NEW YORK, NY -- April 22, 2004 -- Senator Hilllary Rodham Clinton kicked off a live online discussion on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 by presenting her latest legislation to address the needs of non-traditional students to an interactive webcast audience logged-in from around the world. Senator Clinton took questions from participants and firmly addressed their concerns about affording an education, balancing work, school and family responsibilities, overcoming inadequate academic preparation and navigating the college environment.

“Pell Grants are the single most important source of grant aid for students in higher education; I was very disappointed that the president’s budget proposal failed to provide adequate funding for Pell Grants,” said Senator Clinton, citing an example in response to an online audience question.

“Today the maximum Pell grant only covers 38% of the total cost of attendance at a community college, that’s only half of what it covered 25 years ago," Clinton continued. "If Pell grants are essential to access to higher education, then the amount of the Pell Grant has to keep pace with the real cost of college. And the president’s proposal to place a lifetime limit on Pell Grants would be particularly harmful to non-traditional students, the very students I’m trying to help with my legislation. I’m not going to stand by and have this very important building block of access to affordable college education eliminated.”

The panel collaborated with over the 1200 education professionals, students and administrators who were live online, addressing key issues and sharing resources. Abraham Lackman, President, Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, offered best practices of colleges successfully attracting and retaining non-traditional students. Mark David Milliron, President and Chief Executive Officer of the League for Innovation in the Community College focused on the “Learning Swirl” phenomenon – the notion that institutions of higher education are facing students of “all ages, stages, ways and whys.” Thomas Flynn, President, Monroe Community College, SUNY and Joyce S. Tsunoda, Emeritus Chancellor for the Community Colleges, University of Hawaii addressed successful partnerships and detailed operational questions like the need for extended IT support hours, and flexible scheduling.

The recording of the interactive webcast is now available online at: http://www.learningtimes.net/tcclogin.shtml

The live webcast took place as part of the “The Teaching in the Community Colleges Online Conference 2004 (TCC 2004);” was produced by LearningTimes; and co-sponsored by the New York State Higher Education Initiative (NYSHEI). This webcast took place in a virtual ballroom provided by Communicast, Inc.

For more information on the non-traditional student and the legislation co-sponsored by Senator Clinton and Senator Bob Graham (FL) go to http://clinton.senate.gov.

About TCC 2004
The TCC Online Conference is hosted annually, entirely online, by University of Hawai'i, Kapi'olani Community College in association with Osaka Gakuin University, Japan. Now in its ninth year, this event is designed to enable faculty, staff and administrators in higher education worldwide to share their expertise and engage in a productive dialog about innovations and practices in using technology for teaching and learning. For more information and registration visit http://tcc.kcc.hawaii.edu/.

About LearningTimes
LearningTimes, LLC designs and produces online learning conferences, communities, and events, and provides the platforms, applications and promotional expertise that make them successful. The LearningTimes Network of over 35 online communities and 15,000 members, connects learning-oriented groups and provides unique opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration. Recent clients and partners include: The New York City Department of Education, Columbia Teachers College, St. John’s University, The New York Transit Museum, New Visions for Public Schools, The ICT Literacy Portal, The TLT Group, Workshops by Thiagi and InSync Training. For information visit http://www.learningtimes.net.

About NYSHEI
NYSHEI is a collaborative, member-supported organization that brings together New York's public and private institutions of higher education and their libraries. Its mission is ". . . to develop, enhance and preserve our research and educational services, collections and resources for the benefit of faculty, students, and the larger research community, and to promote new methods of scholarly communication." NYSHEI's 133 members represent over 70% of all eligible (accredited) institutions of higher education in the state, including all public and a majority of the private institutions. For information visit http://www.nyshei.org.