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1. Call Meeting to Order, Chairman James L. Kaplan
Chairman Kaplan called the meeting to order. A quorum was present.
2. Welcome, President Michael Horowitz
3. Announcements and Remarks, Chairman James L. Kaplan
Chairman Kaplan said, “I would like to introduce Ginger Ostro. We have been working with
Ginger on budget during my term as Chairman, and now she is going to be our liaison to the Governor’s
office, replacing Elliot Regenstein. I would also like to recognize Superintendent Randy Dunn who is
here with us today.
“We extend a warm welcome to Joyce Karon, who joins us as a representative from the Illinois
State Board of Education. This exchange of members from our various sister agencies is proving a
valuable endeavor, and one that will help us stay connected in meaningful and productive ways. Joyce,
welcome and we look forward to working with you.
“I also would like to welcome Aimee Guidera, the Director of the Data Quality Campaign, and
Jay Pfeiffer, Assistant Deputy Commissioner for the Florida Department of Education to our meeting this
morning. We are fortunate to have these national experts on the issue of data collection and analysis with
us, and they will discuss the value and importance of student information systems with us later in the
meeting.
“Welcome to two new advisory committee chairs who weren’t able to be with us in June – Curtis
White of Illinois State University, who now chairs the Faculty Advisory Council, and Keith Miller,
president of Black Hawk College, who has taken over leadership of the Community College Presidents
Council. We appreciate your willingness to serve in these capacities and look forward to your counsel on
matters that come before this Board.
“And finally, let me welcome members of the Student Advisory Committee executive committee,
who will be joining Board members for lunch today.
“I wish to comment on a few items on today’s agenda. First, we will act on establishing a
working group of Board members and others to review our process and criteria for evaluating new
programs and new institutions that come before us for approval. This has been a matter of longstanding
concern to many of us, particularly at a time when the number of online institutions and new proprietary
schools are proliferating. We must be certain that the criteria we use and the statutory measures available
to us are in sync with the times and with the Board’s obligation to ensure to the public that new programs
and new institutions meet an acceptable threshold of quality. This is a study that is long overdue.
“Second, we will have a presentation from the co-chairs of the Commission on School Leadership
– Dea Meyer and Dianne Ashby – on its findings and recommendations concerning programs that train
principals and superintendents, those school leaders who are absolutely critical to the improvement of K-
12 education. We in higher education bear responsibility for the quality of those programs and for the
capability of the individuals who emerge from them to lead schools and school districts throughout
Illinois.
“Finally, just a word about the Higher Education Cooperation Act (HECA) grants. Originally,
the Board was scheduled to act on at least some of these grant allocations today. Instead, we will act only
on the HECA grant for the Quad-Cities Graduate Center, the one grant that is a direct appropriation,
