MUS UPDATE
Biweekly Update to
The Montana Board of Regents
March 31, 2008
- The Commissioner hosted national higher education experts and evaluators for the Making Opportunity Affordable grant on Monday, March 24. The visitors held group and individual meetings with the proposed state team, discussing issues related to two-year education and the potential for Montana to develop a more coordinated system of two-year education. Prospects for an initial planning grant look bright; MOA officials should notify OCHE within two weeks.
- The interim legislative committee on Economic Affairs will hold its May 7 meeting at the University of Montana and its July meeting (date to be determined) on the Montana State University campus. The Committee will be engaging in an interim study of research and commercialization in Montana. (Study | Membership)
- The Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) has asked for detailed reports from the MUS for its June 5-6 meeting on the topics:
- The progress of the transferability initiative, specifically to the LFC “bulldog” committee comprised of Senators Dave Wanzenried , D-Missoula, and Trudi Schmidt , D-Great Falls.
- Student loan availability in Montana specifically related to MHESAC auction-rate bond matters and the appropriate role/level of state government oversight in this area. (Membership)
- OCHE has assembled an advisory/search committee for the Deputy Commissioner for Two-year Education. The position has been advertised in national and regional publications. The process, timeline, and committee members are available on the MUS website. (position announcement)
- The Deputy Commissioner for Academic and Student Affairs search committee met on March 23. The committee is expected to identify two or three finalists by the end of April. (search committee members)
- In March, the Governor’s Office and the State Workforce Investment Board sponsored five community meetings on the campuses of MUS Colleges of Technology. The meetings focused on ways to integrate college training with private sector/joint apprenticeships. Participants represented organized labor, MUS colleges, business, community-based organizations, State Workforce Investment Board, and State Department of Labor and Industry. When the summary report is available, we will alert you and post it on the MUS website.
- The Transferability Initiative will hold a “kick-off’ meeting of four more discipline councils (Literature, Sociology, Geo-sciences, Computer Sciences/IT) this Friday, April 4. This will increase the total number of councils that have begun work on common course numbering to sixteen.
- The Commissioner and other OCHE staff members will attend a Kindergarten to College meeting on April 1 to discuss the development of a statewide education and research network.
If you have any questions or would like more information related to the above topics, contact:
Tyler Trevor
MUS Associate Commissioner
444-0307
