high school diploma earns less than 

$18,000 a year while their counterpart with an associate degree can expect almost 

$37,000. 

This reflects the reality that the jobs for the unskilled trades/labor are no longer 

the reality for Monroe County and demonstrate the need to develop the resources 

necessary to train for the future needs for skilled trades and professions. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you very much. 

I now recognize Ms. Lynette Dowler for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF LYNETTE DOWLER, PLANT DIRECTOR, 

FOSSIL GENERATION, DTE ENERGY 

Ms. DOWLER. Good morning and thank you for the opportunity 

to speak with you this morning. My name is Lynette Dowler, and 

I have been with DTE Energy for 30 years. DTE Energy is an elec-
8 

tric provider to 2.1 million customers here in Michigan, and a natural gas provider to 1.2 million customers here in the State of 

Michigan. That process is really, for our customers, supposed to be 

a very easy process, so that they can just flip on a light, right? So 

our job is really just to provide electricity and power. 

In order to do that, we have 10,000 employees, and those employees need to be well educated, well skilled, and well trained. Part 

of the job of DTE Energy is really to have a robust workforce plan. 

We work very diligently to manage our workforce plan, and we review that on a regular basis, and we identify the critical jobs within our company. In that process, we look out over the next five 

years to see where our attrition rates are, and in our company, at 

DTE Energy, we are projecting about 25 to 33 percent attrition 

rate. 

As we look at the skills and the talents that we need in our company over the next five years—and we have had a tremendous 

partnership with many colleges across the state, one of them being 

here at Monroe Community College—to assure that as we attrit 

through our corporation we have skills and talents that can come 

through our community colleges to help support the talent gaps 

that we have in our corporation. Some of those talents are splicers, 

electrical journeymen, maintenance journeymen, nuclear power 

plant operators, I&C technicians. It is not easy to get a nuclear 

power plant operator just off the street. You need specialized training. 

And in order to have a great partnership, we have to have a community college that is open to listen and talk to you, and we have 

countless examples of partnerships that we have worked with this 

specific college to provide certification programs, and I will speak 

to a few of them. 

With Monroe County Community College, we have created a construction management and technical certification here. We have 

created a nuclear engineering technology program and e-testing information assurance technology, boiler and power plant technology, 

alternative energy certificate. Who was talking about alternative 

energy 15 years ago, right? The colleges are moving with us and 

with industry. It is imperative to have that partnership for heavy 

industrial certificates. 

The message that I would say is that the longstanding partnership that we have had with Monroe County Community College is 

not a relationship that is built upon two and three and four and 

five years but it has been in place for decades. 

Monroe specifically, DTE Energy is the largest taxpayer in Monroe County. We also happen to generate the most power, power 

generation, in this county. We have a Monroe power plant which 

generates 3,000 megawatts, and our nuclear power plant which 

generates 1,200 megawatts. So when you think about major partnerships and major connections, this is a key connection for DTE 

Energy from an employment base, from a tax base, from an economic development base, a great employment connection. So there 

are just so many things that we have connections with. 

The other thing I wanted to speak to today was partnerships and 

consortiums. One of the things that we are challenged by as a corporation is how do you talk to community colleges, right? It is one 
9 

conversation with Monroe, it is another conversation with Macomb, 

it is another conversation with Oakland, right? One thing that is 

important, and one of my colleagues that is here today, Raymond 

Kelly, the director of our training division, we have to pull together 

on colleges and pull together industry and have joint conversations 

with industry and colleges, and if there is something that we can 

do in a triad fashion with government, industry and education to 

bring all of us together so it is not many, many one-off conversations, we believe that would be a big step forward to help us all 

move forward to understand what the skill gaps are, what the talent gaps are, what the attrition is moving forward. 

So, thank you for our time today. 

[The statement of Ms. Dowler follows:] 

Prepared Statement of Lynette Dowler, Plant Director, 

Fossil Generation, DTE Energy 

Good morning, Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, Congressman Tim Walberg, Mayor 

Robert Clark, Monroe County Community College President Dr. David Nixon, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Lynette Dowler. I have been 

employed at DTE Energy for 30 years. I am currently the plant director for our 

Trenton Channel and River Rouge Power Plants, two of our base-load coal-fired 

power plants, delivering 730 and 540 MW respectively. Prior to this position I was 

plant director at our Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant, which produces 1,139 MW of 

electricity. 

I am also a board member of the Foundation at Monroe Community College, and 

one of many DTE Energy employees who continue to enjoy a long and fruitful relationship with the college. I would like to thank you for this opportunity to discuss 

those relationships and interconnections with you today. 

As you know, energy is vital to modern society; at DTE Energy we call the electricity and natural gas we provide ‘‘the lifeblood of our communities.’’ DTE Energy 

is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Our operating units 

include an electric utility serving 2.1 million customers in Southeastern Michigan 

and a natural gas utility serving 1.2 million customers throughout Michigan. We are 

committed to providing safe, affordable, reliable and environmentally responsible 

energy to our customers now and into the future. There are many things that we 

need to ensure that we are able to fulfill our commitment, but above all else, we 

need a well-educated, well-trained local workforce. 

Energy is a ‘‘just in time’’ product—it has to be available to the customer precisely 

when they need it, with no effort on their part other than flipping a switch or turning on their stove or furnace. All the work ‘‘behind the scenes’’ is invisible to the 

customer, but (except for the mining operations), that work is all done locally by 

skilled DTE Energy employees. 

Like many Michigan companies, DTE Energy has an aging workforce. We realized 

years ago that we would need to replace our retiring workers with new people who 

can step into those positions and hit the ground running, without years of on-thejob training. That is a luxury that employers can no longer afford. 

Our Human Resources Department began building a workforce planning program 

in 2008, beginning with our Nuclear Generation Department. Implementation has 

continued across the enterprise, including Fossil Generation, Electrical Distribution 

Operations, DTE Gas Operations, Corporate Services, Controllers Organization and 

Information Technology. 

A first step was to identify ‘‘enterprise critical positions’’ or ‘‘pipelines’’ that require greater than 18 months of initial training time, are hard to fill, contain more 

than ten individuals, and have an attrition rate of 33 percent or greater over the 

next five years. Fourteen critical job pipelines, in addition to our entry level professional positions, were identified as areas where we need to place our focus given 

the potential for skill set shortages. 

The pipelines include: Apprentice Splicer, Apprentice Lineman, Assistant Substation Operator, System Supervisor, Apprentice Electrical Maintenance Journeyman, Power Plant Operator, Fuel Supply Operator, Maintenance Journeyman, Instrument and Control Technician, Nuclear Maintenance Journeyman, Nuclear Operator, Radiation Protection Technician, Sr. Gas Technician Controls, and Gas Distribution General Fitter. 
10 

Despite the high unemployment rate in Michigan and the nation, talent is becoming more difficult to find in these highly technical positions. For example, in 2010 

and 2011, it took some 18 months to fill six Instrument and Control positions in 

our Nuclear Generation Department. 

We realized early on that this unemployment imbalance affects more than just 

DTE Energy and we could not solve it on our own. One of the strategies we are 

employing to address these talent gaps includes collaborating with our local utility 

partners and industry organizations to build regional consortiums and a standard 

utility curriculum. Developing a standard curriculum model was first introduced by 

the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI); and this approach, or a similar variation of this 

approach, has become the direction within the overall utility industry. 

This standard utility curriculum is being embedded into community colleges’ curriculums and yields a 2-year associate degree as well as an industry certification. 

Variations of the training have been developed for specific targeted groups including 

low income adults, women, youth, military, and transitioning adults. 

We started looking for partners—other utilities and companies outside of our industry, unions, higher educational institutions, and government entities—to help us 

tackle this societal problem. We have made significant progress but much more 

needs to be done. I am happy to be able to share with you some of our recent successes, and ask for your help as we move forward. 

One of our first endeavors was to identify educational institutions that could serve 

as pipelines to supply us with the new workers we need now and in the future. Fortunately, Monroe County Community College is right in our backyard, close to our 

Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant, as well as the Monroe Power Plant, our flagship 

3,000 MW coal-fired generating station. 

DTE Energy employees started working with Monroe County Community College 

to develop educational programs to serve DTE Energy’s needs and those of other 

Michigan companies. These programs include Construction Management Technology 

Certificate, Nuclear Engineering Technology, Non-destructive Testing, Information 

Assurance Technology, Boiler and Power Plant Fundamentals, Alternative Energy 

Certificate, Green Building, and others. 

The Heavy Industrial Construction Certificate was launched in 2009, designed for 

more experienced construction personnel who wish to upgrade their skills and gain 

entry into management positions with large industrial employers, as well as new 

entrants into the field. This is an active and ongoing partnership that was started 

in cooperation with a now-retired DTE Energy employee, the former manager of environmental projects. Current DTE Energy employees continue to evaluate the viability and value of this certificate program through its advisory committee. As you may be aware, DTE Energy is in the home stretch of a nearly $2 billion 

state-of-the-art emissions control project at the Monroe Power Plant. This project involves the installation of flue gas desulfurization systems and selective catalytic reduction systems on all four generating units, and the removal of the two original 

800-foot-tall stacks and their replacement with two 580-foot tall stacks specially designed to accommodate the new equipment. 

The complexity and breadth of this and other DTE Energy construction projects, 

including the potential construction of the Fermi 3 Nuclear Power Plant, inspired 

the development of the Heavy Industrial Construction Certificate program, whose 

graduates are already working on-site at Monroe Power Plant and other locations. 

Recently developed programs at the college include the MCCC Nuclear Engineering Technology Program which was created through a partnership with DTE Energy 

and a $200,000 Congressionally directed grant award. Through this program, MCCC 

offers—in conjunction with DTE Energy—an Associate of Applied Science Degree in 

Nuclear Engineering Technology that enables graduates to seek employment as nuclear engineering technicians in various sectors of the nuclear industry. The partnership aligned MCCC’s new nuclear energy technology program with the initial 

training programs offered by DTE Energy and accredited by the National Nuclear 

Accrediting Board. It facilitates the transitioning of graduates into the nuclear energy industry utility training programs in accordance with the requirements of the 

Uniform Curriculum Guide for Nuclear Power Plant Technician, Maintenance and 

Non-licensed Operations Personnel Associate Degree Programs, as developed by the 

Nuclear Energy Institute. MCCC also supports broader state and national interests 

through the distribution of developed curriculum to other community colleges 

through educational consortiums. 

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates the U.S. will need 44 percent more electricity by 2020. To help meet this demand, the nuclear energy industry has calculated that 60,000 megawatts of new nuclear power plant capacity will be required 

by 2020. However, many of today’s nuclear experts are part of the generation that 

pioneered nuclear energy’s peacetime use in the 1960s. These professionals are now 
11 

retiring, and qualified applicants are needed to take their place. According to the 

Nuclear Energy Institute, about 30 percent of the nuclear energy workforce will retire within five years. DTE Energy is looking to Monroe County Community College 

to supply its new employees. Last month, the DTE Energy Foundation announced a $1 million contribution to 

support the capital campaign for the new Career Technology Center at Monroe 

County Community College. The $17-million, 60,000-square foot Career Technology 

Center is scheduled to open this fall. The State of Michigan is providing half of the 

funding ($8.5 million) in a demonstration of support for this public/private partnership that will provide untold benefits for the region. The Career Technology Center 

will provide infrastructure to support state-of-the-art classrooms and lab space required to deliver instruction and skills necessary to secure high-growth, high-demand and high-paying jobs. 

In addition to the Nuclear Engineering Technology and Heavy Industrial Construction classes, the program areas to be taught in the Career Technology Center 

include welding, computer-aided drafting and manufacturing, electronics, mechanical engineering and automation, quality assurance, and automotive engineering 

and service with an emphasis on hybrid and battery technology. In addition, the Career Technology Center will provide facilities and equipment necessary for the development of programs in the emerging areas of advanced manufacturing; renewable 

energies such as wind, solar and fuel cell technology, and sustainable and green 

technologies. MCCC received a $1.7 million U.S. Department of Labor Community Based Job 

Training Grant to establish a Welding Center of Expertise that will be housed in 

the new Career Technology Center. The Welding Center will deliver accelerated 

training in two ten-week modules resulting in industry-recognized American Welding Society certifications to help fill the void in skilled welders across the energy, 

advanced manufacturing, and heavy construction industries. Many of these graduates will find employment at DTE Energy. 

The college has recently launched a new program with specialization in product 

and process technology—designed to prepare students for careers in the high-performance manufacturing of consumer goods. The college has also added a program 

track in non-destructive testing which involves the inspection, testing or evaluation 

of materials, components and assemblies for materials’ discontinuities, properties 

and machine problems without further impairing or destroying the parts’ serviceability. Included among the variety of non-credit courses, certificates and customized 

training offered through MCCC’s Corporate and Community Services Division is the 

Boiler and Power Plant Fundamentals class and an ongoing partnership with Pearson VUE Testing to offer advanced, computer-based CompTIA testing for certification in 14 information technology specializations. 

Monroe County Community College and DTE Energy enjoy a long-standing and 

close relationship in Monroe County. The college serves DTE Energy as a highly 

visible and respected community partner. The MCCC campus serves as the Joint 

Information Center for DTE Energy’s Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant, and hosted the 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the public comment period for the Fermi 3 

Combined Operating License Application (COLA). 

In return, DTE Energy has been a generous supporter of the college. In addition 

to the $1 million contribution to the Career Technology Center, other support from 

the DTE Energy Foundation, DTE Energy and DTE Energy Corporate Services includes funding for Campus/Community Events cultural arts programming, scholarships, Volunteer Leadership Grants, employee matching gift support, and the donation of solar panels for use by MCCC students. 

Within the past two years, MCCC became the first educational institution to participate in the DTE Energy’s SolarCurrents Program, leading to a $3 million— 

500mw solar installation on its main campus. While this installation does not power 

the MCCC campus, it does provide learning opportunities for MCCC students and 

the community as well to become educated about the opportunity and impacts of renewable energy. 

In addition to our successful partnerships with Monroe County Community College, DTE Energy has created other promising collaborations, including one in Distribution Operations to improve the quality and diversity of the applicant pool for 

DTE Electric lineman positions. In 2004, DTE Energy developed an electrical lines 

worker training program that is considered the best in the Midwest. Working with 

the National Utilities Training Fund, a partnership between the International 

Brotherhood of Electric Workers and three other utilities, we brought retired DTE 

Energy linemen to our technical training center to assist with apprentice training. 

The lineman program, including a 5 week pole climbing course, is used to support 

candidacy for both Underground and Overhead Apprentice jobs. To-date we have 
12 

hired 39 individuals who have successfully completed this course over the past 18 

months. 

Another promising program, and one which has great potential to become a statewide and national model, is the ‘‘Natural Gas Boot Camp’’ program which DTE Energy has piloted in partnership with the Michigan National Guard. The idea for the 

Boot Camp emerged in early 2012 in meetings between DTE Energy and Brigadier 

General Michael Stone of the Michigan National Guard. While DTE has been trying 

to boost its veteran recruitment, the Michigan National Guard, with support from 

Governor Rick Snyder, has been looking for solutions to the state’s veteran unemployment that could be applied nationwide. 

DTE Energy was instrumental in developing the Boot Camp curriculum and 

bringing in key partners to build the project, including Local 223 of the Utility 

Workers Union of America, Consumers Energy, Alpena Community College, 

Schoolcraft Community College, the Center for Energy Workforce Development and 

the Michigan Workforce Intelligence Network. 

Graduation day was December 7 for 20 veterans who successfully passed DTE Energy’s Natural Gas Boot Camp at Camp Grayling, a Michigan National Guard training facility. They completed four weeks of classes taught by Alpena Community College instructors in Grayling, followed by three weeks of hands-on instruction at 

Camp Grayling. A second Boot Camp, sponsored by Consumers Energy, ran concurrently in the metro Detroit area. 

The last step of the process was to conduct several After Action Reviews (AAR), 

gathering feedback from ‘‘the partnership’’, instructors, and students to determine 

what changes need to occur to make the next session even more successful. Union 

leadership from all four DTE Gas Company unions was informed of the program’s 

progress and participated in those AARs. Improvements are being made to the Natural Gas Fundamentals program and will enable us to repeat our pilot success and 

increase the opportunity for union engagement. 

In addition, since DTE Energy provided the majority of private funding ($60,000) 

needed to make this first boot camp a reality, we are focused on reducing costs for 

future programs. Through the partnership approach and the work with General 

Stone, we hope to increase access to federal and/or state grants to support development and delivery of other boot camp programs. 

Beyond these two programs, several areas of opportunity exist to support other 

hard-to-fill jobs identified in our workforce planning. Specifically, power plant operator and instrument and controls technician are on the ‘‘boot camp design board’’ 

for implementation in 2013. Additionally, an experiment will be conducted to create 

a ‘‘supervisor’’ boot camp for veterans with existing leadership and applicable technical experience. This boot camp would provide students with utility industry insight coupled with operational fundamentals to support placement in DTE Electric 

positions, including Power Plant Supervising Operator and Supervisor Reliability. 

Congresswoman Foxx and Congressman Walberg, thank you for this opportunity 

to discuss how we have been working with our partners to address our employment 

needs and the higher education needs of our customers in this region. We find that 

public/private partnerships achieve the greatest results in all aspects of our business, including workforce training. We hope this field hearing has been beneficial 

and that your future travels provide you with additional useful information. We appreciate your time and attention, and hope that you will agree that government can 

assist in these efforts by providing grants and scholarships that will enable more 

people to be trained in these critical skills. 

DTE Energy is one of the largest employers and tax payers in the State of Michigan. We and our communities are inseparable. We regard our workforce planning 

program as both a challenge and an opportunity, for it allows us to fulfill our company’s aspiration to be ‘‘a force for growth and prosperity in the communities where 

we live and serve.’’ 

Thank you. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you very much. 

I now recognize Ms. Susan Smith for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF SUSAN SMITH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP OF HILLSDALE COUNTY 

Ms. SMITH. Thank you very much, and I really appreciate the opportunity to be here today. I think this is a vital conversation for 
13 

the State of Michigan as we try and come back as a highly skilled 

workforce and a manufacturing state in the United States. 

I have been working in workforce development and economic development since 1993, and I have seen a lot of economies come and 

go. I have always focused more on meeting employer needs, and 

that is where my focus has been to try and foster their success, and 

frequently that need that they have is for a trained workforce. A 

lot of this work that I have done has been in concert with South 

Central Michigan Works. They have a demand driven system that 

works very well with our employers, and it tends to work well to 

serve them as well as to help our economy grow in Hillsdale County. 

I work with a lot of different employer sectors, but primarily it 

is manufacturing and industrial businesses. This is a group that— 

these employers tend to pay well above minimum wage, usually 

double minimum wage or more, and this provides their employees 

with discretionary income to purchase the goods and services, and 

that stimulates the other sectors in our economy. So that is where 

my focus is, to try and grow that particular sector. 

A skilled workforce has become the primary concern in regards 

to retaining employers and expanding their operations, as well as 

attracting new business. This is not new information, but the reaction speed to meet the skilled worker demand is ever increasing. 

The shortage of available workers is a result of a lot of factors that 

I have observed over time. 

