The special panel created by House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Algiers, to outline the future of higher education in Louisiana convened for the first time this morning. The Postsecondary Education Review Commission was created during the recent regular session and is charged with investigating ways to reduce state funding for colleges and universities without negatively impacting the institutions. The $1.3 billion shortfall in the current fiscal year has already stripped some services and positions, but subsequent billion-dollar slumps are also expected over the next two fiscal years.
Commissioner of Higher Education Sally Clausen was first to welcome the group and provided a brief overview of the system. “You’re certainly going to have a lot of questions and I encourage you to ask them during this process,” she told the membership. Dr. David Longanecker of Colorado, one of the handfuls of members from outside the state, likewise weighed in early in the meeting on the bigger picture in which Louisiana finds itself. “All of the evidence suggests that the return from this recession, at least in the west, is going to be slow,” says Longanecker, president of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
For more on the Tucker Commission, check out the following links:
—Piggybacking on the Board of Regents’ site, a new page has been generated for the Postsecondary Education Review Commission and should become a hub for data and related information in coming months. Check it out here.
—Today’s meeting, and those that will be held in the future, can be viewed live online here. Among the first items up for review this morning is Louisiana’s budget numbers.
—It’s a daylong meeting that caps off in the afternoon with the election of officers and a scheduling session to determine how the commission will move forward. The agenda can be found here.
—Here’s the actual law that created the commission. It charges the commission with studying the governance, facilities, funding, operations and alignment of degree programs at Louisiana’s public colleges. The commission must provide a written report of findings and recommendations to the Board of Regents by Feb. 12. In turn, the Board of Regents must review the report and submit its comments to the state Legislature by Feb. 26.
