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What's New at the DHE
Board of Higher Education recommends Dr. Richard M. Freeland for Commissioner of Higher Education
At a special meeting held Friday, December 5, 2008, the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education voted unanimously to recommend Dr. Richard M. Freeland to be the next Commissioner of Higher Education. The decision followed a public meeting and interview with Dr. Freeland, which provided an opportunity for the full Board to ask questions and get a sense of his vision for higher education in the Commonwealth.
The Commissioner Search Task Force presented a unanimous recommendation to the Board of Higher Education at their meeting on November 21 to consider Dr. Freeland for the position. With the December 5 vote, the Board forwards the recommendation to Education Secretary Paul Reville, who, as part of the Governor’s reorganization of education in the Commonwealth, has the final authority in appointing Commissioners at the three education departments—Early Education and Care, Elementary and Secondary Education, and Higher Education.
Press Release (.DOC)
Governor Patrick appoints new Board of Higher Education Chair, new member
Governor Deval Patrick has announced the appointment of Charles F. Desmond, Ed.D., as Chair of the Board of Higher Education. Dr. Desmond replaces Frederick W. Clark, Jr., who announced at the November 21 Board meeting that he was stepping down from the Board.
A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Desmond currently serves as Executive Vice President of the Trefler Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving educational opportunities and success for Boston's urban youth. Prior to this, Dr. Desmond worked for 30 years at the University of Massachusetts Boston, with a focus on student affairs and community collaboration. He was appointed by the Governor to the Board of Higher Education in September 2008.
Governor Patrick also appointed Nancy Hoffman, Ph.D., to the Board of Higher Education. Dr. Hoffman is Vice President at Jobs for the Future, where she guides the activities of JFF’s Youth Cluster's activities, the Early College High School Initiative, dual enrollment policies and practices and efforts to make college opportunity affordable. She has held positions at several institutions of higher education including Brown University, Temple University, Harvard Graduate School of Education and the University of Massachusetts Boston. Hoffman holds a B.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of California, Berkeley.
Board of Higher Education Chairman resigns
Board of Higher Education Chairman Frederick W. Clark, Jr., has announced his resignation from the Board. In a letter sent to Governor Deval L. Patrick on November 20, 2008, Chairman Clark cited "serious and sudden economic conditions in my private sector profession" as the reason for his resignation and thanked the Governor for allowing him "the tremendous honor and privilege of serving you and the people of Massachusetts as Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education."
Chairman Clark's resignation becomes effective on December 6, 2008, the day after a special Board meeting for the public interview of Dr. Richard M. Freeland, the finalist for the position of Commissioner of Higher Education.
Full letter of resignation from Chairman Clark (.DOC)
Request for Proposals: Support for Mathematical Preparation of Elementary Teachers
The Department of Higher Education is pleased to announce a special round of STEM Pipeline funding to support one-year mini-grants to teams of mathematics educators to design curriculum modules for use in college mathematics courses for pre-service elementary teachers at the associate, baccalaureate, or post-baccalaureate level. Proposals are due by February 5, 2009.
Visit the STEM Pipeline Fund page to download the Request for Proposals
Board Meeting: November 21, 2008
The Board of Higher Education met on November 21, 2008. Among the Board's business was:
- Approval (.PDF) of FY2010 Budget Request for the public higher education system, including the 15 community colleges, nine state colleges, and five campuses of the University of Massachusetts. Upon this approval, the Budget Request is forwarded to the Executive Office of Education, who then compile a budget request on behalf of all sectors of public education for submission to the Governor in January.
- Approval (.PDF) of a new Community College Student Success Indicator for the annual Performance Measurement Report, which expands the definition of student success at the community colleges to capture a larger proportion of both students and successful outcomes.
- Creation (.PDF) of a Task Force on 21st Century Skills, charged with making recommendations on how 21st century skills—such as global awareness, critical thinking, and ethical leadership—can be more fully integrated into college student learning to better prepare students for today’s career and citizenship challenges and demands. This Task Force follows the work of a similar task force formed by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
, which released in November 2008 its recommendations to integrate such skills into the K-12 system. - Announcement by the Commissioner Search Task Force of the selection of Dr. Richard M. Freeland as the finalist for the position of Commissioner of Higher Education. The Task Force has forwarded its selection to the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, who will hold a special meeting on Friday, December 5, 2008, to interview Dr. Freeland and vote whether to forward the recommendation to the Executive Office of Education for approval. See the Commissioner Search section of the website for more information.
All motions from this meeting, as well as prior meetings, are available in the Policy and Report Library.
Request for Proposals: College and Career Web Portal
The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, together with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA), has released a request for proposals (RFP) to develop a College and Career Web Portal. The site will provide students with a single point of entry for the online tools needed to plan, prepare for, research, apply to and pay for college. It will be free and available to all Massachusetts students, beginning with those in middle school, and will play a key role in the Commonwealth’s overall efforts to promote college and career readiness and success.
To request a copy of the RFP, contact Tom Murphy, MEFA's Director of Programs and Operations, at 617-224-4810 or tmurphy@mefa.org. Responses are due to MEFA by Monday, January 5, 2009, by 1:00 p.m.
Press Release (.DOC)
Board Meeting: October 2, 2008
The Board of Higher Education met on October 2, 2008. Among the Board's business was:
- Approval (.PDF) of a change in the name of Bentley College to Bentley University.
- Approval (.PDF) of a new Master of Communications program at Lasell College, an independent institution located in Newton, Massachusetts.
- Approval (.PDF) of amended guidelines for the Scholar-Internship Match Fund Program.
- An update (.PPT) on early enrollment data.
Aundrea Kelley appointed Acting Commissioner of Higher Education
On September 5, 2008, the Board of Higher Education voted unanimously to appoint Aundrea E. Kelley as Acting Commissioner of Higher Education. Kelley is well known within the Massachusetts higher education community, having worked at the Department of Higher Education for 12 years, including the past four years as Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Policy.
Kelley replaces Dr. Patricia F. Plummer, who served as Commissioner and Chancellor of the Board of Higher Education for the last two years. On September 1, Dr. Plummer moved to a position at the University of Massachusetts as Senior Advisor for Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and International Relations.
Kelley will serve as Commissioner for six months while the search for the next Commissioner continues.
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