The Oregon State Board of Higher Education was the

statutory A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

governing board for the

Oregon University System The Oregon University System (OUS) was administered by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education (the "Board") and the Chancellor of the OUS, who was appointed by the Board. It was disbanded in June 2015. OUS was responsible for governing the s ...

from 1909 to 2015. The board was composed of eleven members appointed by the

Governor of Oregon The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...

and confirmed by the

Oregon State Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the state Sena ...

. Nine members were appointed for four year terms; two members were students and appointed for two year terms.

History

The board was first known as the Oregon State Board of Higher Curricula and maintained that name from 1909 to 1929. In 1929 the

Oregon Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the ...

passed chapter 251, Oregon Laws 1929, that unified the state's public universities under the auspices of the newly created Department of Higher Education and officially changed the board's name to the Oregon State Board of Higher Education.State ex rel. Oregon State Dental Ass'n et al. v. Smith et al. (1954), 201 Or. 288; 270 P.2d 142. Part of that law abolished each public school's board of regents and created a nine-member State Board of Higher Education. Becky Johnson, the first person whose appointment to a state Commission was subject to

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

approval, served on the Board from 1962 - 1975. Former

Neil Goldschmidt Neil Edward Goldschmidt (born June 16, 1940) is an American businessman and Democratic politician from the state of Oregon who held local, state and federal offices over three decades. After serving as the United States Secretary of Transportat ...

was appointed and selected as the board's president in January 2004, but the

confirmation process that approved his appointment also led to revelations of a decades-old sex scandal. Goldschmidt resigned from the board three months after his appointment. Governor

Ted Kulongoski Theodore Ralph Kulongoski ( ; born November 5, 1940) is an American politician, judge, and lawyer who served as the 36th Governor of Oregon from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative As ...

took the unusual step of assuming the board presidency following Goldschmidt's resignation. The most recent addition to the Board was

Jim Francesconi Jim Francesconi (born 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served on the Portland, Oregon City Council from 1997 until 2004. In 2004 he raised $1.3 million in his bid for mayor of Portland, more than doubling the previous fund-raising ...

, former Portland City Councillor and mayoral candidate. He was confirmed by a vote of 28-1 in February, 2007, with Senator

Vicki Walker Vicki Lynn Walker (born May 29, 1956) is an American politician. She served as the Oregon State Director for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A member of the Democratic Party, Walker previously served in both houses of ...

casting the sole "no" vote, and Senator

Rick Metsger Richard Thomas Metsger (born August 16, 1951) served in the Oregon State Senate from 1999 to 2011. President Barack Obama nominated Rick Metsger to serve on the Board of the National Credit Union Administration on May 16, 2013. The U.S. Senate ...

absent. Both the Oregon State Board of Higher Education and the

closed permanently on June 30, 2015. Most of the authorizations and programs of those two agencies were assumed by the

Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission The Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission is a volunteer state board established in 2011 in the U.S. state of Oregon, with responsibilities for advising the governor, the legislature and the Chief Education Office on statewide postseco ...

, which was formed in 2011 and expanded by the legislature in 2013 when independent boards were established for the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, and Portland State University.

References

External links

Oregon State Board of Higher Education
(official website) {{Authority control Public education in Oregon Government of Oregon 1929 establishments in Oregon 2015 disestablishments in Oregon

History

See also

References

External links