In Hillsdale County, we are very small. We are about 46,000 people, a little over that, and it seems that we are just a smaller group 

that kind of represents in a small way what is going on in a bigger 

part of the economy. The recession, depression, whatever you want 

to call it, that hit us in 2008 through 2010, it really affected our 

working-class people in Hillsdale County. A lot of our highly skilled 

workers left to go to a region where they could have employment, 

gainful employment. Many of our workers who were offered attractive company buyouts took those. Anybody who was close to retirement and was offered a buyout left the workforce. So the skill gap 

is a factor of a lot of different things that have gone on. 

The educational system has become very college forward thinking 

in terms of getting curriculum in the high schools, the 2- to 4-year 

college and university and beyond that, and as that has gone on, 

slowly we have lost our skilled trade programs in the high schools. 

That is another part of why we are not having that gap filling at 

this point in time. That is just a missing component that we have 

had for some time. 

A lot of the companies that I work with regularly are turning 

down contract work because they do not have the workers they 

need to get product out the door to meet the deadlines and to have 

the quality standards that their customers demand. 

State workforce training dollars are no longer a part of the incentive packages offered to companies. So when I attract a business 

or someone is expanding, there is no longer a portion of those dollars that they can go to a community college and get training or 

go to a skilled trades organization and get training. So that opportunity has been lost. Typically, dollars from the Michigan Economic 

Development Corporation were part of the overall package. 
14 

While there are other incentives that are offered, unfortunately 

the training dollars no longer are there, and that was very helpful 

for a lot of our employers. 

There are on-the-job training dollars that are available through 

South Central Michigan Works, and if we want to talk about bureaucratic and things that kind of stymie, those dollars are very 

hard to use. On-the-job training dollars, the person who is getting 

those dollars has to qualify at a level that is almost—it is just very 

difficult, it is very difficult. When we were rebuilding our workforce, it was a lot easier because we had people that had lost jobs 

that were pretty highly skilled, but they could transition into a new 

job. On-the-job training dollars helped them to make that transition. So there was a time those dollars were very, very useful and 

helpful for what we needed in our manufacturing arena. But right 

now, however, we need dollars to get people skilled up to even get 

them through the door at an employment situation. 

Incumbent Worker Training dollars are also available. The unfortunate part about that, again, is trying to utilize those dollars. To 

get those dollars, a company has to prove that the person is either 

going to get laid off or terminated unless they gain those skills. In 

2008 and 2010, that would have been great. But right now, they 

need to keep their people and they need to just get their skill base 

a little higher. Nobody wants to get rid of anyone. They don’t want 

to lay them off. There aren’t enough people to go around as it is. 

So those dollars are also very difficult to use. 

But as far as higher education in the county, we do have a countywide career awareness program and the College Access Network, 

and that assists students to plan their futures. So that is a good 

thing to start lower, back in the grade school, in a high school situation. South Central Michigan Works goes into what would be considered a vo-tech center. We call it our Workforce Development and 

Technology Center. They help the students in the younger—the 

9th, 10th graders, 11th graders, to know how to write a resume 

and the basic things that you need to get a job, how do you interview, what kind of a work ethic do you have to have to get a job. 

So those are the kinds of things that we are getting, soft skills 

training, because that is one of the major complaints employers 

have—you know, show up on time, do your job when you get here, 

the things that we would all probably take for granted, but it is 

a learned skill for a lot of our students coming up. 

Currently, the Economic Development Partnership, which is at 

my office, we are partnered with the intermediate school district 

and the Workforce Development Center, and we are placing students four days out of five into a local manufacturing situation. So 

they are being rotated through the different cells in that organization, and they are learning the different skills that you need and 

all kinds of things. They have to walk in, they have to punch in 

just like any other employee there. It is giving the employers a 

chance to observe the students also, and they are learning what are 

their aptitudes, what is their attitude, do they have a work ethic, 

are they team members, are they good problem solvers and all the 

other skill sets that they need for a good employee. 

The students—well, it has just really exceeded what we had 

hoped in the program. The students are immediately on payroll. 
15 

They are being paid for the time that they are there, even though 

it is during school. They are 18 years old. I went through the plant 

with them last week, and there is a mentorship going on that was 

not a planned situation. The guys on the floor are hollering out to 

them, waving, whatever. It is a very good feeling to see that growth 

in these young people that otherwise would have been in a classroom, not really having the opportunity to get that real-world experience, and we would like to grow that opportunity for these students. We are looking for funding. We are applying for a Honda 

grant from the Honda Foundation to help grow those skills, that 

program. 

I am glad to say that all the guys that are involved in this program right now—it is just gentlemen—they are all going to be offered jobs at the end. This particular employer pays for your continuing education, so they will be able to get new apprenticeships. 

They will be able to have that paid for within three to five years. 

They will be making $60,000, $80,000, and they will have no student debt. So it is a very good win locally for our students, and we 

really need to keep as many of them as we possibly can. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you, Ms. Smith. 

Ms. SMITH. Thank you. 

Chairwoman FOXX. I appreciate it very much. 

Ms. SMITH. My timer did not go off. 

Chairwoman FOXX. I know. 

Ms. SMITH. I am sorry. 

[The statement of Ms. Smith follows:] 

Prepared Statement of Susan Smith, Executive Director, 

Economic Development Partnership, Hillsdale County 

My name is Susan Smith and I am the Executive Director of the Economic Development Partnership of Hillsdale County. I have been engaged with Economic Development and Workforce training since 1993. 

My work has always focused on meeting employer needs to foster their success 

and frequently that need was for a trained workforce. Much of this work is done 

in partnership with South Central Michigan Works! 

While I work with all employer sectors, my primary customers are our manufacturing/industrial businesses. This group of employers tends to pay well above minimum wage (usually double or more) which provides their employees with the discretionary income to purchase goods and services which stimulates other sectors and 

thus economic growth. 

A skilled workforce has become the primary concern in regards to retaining employers and expanding their operations as well as attracting new business. This is 

not new information, but the reaction speed to meet the skilled worker demand is 

ever increasing. The shortage of these available workers is a result of several factors 

from what I observe in Hillsdale County. We are a comparatively small County with 

a population of just over 46,000 citizens and probably a small sample of what has 

happened on a larger scale in larger communities. 

The recession/depression that sent our economy into a downward spiral 2008 

through 2010 greatly affected our working class. 

The highly skilled workers left to live in a region where work was available 

Many of the workers who were offered an attractive company buy out or early retirement packages took them and left the workforce. 

For an even longer period of time our educational system funding has increasingly 

focused solely on curriculum for students who are moving on to a 4 year+ college/ 

university education. Those choosing this route are to be commended for their ambitious goal setting and academic achievement. 

However, over a period of time this has greatly diminished or eliminated the educational tracks for students who want to pursue skilled trades which are what we 

are lacking today in our workforce. The programs that gave those students with mechanical or creative ability a path are gone. This too has created the skills gap that 

everyone is trying to fill today. 
16 

Many companies I work with on a regular basis are turning contract work down 

because they do not have the workers they need to get product out the door to meet 

deadlines and the quality standards their customers demand. 

State workforce training dollars are no longer a part of the incentive package offered to companies who make multi-million dollar investments and need a trained 

workforce or to the company that just wants to take on new work and grow. The 

existing programs such as On-The-Job training grants are only available to new 

hires who meet stringent criteria one of which includes basically living in poverty. 

Incumbent Worker Training (IWT) dollars are only available to employees currently 

in the workforce. The criteria attached to using this funding is that an employee 

must be facing lay-off or termination to qualify for training. This would probably 

have been useful in 2008 through 2010, but today the need is to train our population of unemployed or those entering the workforce from high school in a handson career. As a community a part of the solution is growing our own workforce with 

the schools and working around the bureaucratic obstacles that have been created. 

To help remedy the situation the EDP and our Workforce Development Technology Center, which is a part of our Intermediate school district, began investigating the viability of a pilot program last fall which began at the onset of the 

last semester of the 2012-2013 school year. The CAD/Design instructor is also a mechanical engineer by profession which makes her a huge asset for our community. 

The department of education mandates that these students be in the Cad/Design 

classroom a minimum of one session a week. She has identified students in their 

senior year who want to get into a work environment to better understand the expectations and to see if the field of study they are considering is what they believed 

it is. The employers ROI is to observe the students attitude, aptitude, work ethics, 

team work, problem solving and other skill sets to see if they would make a good 

employee. 

The outcomes have far exceeded these initial goals of the program. Last week I 

had the opportunity to walk through the manufacturing facility with the students 

and Human Resource Manager. 

Observations: 

• The students are on payroll and must clock in like all other employees • As we walked through the plant, employees acknowledged the students with a 

wave, thumbs up, a hearty hello * * * Clearly there is a mentorship mentality that 

has grown naturally with the students as they have been rotating between all of 

the work cells and learning from the employees. 

• Students closely observe the safety rules and were quick to politely point out 

that I should be walking within the allowed parameters of the work space. When 

stopping at a work station, the students allowed for the operator to finish a sequence before interrupting to speak with him. 

• To the surprise and enthusiasm of the employer some students have requested 

additional work hours outside of the school day. There are even students who did 

not go on their SENIOR SPRING BREAK opting to stay home so they could work. 

• The Human Resource Manager is beyond impressed with each student and sees 

no reason why they would not be tendered a full time position after graduation. This 

employer also pays tuition reimbursement and offers apprenticeship opportunities. 

Within 2-3 years these students could be well on their way to a journeyman status 

making in excess of $60,000/yr. 

We are applying for a grant to the Honda Foundation to further this work as one 

of their funding priorities is for economic development projects that integrate students and workforce learning. 

We have a County-Wide Career Awareness Program and College Access Network 

in place to assist students plan their futures. 

This is all good news, but not nearly enough to begin filling the need quickly 

enough. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Mr. Fairbanks, I now recognize you for 5 

minutes. 

STATEMENT OF DAN FAIRBANKS, UAW INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE, UAW–GM SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT 

Mr. FAIRBANKS. Thank you. On behalf of International Union 

UAW President Bob King, and UAW Vice President in charge of 

the GM Department, Joe Ashton, we appreciate the opportunity to 
17 

be here and speak. We do believe this to be a very important subject. Therefore, I do not want to miss anything, and contrary to 

how I normally like to do things, I am going to read my statement. 

The International Union, UAW Auto Workers welcomes the opportunity to submit comments to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. The UAW is one of the largest and 

most diverse unions in North America, with members in virtually 

every sector of the economy. The UAW has more than 1 million active and retired members in the United States, Canada and Puerto 

Rico. From our earliest days, the UAW has been a leader in the 

struggle to secure economic and social justice for all people. We are 

deeply committed to both higher education and job growth and development here in the United States. 

This testimony addresses successful union-employer training programs, ways in which unions find and train employees, the role of 

unions in job training, the effects of attacks on unions, and finally, 

the importance of serving on Workforce Investment Act boards and 

is being submitted solely on behalf of the UAW and not the joint 

programs. 

Successful union-employer training programs. At General Motors, the UAW joint partnership has developed many successful 

joint training programs. These were developed to ensure that our 

customers receive world-class products and services. Today’s world 

customer demands quality. This not only pertains to industry, but 

it also pertains to the way citizens of this country view the quality 

of our government. They deserve the best that our government and 

GM products and services can produce. 

A partnership formed by the UAW and GM has produced that 

quality. Many joint training programs such as Quality Network/ 

General Motors Manufacturing System, GMS, ensure that all best 

practices from around the world are used to uniformly produce 

high-quality products. A GM vehicle produced in China uses the 

same system that a vehicle that is produced in Michigan uses. This 

was accomplished by a joint partnership between the UAW and 

GM and has spread worldwide. Such a uniform system is where we 

have to be in order to compete in a global economy. 

Other examples of successful union-employer training programs 

are our UAW-GM Apprenticeship Program, Work/Family Program, 

Preventive Maintenance, Safety Training, and our Suggestion 

Training, which helps reduce costs while increasing quality 

throughout the system. 

Ways in which unions find and train employees. Unions and the 

companies they represent also make apprenticeship programs 

available to both employees and people looking for employment. 

Trades have played an important part in all aspects of our labor 

history and continue to be vital to our workforce. We set the standard. Non-union trade programs are still far behind union programs 

in terms of quality and reliability. Joint training programs set up 

by the union and the employer offer the vast majority of training 

needed by employees and/or members in order to be effective in the 

workplace. 

Unions do an excellent job of recognizing potential. If you show 

the intuition and strive forward in a particular area, you will be 

noticed. Unions are always on the lookout for members striving to 
18 

improve and are there to lend a helping hand and direction in 

achieving the skill sets needed to advance. 

Role of unions in job training. Unions have long been part of our 

nation’s history in numerous ways, fighting for better pay, safer 

working conditions, health care and retirement benefits, education 

and civic participation. Unions have brought diverse voices together, and their struggles have elevated the working conditions, 

the standard of living, and the recognition of not just their members, but of all those who labor. 

Unions played a major role in ending sweatshops and the use of 

child labor, both of which were so common at the beginning of the 

20th century. The International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union 

was one of the first unions to have a primarily female membership. 

And in the aftermath of the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire 

in 1911, in which more than 100 mostly young immigrant women 

were killed, that union was at the forefront of reforming working 

conditions and pushing for comprehensive safety and workers’ compensation laws. 

Unions are a vital part of our social fabric and economic future. 

Unions run the largest career training program in the United 

States outside of the military. Union apprenticeship programs generally partner with employers or industries to provide the kind of 

training that hard-wires excellence into workers and places them 

in good jobs that can support families. That is worth a lot when 

unemployment is stubbornly high and personal incomes are falling. 

[The statement of Mr. Fairbanks follows:] 

Prepared Statement of Dan Fairbanks, UAW International Representative, 

UAW–GM Skill Development and Training Department 

The International Union, United Auto Workers (UAW) welcomes the opportunity 

to submit comments to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce 

Training. The UAW is one of the largest and most diverse unions in North America, 

with members in virtually every sector of the economy. The UAW has more than 

one million active and retired members in the United States, Canada and Puerto 

Rico. From our earliest days, the UAW has been a leader in the struggle to secure 

economic and social justice for all people. We are deeply committed to both higher 

education and job growth and development here in the United States. 

This testimony addresses successful union-employer training programs, ways in 

which unions find and train employees, the role of unions in job training, the effects 

of attacks on unions, and finally, the importance of serving on Workforce Investment Act (WIA) boards and is being submitted solely on behalf of the UAW and not 

the joint programs. 

Successful union-employer training programs 

At General Motors, the UAW-GM joint partnership has developed many successful 

joint training programs. These were developed to ensure that our customers receive 

world class products and services. Today’s world customer demands quality. This 

not only pertains to industry, but also to view of citizens of this country towards 

the quality of our government. They deserve the best that our government and GM 

products and services can produce. 

A partnership formed by the UAW and GM has produced that quality. Many joint 

training programs i.e. Quality Network/General Motors Manufacturing System 

(GMS) ensure that all best practices from around the world are used to uniformly 

produce high quality products. A GM vehicle produced in China uses the same system that a vehicle in Michigan uses. This was accomplished by a joint partnership 

between the UAW and GM and has spread worldwide. Such a uniform system is 

where we have to be in order to compete in a global economy. Other examples of 

successful union-employer training programs are our UAW-GM Apprenticeship 

Training, Work/Family Program, Preventive Maintenance, Safety Training and Suggestion Training, which help reduce costs while increasing quality throughout the 

system. 
19 

Ways in Which Unions Find and Train Employees 

Unions and the companies they represent also make apprenticeship programs 

available to both employees and people looking for employment. Trades have played 

an important part in all aspects of labor history and continue to be vital to our 

workforce. We set the standard. Non-union trade programs are still far behind 

union programs in terms of quality and reliability. Joint training programs set up 

by the union and the employer offer the vast majority of training needed by employees and/or members in order to be effective in the workplace. 

Unions do an excellent job of recognizing potential. If you show the intuition to 

strive forward in a particular area, you will be noticed. Unions are always on the 

lookout for members striving to improve and are there to lend a helping hand and 

direction in achieving the skill sets needed to advance. 

Role of Unions in Job Training 

Unions have long been part of our nation’s history in numerous ways, fighting for 

better pay, safer working conditions, health care and retirement benefits, education 

and civic participation. Unions have brought diverse voices together, and their 

struggles have elevated the working conditions, the standard of living and the recognition of not just their members, but of all those who labor. 

Unions played a major role in ending sweatshops and the use of child labor, both 

of which were so common at the beginning of the 20th century. The International 

Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, or ILGWU, was one of the first unions to have 

a primarily female membership. And in the aftermath of the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, in which more than 100 mostly young immigrant women 

were killed, the ILGWU was at the forefront of reforming working conditions and 

pushing for comprehensive safety and workers’ compensation laws. 

Unions are a vital part of our social fabric and economic future. Unions run the 

largest career training program in the United States outside of the military. Union 

apprenticeship programs generally partner with employers or industries to provide 

the kind of training that hard-wires excellence into workers and places them in good 

jobs that can support families. That’s worth a lot when unemployment is stubbornly 

high and personal incomes are falling. 

Effect of Attacks on Unions 

Unions are just normal folks—people who come together to improve their lives 

and their workplaces, because they recognize there’s strength in numbers. The one 

thing that some of public does know is that union members, thanks to collective bargaining, have higher wages and better benefits. But union membership actually 

raises living and working standards for all working men and women—both union 

and non-union. 

The truth is that unions work side by side with companies to expand the scope 

of their technological advancements and profit margins. The public hears about attacks on unions and becomes wary about investing or buying products or services 

from companies with union representation. Unfortunately this serves to be a selffulfilling prophecy, which in turn affects the profit margin of these companies. That 

produces a negative effect on our production and service industry in our state and 

country. 

Pride in what one does or produces is important to everyone. The attacks on 

unions affect workers and manifest conflict within them. Union members know that 

they produce quality products and services in an economically efficient manner. But, 

if the public has a negative opinion of your work standards, it impacts the greater 

workforce in a non-positive way. Everyone takes pride in the fruits of their labor 

and human nature craves that others recognize the trueness and quality of that 

work, and it is detrimental when that is not recognized. 

When union membership rates are high, so is the share of income that goes to 

the middle class. When those rates fall, income inequality grows—the middle class 

shrinks and the 1% gets richer. Collective bargaining affects more than wages and 

benefits. Union teachers bargain for smaller class sizes. Union nurses bargain for 

better patient care. 

Working together, union members and their community allies also make up a 

powerful lobby for the common good. They’ve helped secure for us all the eight-hour 

day, job safety laws, overtime pay, Medicare and Social Security, civil rights protections, fair treatment for women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers 

and much more. 

These are some of the reasons even people who don’t fit the typical stereotypes 

of union members have recognized the power and importance of forming unions. Examples include carwash workers in LA, professional athletes, writers and directors 

for TV shows, just to name a few. Go to a movie and you’re enjoying the work of 
20 

one of America’s most unionized industries, from the actors and camera crews to set 

designers. 

Effect of Taking Unions off Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Boards Recently, 

H.R. 803, the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act 

passed the U.S. House of Representatives and we raised significant concerns about 

this legislation and the detrimental impact it would have on several programs that 

are vital to working families. The bill failed to take into account labor’s leading role 

in workforce training. As previously stated, the labor movement is the largest workforce trainer of adults outside the U.S. military. Regrettably, the SKILLS Act categorically excludes labor participation in state and local workforce investment 

boards. The bill failed to take into account labor’s leading role in workforce training 

and the discounts the value that workers bring to workforce investment boards. 

