The State Board of Education on Friday voted unanimously to adopt a series of higher education reform recommendations issued earlier this month.
State Board member Debbie Critchfield said Friday’s vote allows the policy-setting board to “begin the necessary work to implement (the recommendations), as well as identify some budget items that have been requested and prioritize two of them.”
Back on Sept. 15, Gov. Butch Otter’s 35-member higher education task force issued 12 unanimous recommendations aimed at improving higher education outcomes, making college more accessible and modernizing the state’s college and university system.
The State Board adopted all of those recommendations, and voted to prioritize funding for two items within the State Board of Education’s “system-wide needs” budget.
State Board members voted to prioritize a $350,000 request to launch a statewide degree audit and student data analytics system. Such a system would be designed to provide students more transparent data on credits they earn and the transferability of courses as students move from one institution to another, State Board of Education staffers said.
State Board members also voted to prioritize an $800,000 funding request to support the Idaho Regional Optical Network.
The State Board is eight-member policy setting body that is responsible for general supervision and governance of Idaho’s public schools and colleges and universities. The State Board is scheduled to meet next from Oct.18-19 at Lewis-Clark State College.
Further reading:
9.15.17: The Higher Ed Task Force Recommendations, At a Glance
