New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle A - Governor's Office › Chapter I - Executive Orders › Part 6 - Executive Orders (Eliot Spitzer) › Section 6.14 - Executive order no. 14: establishing the new york state commission on higher education

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
WHEREAS, New York State's public higher education system is
					 among the world's largest, educating more than 400,000 degree candidates on 64
					 campuses in the State University of New York ("SUNY") and more than 200,000
					 degree candidates on 23 campuses in the City University of New York ("CUNY"),
					 and also educating hundreds of thousands of non-degree students; and
WHEREAS, New York State's private colleges and universities
					 educate 460,000 students on 150 campuses; and
WHEREAS, New York's colleges and universities must meet the
					 challenges posed by rapidly changing demographic, scientific, technological and
					 economic trends in order to prepare students to be successful in commerce,
					 science, education, government, social sciences, humanities and the arts;
					 and
WHEREAS, many students currently enter New York's higher
					 education institutions lacking certain knowledge and skills necessary for
					 success in college; and
WHEREAS, many well prepared and qualified students are
					 confronted with financial and other barriers to obtaining a college education;
					 and
WHEREAS, New York's colleges and universities should
					 attract, prepare and retain the best students and faculty from the State, the
					 nation and other countries; and
WHEREAS, New York's colleges and universities should
					 educate their students about the importance and value of public and community
					 service and afford them opportunities to pursue such endeavors as part of their
					 formal education; and
WHEREAS, college and university research and degree
					 programs must strike a balance between the opportunity for students and faculty
					 to pursue research which is untethered to predetermined economic objectives,
					 and the need to align a significant portion of their efforts and resources to
					 New York's economic agenda, regional economic development plans and the needs
					 of New York's current and future workforce; and
WHEREAS, all New York residents, businesses and community
					 groups are vitally affected by the quality of higher education;
NOW THEREFORE I, Eliot Spitzer, Governor of the State of
					 New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the
					 laws of the State of New York, do hereby order as follows:
1. There is hereby established the New York
				  State Commission on Higher Education ("Commission").
2. The Commission shall consist of 30 members
				  appointed by the Governor, including two members appointed upon the
				  recommendation of the Speaker of the Assembly, two upon the recommendation of
				  the Temporary President of the Senate, one upon the recommendation of the
				  Minority Leader of the Assembly, one upon the recommendation of the Minority
				  Leader of the Senate, one member of the faculty of a college or university
				  within SUNY, one member of the faculty of a college or university within CUNY,
				  one SUNY student and one CUNY student.
3. The Governor shall select a Chair of the
				  Commission from among the members. A majority of the members of the Commission
				  shall constitute a quorum, and all recommendations of the Commission shall
				  require approval of a majority of the total members of the
				  Commission.
4. The Governor shall
				  appoint an Executive Director of the Commission, who shall be an employee of
				  one of the State agencies or instrumentalities herein directed by the Governor
				  to render assistance to the Commission.
5. The Commission may establish such
				  committees as it deems necessary to facilitate the analysis and formulation of
				  recommendations pertaining to specific areas of inquiry and concern, and may
				  enlist the assistance of experts in the subject matter of each
				  committee.
6. The Commission shall
				  conduct a review and analysis of New York's colleges and universities, with
				  particular emphasis on public higher education and the SUNY and CUNY systems.
				  To the maximum extent possible, the Commission shall consider, and where
				  appropriate incorporate, the expertise and learning of prior commissions
				  devoted to higher education in New York State, and that of State agencies and
				  instrumentalities with authority over and expertise in higher
				  education.
7. The Commission's
				  inquiry shall include analysis of:
(a)
				  academic standards and performance in New York's colleges and universities,
				  with particular emphasis on SUNY and CUNY;
(b) access to higher education in New York
				  State and particularly to the SUNY and CUNY systems;
(c) the degree to which public primary and
				  secondary education adequately prepare New York students to enter and succeed
				  in college;
(d) the mission of the
				  State's community colleges, and the proper balance between preparing students
				  to enter four-year institutions upon graduation and to obtain high-value jobs
				  upon graduation;
(e) the extent to
				  which SUNY and CUNY research and degree programs are aligned with economic
				  development objectives of the State and the region of the State where each
				  campus is situated;
(f) the
				  financing of public colleges and universities, including State support, federal
				  support, tuition, alumni support and other sources of income;
(g) the reasonable costs of an education for
				  students in various SUNY and CUNY degree programs, and the available sources
				  and the amounts of financial aid for students who need assistance to meet such
				  costs;
(h) the types and amounts of
				  financial support provided by the State to private colleges and universities
				  and their students, and the rationale for such programs;
(i) the degree to which different types of
				  SUNY institutions (i.e., two-year colleges, four-year colleges, technical
				  colleges, university centers and the SUNY schools within Cornell University)
				  are treated and governed similarly or differently within SUNY and by the
				  State;
(j) the degree to which
				  different SUNY campuses are permitted to tailor their offerings, practices and
				  policies to the specific needs of their students, faculties and the surrounding
				  communities; and
(k) the nature of
				  public and community service opportunities and degree requirements afforded and
				  enforced at SUNY, CUNY and more generally in New York's colleges and
				  universities.