State Capital Notes ...
In 2013, Gov. Deval Patrick was often at loggerheads with legislators on big-ticket items, including education funding and transportation. In 2014, the atmosphere was more cordial. Just prior to the close of the 2013-14 legislative session, lawmakers sent a $36.5 billion FY 2015 budget to the governor.
The governor and legislators agreed on a spending plan with no new ta...
State Capital Notes …
Gov. Lincoln Chafee and state legislators closed out the six-month legislative session by approving an $8.7 billion budget for fiscal year 2015, taking steps they believe will turn the state’s economy around and put people back to work. Rhode Island has the highest unemployment rate in the U.S. at 8.3%. The budget plan fills a $67 million gap, which includes $24...
Comings and Goings ...
Suffolk University named Norman R. Smith interim president, beginning Sept. 1, replacing James McCarthy. Described as a turnaround expert at Wagner College in New York City, Smith is a member of the Registry for College and University Presidents—a service that matches veteran education leaders to interim positions, where they are viewed as freer to make unpopular...
State Capital Notes …
In the 2014 session, the second year of the biennium, not a budget-writing year, two issues that were holdovers from the first session, commanded the attention of the governor, lawmakers, attorney general, state healthcare agencies, hospitals and other healthcare providers.
Gov. Maggie Hassan and state lawmakers reached agreement on the Health Care Protection Program...
Mary Grant
Comings and Goings ...
The University of North Carolina Board chose Mary K. Grant to be chancellor of UNC Asheville, the state's public liberal arts university, effective Jan. 5, 2015. Grant, the president of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts since 2002 and recipient of NEBHE's 2014 Massachusetts State Merit Award, will succeed Anne Ponder who served as UNC Asheville chancellor fo...
Much of NEBHE's Higher Education Innovation Challenge is based on fears that economic and demographic pressures will make the current number of degree-granting institutions (about 250 in New England and 4,600 nationally) unsustainable—especially for those that rely heavily on tuition, have low endowments and are not well-differentiated.
This fear has lurked in various guises for decades. In 1...
Comings and Goings ...
The University of Maine System name former Central Maine Power President David T. Flanagan to be president of the University of Southern Maine. In addition to leading the utility's response to Maine's 1998 Ice Storm, Flanagan served previously as assistant Maine attorney general and as chief legal counsel to Maine Gov. Joseph Brennan.
Former NEBHE delegate Tom Coderre ...
State Capital Notes …
Vermont lawmakers passed a $5.5 billion budget along with $5.5 million in new taxes.
Property taxes were raised 5%. Spending overall increased by 4.1% over the prior year. The budget included a 1.6% increase in reimbursement rates for health care providers who accept Medicaid payments, which will cost $2.6 million. Lawmakers also increased the cigarette tax by 13 cen...
State Capital Notes …
In the second session of the biennium, Connecticut legislators approved a $19 billion budget for FY15 that increases spending by 2.5%.
Toward the end of the session, revised revenue forecasts forced lawmakers to scale back in a number of areas. Gov. Dannel Malloy’s promise to provide Connecticut taxpayers with a $55 rebate was put on hold as projections for dec...
Comings and Goings ...
University of Maine System Chancellor James H. Page announced that University of Southern Maine President Theo Kalikow will leave that post on July 18 and join the system office as president emerita and acting vice chancellor. In that position, she will undertake a systemwide community engagement initiative through June 30, 2015, when her employment contract ends.
The Main...
State Capital Notes ...
In 2013, Gov. Deval Patrick was often at loggerheads with legislators on big-ticket items, including education funding and transportation. In 2014, the atmosphere was more cordial. Just prior to the close of the 2013-14 legislative session, lawmakers sent a $36.5 billion FY 2015 budget to the governor.
The governor and legislators agreed on a spending plan with no new ta... 
Mary Grant
Comings and Goings ...
The University of North Carolina Board chose Mary K. Grant to be chancellor of UNC Asheville, the state's public liberal arts university, effective Jan. 5, 2015. Grant, the president of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts since 2002 and recipient of NEBHE's 2014 Massachusetts State Merit Award, will succeed Anne Ponder who served as UNC Asheville chancellor fo... 
Comings and Goings ...
The University of Maine System name former Central Maine Power President David T. Flanagan to be president of the University of Southern Maine. In addition to leading the utility's response to Maine's 1998 Ice Storm, Flanagan served previously as assistant Maine attorney general and as chief legal counsel to Maine Gov. Joseph Brennan.
Former NEBHE delegate Tom Coderre ...