The purpose of the Workforce Investment Act, (WIA) is to provide workforce investment activities that increase the employment, retention and earnings of participants and increase occupational skill attainment by participants, which will improve 

the quality of the workplace, reduce welfare dependency and enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the economy. We only grow and improve when we 

work together. We may not agree all of the time, but through collaboration comes 

a new and better way of doing things. The effects of the board becoming a one way 

only philosophy will lend itself to limiting the success of the objectives. 

We also oppose giving governors the authority, without state legislative review, 

to consolidate the funding and administration of Workforce Investment Act and numerous other programs. Giving governors the discretion to decide who would receive 

services and what kind of services they receive does not encourage these decisions 

to be based on legitimate workforce needs but on political convenience and ideology. 

Handing such authority over to governors would likely create scenarios where workforce services would vary greatly from state to state as well as the funding levels 

of programs within that state, solely based on whoever holds political power. 

The SKILLS act would eliminate the Wagner-Peyser program and we are greatly 

concerned with the impact this will have on undermining the existing Unemployment Insurance (UI) system. The Wagner-Peyser staff conducts the UI ‘‘work test,’’ 

an eligibility requirement that requires UI claimants to be actively seeking work in 

order to receive UI benefits. H.R. 803 instead assigns responsibility for the work 

test and reemployment services for UI claimants to local workforce boards. The loss 

of accountability and state control resulting from this change would lead the unemployed to remain out of work longer, draw state and federal unemployment benefits 

for a longer period of time, and thereby undermine the state UI trust funds. 

In short, we believe that labor brings a strong voice to jobs training programs and 

our ability to have our voices heard helps America’s workers. We are deeply committed to ensuring that ALL workers have the opportunity to find good paying jobs. 

In closing, thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony to the Committee 

on Education and Workforce, of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on 

Higher Education and Workforce. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you, Mr. Fairbanks. I appreciate very 

much your remarks. 

I now would like to recognize my colleague, since we are in his 

district, to begin the questioning of the panel members. Thank you 

all again very much. 

Mr. Walberg? 

Mr. WALBERG. I thank the chairwoman for that opportunity. 

I shouldn’t have looked at it. You could have left it going without 

timing. Sue, I don’t know how you got away with that. 

Mr. Fairbanks, let me just ask you a question. Being a subcommittee chair myself for the Workforce Protections Subcommittee on the Education and Workforce Committee, which deals 

with those areas that I think you addressed to some degree, and 

the safety factors that have been built in, job security opportunities 

for the employees specifically, I think unions have provided some 

significant incentives to make sure that our workplaces are safe. 

But what I wanted to specifically ask you is what specific incentives are being used by the UAW to encourage ongoing worker de-
21 

velopment, not only those that are outside of the workforce now but 

those that are in, the incentives that encourage them to constantly 

upgrade their skills? 

Mr. FAIRBANKS. Well, quite frankly, our incentive is survival. 

With the auto industry coming out of, the Big Three coming out of 

what they just came out of, we have worked together with General 

Motors, Ford, Chrysler in instituting the programs that we already 

have in place, such as the ones I have mentioned, and also in doing 

research in new programs that we can jointly do together so the 

companies that we do work for can survive and prosper, because 

when they profit, everybody profits. So that is our incentive, to 

make sure that those companies do well. Therefore, when they do 

well, we do well. 

Mr. WALBERG. Do the employees feel those incentives? 

Mr. FAIRBANKS. Oh, very much so. 

Mr. WALBERG. And then I guess what I am asking is, is there 

any additional incentive other than survival that you encourage 

employees with to continue upgrading their skills? 

Mr. FAIRBANKS. Well, sure, definitely. We spoke briefly about our 

apprenticeship program. If you are a person that is coming in and 

working the assembly line, you are at one rate. One way to increase your pay is to get into the apprenticeship program and move 

up. There is also another way. If you are working the assembly line 

and you want to increase your pay and your level, you can become 

a team leader. To do that, there is training available to do that. 

It used to be just by seniority, but now it is a combination of seniority and skill levels. 

So there are incentives as far as monetary incentives to increase 

your training. Plus, there is that desire that is out there in everybody to increase your education. I think that is out there with everybody. Just because you went into an auto factory doesn’t mean 

that went away. 

Mr. WALBERG. Good, good. 

Ms. Dowler, I had the privilege of touring Fermi last week, in 

fact, and you are absolutely right. You just don’t take a person off 

the street and have them attend to a nuclear power plant. It takes 

significant training. It’s amazing the hours, the months of training 

the person has to go through. 

If you had to pass along advice to other institutions of higher 

education—I know you worked with Monroe Community College 

significantly on that area. But if you had to pass along advice within this state for higher education institutions about how they 

should work with other employers, what would that advice be? 

Ms. DOWLER. My advice to other institutions would be to bring 

together your major employers, and minor employers. Small businesses may have to niche markets that they need to hear about as 

well. But bring together your major employers and have real consortium type conversations around what their needs are now and 

what their skill gap and talent needs may be in the future, and 

keep an ongoing conversation going. 

I think it is important for not only the institution to understand 

what the businesses and industries need, but it is important for the 

businesses and industries to understand what the universities are 

undergoing as well. It is really a partnership. It goes both ways. 
22 

We are going through environmental regulations that are challenging us, and we have different things going on in our utility. It 

is important for our college to understand what some of our challenges are. 

So creating a partnership between your major industries that 

create real relationships I think starts to bridge that. 

Mr. WALBERG. Ms. Smith, can you describe how employers or 

what employers are looking for in current college graduates? 

Ms. SMITH. Current college graduates? Depending on what field 

they are coming out of college with, they want people who are willing to come on the job and work side-by-side with other people. 

They want them willing to continue to grow and to become part of 

a family. In Hillsdale, and I don’t know if that is unique to Hillsdale, there is still pretty much a social contract with the employer 

and the employee. When they hire people and bring them in, they 

bring them in because they want them there and they want them 

to be a long-term employee for them. So they are just looking for 

people who have that will to continue learning and to do a good job. 

Mr. WALBERG. I see my time has expired. I look forward to another opportunity. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you very much. 

Ms. Dowler, to follow up a little bit on the last comments that 

you were making from Congressman Walberg, if you had to pass 

along advice to other institutions of higher education within the 

state about how they should work with other employers, what 

would you advise them to do? 

Ms. DOWLER. Okay. So, in addition to asking them about what 

their needs are and what their skill gaps are, I think another key 

parameter would be, for the universities, is to share what they 

learn among other universities. So it is not enough for DTE to work 

with Monroe Community College and share our skill gaps and our 

needs with them, but it is important for Monroe Community College then to share that across their peers, their peer universities. 

So I think that is a critical element of the process, to partner 

across all of the elements, breadth and depth in sharing the workforce and talent requirements. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you. 

Ms. DOWLER. I guess the other thing I would also add is helping 

to integrate us into the curriculum build I think is also paramount. 

What are you teaching? Let us help you in that curriculum build 

I think is also paramount. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you. 

Ms. Smith, would you talk about how you are working to recruit 

new businesses to Hillsdale County? How are you presenting what 

is going on here to new businesses who may be considering coming 

here? 

Ms. SMITH. Okay. Actually, right now, the State of Michigan has 

an initiative, and they try to combine the different counties together. I am part of Region 9, which is Hillsdale, Lenawee, Livingston, Washtenaw, Monroe County, and Jackson. We are working together on marketing to talk about the different assets that we 

have. We are all very different communities and have different 

things to offer. So as a package, we can do just about anything anybody needs in this country or overseas in that region. 
23 

So we are working as a large group of six counties to put together information and try to attract people and help them understand that Michigan is a great place to do business, and we have 

the skill, the talent, and we can transport things, we can engineer. 

We are good, and we are selling who we are. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you very much. 

Ms. Dowler, you mentioned, and Ms. Smith mentioned also, the 

issue of soft skills. I picked up on that issue with you, Ms. Smith. 

But, Ms. Dowler, I appreciated the fact that you talk about skills, 

education and training, because they are distinct areas. I wonder 

if you could talk a little bit about the soft skills that you all are 

looking for. Again, Ms. Smith also referred to that. 

Ms. DOWLER. Right. So, let me talk a little bit about some of the 

things that we do with universities to help kind of bring new employees in. We bring about 350 students, summer students and 

coops into our company every year to get them acclimated to the 

business world and the industry. Part of that process really gives 

them an opportunity to learn and grow, and that is their opportunity to learn and grow and our opportunity to groom them and 

coach them and teach them. We feel like as a corporation that is 

invested in our communities and in helping the students, we have 

an obligation to coach them, and we give them feedback throughout 

that process. 

So every year there are 250 to 300 students that come from 

across the universities in the State of Michigan that learn not only 

hard skills but soft skills. Like you mentioned, if they are not in 

on time, not dressing appropriately, how do you give a presentation 

effectively, right? All of those things, that gets to the soft skills 

piece. We also have in the hiring process behavior assessments and 

all those kinds of things which I won’t get into. But I would really 

speak to the student coop program, which would get right connected through our recruiting process with the colleges that I think 

is a wonderful way to help coach, teach, and mentor young people 

into the business. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Congressman Walberg? 

Mr. WALBERG. Thank you. Commissioner Lievens, let me ask 

you, in relationship to what the county government is doing in developing workforce, what efforts is the local government taking to 

help ensure the citizens of Monroe County are prepared for the 

shifts in the local economy? I think there have been a few in the 

past recent history. 

Mr. LIEVENS. One thing the county is doing through its planning 

department is looking for one-stop shops to bring together employers with educational institutions. That way, folks don’t have to look 

around to afford their resources. Interestingly enough, one of the 

recent reports made on behalf of our county planning department 

was just this issue that is coming up time and again in our field 

hearing regarding the soft skills, and that was something of a surprise to me a couple of years ago, because you have that expectation out of your educational institution. You are ready to find your 

position in whatever employment sector you went to school for. But 

beyond the basic writing, math and reading skills, students need 

to acquire the skills related to the work ethic, financial literacy, re-
24 

sume writing, application filing, problem solving, teamwork, flexibility and communication skills. 

I meet a number of folks that have applied for jobs that afterward, in speaking with them, they had the skills, they had the talents and ability, but they need to translate those into a resume, 

into the creativity of looking for that application. And then we hear 

about being timely, what is appropriate to wear. One of the things 

the county is doing is putting those resources together and feeding 

that to the education sector, to the employers and the like. 

Mr. WALBERG. Why do you believe it is absolutely necessary to 

have a partnership between employers and post-secondary institutions? 

Mr. LIEVENS. To help connect those. There is a lot of discussion 

out there about synergy. It is about bringing together your partners to open those lines of communication because no man is an 

island. We are all in this together. 

Mr. WALBERG. Can the government get in the way of that? 

Mr. LIEVENS. Absolutely. 

Mr. WALBERG. How? 

Mr. LIEVENS. By creating too much regulation, too much red 

tape, and that was one of the things mentioned here before. Government should be a partner, but it shouldn’t be the employer. 

Mr. WALBERG. Does industry come to you and tell you the hard, 

cold facts about maybe some of those challenges that are in place 

through no intention necessarily but is actually taking place? 

Mr. LIEVENS. Certainly, through some of the things, especially 

here in the county, we need to be a little bit more open-minded and 

creative about is attracting businesses by eliminating certain landuse restrictions and the rest, to promote an open business environment. 

Mr. WALBERG. I would ask you the same question, Ms. Smith. 

Since you work kind of in the center land between the employer 

and the government agency, what challenges do you face with the 

government agency there in Hillsdale County, which has been hit 

significantly with the downturn in the economy? 

Ms. SMITH. Yes. I mean, we were at 18 percent in 2009, unemployment. So it was devastating. 

Mr. WALBERG. You are still at about 11 percent, aren’t you? 

Ms. SMITH. We are at 10, 10.1, I think, right now. But that is 

still outrageously high unemployment. 

You know, it is just programs that go into effect need to be a little more flexible for our employers. There can’t be a lot of restrictions as far as if the person makes a living wage, they can’t get 

any assistance and training. We are trying very diligently to bring 

our students from the schools and retain them locally, so we need 

to be able to train them locally. We work with the Academy for 

Manufacturing Careers. We are still a very heavily manufacturing 

community, as well as agricultural. But sometimes it is just very 

hard to use the dollars that are available because of the criteria attached to them, and I understand the need to track so that there 

is not abuse of money. That has happened, obviously. But there is 

a medium that we really need to hit. 

Mr. WALBERG. Right, right. 
25 

Ms. Dowler, again, going directly to you in the final few seconds 

that I have here, do you find your employees taking advantage of 

the job training programs that are out there that you introduce 

them to? Are they aggressive in taking advantage of that? Are they 

seeking it, or are they being pushed? 

Ms. DOWLER. It is interesting. I actually asked for some data to 

bring in here relative to educational reimbursement. We have a big 

educational reimbursement program in our company. I did not get 

the data quick enough to bring in here, but what I would tell you 

is every semester, every year employees take advantage of community college and higher education to get associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s degrees throughout the company so they can advance themselves and advance their careers to make themselves better and to 

make the corporation better and stronger. So, yes, absolutely. 

Mr. WALBERG. That is encouraging. 

Madam Chairman, it is more discouraging to know the disincentives we give in the government bureaucracy, and your bill goes a 

long way in addressing the redundancies, the burdens of having 

multiple layers of overlapping job-training programs that really are 

making it more difficult for Ms. Smith and Ms. Dowler in getting 

people into a place of employment. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you, Mr. Walberg. I wasn’t going to be 

self-serving too much in talking about bringing up what Ms. Smith 

brought up, but I do appreciate your mentioning the issue. We call 

them silos, where money is appropriated but people aren’t able to 

take advantage of it even though they need it because they don’t 

fit the exact criteria. 

I think we have some information on the SKILLS Act here, if 

people are interested in doing that. Thank you. 

I would like to ask Mr. Lievens if you would discuss a little bit 

the role of the local Workforce Investment Boards and how they 

play a role in job placement and job development here. 

Mr. LIEVENS. The county currently has several different investment boards. We have Michigan Works. That is one organization 

that helps pool together local talent and connect those with the employers by providing a resume bank, helping to train the soft skills. 

So that is one area that the county is growing that I see a lot of 

good results from. 

I think another thing to touch on, something that was mentioned 

earlier, that Michigan is known for its manufacturing, but I see 

that there are layers in manufacturing. There is manufacturing, 

and there is advanced manufacturing. 

No one is asking for dollars to help develop the buggy whip industry. I think of that as manufacturing that has since passed its 

day. But we have new advanced manufacturing that is really shooting the moon. We have Ben Tower doing advanced welding to take 

advantage of some of these new green industries, and that is something that I think dollars should be targeted to these emerging sectors of the economy and retaining the existing employers. I know 

the college has recently embarked on some grant funding for incubators. I support that, and that is necessary, but we need to really 

look at who is here and doing well, and that is one of the things 

the county is keen on and has documented and has offered as a resource for people to look into. 
26 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you very much. 

I wanted to ask Ms. Smith, can you talk a little bit more—again, 

you mentioned in your comments and in a question, a follow-up 

question that Mr. Walberg asked, but I don’t think it is too much 

to emphasize again, what is it that employers are looking for in the 

current college graduates that are coming out? Because I think the 

audience here needs to hear that over and over again, and hopefully the audience of college folks who are here also. Talk a little 

bit more, if you would, about the kind of attributes that a college 

graduate needs to have these days. 

Ms. SMITH. Well, I could give you a really good example. I was 

at the governor’s economic development conference in Detroit, and 

there was a young lady there from Hillsdale College, and she was 

a marketing student. They had 20 students that were brought in 

to kind of sell themselves because there were a lot of employers 

there that would give them an opportunity. And this young lady 

was outstanding in several ways, and I think that is why one of 

the companies from Hillsdale picked her up. Not picked her up, 

tried to engage with her. 

Mr. WALBERG. Picked her out. 

Ms. SMITH. Yes. She was very confident in her presentation. She 

carried herself very well. She was very articulate. She was very 

driven and not afraid to talk about the fact that she has a very 

good skill set. They are looking for someone in the marketing 

arena. So she spent one evening looking at who the company was 

and what they were doing, because when I talked to her, I understood after talking to her that she was probably a very good match 

for one of our Hillsdale companies that was there. 

So when you talk to young people and they have that, they make 

that connection, they look you in the eye, they are just there in the 

present tense, it makes a big impression with employers because 

they want somebody who is not going to come in and run the company but who is going to be able to hold their own and do a good 

job for them. 

Chairwoman FOXX. So she not only had the skills, but she could 

show that she had the skills. 

Ms. SMITH. Yes, yes. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Okay. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Walberg? 

Mr. WALBERG. Boy, I like these field hearings. More questions to 

finish off. 

Let me go back. Ms. Dowler, you made an interesting statement 

about getting in on the ground floor, working with community colleges or educational institutions on the curriculum build. That’s a 

term that I think expresses an awful lot that I had not heard before, curriculum build. In the case of Monroe County Community 

College, how do you work with them to ensure that they continue 

to provide high-skilled graduates that meet your hiring needs in 

context with that curriculum build? 

Ms. DOWLER. So let me speak about just a couple of examples. 

Our nuclear engineering technology program that ultimately ends 

up with an applied sciences associate’s degree has several of the 

adjunct professors that are also employees of DTE Energy. So the 

DTE Energy employees work at the plant, the nuclear division, 
27 

every single day. They are also adjunct professors that teach several classes within the nuclear engineering technology program. So 

clearly, they are very, very involved in the curriculum, teaching the 

curriculum. They get to know the students. They get to know the 

capabilities of the students. 

I also mentioned that coop program in the summer student program. Some of those very students that those professors teach end 

up coming in and being summer students at the nuclear power 

plant so they get some of that real-life experience at the power 

plant. So that would be an example, that would be a real, full-cycle 

example of how they are involved in that curriculum. I could give 

other examples, but that is probably the most succinct example. 

That is an accredited program within the NEI. 

Mr. WALBERG. But as you say that, that is a comprehensive 

working relationship. How many schools and universities and 

training centers can you do that with? 

Ms. DOWLER. So, I mean, we have adjunct professors on staff at 

Oakland Community College. We have several relationships with 

several colleges across the state. I can’t say that it is every college, 

but several colleges. 

Mr. WALBERG. Where it makes sense. 

Ms. DOWLER. Where it makes sense, right. Ferris State, for example, we have great employment up in that area, so we have 

great partnership with Ferris State as an example. 

Mr. WALBERG. Thank you. 

Mr. Fairbanks, let me ask you if you could just give us some insight on what challenge the UAW faces with what is seen as government disincentives to producing job opportunities, to assisting 

the UAW in the training programs, in providing the jobs to train 

for. 

Mr. FAIRBANKS. Could you please explain a little bit further disincentives? 

Mr. WALBERG. Well, I guess what you perceive as disincentives 

to the UAW membership growing, but more specifically jobs, so 

that your union employees or membership could have employment 

in a growing way, in a growing economy here in Michigan specifically. But are there any government disincentives, red tape, bureaucratic overhead, whatever, that gives you acid indigestion as 

you attempt to provide jobs and train workers in those jobs? 

