President Welty among top leaders in national summit

Dr. John Welty, president of California State University, Fresno was among the nation’s top leaders in higher education who participated Thursday (March 22) in the national dialogue, “A Test of Leadership: Committing to Advance Postsecondary Education for all Americans.”

Welty was among the 49 college presidents from throughout the country invited by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to attend the summit in Washington, D.C.

The presidents were among nearly 300 leaders from the worlds of business, higher education and philanthropy who discussed how to carry out the recommendations of the Spellings’ Commission on the Future of Higher Education.

By the end of the day, they had produced a list of 25 "action items." Education Department officials said they would work on assigning responsibility for the items in the coming days.

“The summit resulted in a number of recommendations addressing access, affordability and accountability,” said Welty.

“The recommendations on accessibility are designed to simplify the financial aid applications process and increase the amount of need-based aid. That is very good news for our students and the students of the California State University,” he said.