Higher Education Commission - Mission and Priorities
The Commission shall consider the current state of public and private higher education in Virginia and the best practices in other states and countries, and shall make findings and recommendations for addressing the following priorities:
- Preserving and enhancing the instructional excellence of Virginia's leading universities and of the higher education system as a whole;
- Increasing significantly the percentage of college-age Virginians enrolling in institutions of higher education and attaining degrees;
- Attracting and preparing young people for the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) areas and other disciplines (e.g., healthcare and advanced manufacturing) where skill shortages now exist and/or unmet demand is anticipated;
- Forging new effective public-private partnerships and regional strategies for business recruitment, workforce preparation, and university-based research;
- Making Virginia a national leader in providing higher education opportunities to military personnel and veterans;
- Crafting a sustainable higher education funding model that will systematically move Virginia toward higher levels of educational attainment and economic competitiveness over the next decade-and-a-half;
- Developing innovative ways to deliver quality instruction, cost-saving reform strategies, and affordable new pathways to degree attainment for capable and motivated Virginians regardless of income or background;
- Evaluating strategies to reduce costs through additional college placement testing and accelerated degree completion; and
- Creating effective workforce development programs through expanded use of the Community College System in coordination with the Commission on Economic Development and Job Creation.
The Commission's report shall set forth a comprehensive strategy for increased educational attainment, skills development, and lifelong learning that will equip Virginians to succeed at the highest levels of global economic competition. The strategy shall include a renewed commitment to public-private collaboration, predictable state operational support, and managerial flexibility at the institutional level. The strategy shall simultaneously challenge, encourage, and empower the institutions to attract resources, emphasize STEM and other priority disciplines, while deemphasizing low-demand programs, and using new technology and pedagogy to replace outmoded methods of service delivery with cost-effective instructional programming. The strategy shall embrace the full array of Virginia's higher education assets-public and private, for-profit and not-for-profit, residential and non-residential, physical and virtual-for the purpose of ensuring that all Virginians have affordable access to appropriate post-secondary education, training, and re-training opportunities.
The Commission shall accomplish its work through committees appointed by the Chairman
