UO Aligns With Governor on Higher Ed Reforms
University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere has announced that he will focus on education reforms advocated by Gov. John Kitzhaber during the current legislative session, then shift to the UO’s New Partnership proposal as a second step in the reform process for 2012.
“In a face-to-face meeting last week and an exchange of letters this week, I agreed to align the New Partnership proposals for university local governing boards (SB 559) and public/private endowments (SJR 20) with the governor’s plan to establish a new statewide board for education – the Oregon Education Investment Council (SB 909),” Lariviere said in an e-mail to UO employees.
Lariviere emphasized that legislative work on the New Partnership proposals will continue, and that advocates of the UO plan will position it for adoption when the legislature convenes in February 2012. A hearing on the New Partnership is scheduled for this week in the House Subcommittee on Higher Education.
While Kitzhaber’s letter does not commit him to backing the UO’s New Partnership proposals, Lariviere said in an interview with Inside Higher Ed that he was encouraged by what he has heard from the governor and his staff. “What we have received is as strong and as clear an endorsement of our ideas as we could reasonably expect at this stage,” he said.
Kitzhaber’s plan for this year’s first step toward higher education reform includes creating a new, statewide board for education – the Oregon Education Investment Council – whose authority would span from pre-kindergarten through post-secondary education. In his letter to Lariviere, the governor thanked UO advocates for working with him on “the kinds of redesign work necessary to transform our system.”
The governor also said in the letter that he will recommend that the 2012 Legislature give “full consideration” to the UO’s New Partnership proposals. “I am committed to developing recommendations for the 2012 legislative session around governance and funding,” Kitzhaber said.
In his e-mail to UO faculty and staff, Lariviere characterized his agreement with the governor on a timeline for higher education reform as a move toward stability for Oregon’s public universities.
“This is positive news,” Lariviere said. “For the first time, the governor has embraced our vision of more accountability through local governing boards and greater student access and affordability through public/private endowments.
“Because the New Partnership aligns with the governor’s vision for education reforms, it makes sense for his plan to be the first step toward implementing bigger, bolder higher education reforms early next year,” he said. “We recognize that making big changes takes time; fortunately, this is a question of months, not years. We will continue working with the governor, legislature and other higher education leaders on our ideas for education excellence.”
When he was asked in the Inside Higher Ed interview if the New Partnership delay represents a concession by the UO, Lariviere described the move as “a concession to political timing and political processes.”
» Learn more…