Sec. B-5. Budget. The Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of the Budget shall work with the Chancellor of the University of Maine System, the President of the Maine Community College System and the President of the Maine Maritime Academy, together with the chairs of their respective governing boards, with regard to the duties transferred to the Board of Regents of Higher Education as the central policy-making authority for the state system of public higher education as set forth in this Act in order to develop recommendations for a proposed operating budget for the Board of Regents of Higher Education that must be provided through funds appropriated by the Legislature.

SUMMARY

This bill establishes a centralized system of governance and coordination for public higher education and reorganizes the system for public higher education in Maine by creating the Board of Regents of Higher Education, which is established as the central policy-making authority for public higher education in the State. The bill further establishes a coordinating council and an advisory committee to assist the board of regents in fulfilling its policy-making role of coordinating the programs and resources of the University of Maine System and its universities, the Maine Community College System and its colleges and the Maine Maritime Academy. The bill also establishes transition provisions to review and propose legislative revisions to the charters and relevant statutes of the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System and the Maine Maritime Academy to align the governance structures of these entities with the board of regents as the central policy-making authority for the state system of higher education. The bill further directs the Chancellor of the University of Maine System, the President of the Maine Community College System and the President of the Maine Maritime Academy, and the respective chairs of their boards of trustees, to work with the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs to address a number of transition provisions. Finally, the bill establishes July 1, 2007 as the effective date for implementing these governance and coordination changes.