Last week, the Senate unanimously approved a bill to create the commission. Observers expect the resolution to pass the House of Delegates before the legislative session ends April 11.
Towson University President Robert Caret successfully lobbied the Senate Budget & Taxation Committee to be added as a TU representative on the commission.
A similar resolution establishing a commission was introduced in 2004, but died in committee. Similar provisions were added to House Bill 1188, which was passed by the legislature but vetoed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich.
Sen. Patrick J. Hogan (D-Montgomery) said the commission would study the coordination, funding and state support of the University System of Maryland and other institutions of higher education.
"I'm hoping they come out with recommendations that clearly demonstrate how and at what level the state should be committed to higher education," he said.
Hogan said the state's system of funding higher education has been "like a roller coaster, up and down, for far too long."
USM Chancellor William Kirwan, who would sit on the commission, said he is encouraged that the Governor and the General Assembly recognize the need for a significant reinvestment in higher education.
"There's a disagreement about the means for doing that, and so I think a commission that would bring together representatives from higher education, the General Assembly, the executive branch has a chance to really come to grips with what I think is one of the most important issues facing our state," Kirwan said.
Caret said the commission would help focus attention on the appropriate level of state funding support and tuition levels.
"It's going to look at the realities at growth versus access," Caret said. "It also has to look at the issues related to that, which is how to support growth."
Towson's expansion plans depend on guarantees of sustained funding for growth, but the initial resolution did not include a Towson representative. The resolution specifies the commission should include several university presidents. The first version of the legislation included the presidents of University of Maryland College Park, University of Maryland University College, University of Maryland Baltimore, Morgan State University, and The Johns Hopkins University -- but not Towson.
Caret and Assistant to the President for Governmental Relations Jennifer Gajewski testified before the Budget & Taxation committee in favor of adding a TU representative to the commission.
"We suggested that the largest comprehensive in the state, and the campus that is probably going to grow the most in the coming years, should be part of the dialogue," Caret said. "Others felt that way also."
"The president of Towson made a case to me that they should be included...It was a good case," Hogan said.
The legislation was amended to include Caret or his designee. The commission would also include three state Senators, three members of the House of Delegates, the Secretary of Higher Education, the Secretary of Budget and Management, the President of the Maryland Independent College and University Association, and community college representatives.
Members of the Budget & Taxation Committee also amended the bill to add several members of the business community.
"Whatever recommendations the commission comes up with, I want the biz community to have a seat at the table," Hogan said.
According to the resolution, the commission would contract with a private consultant to study the "linkages between tuition policy, state support to higher education institutions, and institutional and state financial aid."
The resolution now sits before the House of Delegates.
"In my opinion, there's no reason for it not to" pass, Hogan said.
The commission would report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by July 1, 2006.
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