Mr. FAIRBANKS. To speak to that, offhand I really don’t see any 

disincentives as far as education. This was spoken about earlier, 

about programs within companies to pay for employees going back 

to school. We have a tuition assistance program that the UAW and 

GM have put together. That does run into millions of dollars a 

year, into that program. 

Back to what you were saying, we do believe there needs to be 

some levels looked upon as far as how these funds are allocated. 

In other words, we do not agree that funds are allocated directly 

to the governor of the state, and the governor of the state says, 

okay, we need these funds here, we need these funds here, we 

think that is the best place to go. 

We do believe these boards serve a very important purpose. They 

are the ones closest to what is happening. We agree totally that 

they need to be there. What we are trying to emphasize is you need 
28 

a diverse group of people on there using their joint partnerships 

with companies. Like I said before, they are one of the largest entities in being able to educate their employees and their members. 

Therefore, we do believe that the workers need a voice on those 

boards, and that is the main emphasis that we wanted to come out 

with is let’s keep the power with these boards. They know what 

they are doing. They are right there on the front lines. Let’s keep 

it there. 

Mr. WALBERG. Thank you. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Well, thank you all very much for coming 

today and for the valuable testimony that you have given us. 

Again, I want to thank you for taking time out of your schedules 

to be here. 

We’re going to bring up the second panel now, so we will excuse 

you with our deep appreciation. 

Now you all have had a chance to see how the first panel did, 

right? It is my pleasure now to introduce our distinguished second 

panel of witnesses. 

Dr. David Nixon, currently serving his 10th year as President of 

Monroe County Community College. Prior to coming to MCCC, he 

served as Executive Dean of Iowa Lakes Community College in 

Estherville, Iowa, where he served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Emmetsburg campus. 

Ms. Sherry Betz currently serves as the Southeast Regional Director of the College for Professional Studies for Siena Heights University. While at Siena Heights, Ms. Betz has had the opportunity 

to present at the Trends in Occupational Studies conference, where 

she discussed the needs for articulation agreements and how institutions benefit from these types of partnerships. 

Dr. Michelle Shields serves as a career coach, as well as the 

Workforce Development Director for Jackson Community College. 

Dr. Shields handles career coaching for students, sets up internships with local employers, and handles employers’ requests to 

match qualified graduates with their needs. 

Mr. Douglas Levy is the Director of Financial Aid at Macomb 

Community College, Michigan’s largest community college. Prior to 

joining Macomb in early 2011, Mr. Levy spent the prior 21 years 

in various higher education leadership positions at the University 

of Michigan. 

Again, let me briefly explain our lighting system. You will each 

have 5 minutes to present your testimony. When you begin, the 

light in front of you will turn green. When 1 minute is left, the 

light will turn yellow, and when your time has expired the light 

will turn red, at which point I would ask that you wrap up your 

remarks as best as you can. After everyone has testified, members 

will each have 5 minutes to ask questions of the panel. 

Now I will recognize Dr. David Nixon for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF DAVID E. NIXON, PRESIDENT, 

MONROE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE 

Mr. NIXON. Thank you very much. Thank you, Chairwoman 

Foxx. I wanted first of all to welcome you on behalf of our faculty 

and our staff and our elected trustees, and I think at least one of 

our elected trustees has been here this morning to welcome you. I 
29 

mention that because they are all elected. They get no pay for that 

job. They are great trustees because they are involved in the community as well, and you will see why that is important. 

As the President of Monroe County Community College, I would 

like to point out two of our major supporters here in this community that were here long before yours truly, and that is La-Z-Boy 

Furniture and Monroe Shock Absorbers. So you can see why manufacturing is in our DNA. We always like to say when we are visiting other parts of the country, we are the county that rocks, LaZ-Boy, and shocks, Monroe Shock Absorbers. But those people, or 

at least the people that came with Monroe Shock Absorbers, are 

still contributing to this community in many ways, because our biggest challenge is the value of higher education. 

This has been a community where it was easy to get a job at age 

16. If you could get a driver’s license, you could probably get a job. 

Times have changed, and I am really impressed by the witnesses 

that have come before me with the comments that they have made. 

This college is 50 years old, still one of the lowest tuition rates 

in the region. It is mission driven, and our mission is enriching 

lives through higher education. Monroe County Community College 

is nationally accredited in higher education, and our growth in enrollment over the past several years came to us because of the 

Great Recession, for the most part, but because a lot of the students wanted to improve their lives. 

Living within our means has become a practice because the 

state’s funds have dwindled and, as you know, we rely a great deal 

on the state funds here in the State of Michigan. But the truth be 

known is that the tuition, the money the students pay for their tuition is a greater portion of our annual budget than our appropriations from the State of Michigan. That is just the way the formula 

works out. 

So in that regard, the largest revenues for the college is the local 

taxpayer. At one time, 60 percent of our annual budget came from 

the local taxpayers, but in recent times that has dwindled to a little less than 50 percent. So in learning how to live within our 

means, we have found the value of partnering with private partnerships and others to be able to sustain the college and offer higher 

education. 

By the way, we have 9,000 students annually; 4,500 of those are 

credit students in certificate programs. The rest of those—and 

about the average age of our student is 25, with about a third of 

our students ranging in age up to 30. 

More than 70 percent of our students work outside the college. 

So we have a lot of students that are going to college and working, 

some of them working full time. Half of the students qualify for 

some kind of financial aid. Thirty-seven percent of the college students here receive Pell Grants totaling $6 million this last year. We 

are a great advocate of Pell Grants. We don’t like some of the 

things that happen when some of the students bail out after they 

get the money, and we may get a chance to talk about that later. 

Our default rate, by the way, last year was 2.2 percent, which isn’t bad, but we have to write a check for $240,000. 

Of the entire student population, 43 percent of the students receive some type of Title IV financial aid, either the Pell, the Staf-
30 

ford loans, or work study. But I need to point out that because of 

our involvement in the community and our private partners, this 

college generated $500,000 in scholarships, our local scholarships, 

last year to supplement their education. 

So if we are working on those limited resources, how do we move 

ahead with these programs we have discussed and some of the witnesses discussed earlier? How do we train the 21st century workforce? It is the combination of public/private dollars. The likes of 

a $17 million Career Technology Center currently in construction 

on the campus you may have seen as you came in this morning, 

that is all about high-skilled workers for high-paid jobs. 

Nuclear tech is one of the premiere programs, and if it had not 

been for DTE Energy and that partnership, it would not have happened. 

In addition, we partnered with a community college in Ohio at 

the early start of that to be able to deliver those technical programs. 

So it was combining curriculum with curriculum experts with 

what we call the content experts. Those are the professionals at the 

nuclear power plant that are on our campus, in our labs, helping 

us teach those students. 

We have done the same thing with wind construction, 3-D computer-assisted drafting and design, robotics, auto engineering, auto 

tech. But probably the best example of a partnership with the federal government that benefitted this entire area was the successful 

competition for a Department of Labor grant for $1.7 million to establish a welding center of expertise on this campus. 

Five years ago we were charged with turning out 240 certified 

welders. Well, when the program concluded—by the way, we 

haven’t concluded. We are still teaching welding. But when the 

grant program ended, we had actually certified 260 welders, and as 

we move on we will continue to certify more because there are 100 

jobs open yet today in welding within this driving distance. 

Similarly, 10 years ago there was a need for an Instructional 

Center for Business Training and Performing Arts. That was 10 

years ago. And how did we do that? With public/private dollars, a 

capital campaign that created a $12 million La-Z-Boy Center, as 

you may have seen when you came in. 

Still, we have a shortage of welders. We still have the shortage 

of welders. We have a shortage of nuclear techs, as you heard from 

a witness previously, Ms. Dowler, by the way who is not only on 

our foundation at the college but is one of our experts. We have 200 

professionals from the communities that belong to our advisory 

committees. They are the ones that meet regularly on campus and 

tell us what kind of curriculum that we need to have. We could not 

operate without them. 

Our other partners, some of whom will be represented here in 

the witnesses, we have private colleges or private college partners 

on our campus producing 4-year degrees for our students who can 

live here in Monroe County and earn a 4-year degree, Siena 

Heights, and with that opportunity or that partnership Siena 

Heights not only has experts on campus but they also allow the 

community college students to continue in the third year of that 

program at our community college courses. 
31 

The Eastern Michigan University is on our campus. They are 

providing a BSN in nursing. Nursing is one of our strongest programs. We have a number of developments in that regard, but I 

needed to say that it was EMU that came to this campus and said 

that they would be able to deliver the 4-year degree in nursing. 

I am going to conclude my testimony, Chairwoman Foxx, but I 

wanted to mention before I conclude that the students that you 

saw when you came in this morning, that is another wonderful program, a federal program, the Upward Bound program, part of a 

trio of programs. We were renewed, and those of you in Congress 

know the battle that went on for the renewal of that program. We 

were renewed for not only another five years at the high school in 

this community, but we were able to add a second high school. 

These are students who were at risk of never going to college. They 

are first-generation students, and they come to this college and 

participate in our activities in tutoring as a freshman in high 

school. 

So thank you for the time, and I will leave a copy of more details 

in my script. Thank you. 

[The statement of Mr. Nixon follows:] 

Prepared Statement of David E. Nixon, Ed.D., President, 

Monroe County Community College 

Good morning Chairwoman Foxx, and members of the Subcommittee: I am David 

E. Nixon. I am the president of Monroe County Community College, and I would 

first like to welcome you to the campus in Monroe County, Michigan (Pop >200,000); 

the home of La-Z-Boy Furniture and Monroe Shock Absorbers. Manufacturing is in 

our DNA. 

• The college is 50 years old and still affordable * * * with one of the lowest tuition rates in the region. 

• Monroe County Community College is a nationally accredited institution of 

Higher Education with Record growth in enrollment until last year when enrollment 

declined 5-to-8% across the state. 

• Funding challenges existed even with record enrollment which produces less 

than 30% of our annual budget. State appropriations are less than the tuition 

(12%)—challenged by dwindling state funding. Largest revenue stream for MCCC 

is a local tax for this district (originally 60% reduced in the Recession to less than 

50%) 

Regardless the faculty/staff and Trustees engaged in public/private partnerships 

to provide quality learning opportunities through the use of a variety of strategies. 

• 9,000 students a year (4500 students in credit programs) and the remaining in 

certificate training programs associated with workforce development. The average 

age of our students is 25 which means the larger group of students is over age 21. 

A third of students range in age from 21 to 30. Others range up to age 50, but it 

is not uncommon for graduates at age 60. 

• More than 70% students work outside the college and attend school part time. 

Only 36% attend classes’ full time. 

• Half of them qualify for some kind of financial aid (federal, state, and institutional funds) approximately 37% of MCCC students receive Pell Grants. Of the entire student population 43% of our students receive some type of Title IV financial 

aid (Pell, Stafford Loans, and Work Study) 

HOW TO POWER THE 21st CENTURY WORKFORCE? Partnerships * * * Public/private dollars * * * with the likes of a $17 million dollar Career Technology 

Center producing high skilled workers for high skilled jobs. Opening this fall, stateof-the-art labs for nuclear tech, Solar, Wind, Construction, 3-D computer assisted 

drafting and design, computerized CNC operation, metrology (non-destruct-testing), 

Robotics, auto engineering and auto technicians, in addition to the celebrated Welding Center for Expertise all under one roof—serving as a proud example of public/ 

private partnerships. The local capital campaign that has already resulted in an 

86% commitment which includes the state, the college, and private donations from 

small and large businesses. Opens in August. 
32 

Similarly, 10 years ago, a similar Public/Private collaboration resulted in the construction of a $12 million Instruction Center for Business Training and Performing 

arts—again a mix of public/private dollars with the largest single gift of $2 million 

from La-Z-Boy Inc. for the naming rights. The state’s investment leverages private 

investors. The community wins. 

Why all of this activity? It is still all about jobs. And it’s about jobs that keep 

students here in the county to make their homes and raise families. 

It’s well-known that there is a worker shortage in Michigan, especially a shortage 

of those who possess high skills for high paid jobs—documented by the Workforce 

Intelligence Network (WIN)-—A consortium of eight community colleges in southeast Michigan in a collaboration with seven Michigan Works Agencies. 

A shortage of welders MCCC COMPETED FOR a $1.7 million Department of 

Labor grant for training/certifying 240 welders over a five-year period. At the end 

of the five year, 260 welders had been certified and the current need is for 100 

more. The grant funded scholarships directly to MCCC without a cumbersome passthrough funding system as with other workforce training funds. The Welding student tuition was funded direct from the DOL grant managed by the college allowing 

certificate short term certificate training. There are still 100 job openings for high 

skilled welders. 

A shortage of Nuclear Techs led to the creation of a nuclear tech program to serve 

the needs of DTE Energy, the largest employer in the county operates one nuclear 

plant * * * in the application for an additional nuclear plant right next to the current plant. MCCC responded with a Nuclear Tech training program in 5 YRS ago 

graduating more than 50 technicians completing since then. 

Where do we get our expert advice? 

ADVISORY COMMITTEES * * * More than 200 community members and ‘‘content experts’’ working professionals from the jobs-community meet every semester 

or more with faculty leadership. Those ‘‘content experts’’ help us keep those programs in ‘‘state-of-the-art’’ delivery mode AND to solicit partnerships for student 

scholarships or technology upgrades. 

Meanwhile four-year degree ‘‘partnerships’’ on campus offer baccalaureate degree 

opportunities in nursing, business, accounting, and early childhood education. 

• Sienna Heights University (four year private) delivers classes on our campus— 

allows MCCC students to take Sienna Heights classes on campus at MCCC’s lower 

tuition rates. 

• Eastern Michigan University offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing on campus—attracting graduates from MCCC’s high quality nursing program. 

• The most unique public/private partnership developed when MCCC and a local 

bank led the development of an outreach project to offer GED preparation for hundreds of county residents who are barred from higher education opportunities at the 

college for lack of a high school diploma. The bank provided the facilities and along 

with eight other community partners has managed to keep the facility open. 

In conclusion? Partnerships are driving ‘‘higher education opportunities’’ at Monroe County Community College with the ‘‘focus’’ on student outcomes. What improvements could be made?—a more direct, less bureaucratized financial aid pathway to students like DOL Welding Grant. 

What’s needed? * * * policies that give institutions more flexibility counseling 

and safeguards to ensure students understand their loan obligations, are academically prepared, and are able to keep loan borrowing in check. And to prevent ‘‘over 

borrowing.’’ We are prohibited from requiring additional loan counseling for students who appear to be over-borrowing or who are most at risk of defaulting. 

I appreciate this opportunity to speak before members of Chairwoman Fox’ Subcommittee on behalf of students whose lives can be enriched by gaining the high 

skills for high pay jobs. 

As a result, as Jim Clifton points out in The Coming Jobs War (2011), it’s all 

about’’ making stuff’’ and the more we make/manufacture, the stronger the country 

through gross domestic product. MCCC’s goal is to provide opportunities for our students to learn the skills needed for the high paying jobs. 

Thank you for allowing me the time on behalf of Monroe County Community College. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Pell grant funding is essential for qualified students—but better control can be 

maintained if community colleges are allowed to participating in the development 

of new guidelines. (more detailed suggested at the end of this report). 

There are numerous NON CEDIT TYPE WORK RELEATED certificate type accelerated programs, typically a few weeks in length (the shorter than one-or-two 
33 

year programs) the kind that lead to some of the high paid jobs ‘‘sooner than later.’’ 

Many do not qualify for workforce programs. One of them was a nine-week certificate program for Ophthalmic Assistants (entry level for Ophthalmologists). Students 

attended full time with few scholarships. More than 50 students have been placed. 

The shortage of high skilled machinists in Michigan is the worst in 10 years. 

The biggest bang for the buck is the funding directed to the students like the 

Welding Grant or GI Bill, rather than funding distribution agencies. 

A barrier for many students are requirements that they need to attend school full 

time to get the tuition assistance as was the case in the recent Michigan Works administered program called No Worker Left Behind—or those Veterans on the GI 

Bill. Some have been denied because the need for earning a living while going to 

school prevents them from leaving current jobs * * * even though they may be low 

paid-low skill jobs. Our goal is to help them gain higher skills for higher pay. 

Based on our experience here at Monroe County Community College and visiting 

with our enrollment managers who process those students—my recommendation to 

the Subcommittee in re-writing Higher Education Act legislation is find ways to 

award students funding that accommodates their class schedule rather than tuition 

tied to a ‘‘semester’’ schedule. 

Many need to work part time to support their family while enrolled in the Career 

Programs. The GI VRAP program requires full-time attendance for 10 month which 

challenges students who need to work while attending school. 

The demands for high skills prompted a partnership with local high schools— 

reaching down into the high schools—bringing the high school students to campus 

for combined college credit and high school credit—supported by tax dollars already 

committed by the state for their high school education. (known as dual enrollment) 

or (early college). The talent for tomorrow—is in high school today. 

MORE ON PELL GRANT CONTROLS

More detailed suggestions about Pell Control come from MCCC’s Director of Financial Aid Valerie Culler who provided the following that the subcommittee members may wish to consider. 

The primary control that financial aid administrators have been advocating for 

years for the federal government to put into place is a national tracking system for 

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). One of the requirements for financial aid offices in administering Title IV funds is the monitoring of students’ academic 

progress. All schools are required to monitor the same standards for Title IV aid: 

• Students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 

• Students must complete 67% of their overall attempted credit hours 

• Students will lose Title IV aid eligibility once they have attempted more than 

150% of the credits required to complete their program of study 

All of these SAP standards are in place to make sure that students who are receiving Title IV aid are on pace to complete a degree program timely. While all 

schools are required to monitor the same standards, the determination of a student’s 

eligibility for Title IV aid is based only on the student’s SAP status at the school 

the student is currently attending. The student’s SAP status at a school the student 

previously attended is not is a factor. What happens now is that when a student 

is denied Title IV aid at one community college due to failing to meet SAP standards, the student can transfer to another community college and begin with a ‘‘clean 

slate’’ and receive federal aid again. For example, if a student has failed classes at 

the University of Toledo and Owens Community College and no longer qualifies to 

receive Title IV aid at those schools, I cannot deny that student Title IV aid at 

MCCC based on his/her SAP status at UT or OCC. This allows students to ‘‘swirl’’ 

from community college to community college and continue to receive Title IV aid, 

even when the student has not demonstrated academic progress at any of the 

schools. 

The U.S. Department of Education already has systems in place that track students’ entire history of Title IV aid usage. While there would be some programming 

involved in creating a national tracking system for Satisfactory Academic Progress, 

I’m sure much of the functionality already exists, and because schools are already 

held to monitoring the same standards for SAP for Title IV eligibility, the implementation of a national tracking system would not be that much of an administrative burden on financial aid offices. 

While the U.S. Department of Education has taken a step for 2013/14 by flagging 

students who have receive Pell Grant funds at three or more institutions within the 

past two or three years, this practice still gives students an opportunity to ‘‘jump’’ 

between multiple schools and receive a significant amount of Title IV aid before 

they are caught. A national tracking system for SAP would allow us to catch these 
34 

students much earlier and hence lessen the abuse of Title IV aid. It is also important to keep in mind that for students who do not meet SAP standards at a school, 

the regulations do allow the students to appeal to the Financial Aid Office and document that the student did not meet SAP standards due to extenuating circumstances, which have since been resolved, so there is already a process within 

the SAP monitoring that gives students who legitimately had serious hardships during a semester a second chance. 

