Higher-Ed Commissioner Calls
60x30TX Plan “Fairly Generic”
Process to Revise Higher-Ed Goals Begins
The board was briefed (webcast) on the process that has just started that will likely lead to what is called a “refineme
That’s the plan that calls for the coordinating board and the state to direct their efforts so that 60 percent of the state’s young (age 25 to 34) population has achieved some kind of postsecondary credential by 2030.
Texas Higher Education Commissioner Harrison Keller told the board that he realized after becoming commissioner a little more than a year ago there was a need to refine the plan, a need that was made more pressing due to the challenges faced by higher-ed and the workforce due to the pandemic.
Keller said the current 60x30TX plan that promotes the attainment of any kind of postsecondary credential is “fairly generic” and that the overall educational goal doesn’t differentiate among the kinds of degrees, the kinds of certificates or workforce credentials, and leaves out older adults.
“Tectonic Shifts”
“We’re experiencing tectonic shifts in our workforce needs, in our labor market” Keller said, pointing to data that 3.6 million more Texans applied for unemployment since March.
He noted that the pandemic has had a disproportional impact on certain Texas populations, especially women, blacks and Hispanics, and Texans who are low income and people living in rural areas. Many of these groups are suffering job losses that are disproportionately high.
Keller also faulted the current 60x30TX plan for leaving out, entirely, the role of research and development at the university level.
“I think a lot of folks are counting on our universities’ research missions to help us navigate this crisis,” Keller said.
He added that many higher-ed institutions across the state responded to the pandemic by developing multidisciplinary solutions to our public health challenges in areas such as researching new vaccines, creating new air filters and inventing more cost effective ventilators.
A timeline calls for two committees to jointly develop initial recommendations, and for the final revisions — following an extensive period of involvement by the public, stakeholders, legislators and others — to be completed some time in the later part of 2021.