The Coordinating Commission offered testimony on 10 higher-education-related bills currently being considered by the State Legislature. Interim Executive Director Carna Pfeil spoke on behalf of the commission for five of the bills; the commission submitted testimony in letter form for the others. Below is a brief description of those bills, as well as a link to the commission's submitted testimony.
The Coordinating Commission recently elected Colleen Adam of Hastings as its new chair and Carol Zink of Lincoln as its vice chair for the upcoming year.
Adam represents District 5 and has been a member of the Commission since 2003. Zink is an at-large commissioner and has been with the Commission since 2007.
The Coordinating Commission is governed by an 11-member board of commissioners. Six of the commissioners represent each of the state's supreme court judicial districts; five are at-large members. Commissioners serve six-year terms.
Gov. Dave Heineman has appointed two new commissioners to the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education. Lori Warner of South Sioux City will represent District 3, which covers northeast Nebraska. Dwayne Probyn of Papillion will be an at-large member of the commission.
Warner is president and CEO of the South Sioux City Area Chamber of Commerce. She held the same position with the Beatrice Area Chamber of Commerce from 2005 to 2012. Warner earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from Peru State College.
Due to inclement weather in parts of the state, the Coordinating Commission has cancelled its work session scheduled for the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 4, in Lincoln. The Commission's regular meeting is still scheduled for Dec. 5.
The Coordinating Commission recently welcomed two new employees to its research staff.
Jill Heese is the commission's new research coordinator. She comes to the commission from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where she was a survey data analyst. Heese earned her bachelor's degree in Business Administration and master's degree in Survey Research and Methodology, both from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The Coordinating Commission's Ritchie Morrow recently met with White House officials in Washington, D.C., to discuss a variety of student financial aid issues, including those that may result from the potential re-authorization of the federal Higher Education Act.
Coordinating Commission Vice Chair Riko Bishop of Lincoln has been appointed to the Nebraska Court of Appeals, 1st District. As a result, Bishop resigned as a commissioner, a post she held since 2007.
Bishop most recently worked as an attorney with Perry, Guthery, Haase & Gessford, P.C., L.L.O. Her work has focused on general civil litigation and appeals, with the last five years focused primarily on domestic matters, worker’s compensation, and school law issues.
Marshall Hill has resigned as executive director of Nebraska’s Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education.
The Coordinating Commission has received an application from Kaplan University-Omaha to offer a new degree program in Nebraska.
Kaplan seeks authorization to offer a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) in Pre-licensure Nursing. The commission will consider Kaplan's application at its Aug. 1, 2013 meeting at Central Community College in Grand Island Sept. 19 meeting in Lincoln.
