The newly reformed State Board of Higher Education is coming to campus today and Friday for its first official face-to-face meetings.
The 11-member board, including the seven newly appointed members, is ready to tackle Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s four-step agenda for higher education, and the members plan to introduce themselves to each other and the campus community.
“It’s a good board, a very diverse board, with very complementary skills,” board member Kirby Dyess said. “I didn’t know anyone on the board before the nominations.”
The skills and backgrounds of the group members seem to indicate the governor is pushing for a strong focus on integrating public education with economic development.
Members include a former governor, a Nike Inc. executive, investors, students, a University professor, a community college president, a lawyer, a timber executive and the head of the Oregon AFL-CIO.
The members, who were appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Oregon Senate on Jan. 22, have had one telephone conference prior to meeting this week.
“This board has a short list of priorities, and they were given to us by the governor,” Board President and former Oregon Gov. Neil Goldschmidt said.
Those priorities, announced in November, include improving accessibility to education, job training in desirable fields, activity that spurs state economic development and general investment in higher education.
Goldschmidt is the board’s highest-profile member. In addition to being Oregon’s governor from 1987 to 1991, he is also a former mayor of Portland, a former Nike executive and former U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Jimmy Carter.
Despite his prestigious political career, Goldschmidt’s appointment drew fire during nomination hearings in January.
Sen. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, questioned Goldschmidt for more than an hour about his private consulting firm’s dealings with the State Accident Insurance Fund, the state’s publicly owned worker-compensation company. Walker expressed concern that there was no record of his firm’s work, despite a $40,000-a-month consulting contract, which has since been terminated. She also questioned him about his involvement in a possible takeover of Portland General Electric and his other business styles and practices.
“I’m not sure he always has the public’s interests in mind,” she said.
His nomination was enthusiastically welcomed by other members of the Oregon Legislature.
Goldschmidt declined to comment on his nomination hearing, saying he answered the questions the best he could at the time, and he appreciated that the panel was doing its work. He said his firm’s connections will have no effect on his function as a board member.
“We have no business clients that have any interests in the higher education system,” Goldschmidt said.
Nike Inc. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Donald Blair is new to Oregon and government work, but he said his long experience in financial management will benefit the state.
“I’ve spent quite a few years in the private sector and that doesn’t necessarily apply to the public sector, but I think the principles of financial management and how large institutions work will be very applicable,” he said.
Joining Blair with a financial background is John von Schlegell, co-founder of the private investment firm Endeavour Capital.
“As an investor, I think the taxpayers are looking for not just more money for money’s sake,” von Schlegell said. He added that the he thinks the governor wants him “to help sort out what things the education system does that translates to economic development and the betterment of the state.”
Kirby Dyess also works in the financial industry. The director for Intel Corp.’s investment organization until 2002, she has shifted her focus from large companies to small start-ups as a private investor.
She said investing time in higher education was one of her major priorities after retiring two years ago.
“I think education is the major driver of economic development,” she said.
Dyess also is a chairwoman for the Business Advisory Board for the University’s Lundquist College of Business.
Labor leader Timothy Nesbitt, chief executive officer of the AFL-CIO, is also new to the board. He originally refused the appointment, but his colleagues in the labor community convinced him of the board’s importance.
“Affordability of higher education and access to a high quality secondary education are important to working families,” he said.
Also joining the board are appointees Gretchen Schuette, president of Chemeketa Community College; and Howard Sohn, chairman of the board of the Lone Rock Timber Co. and a former professor.
Previously appointed to the board were University chemistry Professor Geraldine Richmond; Rachel Pilliod, a University student and ASUO President for 2002-2003; Henry Lorenzen, a lawyer and president of H&C Lorenzen Farm Inc.; and Bridget Burns, a student at Oregon State University.
The board is meeting today for an invitation-only reception, and on Friday at 7:30 a.m. for a meeting of the board’s Executive Committee. There will also be a full public meeting at 9 a.m. in the EMU Ballroom on Friday.