Massachusetts. Board of Higher Education

The Board of Higher Education was established in Massachusetts by St 1965, c 572, "An Act to improve and extend educational facilities in the Commonwealth." The board was placed within but not subject to the control of the Department of Education, replacing the Board of Collegiate Authority. The legislation established for the first time a "system" of higher education and created a Board of Higher Education to guide and coordinate the growth and programs of its diversified institutions; the act was based largely on the work of the Willis-Harrington Commission (Resolves 1962, c 108; Resolves 1963, c 118; Resolves 1965, c 2), whose Report of the Special Commission (including members of the General Court) Established to Make an Investigation and Study Relative to Improving and Extending Educational Facilities in the Commonwealth was published the same year. The act also provided for five segmental boards of trustees to oversee and govern the state's thirty public institutions of higher education enrolling students in two-year, four-year, and graduate-level educational programs. These included separate boards for the University of Massachusetts, Southeastern Massachusetts University, Lowell Technological Institute (later the University of Lowell), the Board of Trustees of State Colleges, and the Massachusetts Board of Regional Community Colleges.

The board was to consist of twelve members, one each from the segmental boards of trustees and seven appointed by the governor, including one member of the governing board of a private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth, one member of a labor organization affiliated with the Massachusetts State Labor Council AFL-CIO, and at least two women.

The same act established an Advisory Commission to the Board of Higher Education consisting of the presidents representing the five segments of higher education mentioned above, the commissioner of education, and the director of research of the Advisory Council on Education, ex officiis, as well as a president of a private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth to be appointed by the governor.

To facilitate the continuing development and expansion of educational programs maintained by the state, the legislature granted broad planning and coordinating powers to the Board of Higher Education. The board was made responsible for planning, coordinating, and collecting data on services common to all segments of public higher education; reviewing budgets and capital outlay plans of individual institutions and making annual budget recommendations for public higher education to the governor and the General Court; administering the public scholarship program; approving all plans for the expansion of individual institutions; and providing for post-high-school vocational and adult educational services and programs. Additionally the board, through its Collegiate Authority Committee and its Academic Advisory Committee, had responsibility for approving new degree programs at public institutions and for chartering private institutions, responsibilities that it inherited from the Board of Collegiate Authority. Functions of the board were carried out by vice chancellors, including those in charge of academic affairs, administration and finance, student services, and planning.

Also functioning under the umbrella of the board was the Post-Secondary Education Commission (1202 Commission), created in 1974 (Exec Order 105) pursuant to section 1202 of the federal Education Amendments of 1972 (PL 92-318). The federally funded agency was responsible for comprehensive statewide planning encompassing public, private, and proprietary postsecondary educational institutions.

While the board was granted broad coordinating authority, the segmental boards of trustees governing the institutions had significant powers, including those to set personnel and academic policies and to exercise fiscal autonomy. For example, while the Board of Higher Education was given the power to approve new academic programs, the boards of trustees had the authority to determine the individual courses within a general program of study.

By St 1969, c 704 the board was placed with other educational agencies under the Executive Office of Educational Affairs, but this did not have a strong impact on its functions.

Subsequent legislation further defined the duties and functions of the board. In 1972 it was ordered to establish an Educational Opportunities Information Center (St 1972, c 354). In 1973 it was required to issue regulations to ensure equal education employment practices in state institutions of higher education, including annual compliance reports (St 1973, c 820), and it assumed authority for financial aid programs for Vietnam veterans attending state institutions (St 1973, c 654). St 1973, c 305 required defunct institutions to transfer all student records to the board.

In 1980 the Board of Higher Education and the Executive Office of Educational Affairs were abolished and their powers and duties transferred to the Board of Regents of Higher Education (St 1980, c 329, s 112). The segmental boards of trustees were abolished by the same act of the legislature and their powers and duties divided between the regents and individual institutional boards of trustees.

From the description of Agency history record. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 145429276