But if Mike Seaver can become a televangelist, we figure anything is possible.

At any rate, you have to give a California college student credit for trying. Instead of the traditional loan route, he wanted to sell 2% of his future earnings to an investor in order to pay his college expenses. His effort was halted by eBay’s powers that be, but two education experts say the concept has merit.

What do you think? Could this work or is it a worse idea than when Mike, Eddie and Boner tried to set Mr. Dewitt’s car on fire?

For years, Hoosier parents have been allowed to pay tuition, at a rate determined by a formula in state statute, to attend another public school outside of their home district. That rate has been based, approximately, on the amount of per-pupil general fund revenues that have been covered by local property taxes.  For most districts, that amount has been several thousand dollars per student. 

But under HEA 1001, the state will begin paying all of a district’s general fund revenues in January of 2009.  Thus, when schools calculate the amount of local property taxes to determine parent contribution under a "cash transfer" option, that amount will be zero or something close to zero. 

Some school administrators, most of whom had no objections to the transfer policy when parents had to pay thousands of dollars to do it, are now going bonkers. Indeed, the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents may consider a new policy statement this summer that would make it "unethical" for members of the association to accept transfer students. Other school administrators are already talking with legislators to seek their support in "fixing" this unintended outcome. 

Parents who are paying tuition under the current policy, along with those who may seek the option this fall, will need to continue paying the tuition level for the first half of the coming school year. But unless those who oppose parent options get their way in brow-beating superintendents to abandon the option, parents will find a much freer set of options starting in January of 2009.

Lawrance explains:

“The comprehensive Reaching Higher, America report is a significant research project with bold recommendations to better prepare our country’s workforce for the 21st century. It urges overhauling and expanding adult education and workforce skills training. That is what the Indiana Chamber has been advocating for in Indiana, as highlighted in our two recent reports on this area (including this year’s Indiana’s Adult Education and Workforce Skills Performance Report)."

Read Lawrance’s full statement here.

For the sake of congruity, I don’t mind telling you that this article was too long for me to read all the way through. However, the premise seems noteworthy and the layout is pretty.

Perhaps they’re more daring when it comes to trying organic cuisine, implementing an aggressive 401(k) investment strategy, or listening to that dangerous and provocative Elvis Presley "rock and roll" music, as they call it.

But when it comes to their first jobs, a new survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) indicates security and opportunity for advancement are top priorities. In fact, security ranks well above opportunities to pursue personal development and display creativity. Also of note, the students weren’t too concerned about the company taking an active role in the community.

Edwin L. Koc writes in the May 2008 NACE Journal:

"The fact that ‘company takes an active role in the community’ finishes 13th out of 15 in terms of importance is especially interesting because so much has been made of this generation’s community consciousness."

and

"The fact that financial security is the hallmark characteristic of this year’s graduating college seniors is frankly surprising. Most of the students in this generation come from families that would generally be viewed as relatively well-off."

To view the survey results, click here.

Just a week in, I can already tell this experience will be different than what I expected. Sure, I figured the profuse sweating and heavy box-lifting of summers past would be gone, but I had a suspicion it would be replaced by making color copies and decafs with cream and sugar.

This will not be an office barista internship, however. In my first couple days, I’ve written a press release, attended a tax conference, covered a news story, and shadowed what seems to be most of the staff members here.

I was also shown a lot of what the chamber actually does. You might know as little as I did, in which case I’d like to share that through my crash-course, I learned the Indiana Chamber of Commerce …

• Is the fourth largest chamber in the country
• Has earned 38 national and state awards since 1999
• Publishes more than 30 compliance and reference guides
• Offers services to more than 26,000 members from all 92 counties
• Publishes and distributes BizVoice magazine to over 15,000 subscribers

Needless to say, I am excited to work this summer with so many talented people in an organization that has so much success to take pride in — and no heavy boxes to lift.
 

That’s why president and CEO Christopher Clapp created the ALL (ANGEL Learning and Listening) Tour, which hit the road for the first time this year.

Employees formed groups of three or four people from different departments and experience levels. Each group will visit schools across North America from Florida to Canada. The trip will help employees gain different perspectives from customers while having fun. Destinations were selected randomly at a staff meeting, giving some employees a coveted trip to Florida in February or a less glamorous visit to Iowa in July.

“One of the things that’s emerged is somebody bought a little gnome, and you have to take the gnome and put the gnome in a picture some place,” Clapp says.

The gnome even brings a passport so the schools can sign or stamp it from the visit.

After each trip, employees get together for a debriefing – sharing their experiences, photos and stories of fun. Also, the well-traveled can help prepare novices by offering tips on what worked during their visits and what didn’t.

“I think it’s illustrative of what we try to do as an organization – keep things stimulating, keep things fun, but keep them really focused on the work at hand,” Clapp explains. The experience helps employees learn the vocabulary used by customers, see what their facilities are like and understand their location.

With trips overlapping, ANGEL is dealing with one predicament. “We’re having gnome hand-off problems so we’re ordering a couple extra gnomes,” Clapp admits.

Read more about ANGEL Learning and what makes it a Best Place to Work in the May/June issue of BizVoice®.

There are many Hoosiers with a vested interest in overcoming the challenges — such as 651,000 workers with no college education and earning less than a living wage.

Two names at the top of that list of interested parties are Thomas Snyder, president of Ivy Tech Community College, and Teresa Voors, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Snyder and Voors, along with Mark Lawrance (a Chamber senior vice president who oversaw the study in his role as head of the Chamber Foundation) are taking the message around the state. Audiences in Bloomington, Evansville, Fort Wayne and South Bend have heard about the needs, what the state is already doing well and how public and private sector leaders are working together to craft additional solutions.

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette and the South Bend Tribune report on the recent visits to their communities. Gary and Indianapolis are among the upcoming stops.

Contact Lawrance to learn about the study and what many are saying is the No. 1 long-term challenge facing our state.

And as the cost of living continues to rise, so do tuition prices for many Indiana parents hoping to help their children aspire for higher learning. One way to combat this financial scourge is simply for students to spend less time at school. Leading the charge in the Midwest, Manchester College has applied its three-year Fast Forward program to all 55 of its majors.

While critics argue the program deprives students of the full college experience, Manchester claims some Fast Forward students can still study abroad and take part in many extracurricular activities, depending on the major. 

To read more about the program, turn to the Chamber’s BizVoice magazine.