Other controls that could reduce waste/fraud: 

1. Give financial aid offices more authority to limit loan borrowing. We see students who transfer to MCCC and have already borrowed large amounts of loans at 

other schools, and we have no authority to deny them their maximum loan eligibility for the term, even when they have a Pell Grant that pays their costs in full. 

2. The Department of Education needs to give better guidance on whether or not 

schools are allowed to divide Title IV aid payments up in multiple disbursements. 

Right now we get a mixed message from the Department of Ed. We’ve been told that 

it is okay to do this for students in distance education classes, but at the same time 

schools are still held to the requirement of giving students access to their Title IV 

refunds early in the semester, which paying out aid in multiple disbursement could 

prohibit. Hence, financial aid administrators are reluctant to move to a practice of 

multiple disbursements, because of concerns about remaining in compliance with 

the rules about giving students access to their funds timely. 

3. Put more funding into the Work Study program. It is critical to fund the Pell 

Grant program, but I think Federal Work Study is a great source of self-help financial aid that is often overlooked. Students earn this aid and develop skills that give 

them an edge in the job market when they leave school. 

With my written testimony, I am attaching documents that further explain the 

Workforce Intelligence Network (WIN). 

‘‘Employers say talent is their number one need to grow or expand their businesses,’’ said Lisa Katz, WIN Executive Director, ‘‘as such, we know that the key 

to economic develop is talent development, including fostering creativity and education of Michigan’s youth.’’ 

A testament to that enthusiasm and commitment is evidenced by the construction 

currently underway on campus for a new Career Technology Center that will transform Monroe County’s workforce through hands-on instruction and access to cuttingedge equipment and technology. 

But ‘‘they must be good jobs,’’ says Jobs Wars author Jim Clifton, CEO of the 

prominent Gallup polling giant * * * who suggests ‘‘good’’ jobs are being the new 

currency for world leaders. And he challenges us in higher education that ‘‘students 

want education that results in GOOD jobs’’ and that is evident right here in Michigan as automakers and others are tooling-up for the new economy—with high energy workplaces, requiring high skilled hi paid workers. 

WIN has learned that the job demand in the areas of information technology, advanced manufacturing and healthcare, as evidence by the number of employer job 

postings, has been substantial to the point where employers are significantly challenged in filling positions. Monroe County Community College is addressing the 

skills shortage in a number of ways. For Monroe County Community College, the 

advantage of partnering with the Workforce Intelligence Network is having access 

to sophisticated data gathering research software that looks at the occupational demand and the skills, educational credentials, and experience needed to work in 

those occupations. While much of our conversation has been focused on manufacturing, the current list of high-demand jobs include radio mechanics, vet techs, diagnostic stenographers, physical therapists, med equipment repairs, cardiovascular 

techs, and environmental techs. But the truth remains there is an extreme machinist shortage—the most extreme in ten years in southeast Michigan. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you, Dr. Nixon. I am a former Upward 

Bound Special Services director. 

Mr. NIXON. Good for you. 

Chairwoman FOXX. So I am very familiar with the program. 

I recognize now Ms. Cheri Betz for 5 minutes. 
35 

STATEMENT OF CHERI BETZ, SOUTHEAST REGIONAL DIRECTOR, COLLEGE FOR PROFESSIONAL STUDIES, SIENA 

HEIGHTS UNIVERSITY 

Ms. BETZ. Good morning and greetings to Chairwoman Foxx and 

Congressman Walberg, fellow panelists and distinguished guests. 

Thank you. My name is Cheri Betz, and I am the Southeast Regional Director for Siena Heights University’s College for Professional Studies, with managing responsibilities for the Monroe and 

Southfield campuses. 

Our President, Sister Peg Albert, sends her greetings and extends her apologies for not being able to join us today. She did have 

plans to be here to discuss this important topic, but because of an 

urgent matter she was unable to do so. 

First, I would like to provide a brief background on Siena 

Heights University. We are a Catholic, liberal arts university offering associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and specialist’s degrees. Founded in 1919 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters congregation, our main 

campus is located in Adrian, Michigan, with degree completion programs in Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Jackson, Lansing, Monroe, 

and Southfield, as well as totally online. Siena Heights enrolls approximately 2,400 undergraduate students and 350 graduate students across all campuses. 

Siena has long had a strong relationship with both employers 

and educational partners. In fact, Siena took a pioneering role in 

providing opportunities for adult working students by offering 

evening and weekend classes by opening degree completion centers 

throughout Michigan beginning in 1975. One of these sites is located at Monroe County Community College, where we have had 

a presence since 1990. We continue to enjoy a productive and effective partnership with President Nixon and his team. 

One of our institutional goals is to identify the personnel needs 

of local and regional communities and prepare the professionals 

needed in these areas. However, the key is not only identifying 

these needs but responding to those needs as well. In the Monroe 

community, a recent example of this includes an RN to BSN degree 

completion program we implemented at Mercy Memorial Hospital. 

The cohort was offered through Mercy Memorial after Sienna was 

approached by hospital administration regarding an onsite degree 

completion option for their employees. 

This is the kind of collaborative approach that Siena takes as 

much as possible. In fact, we consider ourselves to be an enabling 

institution that seeks to develop cooperative arrangements with a 

wide variety of individuals and institutions in the interest of creating effective learning outcomes and environments. 

Siena also regularly updates articulation agreements with area 

community colleges and proprietary trade schools. These agreements provide students with an understanding that their earned 

degree or college credit will be accepted by Siena if they meet the 

standards outlined in the formal document. Siena takes it a step 

further and we have created user-friendly transfer guides that are 

based off of these formal articulation agreements that students can 

refer to when selecting courses to take at the community college to 

transfer into Siena. Examples of these transfer guides are included 

in the formal testimony. 
36 

Many of our students transfer in up to three years of college 

credit from the community college, allowing them to complete their 

bachelor’s degree with one additional year of college course work at 

Siena. By accepting such a high number of credits, Siena is saving 

students thousands of dollars and increasing the number of courses 

students can take right there at the community college. 

Siena’s unique Bachelor of Applied Science degree allows students without traditional transfer options for degree completion an 

opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree without repeating course 

work within their major. The Bachelor of Applied Science degree 

works on the inverted major concept, acknowledging the work the 

student has completed within their Associate of Applied Science degree. Community colleges are the leaders in offering AAS degrees 

in technical and occupational areas. Siena has helped students in 

these degree fields obtain a relevant degree that will help them advance in their chosen careers. In fact, we have a number of student 

testimonials that are also included in the testimony. 

Siena is also actively engaged in developing relationships with 

employers and key constituent groups on our Adrian campus. Our 

Career Services Office led to the development of Operation SERVE, 

which is a job opportunity fair targeted to help job seeking community members, including military veterans. This annual one-day 

fair completed its third year and had more than 70 employers and 

service providers attend. 

Working with the local South Central Michigan Works agency, 

there were several community ‘‘boot camps’’ leading up to the event 

that addressed everything from how to dress appropriately for an 

interview to resume creation. A similar fair was conducted at the 

Monroe County Community College campus based off Siena’s concept. Career Services also participates and brings our students to 

job fairs in Livonia, Lansing, and even Toledo, Ohio. 

Another example is the development of a services-learning philosophy by many of our academic programs. This approach, which 

allows our students to integrate with community businesses and 

organizations, is instrumental to their career development. In the 

area of internships, Siena can claim that more than 80 percent of 

our Adrian campus undergraduate students who complete internships end up employed at the place where they completed that internship. Because we have federal programs such as McNair, Student Support Services and Upward Bound on our campus, Siena 

plays a pivotal role in developing first-generation and low-income 

students for not only the workforce but also society at large. In 

fact, Siena has adopted the Soft Skills Initiative the State of Michigan developed several years ago after surveying more than 1,500 

state employers and asking what they were looking for in new 

hires. These soft skills of developing self-managing behaviors align 

exactly with the university’s learning objectives. 

Siena also offers federal monies, utilizes federal monies from the 

Workforce Investment Act, as well as On-the-Job Training funding 

from Michigan Works. We also take advantage of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. 

Finally, Siena is actively involved in addressing the needs of students with disabilities by making direct referrals to the State of 

Michigan’s Rehabilitation Services Agency. These federal dollars, 
37 

along with additional federal funding from such areas as Pell 

Grants, the GI Bill and work-study, are appreciated and greatly assist us in bringing higher education to underserved student populations. An important fact to note is that in the fall 2011 semester, 

43 percent of our enrolled students received Pell Grant assistance. 

Siena’s mission is to assist people to become more competent, 

purposeful, and ethical through a teaching and learning environment which respects the dignity of all, and that is really what 

drives us as an institution, and we believe in being true to that 

mission. We best prepare our students to become successful not 

only in their careers but as productive society members. 

Again, thank you for the honor of testifying before you today. 

[The statement of Ms. Betz follows:] 

Prepared Statement of Sister Peg Albert, President, Siena Heights University [Presented by Cheri Betz, Southeast Regional Director, College for 

Professional Studies, Siena Heights University] 

Greetings to Chairwoman Foxx, Congressman Walberg, fellow panelists and distinguished guests. First, we would like to thank the organizers of this field hearing 

for the opportunity to participate in this panel discussion. We are privileged to have 

been invited to this hearing and share our experiences and testimony with you. 

First, let me provide a brief background of Siena Heights University. We are a 

Catholic, liberal arts university offering associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and specialist’s degrees. Founded in 1919 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters congregation, our 

main campus is located in Adrian, Michigan, with degree completion programs in 

Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Jackson, Lansing, Monroe, and Southfield as well as 

Totally Online. Siena Heights enrolls approximately 2,400 undergraduate students 

and 350 graduate students across all campuses. 

Siena Heights has long had a strong relationship with both employers and educational partners. In fact, Siena Heights took a pioneering role in providing opportunities for adult, working students by offering evening and weekend classes and 

opening degree completion centers throughout Michigan beginning in 1975. One of 

these sites is located at Monroe County Community College, where we have had a 

presence since 1990. We continue to enjoy a productive and effective partnership 

with President Nixon and his team at MCCC. 

One of our institutional goals is to identify the personnel needs of local and regional communities and prepare the professionals and paraprofessionals needed in 

these areas. However, the key is not only identifying needs, but responding to those 

needs as well. In the Monroe community, a recent example of this includes a RN 

to BSN degree completion program we implemented at Mercy Memorial Hospital. 

The cohort was offered through Mercy Memorial after SHU was approached by hospital administration regarding an on-site degree completion option for their employees. This is the kind of collaborative approach that Siena Heights takes as much 

as possible. In fact, we consider ourselves an ‘‘enabling’’ institution that seeks to develop cooperative arrangements with a wide variety of individuals and institutions 

in the interest of creating effective learning outcomes and environments. 

Siena Heights also has regularly updated Articulation Agreements with area community colleges and trade schools. These agreements provide students with an understanding that their earned degree/credit will be accepted by SHU if they meet 

the standards outlined in the formal document. Siena has created user-friendly 

transfer guides based off these articulation agreements that students can refer to 

when selecting courses to take at the community college and transfer to Siena. Examples of these transfer guides are included in the written portion of this testimony. 

Many of our transfer students are able to transfer in three years of college credit 

from the community college allowing them to complete their bachelor’s degree with 

one additional year of college course work at Siena. By accepting such a high number of transfer credits Siena is saving students thousands of dollars and increasing 

the number of courses students take at the community college by encouraging the 

student to return to the community college to complete more course work. SHU’s 

unique Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degree allows students without traditional 

transfer options for degree completion an opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree 

without repeating courses within their major. The BAS degree works on the inverted major concept, acknowledging the work the student has already completed 

within their Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree. Community colleges are the 
38 

leaders in offering AAS degrees in technical and occupational areas. SHU has 

helped students in these degree fields obtain a relevant degree that will help them 

advance in their chosen careers. In fact, we have a number of video student 

testimonials that attest to that fact. Links to their video testimony can be found in 

the written evidence we provided to the hearing committee. 

Siena Heights is also active and engaged in developing relationships with employers and key constituent groups on our Adrian campus. Our Career Services office 

led to the development of Operation: SERVE, a job opportunity fair targeted to help 

job-seeking community members, including military veterans. This annual one-day 

fair completed its third year and had more than 70 employers and service providers 

attend. Working with the local South Central Michigan WORKS agency, there were 

several community ‘‘boot camps’’ leading up to the event that addressed everything 

from how to dress appropriately for an interview to resume creation. A similar fair 

was created at the Monroe County Community College campus based on SHU’s successful concept. Career Services also participates and brings our students to job fairs 

in Livonia and Lansing in Michigan, and Toledo, Ohio. 

Another example we would like to cite is the development of a service-learning 

philosophy by many of our academic programs. This approach, which allows our students to integrate with community businesses and organizations, is instrumental to 

their career development. In the area of internships, Siena Heights can claim that 

more than 80 percent of our Adrian campus undergraduate students who complete 

internships end up employed by the place where they had their internship. 

Because we have federal programs such as McNair, Student Support Services and 

Upward Bound on our campus, Siena Heights plays a pivotal role in developing 

first-generation and low-income students for not only the workforce, but also for society at-large. In fact, Siena Heights has adopted the ‘‘Soft Skills’’ initiative the 

state of Michigan developed several years ago after surveying more than 1,500 state 

employers what they were looking for in new hires. These ‘‘Soft Skills’’ of developing 

self-managing behaviors align exactly with the University’s learning objectives. 

Siena Heights also utilizes federal monies from the Workforce Investment Act as 

well as On-the-Job Training funding from Michigan Works! We also take advantage 

of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. Finally, Siena Heights is actively involved in 

addressing the needs of students with disabilities by making direct referrals to the 

state of Michigan’s Rehabilitation Services Agency. These federal dollars, along with 

additional federal funding from such areas as Pell Grants, the GI Bill and workstudy are appreciated and greatly assist us in bringing higher education to underserved student populations. An important fact to note is that in the fall 2011 semester, 43 percent of our enrolled students received Pell Grant assistance. 

Siena Heights’ mission to assist people to become more competent, purposeful, 

and ethical through a teaching and learning environment which respects the dignity 

of all is what drives us as an institution. We believe in being true to our mission. 

We best prepare our students to become successful not only in their careers, but also 

as productive members of society. 

Again, thank you for the honor of testifying before you today. 

Additional SHU Points of Pride 

• Transfer Friendly—students can transfer in up to 90 semester hours of credit 

towards the 120 hours needed for the bachelor’s degree. This saves the student 

money by allowing them to transfer in more credit than many other colleges and 

universities would allow. Our academic advisors regularly advise students to return 

to the community college to obtain additional credits at a lower cost before transferring to SHU. 

• Regularly updated Articulation Agreements with area community colleges and 

trade schools provide students with an understanding that their degree/credit will 

be accepted by Siena if they meet the standards outlined in the agreement. 

• Siena has a long history of serving employers directly at their locations. Besides 

the Mercy Memorial Hospital example, SHU has had a similar cohort program at 

the Cook Energy Center in Bridgman, Mich., and a number of cohorts who have 

completed their master’s degree in Health Care Leadership onsite at the St. John 

Hospital System in several locations in southeastern Michigan. 

• Our College for Professional Studies academic advisors are regularly invited to 

actively participate in a number of community college advisory committees. Some 

regional examples include: Monroe County Community College Business Management Advisory Board, Monroe County Community College Criminal Justice Advisory Committee, Henry Ford Community College Culinary Arts Advisory Committee 

and the Henry Ford Community College Energy Technology Advisory Committee. 

Siena’s participation in these advisory committee meetings benefits both institutions 

by increasing awareness of each other’s programs and increasing communication 
39 

about issues students may face within these industries so that appropriate changes 

can be made to the various programs. 

• Siena Heights is one of 14 institutions that will participate in a conference June 

30, 2013, hosted by the Michigan Colleges Foundation that will discuss the role of 

higher education in workforce development. 

• SHU regularly performs program reviews, watches for industry trends, and listens to the community to ensure the majors offered are relevant to the workforce 

needs. Some examples of our response to these trends include: 

– SHU’s Community Services program is a primary example of responding to industry trends with the addition of the Family Systems concentration that addresses 

the need of our Community Services graduates qualifying for certain positions within the State of Michigan. 

– SHU’s Graduate College will offer a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Mental 

Health Counseling, responding to the industry’s expected need/standards in this important field. The decision to change the program from a 48-hour Community Counseling degree to a 60-hour Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree was a result 

of an immersed education review of the CACREP standards (both 2009 and proposed 2016), licensure laws in contiguous states (increasing portability of the degree 

to other states), the overall status of licensure across the states and in discussion 

with policy makers in Lansing. 

– In response to the declining demand for school counselors within the state of 

Michigan, the Graduate College placed a moratorium on its MA in School Counseling degree in 2012. This decision was made because Siena is committed to offering programs with a positive career outlook. 

– The Homeland Security and Emergency Management Advisory Committee has 

had an impact on the curriculum of that master’s degree program. The Homeland 

Security and Emergency Management program was developed through a collaboration with the Center for Homeland Defense and Security and the Naval Postgraduate School. 

– SHU’s Biology program currently has a 90 percent acceptance rate to medical 

schools. Also, the University recently signed an early acceptance agreement with the 

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine for medical, dental and pharmacy. 

– SHU recently completed a Healthcare Feasibility Study and discussed what 

programs/majors are being considered to help address some of the growing needs 

within that industry. 

• In 2004 Siena began offering a totally online bachelor degree program. Since its 

inception the Distance Learning Program has served students in 34 states. Currently, we offer online courses to students residing in 30 states. Although we are 

in compliance in these states, additional federal regulations do/might put a restraint 

on a small institution like Siena Heights in its ability to provide quality educational 

programming. For instance, online enrollment growth at Siena has steadily increased with a retention rate of approximately 94 percent. 

• SHU’s Graduate College now offers a totally online Master of Arts degree in 

Leadership, increasing opportunities for advanced degrees for those unable to attend 

campus courses. 

• Approximately 75-80 percent of all students enrolled at a College for Professional Studies degree completion center and just over 90 percent of all students enrolled in the Distance Learning Programs complete their program and graduate. 

• In a 2009 Eduventures(c) study, 95 percent of all Bachelor of Applied Science 

graduates were satisfied with their degree completion program, with many citing career advancement opportunities. 

• Operation: SERVE job opportunity fair completed its third year with more than 

70 employers and service providers attending to help community members find jobs. 

• Siena Heights was named a ‘‘Military Friendly’’ institution for the fourth consecutive year by GI Jobs Magazine. To keep up our good standing in this area, we 

recently hired a VA administrator to assist our registrar with these administrative 

and reporting duties. Our registrar, who previously handled all duties related to the 

VA, said increased regulation and reporting to the VA has increased ‘‘four-fold’’ in 

the past two years alone. Her suggestion to lighten that burden would be to develop 

a more consistent and uniform system for payment, reporting and communicating 

the changes/updates of these multiple veterans programs. 

