The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education voted unanimously Friday to recommend former Northeastern President Richard Freeland as Commissioner of Higher Education.
Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville is expected to make a final decision in the next few weeks, said Eileen O’Connor, a spokesperson for the Board of Higher Education.
Freeland served as Northeastern’s president from 1996 to 2006. During that time, the university moved from No. 162 to No. 98 on the US News and World Report list of “Best National Universities.” From 1970 to 1992, he held a variety of teaching and administrative jobs at UMass Boston and from 1992 to 1996 he was vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the City University of New York.
“There is no doubt among the Board of Higher Education that Dr. Freeland has superior qualifications and a demonstrated record of sustained, outstanding experience in both public and private higher education in the Commonwealth,” said Frederick Clark, Jr., chairman of the Board of Higher Education, in a statement.
If named commissioner, Freeland would oversee the Commonwealth’s community and state colleges, including the University of Massachusetts system.
Freeland testified before the Board of Higher Education Friday afternoon near the State House at the McCormack Building, which houses state offices. He took questions on a variety of topics, including his experience at Northeastern and his management style.
“Northeastern was in a serious crisis when I got there,” Freeland said, acknowledging that UMass Boston drained Northeastern of many local commuter students. “I got there, and had to change its constituencies, its mission. Ironically, Northeastern became less of an open-access program.”
Freeland boasted, however, that he worked to develop a number of programs to keep a Northeastern education within the reach of lower income students. He said Northeastern accepts more students from Boston and gives them more financial aid than any other institution in the city.
He supported affirmative action and other diversity initiatives in his testimony, saying that such programs required support from the highest levels of administration. He said the commissioner’s role focuses largely on setting the tone on important issues.
“I think the commission does have a role, and this is badly needed in defining the vision of higher education statewide,” he said.
Citing what he called the “scandalous neglect” of the higher education system by state legislature, Freeland promised to work on behalf of colleges and universities by building ties with government, businesses and private colleges in Massachusetts.
“We need to work together for the betterment of the state,” he said.
He pledged to overcome “chronic inattention and chronic lack of support” from the state government and public. Clark said higher education in Massachusetts is currently underfunded by half a billion dollars, an amount that could increase as economic woes continue to plague the state.
Freeland said he was hopeful that he would be appointed to academia’s top post, echoing the same sentiments in his opening and closing statements.
“At this stage of my public life, there is no other opportunity I would like to undertake,” he said.
