Board of Regents May Revamp Colleges

BOSTON--In an unexpected move, the state Board of Regents in Higher Education voted yesterday to propose revamping its system of colleges and universities, possibly consolidating schools and programs.

The Board of Regents, which oversees the operation of the state's 29 higher education facilities, voted to consider the changes at a time when its institutions are battling other state agencies for money in a tight fiscal year. Incoming board chair Paul Tsongas pioneered the move.

"We're going to look at everything--closings, mergings, trimming down and expansion," said higher education Chancellor Franklyn Jenifer.

The regents unanimously approved a motion calling for a review of the current system "in light of the current and prospective student population we serve" and to "identify additional resources that may result from a possible restructuring of the system that could be used to benefit all our public colleges."

The Board expects a final set of recommendations to be ready for approval in May.

Regents refused to say whether the ideas under consideration will lead to a more streamlined or an expanded higher education system, which now serves 190,000 students.

But State Rep. Nicholas A. Paleologos (D-Woburn), co-chair of the legislature's Education Committee, said Tsongas and the regents are trying to strengthen areas of growing student interest and discard under-used sectors of the system. These could involve selling portions of college campuses and using the proceeds to finance other areas of higher education.

Fears that higher education faces budgets cuts are justified. Paleologos said. "It's a difficult target to resist for people who have the knives out," he said.

Jenifer said many restructuring moves will be confined to the University of Massachusetts, with campuses in Boston, Worcester and Amherst. But he said major changes at all state public colleges and universities will be considered.

A commission on the future of UMass will complete a report on possible changes within a month.

Among other things, the commission has looked at the possibility of seeking independence from the regents, according to spokesperson Mark Horan. Paleologos said the university has also pushed for the take-over of Southeastern Massachusetts University and the University of Lowell.

The regents' staff has been conducting a study of its own, but results have not been made public, said regents' spokesperson Terry Zoulas.

The point of the study is "to take a long-range look at the mission of each institution," Tsongas said.

Tsongas, the designated chair of the regents, strongly endorsed the ideas behind the study. The former U.S. Senator has vowed to be a strong advocate for higher education and has lobbied for spending more on the state public college system.

At Tuesday's meeting he called the current proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning in July "unacceptable."

"It's not a budget for excellence. It's a budget for mediocrity," Tsongas said. "We have to make the case for public higher education much more aggressively."

Jenifer fueled speculation that consolidation may be in the works by pointing out during a budget presentation at the regents meeting that he was moving away from the philosophy of a "peanut butter budget." Such spending plans result in broad, but below average, higher education.