SIENA STUDENT SUCCESS STORIES

1. Richard Pazdar: 

http://www.sienaheights.edu/MeetSienaDetails.aspx?NewsArticleID=6338&NewsCategoryI D=3&CampusID=1 
40 

2. Tayleitha Pythowani: 

http://www.sienaheights.edu/MeetSienaDetails.aspx?NewsArticleID=6351&NewsCategoryI D=3&CampusID=1 

3. Leha and Keith Miller: 

http://www.sienaheights.edu/MeetSienaDetails.aspx?NewsArticleID=6344&NewsCategoryI D=3&CampusID=1 

4. Elizabeth McKay: 

http://www.sienaheights.edu/MeetSienaDetails.aspx?NewsArticleID=6352&NewsCategoryI D=3&CampusID=1 

5. Marc Pierce: 

http://www.sienaheights.edu/MeetSienaDetails.aspx?NewsArticleID=6337&NewsCategoryI D=3&CampusID=1 

6. Tanya Chappell: 

http://www.sienaheights.edu/MeetSienaDetails.aspx?NewsArticleID=6341&NewsCategoryI D=3&CampusID=1 

7. Kristi Biundo: 

http://www.sienaheights.edu/MeetSienaDetails.aspx?NewsArticleID=6325&NewsCategoryI D=3&CampusID=1 

8. Alison Myers: 

http://www.sienaheights.edu/MeetSienaDetails.aspx?NewsArticleID=6348&NewsCategoryI D=3&CampusID=1 

9. Mary Stephens: 

http://www.sienaheights.edu/MeetSienaDetails.aspx?NewsArticleID=6331&NewsCategoryI D=3&CampusID=1 
41 

tI)) Think 

SIENA HEIGHTS UNIVERSITY 1910 at Monroe Counly Communily College 

~nNewO<>o .. 

The B.ld>elor of Bu.rn .... Admln~tf tlon o..g.H .... th • m. Jor In Accounting I. de>ignfd for people planning te work 

In the fuoId o f Kcountlng for either. public 0< pri.ate fl'm. The Accountfog major a1 Siena Height. Unj .... lty m ... a 

the ("lTen! requirement. 10< tho ... pI.nnlng 10 take me Certifi..J Public Accountant wmlnOli"" 0< the ( eJlilied 

Management A«o,m1.n! Examination. 

Curriculum ~~ ... (~ mOfe detail. on back} 

30 .~t'" hout'S from SIfll. Heigh" Unl""rsft)' that Indud,'" 

• 21 •• """, .. 1>"",,, In Kcountlng and busln .... <>dmlnlm.tlOIl 

• ':I ~1 .. hours of ~ ... I .... "'. tlon COO" .. .,dudlng, 

• U\,S 301 The AduitleOfn.., 

. LAS4()l ~~ Ed""llon Senior ~In.r 

- An .pp'o ..... Philosophy Or ~1I9100$ Sludlei (oll"'! 

21 .emMt .. hoot. of DM,Ion (O/e a.nd Cog""" (ou'~. whk:h nn boo Itln.lerrNl In from Meee .n<! otMr 

KCrMitN In,tltutlons. 

P,ognom OI. lIn<1lon. 

• T,a",r .. lfieodly poIlde. ood servlc,..; $1_ Height. allow> up to 90 ..,rnesl ... hour. 01 transfer crO!<iil low"d ils 

120 ~Sler hour SKhelor's Deqree requirement. 

• Cn!<Iil for ClfP lem ~nd olher'coll..ge equiv enl ' prior le"ni"9- Inch.l<ll"9 wori<pIK e lnl"9 and hospital· 

1»sO!<i progr~ms_ 

• Evenln!/. weekend and ""Ii"" cou~ offerO!<ito meet the needs of workI"9 ~ul" th<oughoullhe M"""", aru. 

• Personollud ~""slng and ou"'~ndlng (<>CUlly with real world txperteoct. 

• A unlW'rsity Illat recognizes tile dignity of Neh student,.y<>u are trNtO!<i as an Indl .... du.1 and not a >ludent 

numbft-. 

Call Today for More Information! 

734.384.4 133 

www.$ienaheights.edu/rrn::cc 
42 

Thirty (30) houn of cou,... work from S~ a 

~lg h1S Unl""nity at 3001400 ~"'" Indudh'9: 

!. 2t S~I"rIe$!e< """'n of course work In 

AccouoUng and Bu,in ... , Administration 

a. folio ... , 

• ACC 441 Auditing 

• FIN 340 ManagNIal flnanc~ 

• ACC 460 AdvancKi Accounting 

· Two Appfaved Elecll ..... from th~ following II,!; 

• Ace 376 A«ounllng lnformaUon Systems 

• ACC 463 Financial Statement Analysis 

0< anothe< approved accounting elective 

• On~ Ma .... g........."t V.lld~to< from tM 

followlnq II,,: 

• MGT 3S7 Production and Ope<ation, Mgt. 

• MGT l6(I Human R~<e t&nag.........", 

• MGT * 1 Organizational Behavlo< 

• MGT 440 Small Buslne .. M.rnogement 

• One Marketing V.lldato< from the following 11.1: 

• MKT 3SOConsumer Behallio< 

• MKT 351 Advertising and Promotion 

• MKT 436 Marketlr.g R~a d'l 

• MKT 460 Ma rketir.g Management 

• MKT 470 Global Markellr.g 

2. LAS 301 The Aduillnrne, 

3. LAS 401 Sffllo, S-emi .... ' 

4. On~ Philosophy 0< lgl"'" Studies Course 

5. Pro""" pralid ency In Math and Writing 

Ollie< Req .. lremenl<: 

DMolon Co .. and Cognate <o .. r .. 

.-qui_nil <an 1M tau n with 

Man ..... County Community CoI"'~. 

Cou ......... II111td In the MCCC 

<ou r .. number .. 

I. Buslne» and M.nag.........,,' Requirements: 

• BMGT 201 Pl-Indples of Management 

• MCOM 201 Princlp~ of Marketing 

• ENGL 102 or ISS 611Sln ... , 

CommunlcaUon, orTKholcal Writing 

2. Cogn.te Requirement" 

• ACCTG 1 S 1 Pl-Indpl ... of Ac<:aun\ing I 

• ACCTG 152 Pl-Indpl ... of Accounting II 

• CIS 130 Prindpl ... of Comf'U ~rfud 

Information System. 

• [CON 251 Prlnclpl ... ofEconomksl 

• ECON 252 Prlncipl". of Economksll 

• BSlW 251 Bu,ln"" L.w or 

BAM 34(1 legal Environment 01 

Busi ....... (SHU) 

• MATH 162 Descrlptl"" Statistics 

3. Accounting Rooqulremen": 

• ACCTG251 1ntermediate Accounting I 

• ACCTG 25C Intermedi. te Accounting II 

• ACCTG2S2 Cost Accountlr.g 

• ACCTG 255 Intro to Taxallon 

1. All student< m",t <ubmlt an Appllcallon for Admls$lon and be accepte<llnto the program. 

2. Students muSI malnl. in • 2.0 GPA In an course worl< and a 2.2S GPA In lhe CO<e program requirements 

and all accounting elKti"" <oursework. 

) . Siudents unde<laking double 0< contf CI majors 0< minors must maln, in a 2.25 GPA overall and a 25 

GPA In'~ majO< 0< minot conc@"n"atlons. 

4. Accounllnq >1udenl$ tr.nsfemng "ed~ 10< MGT 302, M"".gement Pnnclpl .. and Cos..<. Of MJ(T )1 0 

Marl<etlng Pnnciples and Cos..< must complete. minimum of one add~lon.1 upper level course In 

Managemen' .nd Marketlr>g. Th~ coors..< .. ~ known as w>JidatOl1. Not .11 elK."'" cours ... qua lify .. 

validatOf$. SH)'Our advlso, for d~t. lIs. 

s. All majO< requl,emenT< mu>1 b<' met Ih'OIJ9h d assroom ~xp .. lenc ~. IndepHtdent <lud)I. co-op. UEP 

or prior learning e""",lenc~ aKiit do not fulfill the requlrem@"nT<ohMINJor andwil lb<'appllod 

toward 0"" .. 11 degro-e requirements. 
43 

:\c,HTS (j 

}~~ Opportunity ~. /i SIENA HEIGHTS UNIVERSITY 

19 I 9 Metropotitan Detroit Program 

Earn Your Bachelor of Applied Science Degree in 

Radiography with Siena Heights University 

3 + 1 = Bachelor of Applied Soenee Degree 

Graduatl'S of Henry Ford Commun~y College's program can 

easily transition their associate degre4! studies into Siena 

Heights Unive~ty's BiKhtlor 01 Appli«l S<il'llCf degrfl! 

program. By combining the completed 90 cr«lit hour HFtC 

program and SieJ\il Heights University's required 30 cr«lit 

hour program, a sllIdl'llt can eam a Bachelor of Appli«l 

ScierKe degree (as~ming all liberal arts requirements 

are met). The SieJ\il Heights University program uses the 

{ompleted HFCCassoc:iate degrfl! major as the BAS major. 

See the other \ide for more details. 

WHY Siena? 

• The HfCC program prl'parl'S Itudenllto go immedial~y into their dJO$fIl ~Id. 

• Sil'lla Heights Un iYffiity's flexible f'/efling. weekend, blended online and tota lly online (MSIl'S l'Ilable working 

professionals to worI; full·t ime aod (omplete their bac:helOf's degree at the same time. 

• The HfCU$il'lla Heights UniYffiity p;!uni!Mip makl?S earning a b.ldJeior·1 degree affordlble, as l100l'llll are 

able to (om~te 90 semester hours al1he 10Wl'! (ommun~ycollege rate, 

• Siena Heighll Un iYffiily islocattd just 15 minutl'S nOfth of Henry f<>rd Commun ity Collegl' In Southfield, on 10 

Mile near Evergrtl'n. 

www.sienaheights.edu/mdp 
44 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you, Ms. Betz. 

Dr. Shields, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF MICHELLE SHIELDS, CAREER COACH/WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, JACKSON COMMUNITY 

COLLEGE 

Ms. SHIELDS. Thank you. Good morning, Chairman Foxx and 

Congressman Walberg, and other distinguished guests. Thank you 

for the opportunity to speak before this subcommittee. I also will 
45 

be reading my testimony so I do not miss any paramount or important aspects of this discussion. 

Jackson Community College each year serves more than 9,000 

students in three counties—Lenawee, Hillsdale and Jackson—as 

well as through online delivery of our courses. Students enroll at 

JCC for a variety of reasons. To better align with students’ educational and career goals, JCC is adapting existing programs. 

Employers from all sectors have identified a variety of deficiencies related to the workforce. JCC is working to address these 

issues through curriculum and program reform, customized training, and student seminars, including work-based learning opportunities such as internships and advisory groups. 

Recently, a number of employers have contracted with Jackson 

Community College through MNJTP, Michigan New Jobs Training 

Program. It is a grant to proactively address training needs for 

workers. Training for employees is more than just an on-boarding 

for technical or hard skills. It includes a host of communication 

skills and behavior awareness initiatives. 

Examples of training requests and objectives we have received 

from local employers include personal coaching and mentoring, 

time management, trust and team building, employee engagement, 

in addition to sensitivity training. Additionally, local employers 

have expressed the need for quality workers in the field of manufacturing at all levels of the organization. 

To help meet employer needs, the Associate in Applied Science 

program at JCC is designed to provide hands-on training and theoretical knowledge necessary to produce graduates that are properly 

trained and job ready. The various concentrations within the 

sciences are in high-demand technical and manufacturing disciplines. JCC is currently adapting existing programs and creating 

new curriculum to meet the newest technology and more rigorous 

technical expertise that employers are seeking in their job candidates. 

JCC is in the preliminary stages of creating the framework within this system to allow students interested in perhaps only a concentration, and then moving toward an immediate goal later for an 

associate degree. So they can add to their academic core courses to 

expand on their concentration to get that Associate degree if they 

so choose. 

This restructured approach will allow for a larger student base 

and assist in getting students aligned with their educational and 

career goals faster. An additional benefit will be realized in meeting employer needs through access to qualified and competent job 

candidates. 

Further, employer feedback tells us that many workers do not 

demonstrate proficiency in problem solving and critical thinking 

skills. To address this concern, JCC will be integrating basic math 

skills into the early concentration courses. This method should 

allow students to get the math experience they need and require 

within the courses that are in their area of interest through a platform designed to engage them while learning. 

In addition to critical thinking and problem solving skills, employers report that they are experiencing and observing a lack of 

communication skills, specifically soft skills such as diversity ap-
46 

preciation, appropriate messaging and trust. As JCC continues to 

demonstrate flexibility and reform curriculum to address employer 

needs, the First Year Seminar or FYS course for new students is 

also being modified. 

This is a life/work skills course that is designed to set the student on a pathway of success from a 360-degree perspective with 

both technical and soft skills embedded into the coursework. To do 

this, the message of creating a culture of achievement is woven 

throughout the course and maintains center focus. This is the 

framework needed to support the stronger work ethic of a future 

workforce. Changes to this class are ongoing and key stakeholder 

voices are heard to ensure that outcomes align with student success. 

With course outcomes such as time management, critical thinking and teamwork, students taking this course will be entering the 

workforce as change agents, giving employers the quality and caliber of employees they need. 

JCC employer partnerships are beneficial to students. As the Career Coach, I see this firsthand through contributions students 

make in the workplace through internships and other learning assignments. 

Ensuring that employers are finding quality in their workers is 

a priority for JCC, and we will continue to participate in valuable 

discussions regarding expectations, implementation of best practices, and researching market trends to demonstrate our support. 

In summary, JCC is actively responding to our local employers 

by providing quality, work-ready graduates through reformed curriculum and programs designed with their input. 

Thank you for allowing me to speak with you today. 

[The statement of Ms. Shields follows:] 

Prepared Statement of Michelle M. Shields, Career Coach, 

Jackson Community College 

Executive Summary 

STATE OF THE COLLEGE

• Each year JCC serves more than 9,000 students in three counties and through 

on-line delivery of courses. 

• Students enroll at JCC for a variety of reasons. To better align with the educational and career goals of our students JCC is adapting existing programs. 

PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN HIGHER EDUCATION AND EMPLOYERS

• In December 2012, JCC received notification by the Michigan Community College Association (MCCA) of available Michigan New Jobs Training Program 

(MNJTP) funds. Employers in essence receive free training dollars for individuals, 

by adding new jobs to their payroll. 

• In early February, MNJTP contracts were sent to the Michigan Treasury totaling $499,500.00 earmarked for training, through diversions of state withholding 

from new employees/positions 

• Employers have identified both soft and technical skill deficiencies in workers, 

and therefore connected with JCC to create customized training to remedy these 

issues. 

• An on-line job board was created for employers to utilize for their hiring needs. 

Qualified job candidates are referred to employers by JCC Faculty and the Career 

Coach in response to job vacancies. 

MATCHING EMPLOYER NEEDS THROUGH CURRICULUM

• Technical expertise is integrated into curriculum to meet employer expectations, 

demonstrated through work based learning opportunities and job offers. 
47 

• The curriculum of the work/life skills class (FYS) will incorporate the importance of soft skills, critical thinking and problem solving as these are fundamental 

characteristics found in successful employees. 

Field Hearing 

Good morning. Congresswoman/Chairwoman, Foxx, Congressman Walberg and 

other distinguished guests. 

Thank you for the opportunity to speak before the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training at this hearing entitled ‘‘Reviving our Economy: The 

Role of Higher Education in Job Growth and Development on behalf of Jackson 

Community College’’. 

Employers from all sectors have identified a variety of deficiencies relating to the 

workforce. JCC is working to address these issues through curriculum and program 

reform, customized training, student seminars; work based learning opportunities 

and advisory groups. 

Recently a number of employers have contracted with JCC through the MNJTP 

grant to proactively address training of workers. Training for employees is more 

than just on-boarding for technical or hard skills; it includes a host of communication, soft skills and behavior awareness initiatives. 

Examples of training requests and objectives we have received from local employers include personal coaching and mentoring, time management, trust and team 

building, employee engagement and sensitivity training. Additionally, local employers have expressed the need for quality workers in the field of manufacturing, and 

at all levels of the organization. 

To help meet employer needs, the Associate in Applied Science program at JCC 

is designed to provide the hands-on and theoretical knowledge necessary to produce 

graduates that are properly trained, and job ready. The various concentrations within the Associate in Applied Science are high demand technical manufacturing disciplines. JCC is currently adapting existing programs and creating new curriculum 

to meet the newest technology and the more rigorous technical expertise that employers are seeking in candidates. 

JCC is in the preliminary stages of creating the framework within this system to 

allow students interested only in a concentration to achieve that immediate goal and 

then later, as they progress in their careers, they can add the other academic core 

courses to expand their concentration to earn the Associate degree if they so choose. 

This restructured approach will allow for a larger student base, and assist in getting students aligned with their educational and career goals faster. An additional 

benefit will be realized in meeting employer needs through access to qualified and 

competent job candidates. 

Further, employer feedback tells us that many workers do not demonstrate proficiency in problem solving and critical thinking skills. To address this concern, JCC 

will be integrating basic math skills into the early concentration courses. This method should allow students to get the math experience they require within course(s) 

that are in their area of interest and through a platform designed to engage them 

while learning. 

In addition to critical thinking and problem solving skills, employers report that 

they are experiencing and observing a lack of communication skills. Specifically, soft 

skills such as diversity appreciation, appropriate messaging and trust. As JCC continues to demonstrate flexibility and reform curriculum to address employer needs, 

the First Year Seminar (FYS) course for new students is also being modified. 

This life/work skills course is designed to set the student on the pathway for success from a 360 degree perspective with both technical and soft skills imbedded into 

the coursework. To do this, the message of ‘‘creating a culture of achievement’’ is 

woven throughout the course and maintains center focus. This is the framework 

needed to support a stronger work ethic of the future workforce. Changes to this 

class are on-going and key stakeholder voices are heard to ensure that outcomes 

align student success. With course outcomes such as time management, critical 

thinking and teamwork, students taking this course will be workforce change 

agents, giving employers the quality and caliber of employees they need. 

JCC’s employer partnerships are beneficial to our students. As the Career Coach, 

I see first-hand, the contributions students make in the workplace through internships and other learning assignments. Students share positive feelings about their 

experiences in addition to a sense of pride and achievement which serves as validation for their sacrifices and hard work. 

Ensuring that employers are finding quality workers is a priority for JCC and we 

will continue to participate in valuable discussions regarding expectations, implement best practices and research market trends to demonstrate our support. For the 

convenience of employers seeking to fill positions, the Jobs for Jets section on JCC’s 
48 

main web page was created. This venue affords employers the opportunity to quickly 

post jobs vacancies which are accessible to JCC students and alum. Later this 

month we are hosting a job fair to help local employers find the talent they seek 

for their organizations. 

In summary, JCC is actively responding to our local employers by providing quality, work-ready graduates through reformed curriculum and programs designed with 

their input. 

Thank you for allowing me to speak with you today. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Levy? 

STATEMENT OF DOUGLAS A. LEVY, DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL 

AID, MACOMB COMMUNITY COLLEGE 

Mr. LEVY. On behalf of Macomb Community College and our 

President, Dr. James Jacobs, I wish to thank Chairwoman Foxx, 

Representative Walberg, Ranking Member Hinojosa and the rest of 

the committee for the opportunity to testify before you today. Dr. 

