Collaborating organizations for this meeting were The College Board and the National Conference of State Legislatures. Approximately 170 leaders representing the executive and legislative branches of state government, trustees, higher education officials, the business community, faculty, administrators and organizations attended the forum. This issue of Western Policy Exchanges highlights part of the dialogue that emerged in the sessions. Richard W. Jonsen, executive director of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, challenged forum participants to grapple with these issues and determine how western states can systemically accommodate the growing number of students and their specific needs through more efficient transitions.
Education is no longer a linear process for students.
According to Clifford Adelman, senior research analyst for the U.S. Department of Education, students are moving in, out, and around higher education at astonishing rates. A national study of the high school graduating class of 1982 revealed 50 percent had attended more than one higher education institution in a variety of combinations. Despite the apparent frequency with which students move around the system, however, the lines of demarcation are seldom penetrated without difficulty. The system needs to be redesigned to fit contemporary needs. Transfer and articulation is a much broader question than it once was, agreed Ann Daley, executive policy director for the Washington Governor's office.