Regents adopt 5-year plan

By CANDACE CHASE

Board meets at Flathead Valley Community College

The Daily Inter Lake

Flathead Valley Community College hosted the Montana Board of Regents on Wednesday for the first of two days of meetings.

Starting with a business meeting, the regents, who oversee public higher education in Montana, adopted a strategic plan for the next five years with goals that include:

. Increase the overall educational attainment of Montanans through increased participation, retention and completion rates in the Montana University System.

. Assist in the expansion and improvement of the state's economy through the development of high value jobs and the diversification of the economic base.

. Improve institutional and system efficiency and effectiveness.

In midmorning, the regents began a planning session or retreat. Sheila M. Stearns, commissioner of higher education, led the discussion with a review of 20 years of history of the Montana University System.

Stearns listed 10 moves that she considered "extraordinary steps" taken to strengthen connections among Montana's postsecondary institutions. They are:

. moving colleges of technology into the Montana University System,

. converting from quarters to a semester system,

. appointing the Montana Education Commission, which created recommendations for the 1990s,

. restructuring into sets of east and west campuses,

. changing from campus appropriations to lump-sum appropriations to the Board of Regents,

. Phase Two of restructuring in 1995, which included raising entry standards at four-year campuses, instituting a systemwide course numbering system and eliminating role and scope statements,

. adoption of common data management software,

. board of education committees for P-20 education (preschool through college), American Indian education, unified budget, and planning and evaluation,

. shared leadership and initiatives to contribute more to Montana's economic development,

. transferability performance audit of 2004 to make transferring between institutions easier.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer places a high priority on improving the ability of students to move between units of higher education in Montana, Stearns said.

"For all our efforts over the last 20 years, we still have far to go," she said.

After Stearns, the regents heard reports on strategic planning from officials of the community colleges and the campuses of the University of Montana and Montana State University.

Jane Karas, president of Flathead Valley Community College, spoke on behalf of the three community colleges. She said all the elected boards worked closely with staff and faculties on the plans.

She said her community college's mission of promoting excellence in lifelong learning was approved by the Board of Trustees. College officials develop goals and strategic initiatives on an annual basis.

"Our plan is a dynamic document," Karas said. "It's not placed on the shelf."

Regents gathered today for a Board of Education meeting, which features opening remarks by Gov. Brian Schweitzer at 8:10 a.m.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.