Jacobs has already submitted a written testimony which highlights 

some of the great work that Macomb is doing in the area of workforce development. To complement this, my comments will focus on 

the critical importance of federal student aid for students, the 

workforce, and America’s economy in general. 

To frame the discussion, I will start by offering a few relevant 

statistics that highlight the importance of federal student aid for 

students pursuing higher education at Macomb. This past fall, 

24,160 students enrolled in credit classes at Macomb, which represents a 15 percent increase since the fall of 2004. During that 

same eight-year period, the number of students receiving some 

form of federal student aid increased by 327 percent, and Pell 

Grant recipients increased by 231 percent. 

Stated slightly differently, more than half of all currently enrolled students depend on some form of federal student aid, and a 

full one-third of all currently enrolled students receive a Pell 

Grant. Each of those numbers was less than one-tenth of all students eight years ago. 

When put into the further context of the many job-skill-based 

certificate programs and employment-driven associate degrees that 

Macomb Community College offers, the significant impact that federal student aid has on the economy in general is also exemplified. 

Related, more than half of the current aid recipients at Macomb 

are classified as non-traditional, with an average age of 34 years 

old. While the reasons for this particular population attending 

Macomb are obviously diverse, it is well-documented that the single 

biggest factor is directly related in one way or another to improving 

their employment situation, including having lost a job and having 

to learn a new employable skill. Without the assistance of the Pell 

Grant, many of these students would not be able to afford to attend 

college and thus would face greatly diminished employment prospects. 

For the many students currently receiving federal student aid at 

Macomb who, rather than entering the workforce upon graduation, 

continue to pursue a bachelor’s degree at a four-year institution, 

the importance of financial aid is also very evident. With low tuition and fees, many Pell Grant recipients at Macomb achieve their 
49 

associate’s degree with little or no loan burden, which ultimately 

translates into significantly less debt upon completion of a fouryear degree. Clearly, there are many benefits, both to the student 

and for our economy in general, when graduating students enter 

the workforce with less loan burden. 

The next topic I wish to mention is the need for change in the 

way that financial aid is administered. There is little debate that 

many aspects of financial aid are far too complex, from a regulatory 

standpoint, how institutions are required to administer aid, and 

how students interact with it. 

One specific area in need of change that directly impacts the 

ability of community colleges to more fully leverage federal aid is 

what I refer to as the fallacy of a one-size-fits-all approach to financial aid administration. The current approach is analogous to having the same set of manufacturing, safety and consumer regulations for bicycles, cars and yachts, since they are all considered 

forms of transportation. For example, having the same loan limits 

for community colleges as for a four-year private institutions is 

problematic for community colleges for a variety of reasons, including the potential for excessive and abusive borrowing, default rates 

that continue to rise, and escalating levels of non-collectible bad 

debt. 

Financial aid policy and regulations need to recognize and account for these differences. By doing so, it will make the process 

more efficient, thereby reducing the overall cost of aid administration, and resulting in federal student financial aid being significantly more responsive to all those it is intended to serve. 

Before closing, I would like to briefly comment on the general 

topic of student aid as it relates to the federal budget. First and 

foremost, I sincerely appreciate the bipartisan support that federal 

aid in general, and the Pell Grant program in particular, has received over the past several years. Pell is a universally important 

program, and as a member of the higher education community, I 

am very thankful for your support. 

Secondly, I recognize the threat of record levels of federal debt 

but urge you to continue to invest in students by fully funding student aid programs to ensure that these programs remain predictable, reliable, and sustainable. Attempting to balance the budget 

through reduced funding in federal aid diminishes our odds of future success. 

In conclusion, I leave you with the following observation. As demonstrated by the information provided in my testimony today, federal student aid continues to play an increasingly critical role in 

the lives of so many people in building a well-trained, expanding 

workforce and in maintaining a thriving economy. The evidence is 

clear and indisputable: a strong commitment to federal student aid 

is, above all else, a solid investment in America’s future. 

Thank you for your time. 

[The statement of Mr. Levy follows:] 

Prepared Statement of Douglas A. Levy, Director of Financial Aid, 

Macomb Community College, Warren, MI 

On behalf of Macomb Community College and our President, Dr. Jim Jacobs, I 

wish to thank Chairwoman Foxx, Representative Walberg, Ranking Member Hinojosa and the rest of the Committee for the opportunity to testify before you today. 
50 

With prior approval from the Committee, Dr. Jacobs has submitted a written testimony which highlights some of the great work that Macomb continues to do in 

many areas of workforce development and advanced in-demand training. To compliment this, my comments will focus on the critical importance of federal student 

aid for students, the workforce, and America’s economy in general. 

To frame the discussion, I would like to start by offering a few relevant statistics 

that highlight the importance of federal student aid for students pursuing higher 

education at Macomb. This past Fall, 24,160 students enrolled in credit classes at 

Macomb, which represents a 15% increase since the Fall of 2004. During that same 

eight-year period, the number of students receiving some form of federal student aid 

increased by 327%, and Pell Grant recipients increased by 231%. Stated slightly differently, more than half of all currently enrolled students depend on some form of 

federal student aid and a full one-third of all currently enrolled students receive a 

Pell Grant. Each of those numbers was less than 10% eight years ago. 

When put into the further context of the many job-skill-based certificate programs 

and employment-driven associate degrees that Macomb Community College offers, 

the significant impact that federal student aid has on the economy in general is also 

exemplified. Related, more than half of the current aid recipients at Macomb are 

classified as non-traditional, with an average age of 34 years old. While the reasons 

for this particular population attending Macomb are obviously diverse, it is well-documented that the single biggest factor is directly related in one way or another to 

improving their employment situation, including having lost a job and having to 

learn a new employable skill. Without the assistance of the Pell Grant, many of 

these students would not be able to afford to attend college and thus would face 

greatly diminished employment prospects. 

For the many students currently receiving federal student aid at Macomb who, 

rather than immediately entering the workforce upon graduation, continue to pursue a bachelor’s degree at a 4-year institution, the importance of financial aid is also 

very evident. With low tuition and fees, many Pell Grant recipients at Macomb 

achieve their Associate’s Degree with little or no loan burden, which ultimately 

translates into significantly less debt upon completion of a 4-year degree. Clearly, 

there are many benefits, both to the student and for our economy in general, when 

graduating students enter the workforce with less loan burden. 

The next topic I wish to mention is the need for change in the way that financial 

aid is administered. There is little debate that many, if not most, aspects of financial aid are far too complex, from a regulatory standpoint, from how institutions are 

required to administer it, and from how students interact with it. One specific area 

in need of change that directly impacts the ability of community colleges to leverage 

federal student aid to the maximum benefit of students and ultimately for the greater good of the economy, is what I refer to as the fallacy of a one-size-fits-all approach to financial aid administration. The current approach is analogous to having 

one set of manufacturing, safety and consumer regulations for bicycles, cars and 

yachts, since they are all considered forms of transportation. For example, having 

the same loan limits for community colleges as for 4-year private institutions is 

problematic for a variety of reasons, including the potential for fraud and abuse of 

loan borrowing at community colleges. Financial aid policy and regulations need to 

recognize and account for these differences. By doing so, it will make the process 

more efficient for each type of institution, reduce the costs of administration, and 

result in student financial aid being significantly more aligned with and responsive 

to all those it is intended to serve. 

Before closing, I would like to briefly comment on the general topic of student aid 

as it relates to the federal budget. First and foremost, I sincerely appreciate the bipartisan support that federal student aid in general, and the Pell Grant program 

in particular, has received over the past several years. Pell is a universally important program and as a member of the higher education community, I am very 

thankful for your support. Secondly, I recognize the threat of record levels of federal 

debt, but urge you to continue to invest in students by fully funding student aid 

programs to ensure that these programs remain predicable, reliable, and sustainable. Attempting to balance the budget through reduced funding in education diminishes our odds for future success. 

In conclusion, I leave you with the following observation. As demonstrated by the 

information provided in my testimony today regarding Macomb Community College’s experiences, federal student aid continues to play an increasingly critical role 

in the lives of so many people, in building a well-trained, expanding workforce and 

in maintaining a thriving economy. The evidence is clear and indisputable: a strong 

commitment to federal student aid is, above all else, a solid investment in America’s 

future. 

I thank you for your time. 
51 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you very much. 

I would like to start questions with an issue that Ms. Betz 

brought up. I am fascinated, and all of us on the committee are fascinated with the different ways to bring down the cost of a college 

education, and you have raised the issue here that I think is very 

important about the program that you have, the three years on 

campus here, and the one year at Siena. Tell me how you got the 

accreditors to approve that. 

Ms. BETZ. Well, I think it goes back to our mission, and that is 

to be confident, purposeful, and ethical. If we were able to assist 

students to manage what their debt was going to be when they 

elect school, I think that spoke highly of what we were trying to 

do with our community partners. 

The program is really remarkable in that it is accepting such a 

high credit amount of transfer work. Typically, schools do not 

transfer in up to 90 semester hours of credit, or if they do, students 

find out once they are in the program that they have to repeat 

many of the courses within their major. Our students are bringing 

us their transcripts, and they have an answer with what is going 

to be transferred in before they begin the program. I think that 

speaks to the high ethical standard that we hold ourselves to, and 

that was another factor that was a benefit. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Well, again, I worked at a university before 

I went to a community college, and I worked out articulation agreements with community colleges to do exactly what you are talking 

about, to make sure that students knew when they took the classes 

at the community college, or even at another four-year school, what 

they could transfer in, but I have not seen a program that does 

three years on the community college campus, and then one year 

at the four-year school. So it is another arrow in the quiver, as far 

as I am concerned, for how we can talk about reducing the cost of 

going to college. 

I would like to follow up with you a little bit on talking a little 

bit about what you are doing in distance education and how is that 

fitting into your overall program. Are the students that you are 

serving through distance education very different from the students 

you are currently serving or have been serving? 

Ms. BETZ. That is a great question. We started our distance 

learning program in 2004. Currently, we have 351 students enrolled in that specific program in 30 states. So our students differ 

in that the program, in order to be enrolled and admitted into that 

program, the admission standard is slightly higher, and you will 

see that our retention rate is slightly higher as well in that area 

compared to our other College for Professional Studies programs. 

Both are very respectable, but I think that makes a difference and 

an impact. 

We do offer a number of tutoring options as well for our distance 

programs, as well as online library resources. So we are not just 

saying, okay, here is the course, and it is just a silo within that 

course. There are other resources that students can reach out to to 

ensure that they are successful. 

We also boast a very highly personalized advising mantra, so to 

speak, so that students aren’t a number. They are a person to us, 

and we take them in as part of our Siena family. So I think that 
52 

speaks highly of how we have been able to maintain such good retention rates within the College for Professional Studies. 

Chairwoman FOXX. And according to your comments, you have 

been doing off-campus programs since 1975. 

Ms. BETZ. That is correct. 

Chairwoman FOXX. You were ahead of the curve of many, many 

schools in terms of offering these kinds of programs. 

Ms. BETZ. Yes. 

Chairwoman FOXX. And here at Monroe since 1990. Is that correct? 

Ms. BETZ. That is correct. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Great. 

My time is almost up, so I am going to yield to Mr. Walberg, and 

then I will come back with some other questions for other members 

of the panel. 

Mr. WALBERG. Thank you. And if I could, a point of personal 

privilege. Madam Chairwoman, you know that we, as brothers and 

sisters in the battle of public policy, experience a life that is different than the rest of the world. Maybe that is our problem. But 

I have a former colleague of mine in the room from the state legislature, former State Representative Greg Pitoniak, who is involved 

heavily in workforce issues in the region. I just wanted to thank 

you, Greg, for joining us today. Even though we didn’t let you 

speak because politicians generally speak too long anyway, it is 

good to have you here. 

Dr. Nixon, again, I appreciate you allowing us to be here today 

for this hearing. The subcommittee is always concerned with waste, 

fraud and abuse, and each of you have mentioned the area of financial aid. So I guess I would like to ask each of you to respond to 

this question, but Dr. Nixon first. 

Often, community colleges are at risk because of their low tuitions, at least at risk of the perception of fraud and abuse of federal 

aid to students. Can you describe how MCCC deals with this and 

prevents that from happening? 

Mr. NIXON. I appreciate that question because it is a concern. 

Our goal, obviously, is to give students the opportunity of reaching 

their career goals through higher education. 

By the way, just to expand on the Chairwoman’s questions for 

Ms. Betz, another bonus, if you will, is that both Monroe County 

Community College and Siena Heights are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, so it is easier to work with them. 

But in response to your question, yes, there is an opportunity for 

fraud and abuse. We cherish the Pell Grant opportunity for our 

students. You have heard how many of our students require some 

type of tuition assistance. The problem is that for a student who 

comes in here and is maxed with a $5,500 Pell Grant, you have a 

lot left over after tuition. They are allowed with that extra money, 

which is a couple of thousand dollars, to purchase computers or to 

help out with their transportation. 

So the challenge for us is to track those students in those classes 

to make sure we know if they have left the campus, and that is 

the greatest challenge for us, because we have had students that 

do that. Just recently in Detroit, publicly stated, publicly reported, 

there were two rings of individuals who had figured out the Pell 
53 

Grant system, and they were going around to the community colleges and enrolling in each one. 

Fortunately, our financial aid and enrollment management people have figured out a system to start on the front end to measure 

where those students are, or to determine whether and if they have 

gone to another college, or if they have not told the truth on their 

registration packet, which is one way of putting up a stop sign and 

saying, oops, you have not told the truth in your registration forms, 

we are not going to allow you into the program. 

Now, there are not many of them, but as you see, even with a 

2 percent default rate, that is $250,000 we have to turn back to the 

federal government. So I think there are some ways, according to 

our financial aid experts here on the campus—they have done a 

tremendous job working with these students. They need more opportunities to intervene, because they cannot tell a student—if, 

based on their professional judgment, a student shouldn’t be loading on some additional loans in addition to the Pell Grant, they are 

not able to do that. So I think that would benefit at least our financial aid folks to take better control of that. 

Mr. WALBERG. To have that ability. 

Mr. NIXON. Yes. 

Mr. WALBERG. Ms. Betz? 

Ms. BETZ. Our regular practice is to monitor attendance, both on 

the ground and in participation in our online courses, so that if students are not participating or attending class, they are dropped 

within that first week. Because we are on an eight-week term, we 

have two eight-week accelerated programs through the College for 

Professional Studies, we are able to help catch some of that. Maybe 

they were enrolled in the class but they never had intentions of 

taking the course and participating for a grade, so that we can be 

corrective in getting them out of the class before aid has been distributed if they are receiving that type of aid. 

Another thing that I think is important for us to remember is, 

yes, we do have approximately 43 percent of our students receiving 

the Pell Grant this past year, but just to be cognizant of any additional regulations. In speaking with our financial aid director, she 

just wanted me to convey that if there is anything that can be done 

for assistance and how those monies are reported back, that would 

be greatly appreciated. 

Mr. WALBERG. Let me jump in here. Dr. Shields, so we can get 

some response from Jackson Community College. 

Ms. SHIELDS. Sure, thank you. At JCC, we check transcripts of 

incoming students to see if they have perhaps enjoyed the academic 

career at a former institution, and we check to ensure that they are 

in good standing with academic progress, SAP. 

Additionally at JCC, we have an HQV system, a Help Quit Verify 

system, and it is a three-point system, three checks within the semester. If a student needs help, if they are not doing well, they 

may get a call from our Learning Support Center. If they have not 

attended, we also do drop them, of course, in that earlier time period. And then, of course, the ‘‘V’’ to verify that they are, in fact, 

attending class and participating. So we have implemented some 

safeguards to our benefit. 
54 

Mr. WALBERG. With your indulgence, Madam Chairwoman, may 

I continue on? 

Chairwoman FOXX. Certainly. 

Mr. WALBERG. Thank you. 

Chairwoman FOXX. I tell you what, I will yield you my question, 

my round this time, just to keep things straight. How is that? 

Mr. WALBERG. Thank you. 

Mr. LEVY. Thank you. Yes, it is a great question. As I mentioned 

in my testimony, one area specifically as it relates to the fact that 

community colleges are strapped by the same loan limits that fouryear publics are, and four-year privates. So I am obligated to give 

a student, a first-year student, up to $5,500 in loan money even if 

they have a full Pell Grant, as Dr. Nixon said. 

Now, having said that, there are things that we try to do to mitigate the risk. One area is that we don’t actually disperse funds to 

students until after the three-week census date so that we know 

who is in class and who isn’t. At the beginning of the term, we are 

able to provide for their direct costs of tuition, obviously, because 

it is on the student account, as well as we have an agreement with 

our bookstore. So students can get their direct costs taken care of 

without having the money in their pocket. So that is a way that 

we can slow down the abuse factor. 

I would also suggest that the federal government is doing some 

things right now with the new regulations for enrollment and unusual enrollment history. We are getting flagged now for students 

who are running from one institution to another, and we are obligated to look into those students before we give them federal aid. 

It is really a matter of, as I said in my testimony, looking at the 

individual types of institutions and providing the kinds of regulations so that we can have professional judgment, as Dr. Nixon said, 

that we can look somebody in the eye and say we know that you 

are borrowing $5,000, but it is not for educational expenses, and 

we are not going to provide that money to you. Right now we cannot do that unless we are absolutely sure that they can look me 

in the eye and say I am not going to pay that back, and that is 

the only regulatory reason I can deny somebody a student loan. So 

there has to be a better capability. 

Mr. WALBERG. Those are challenging things, and it is good to get 

information for us to hear as we battle with that whole issue of diminishing dollars at this point in time and getting a $16 trillion 

debt and deficit spending under control, and dealing with what the 

real world has to deal with. These are challenges, and yet still to 

get people educated. 

For me to have a young lady come to my office requesting help 

on a foreclosure situation and the purchasing of a replacement or 

paying off so they can keep the house and say, within three weeks 

I will be able to get my Pell Grant money, and then I can pay, that 

wasn’t for education. Though I felt for that young lady and her desire to keep that home, that wasn’t the purpose. So those are the 

challenges we face. 

Let me go on. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Would the gentleman yield? 

Mr. WALBERG. Yes, I would. 
55 

Chairwoman FOXX. Okay. I think you are on the right line of 

questioning. So if I could, I would like to ask one quick question 

of Mr. Levy. 

I have not heard anything at all from the financial aid administration or the National Association—I have lost track of the title 

of it. But has your association made recommendations to members 

of Congress along these lines? I am curious to know if there is a 

set of legislative recommendations. 

Mr. LEVY. Yes, absolutely. The National Association of Student 

Financial Aid Administrators is actively pursuing recommendations 

on several fronts, including the areas we are discussing today, 

transparency and award notification, and so on and so forth. 

At a more global level, the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation 

just commissioned grants from over 15 organizations to come up 

with white papers about what they call ‘‘Reimagining Aid Design 

and Delivery.’’ There are some people who are a lot smarter than 

I am who will do some very important think pieces about accountability of financial aid offices in universities and joint partnerships, 

skin in the game so that completion rates are tied to financial aid. 

There is a lot of activity around the area of really redesigning financial aid to both address what you are talking about, the escalating costs, as well as making it a more efficient operation for everybody involved. 

