Rep. Phil Barnhart@@http://www.leg.state.or.us/barnhart/@@ is pushing a bill that would establish separate governing boards for the University and for Portland State University, the two public universities that have expressed an interest in having separate boards.
Barnhart, a Democrat who represents District 11 — which consists of Central Lane and Linn Counties —@@same link@@ hopes to establish a separate governing board for the University that would have the power to manage their own budgets, set employee salaries and hire and fire the University president.
“Right now, the University is weaker if it has to conform to rules that makes sense in Portland but no sense in Eugene,” Barnhart said.
The plan is that the University’s board members would be appointed by the governor and would include a student, a University employee and a trustee of the University Foundation, among others.
Barnhart expects the bill to pass the legislature this session in the next few days. The timeline calls for a report of progress by August 15 and a final report in early January to set up legislation for next session.
“We are working for the benefit of the state of Oregon and all students. (The board) will be able to respond more quickly to local situations and students will be more involved since the board will be on campus,” Barnhart said.
According to Oregon University System spokesperson Di Saunders@@http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_72c61cf4-eb1f-11e0-9bd4-001cc4c002e0.html@@, the OUS supports the idea of these two institutions having independent boards, but want to proceed carefully.
“The movement toward an institution board has to be done as a public process with a lot of convening of those who would be impacted,” she said.
Barnhart’s bill is advocating similar ideas to the ones the student political action committee Students for Higher Education Excellence Now is currently lobbying for in Salem. SHEEN supports continuing former University President Lariviere’s efforts for local leadership but is not lobbying specifically with Barnhart.
“I have spoken at length with Rep. Barnhart about his legislation, and our advocates are meeting with him in Salem on Friday,” SHEEN president Sam Dotters-Katz@@http://oregonsheen.org/@@ said. “There are countless supporters from different constituencies who are working on this legislative lift.”
Barnhart’s bill is written to fit with Gov. John Kitzhaber’s “umbrella” Education Investment Board@@http://projects.registerguard.com/web/newslocalnews/27528597-41/bill-committee-state-barnhart-oregon.html.csp@@, which proposes centralizing all public education. This board would organize a system of accountability and support to ensure student success on all levels.
Barnhart is hoping to move away from the “one-size-fits-all” approach that he feels is no longer working for the state. He wants a diverse group of people to sit on the board to provide the greatest benefit to the University.
“The system we have set up is designed to allow for this single board that runs all universities to operate as if they were all the same. The students at the University and the others are very different and have different needs,” Barnhart said. “They can’t be managed as if they were all the same.”
Like other statewide committees, members will be appointed by the governor and approved by the state senate.
“We need to decide what are the authorities given to the board versus what would be kept at the state level,” Saunders said.