LEE, NH – MAY 24, 2012 – On May 23rd, the New Hampshire State Senate decided on a voice vote to decline to name members to serve on a conference committee to work out significant differences between the House and Senate versions of HB 1692. This action effectively kills the bill.
The two versions of HB 1692 took very different approaches to changing the USNH governance structure and the nature of the Chancellor’s Office, as the House bill called for reducing the office to 12 staff and shifting many centralized services to the four USNH institutions. The Senate version did not include this language and instead would have required annual accountability reports.
“We thank members of the Senate and the House Finance Committee who in a bi-partisan manner conducted a thorough and thoughtful review of our current model of providing a well coordinated system and centralizing core services across the University System, and concurred it is more cost effective and efficient than the proposed alternative” said USNH Chancellor Ed MacKay. “While we are pleased with the outcome, management, the Board and independent experts are working together to review what policies, services or activities should be revised to sustain the University System’s leadership in enabling our institutions to achieve their respective missions in the most efficient and effective manner for the people of New Hampshire. Moreover, we are fully committed to improving communication about our efforts to provide affordable access to quality programs and the other accountability measures cited by the Senate.”
