The State House on Wednesday sent to the governor its bill in support of the State System Redesign, which Chancellor Dan Greenstein calls “some of the most significant improvements to how the State System operates in (its) 38-year history.”
The bill, with House concurrence on Senate amendments, contains a number of reforms, including a provision that allows “creating, expanding, consolidating, transferring, or affiliating institutions.”
Board of Governors Chair Cynthia Shapira says the bill supports the three principles of the redesign: student success, leveraging strengths, and transforming the governing structure of the State System.
On Indiana In the Morning on WCCS on Thursday, State Representative Jim Struzzi says the approval of House Bill 2171 is “huge”
The bill does not address the funding request by the State System to bring about the reforms. The State System is asking for $20 million in each of the next five years.
Among the reforms in House Bill 2171 are:
- A new process for the Board of Governors to adapt to changing market forces through creating, expanding, consolidating, transferring, or affiliating institutions.
- Increased opportunity for the Board of Governors to achieve significant systemwide cost savings through shared services or collaborations among the universities. The Board would demonstrate how such measures can provide the universities cost reductions and improved efficiencies, while providing a university’s Council of Trustees discretion to participate.
- Swift appointment of students to the Board of Governors and Councils of Trustees, enabling the Board of Governors to make such appointments.
- Relief from providing information already available through a federal education data system, eliminating the “Snyder Report.”
- Ability for campus police to share investigatory information with university leadership for use in student disciplinary matters.
- Protection of student privacy by exempting student records from state disclosure laws
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