The Oregon Senate approved a bill Friday that would add a director seat to the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, raising the seat count to 12.
The new seat would be filled by a faculty representative from one of Oregon’s four smaller public universities: Eastern Oregon University, Oregon Institute of Technology, Southern Oregon University or Western Oregon University.
Currently, the only faculty seat is most often filled by a representative from Oregon State University, Portland State University or the University of Oregon. Now, the Board will seat one representative from each group of schools.
The remaining 10 seats are filled by two students from separate universities and eight members of the general public, neither students nor faculty. All board members must be Oregon residents.
Oregon Senator Vicki Walker and Representative Phil Barnhart were among the sponsors of House Bill 2579.
– Allie Grasgreen