BATON ROUGE, La. – The Postsecondary Education Review Commission approved dates for future meetings today and agreed to discuss the role of Louisiana’s 4-year universities during its next gathering in October. The commission also asked to hear from a representative of the Association of Faculty Senates. Chairman Ben Nevers indicated that potential mergers and closures of campuses as well as governance will be deliberated in future meetings.

Meetings scheduled to date are:

Monday, October 26th and Tuesday, October 27th
    Monday, November 16th and Tuesday, November 17th
Monday, December 14th and Tuesday December 15th
      Monday, January 11th and Tuesday, January 12th

During today’s hearing, the commission heard from Patrick Kelly from the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) concerning Louisiana’s current degree production and how it might consider improving its outcomes. They also received information from Donnie Vandal, Deputy Commissioner for Management and Finance for the Board of Regents regarding the state’s current and future budget projections as well as the fiscal impact of potential shifts in enrollment.

The public is invited to provide input to the commission by logging onto its website at www.laperc.org and clicking on the “Tell Us What You Think” section of the website.
Reports, archived meeting video and other information can also be accessed via the website.

The 2009 Louisiana Legislature, with strong support from Governor Jindal, passed legislation sponsored by House Speaker Jim Tucker (Act 309) creating the Postsecondary Education Review Commission to study the governance, facilities, funding, operations, and number and alignment of degree programs at Louisiana public colleges, and to provide a written report of findings and recommendations to the Board of Regents by February 12, 2010. The Board of Regents will review the report and submit comments to the Legislature no later than February 26, 2010.