12/15/2010: Excerpting from Bill Graves in the Oregonian:
SALEM – A bipartisan legislative task force Wednesday approved a plan that would give Oregon public universities more autonomy while bringing them under the authority of a new Higher Education Coordinating Commission.
The proposed Higher Education Coordinating Commission would set goals and accountability measures for universities, evaluate and approve their missions and degrees, and develop a finance model for them. It would take over the job of administering student financial aid from the Oregon Student Assistance Commission, which would be abolished.
The new 15-member commission, appointed by the governor, also would coordinate the policies and operations of the state’s seven public universities and 17 community colleges with the aim of creating more cohesion for the state’s higher education system. …
The legislation includes nearly all of the provisions in a bill the State Board of Higher Education intends to introduce in the House next month. “I’m encouraged,” said George Pernsteiner, chancellor of the Oregon University System. …
The task force plan, however, does not give the state board the authority it wants to establish governing boards at one or more of the universities if it so chooses.
Sounds like good news for state bureaucrats, bad news for UO.
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