Board for State Academic Awards (CGS § 10a-143)

● The board consists of nine members.

● The governor appoints eight members for six-year terms; students elect the ninth member for a two-year term.

● One chamber confirms.

● The board governs Charter Oak College, which offers an alternative, personalized approach to college education for adult learners. The college offers degrees by validating credits based on assessments of student portfolios and through standardized and special examination. The college also operates the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium.

QUESTIONS

1. What special skills or experience do you have in the field of education, particularly higher education for adults or educational technology?

2. As the state's unemployment rate rises, more adults are likely to return to school to upgrade their skills or finish degrees. What opportunity or challenge does this present for Charter Oak?

3. The state's colleges and universities are likely to face declining state support for operations and student financial aid programs. How will this affect Charter Oak's ability to meet its students' needs? What can Charter Oak do to improve its efficiency and cut costs?

4. Based on your own experience as a Charter Oak student, do you have any suggestions for how Charter Oak can improve the student experience?

5. What type of student is best suited for distance learning programs? How does Charter Oak determine whether an applicant possesses these attributes?

6. Do you have any suggestions for how Charter Oak can improve its academic programs? What mechanisms does it use to evaluate its programs?

7. What role, if any, should Charter Oak play in addressing the state's allied health workforce shortages?

8. To what extend should employers shape education policy and programming?

9. What is the value of distance learning for higher education in general and Charter Oak's students in particular? Do you see any downside to distance learning?

10. How do the learning needs of adults differ from traditional college students? What does Charter Oak do to support adult learners?

11. How should Charter Oak coordinate its role with the state's traditional two- and four-year colleges? Does Charter Oak have articulation agreements with the state's public colleges? How well are these working?

RP: ts