David Rives, AFT-Oregon President was among the nine voting members of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) confirmed by the Senate in September. Frank Goulard, Local 2277 (PCCFFAP) President will serve on the commission as one of five non-voting members.
Community Colleges were added when HECC was re-chartered by the Oregon Legislature in 2013. This addition is significant because they will now be aligned with universities, instead of K-12 schools as they were in the past.
“The changes in HECC are a positive move for Oregon, with community colleges and universities now working together,” said Rives. “I would also like to assist kindergarten through university level schools collaborating by region to strengthen public education. Finally, most important to this process is the engagement of educators, students and staff,” he said.
HECC oversees a complex system, with more than 380,000 students in eight public universities, 17 public community colleges, 67 private for-profit and independent colleges and universities, and that receives state general fund appropriations of $835 million per biennium.