So, absolutely, there is much activity in that regard, very good 

activity in that regard. 

Chairwoman FOXX. It is your turn again. We will set the clock 

again. I yielded to you, then I took back some time. Now it is your 

turn again. 

Mr. WALBERG. I like this process. We ought to talk to Chairman 

Kline about continuing this. 

Let me go along the line again asking each of you, and I will 

start with Mr. Levy first, so we will go back in this direction. 

It comes up with the idea that I am meeting and going manufacturer to manufacturer, business place to business place, and I hear 

so often the frustration that employers are saying, you know, not 

every student should go to college or university. There are trade 

programs. We’ve been talking about that, and I think you are attempting to meet that aggressively, those concerns. 

But let me ask you, do you counsel and have in place a process 

of counseling certain students against pursuing education for job 

fields that the jobs aren’t there right now? Do you have any process 

in place to do that, Mr. Levy? We will start with you. 

Mr. LEVY. I believe that Dr. Jacobs would be much better to answer that question then I. But when students come into my office, 

and you can tell that they are not academically equipped for what 

we are offering them for a degree program, we do send them over 

to the academic advising and counseling office to see what other 

opportunities there are at the community college, non-credit classes, other workforce development activities within the college. 

Mr. WALBERG. Dr. Shields? 

Ms. SHIELDS. We have in my office, I put students through what 

is called Job Fit. It is an assessment tool to help them understand 

what would be expected of them in their desired field when they 
56 

come to talk about their hopes and dreams, because clearly we 

want to help people succeed in advance. 

Additionally, we have what is called Career Coach. It is a program that allows students to type in an occupation, and then it 

more fully discloses to them the level of education they will need, 

the trends, so that they are not getting a degree and spending a 

lot of money for something where they will not find successful employment. So we have those tools in place for our students and applicants, yes. 

Mr. WALBERG. But it is still up to them to make that final decision. 

Ms. SHIELDS. They do make that decision. 

Mr. WALBERG. Ms. Betz? 

Ms. BETZ. We have two things that come to mind that I think 

would be a good example of what Siena does. As I mentioned earlier, our personal advising. We meet with the student individually 

with an academic advisor and we listen to what they are telling us 

their goals are, why they want to pursue higher education. If we 

feel that it is not a good fit, we will recommend another path for 

them, whether it is another college or another program. It may be 

a proprietary school may be a better fit for their career goals, or 

it may even be going back to a community college to enroll in a 

separate or different path. 

The other thing that we have recently done is we have increased 

some of the standards within our programs for admission. A recent 

example of this that will be happening this fall is with our professional communication major where we are asking students to have 

a certain GPA in courses that lead up to the higher level, the junior/senior level classes, so that they are not getting in just with a 

2.0. They are going to have to have a 3.0 in order to advance in 

their major. 

So those are just two examples of what we are trying to do. 

Mr. WALBERG. Dr. Nixon? 

Mr. NIXON. Thank you very much. Monroe County Community 

College has a number of strategies in that regard. And, by the way, 

the best assistance we got in that regard was from Global Engines 

five years ago that opened an engine plant here in Monroe, and 

their requirement is an associate degree to work at a plant. That 

spoke volumes to the community and the students who are starting 

to think about these new careers. 

In addition to that, Monroe County Community College is a 

member of the WIN, the Workforce Intelligence Network, that was 

funded by employers and others in Detroit. We are one of eight 

community colleges, including Macomb, and the greatest tool in our 

toolbox is getting all the data now for what is driving these jobs, 

what are the best paying jobs. The latest data that I have is in 

your material in part of my text that I didn’t read this morning. 

But here is why this is important. Fortunately, we have a marketing department that is working closely with the local newspaper 

that is continually informing the students of where those highskilled, high-paying jobs are, so that when they come to the campus, they at least have an idea. 

My concern is that there is another population of individuals, according to the WIN data, that are 40-years-plus whose shelf life on 
57 

their skills may have expired, just like software does. Those are the 

adults that come back for the short-term training programs for 

some of these high-skilled jobs. Our challenge is finding the money 

for the tuition for those programs as we have had in the past. 

But there are a number of strategies in addition to that in the 

high schools, the high school counselors that our enrollment management people work with all the time. We also have a high school 

program on campus which with the ISD which is geared on all 

healthcare careers, which takes care of all the healthcare careers. 

They are coming onto the campus as a freshman in high school instead of going to their high school, and they are here five years, 

and by the time they finish they will have an associate degree and 

their high school diploma. When the new career tech center is 

open, that is the plan for that, to reach down, do the talent searching into the lower grades. 

So we don’t have this issue of a student coming here and saying, 

‘‘What should I take?’’ 

Mr. WALBERG. Yes. Well, I appreciate that, and I certainly think 

we ought to be encouraging our young people to be all that they 

can be. 

Mr. NIXON. Right. 

Mr. WALBERG. But not necessarily telling them you can be anything you want. Even if you could be, you still have to make a contribution to society that adds to the tax base and to paying your 

own way, as opposed to the dreams that never come true. Ultimately, with the vanishing dollars we have, we can’t afford that. 

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you. 

Dr. Shields, Dr. Nixon brought up an issue that I had wanted to 

explore a little bit, and that is the issue of dual enrollment. Do you 

do a lot at your college with students who are in high school, and 

does Michigan have an overall program to promote students getting 

college credit while they are still enrolled in high school? 

Ms. SHIELDS. Yes, and thank you. JCC in all three counties has 

dual enrollment agreements, and specifically at our Lenawee facility, which is JCC at LISD Tech. So clearly, we have those relationships wherein students do come to us and they are enrolled at their 

high school and also JCC to get their preliminary coursework completed, and it also helps to offset the cost of college for so many of 

those students who may otherwise not be able to find the funding 

to attend. 

Chairwoman FOXX. And I would like to switch gears, then, just 

a little bit. How are you working with the employers that you are 

hoping will employ your graduates? How are you working with 

them to get the feedback that you need to get the skills for the students so that when they graduate or when they complete a certificate program or in whatever way they decide to move on to work, 

how are you working to get those skills imbued in your classes? 

Ms. SHIELDS. Yes, thank you for asking. Well, three different 

ways right now. This is perfect timing. We are hosting a job fair 

next week at JCC, and employers in our community are just so excited about that, to be able to come to our campus and get a talent 

match. 
58 

Additionally, we have advisory groups wherein we sit down and 

have those candid discussions, and sometimes they are very sensitive, basically helping us understand what they are looking for 

when they hire on our graduates, and then how those graduates 

can be successful long-time employees. 

So, as I stated earlier, our first-year seminar class is being redesigned to incorporate the information that I get as a career coach 

and connecting with our employers with regard to those soft skills 

and the 360 approach to the students to help them have a greater 

work ethic and be that workforce, the desired workforce that is 

going to support our community and the local employers. So advisor group meetings. 

Additionally, many of our faculty are adjuncts that work as professionals or practitioners in their field of expertise, and they bring 

forth some amazing information that helps us as we look to curriculum reform and re-delivery. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you very much. 

I wonder, Ms. Betz, if you wanted to mention anything else about 

what Siena Heights is doing to meet the local workforce demands. 

Have you ever been faced with eliminating programs that are no 

longer in demand as regards the workforce? 

Ms. BETZ. Sure. We recently put—within our graduate college, 

we have a Master of Arts in Counseling. One of the concentrations 

that students could obtain was called school counseling. We were 

receiving feedback from students, and from those on our practicum 

sites as well, that it was kind of a declining market with some difficulties facing that particular area. So we decided this past fall to, 

in fact, put a moratorium on that particular concentration, and in 

doing so we took a look at the program as a whole. 

It was 48 semester hours. We recently adopted a 60-semesterhour program for the counseling degree, and that would bring us 

up to standards for the accreditation, which is the Council for Accreditation in Counseling and Related Educational Programs, both 

their 2009 and the expected 2016 recommendations for that program. So that is one example. 

In our undergraduate program, our community services major, 

we were hearing feedback from DHS administrators that students, 

in order to get hired into particular jobs within the State of Michigan, needed to have specific skill sets that our curriculum was not 

addressing at the time. So we created a family systems concentration within that major that students could elect to do, and that has 

been very helpful in helping them obtain employment. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Great. 

Mr. Walberg? 

Mr. WALBERG. It was mentioned, I believe, Dr. Shields, you mentioned earlier about responding to employer concerns on employee 

deficiencies. I think that was the term you used. It sounded to me 

like you were saying there are employers who say, ‘‘They are 

trained, but they are not trained to what we really need in the 

field.’’ And so I would ask the question, how do they report those 

needs to you? 

Ms. SHIELDS. Thank you. They are very clear and honest about 

when they hire in a new employee and they have expectations, and 

oftentimes it is not a technical expectation or a specific hard skill, 
59 

but it is more a work ethic issue. To give you a perfect example, 

a discussion I had with an employer, she simply said if I could just 

get these people to return after payday. So we are looking at some 

life skills training and other types of characteristics found in successful employees. So those are the types of problem solving, financial literacy, communication, diversity, those types of skill sets that 

seem to not be as proficient in the candidate as an employer would 

hope. 

Mr. WALBERG. But what systems do you have in place, what 

mechanisms do you have in place that makes it possible, or maybe 

a better term is easy, for employers to get back to training institutions like yours and say, ‘‘Appreciate the help, but we are missing 

something.’’ Do you have any concrete systems in place that do 

that? 

Ms. SHIELDS. We have our Corporate and Continuing Ed Division 

that interacts with the workforce of our communities, in addition 

to our advisory group meetings. 

Mr. WALBERG. So they are going out to their workplaces and—— 

Ms. SHIELDS. Yes. 

Mr. WALBERG [continuing]. Saying we know that some of our 

graduates, our students who are there with you, our coops, whatever, how is it working? 

Ms. SHIELDS. What type of training do you need, how are things 

going. So, those open dialogues. 

Mr. WALBERG. Okay. Do any of the rest of you want to answer? 

Mr. NIXON. Just a comment about those. I mentioned that we 

had 200 professionals that give us advice. It is through the advisory committees like you mentioned just a couple of moments ago. 

But our workforce development—and I should also mention on 

their behalf that they are in the audience—they are presenting a 

career fair also on this campus this coming Friday. 

But having said that, when we have new employees, and we hope 

we have a lot of them in the future, one of them is the wind tower 

company, they were the first ones that came to us and told us that 

all of those certified welders that are coming out of the program 

had some skills gaps. That’s when it was a one-on-one, if you will, 

like a triage working with them to see, well, if they are missing 

something you need specifically for welding those great big tall 

towers, then we can step in and help them in that regard. 

Mr. WALBERG. Well, I appreciate that. 

Madam Chairwoman, I yield back. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Thank you. 

I have one question I wanted to ask Dr. Nixon that he raised a 

little earlier in his comments, and that is you mentioned working 

across state lines. 

Mr. NIXON. Correct. 

Chairwoman FOXX. On the nuclear program I believe it was. 

Mr. NIXON. Yes. 

Chairwoman FOXX. I wondered if you would talk a little bit more 

about the experience that you have in working across state lines 

with other industries or other colleges. 

Mr. NIXON. Right. This was when the nuclear tech program became a critical need for DTE. Our problem was we didn’t have the 

three or four core courses that were required to start that program 
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immediately. There is a community college, Lakeland Community 

College in Ohio, that did have that. So DTE helped us fund a twoway television system, and then using some of their content experts from the Fermi plant here locally, we were able to start up 

that program right away with two-way television classes from 

Ohio. That gave our curriculum committee, our faculty about a 

year to develop our own program or our own courses so that then 

that certificate would be ours. 

Interestingly, the first nine students that graduated walked 

across our stage, but they had certificates, associate degrees from 

Lakeland Community College in Ohio, and then the next year they 

became the Monroe County Community College students. The reason why that is important and I am happy that I had an opportunity to say this, that is how much we appreciate these direct 

competitive grant programs like the Department of Labor’s. We 

have 260 welders trained, and they don’t have to be limited to anywhere. It is a federal grant. Students can come from anywhere and 

take those certificate programs, and we still have 100 openings, as 

I said, within a 50-mile driving radius. 

So we enjoy the opportunity to have a program like that, direct 

tuition for those students to get good jobs, whether they are in 

Michigan or wherever. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Well, thank you very much. 

Mr. Walberg, do you have any other comments? I know we are 

up against a hard break here for people’s schedules. So, do you 

have any other questions you would like to ask the panel? 

Mr. WALBERG. I’m sure there are plenty more, but I know you 

have a hard break. But could I ask one final question? 

Mr. Levy, you mentioned that there was a 15 percent increase 

in enrollment in the last eight years, correct? 

Mr. LEVY. Yes, that is correct. 

Mr. WALBERG. Have the rest of you seen that similar increase in 

enrollments? 

Mr. LEVY. Let me clarify that. Like I said, that was an eight-year 

period. But in the last few years, it has been relatively flat. There 

was a jump up, and then it is relatively flat. 

Mr. WALBERG. Okay. And the reason for that jump in your determination? 

Mr. LEVY. I am imagining it is because of economics, people 

going back to community college to get retrained and retooled. I 

would imagine that would be the main reason. 

Mr. WALBERG. So they saw the local community college, the local 

training entity near them as an asset at that point in time? 

Mr. LEVY. Absolutely, and just a general comment about that. 

Having come from the University of Michigan, now that I am at 

the community college here, there isn’t a day that goes by that they 

don’t recognize the importance, the critical importance of community colleges as it relates to the discussion in this hearing. It is a 

phenomenal asset that this country has. So we should continue to 

foster community colleges. They are instrumental to everything we 

are talking about today. There is no question in my mind about 

that. 

Mr. NIXON. Chairwoman Foxx, if I may, just very briefly, we had 

gangbuster enrollment until this last year, and in all 28 community 
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colleges we have seen a diminishing enrollment of 5 to 8 percent. 

It is because those first jobs that did start opening back up after 

the recession students are tending to take to put bread on the 

table. Now, that is a tribute to the shortage of high skills, because 

we still have a need for the high skills out there, but they are taking these low-paying jobs for obvious reasons, and that is something that we are looking at. 

Mr. WALBERG. Are they deciding not to continue on developing 

the high skills? 

Mr. NIXON. Well, they will come here as part-time students, but 

they have to put food on the table. They need a job. You would 

think there would be huge enrollments, but not all of them are able 

to do that if they have to get what is termed in the public’s remarks as low-paid jobs. They will just take them. 

Mr. WALBERG. Thank you. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Well, I would like again to thank the witnesses from both panels for taking time to testify before the subcommittee today. Again, I am very grateful to the community college here, Monroe County Community College, for hosting us, but 

everybody else for coming. 

Now I would like to recognize Congressman Walberg for any closing remarks he would like to make. 

Mr. WALBERG. I thank the chairperson for taking your time to 

come. I know all members of our subcommittee were invited on 

both sides of the aisle. Whether it is a result of sequestration and 

the House’s efforts to identify with that by reducing our budgets for 

our offices that have impacted travel as well, that may be the reason why a number of our members aren’t here. 

But the fact that you were willing to hold it and continue it is 

greatly appreciated by me because in Michigan, the first state into 

the recession and the downturn in the economy and the loss of jobs, 

the unemployment rate, we also know it has been a tough-fought 

battle uphill again to come to the place we are now where we see 

some encouraging signs through policy put in place by local and 

state governments, but also by increasing efforts from our education establishments identified by those here on the panel and 

others I see in the room that are trying to meet the needs of preparing people for real-life work situations that makes a difference 

not only in their lives and their family lives but the lives of the 

community, because we know the only way to foster positive 

growth in the economy is if we do it at the grassroots level, where 

individuals who want to take responsibility, to be accountable, to 

carry on for their own lives and their families’ lives and have an 

opportunity, as we all had, for future growth and making decisions 

that provide the dreams that is called the American Dream in our 

lives, we need a growing economy that starts with people who are 

trained, who are looking for their sweet spot and then functioning 

in their sweet spot, and then also cognizant of the fact that, hey, 

I don’t have to stay here. I can grow. I can be retrained. I can add 

to my abilities. 

So we appreciate the efforts of the community colleges, the local 

colleges and universities, and the training programs. But we also 

have to identify, Madam Chairperson, as I know you understand 

very well from your perspective about efficiency and doing things 
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without waste and doing things that are right-headed thinking, 

and I am not talking about the political context there, but rightheaded thinking, things that make sense, that we need to be pushing for that and doing it as efficiently as possible. 

So with the information that we have gleaned today and what we 

will glean in further hearings, both in Washington and other places 

around our country, we hope that we can make an impact for the 

future that says to our kids and our grandkids we didn’t screw it 

up totally for you, but we saw the problems. We have redeveloped, 

we have repositioned, and now we can expand for the future, for 

your opportunities as well, to continue making this the country 

that every other country on this earth gravitates toward to find the 

best practices. 

So I appreciate again the ability to be here today, the opportunity, and we look forward to the future. Madam Chairperson, 

thank you. 

Chairwoman FOXX. Well, thank you. And I appreciate the opportunity to come to Michigan. This is my second opportunity to come 

here. I was here about three or four years ago, down in Chairman 

Upton’s district. I flew into Grand Rapids and had a chance to visit 

that area and enjoyed my visit here. I believe it was in May, and 

it snowed, but I am used to that because I come from the mountains of North Carolina and we had a big snow last week, and we 

are used to cold weather. So when looking at the trees, they look 

like they do around my house this past weekend. It is not time for 

spring yet. So I am used to that. 

Having been at Appalachian State University for many years and 

in a community college for several years, I am very well aware of 

the superb history of education that Michigan has, obviously. I am 

very familiar with the names of your community colleges from having worked in the education field over the years. I am very familiar 

with the University of Michigan, and Hillsdale College has a tremendous presence on Capitol Hill these days. They have a seminar 

one Friday a month. They are bringing in people all the time. I 

have had interns from Hillsdale, and so I know Hillsdale County 

and the name Hillsdale from the very great presence that Hillsdale 

College has on Capitol Hill right now. 

I wanted, to save a little time, to say, as we often say on the 

Floor or in committee meetings, I associate myself with the remarks of my distinguished colleague, Mr. Walberg, his opening remarks as well as his closing remarks. He talked a lot about hardworking taxpayers in the United States, and I too am very concerned about that. We have a lot of people who are working, and 

we are all very grateful for those people who are working and paying taxes right now. It is their money that we are spending for 

these other programs, and it is important that we be good stewards 

of that money. 

So our hearings, both in Washington and here, are to help us 

learn how we can help the higher education community be better 

stewards of the money that is given out directly through student 

aid, as well as indirectly in the programs that are being operated 

by very many people. 

All of us would like to see the United States be the manufacturing powerhouse it has been in the past, and North Carolina and 
63 

Michigan share a history in that area, I believe. So we would love 

to see manufacturing come back. We would like to see the kind of 

jobs that are value-added jobs be available to our constituents. 

So again, I want to thank our staff, the staff of the Education 

and Workforce Committee, as well as the staff here at Monroe 

County Community College for the effort that you put in. And to 

the folks here who took their time to observe this hearing, I hope 

we have helped enlighten you a little bit as it has helped enlighten 

us. 

And with that, there being no further business, the subcommittee 

stands adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:21 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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