SB 270 and HB 3120 reconfigured the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC), which was initially established during the 2011 Oregon legislative session with the passage of SB 242 to coordinate between Oregon’s universities and community colleges. The HECC maintained a relatively low profile during its first two years of existence, in part due to lack of clarity in its role as well as lack of funding and staffing. Legislators sought to redress this issue during the 2013 session when they established independent boards at Portland State University, Oregon State University, and the University of Oregon.

In August, Governor Kitzhaber reconstituted the HECC’s membership and the Senate confirmed his appointees the following month. The Governor also appointed Ben Cannon, his chief education advisor, to serve as HECC’s Executive Director.

Tim Nesbitt, Chair
(Former member of the State Board of Higher Education, education advisor to Governor Kitzhaber, Chief of Staff for Governor Kulongoski, and AFL-CIO union official)

Betty Duvall, Vice-Chair
(Continuing HECC member, Portland Community College [PCC]Foundation Board member, former Executive Director PCC Rock Creek Campus, former professor and director OSU Community College Leadership Program)

Neil Bryant
(Continuing HECC member, former State Senator,
attorney in Bend)

Kirby Dyess
(Former member State Board of HigherEducation, private investor and former VP and Director of Operations for Intel Capital)

Ramon Ramirez
(President PCUN – Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste – a Woodburn based farmworkers union)

David Rives
(President, American Federation of Teachers–Oregon, teacher of English to speakers of other languages at PCC, Member Oregon Education Investment Board)

Larry Roper
(Vice Provost, Student Affairs, OSU)

Carmen Rubio
(Executive Director, Latino Network, former staff member for Portland Mayor Tom Potter, Multnomah County Commissioner Serena Cruz, and City Commissioner Nick Fish; member UO Alumni Assn. Board)

Duncan Wyse
(President, Oregon Business Council) 

Non-voting members

Lee Ayers-Preboski (Associate Professor, Criminology and Criminal Justice, SOU) 

Frank Goulard
(Retired/part time mathematics faculty member, PCC)

Lamar Wise
(Student, UO)

Anayeli Jimenez
(Student, Lane Community College)

Rob Fullmer
(IT Specialist, PSU)