On Thursday, Nov. 4, the governor-appointed steering committee that's been studying the future of public higher education in Colorado will present its final strategic plan to Gov. Bill Ritter and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE).

The bipartisan Governor-appointed steering committee charged with developing the Higher Education Strategic Plan (HESP) held its final meeting last Wednesday, with unanimous approval of the plan.

The plan -- The Degree Dividend: Building our Economy and Preserving our Quality of Life: Colorado Must Decide -- cites the looming funding crisis facing higher education in Colorado and advocates more funding from the state and more focus on completion of degrees and certificates. This Week @ Metro will post a link to the final plan when it is available, likely after Thursday. The final plan is expected to be relatively unchanged from the Oct. 8 draft version.

The CCHE distributed the draft plan to the governing boards of the state's colleges and universities in October for comment. Metro State's comments were generally supportive of the plan, and President Stephen Jordan, who served on the HESP's Mission Subcommittee, voiced his support of the plan's general findings at the steering committee's Oct. 27 meeting. One tactic in the plan that is particularly germane to Metro State is a suggestion to "Study the Auraria Higher Education Center and whether it remains the most effective structure to meet higher education needs in the Denver regional area."

Next up: The CCHE is required, by statute, to develop a new master plan for higher education and submit it to the governor and the General Assembly on or before Dec. 15, 2010.