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Montana Board of Regents ready to open meeting Thursday in Kalispell
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Montana’s new Board of Regents chairman, Ed Jasmin of Bigfork, will open a meeting close to home Thursday on the campus of Flathead Valley Community College.
By Candace Chase
The Daily Inter Lake
Jasmin became chairman recently after a board shakeup. He explained the board meets most often in Helena, but periodically takes its meetings to campuses across the state to view facilities and meet community and faculty members.
Although Flathead Valley Community College isn’t part of the university system, Jasmin said the regents are charged by state statute with approving its budget and courses. He pointed out the importance of making sure courses such as English 101 meet the same standards as university courses.
Board events begin today with a budget committee meeting at the Yellow Bay Biological Station. The community college hosts the major business meeting Thursday as well as a Friday breakfast with civic and business leaders.
Jasmin said he expected a rather routine meeting in Kalispell since the regents decided the controversial topics of tuition and fees at an earlier meeting.
He pointed to a discussion of requests for Ph.D. programs in history by both the University of Montana at Missoula and Montana State University at Bozeman as a potentially interesting debate.
Jasmin said regents typically consider program costs and the numbers of students projected before approving these sorts of programs.
The regents will begin their day Thursday with a 7 a.m. continental breakfast in the Learning Resource Center, then start their business meeting at 7:30 a.m. After approval of minutes, the regents scheduled an open forum for public input on the University System issues at 7:40 a.m.
Beside discussion of the Ph.D. programs, the agenda includes items such as conferring titles such as professor emeritus and associate professor emeritus on a number of faculty within the university system.
The regents will have lunch with the new commissioner of higher education, presidents and chancellors at noon in the Learning Resource Center. Then, from 1 to 1:50 p.m., the regents will meet with faculty representatives.
Jasmin said the regents always schedule time to hear from business and civic leaders as they take their business meeting around the state. In Kalispell, the meeting takes place at 7:30 a.m. Friday with a breakfast in the Eagle’s Nest in the Student Center and Administration Building.
"It’s an open forum," Jasmin said. "People say what’s on their minds — what might be improved about education in general."
After the breakfast, the board reconvenes at 8:30 a.m. to hear student reports, continue unfinished items, have a discussion with campus CEOs and the commissioner, and hear other presentations.
The Kalispell meeting adjourns at noon Friday. Jasmin said the regents next meet in Great Falls, and then in Billings in the fall.
Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at [email protected]
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Jasmin pursues unity on board
By Candace Chase
The Daily Inter Lake
Ed Jasmin points to unity on the state Board of Regents as his personal goal in his remaining months as chairman.
Elected following a shakeup of the board last month, Jasmin said he doesn’t intend to seek reappointment when his term expires in February. He said he hopes to see the university system assist citizens and state government plot an economic road map.
"It’s not a shift in direction," Jasmin said. "The goals are already established."
The regents’ agenda for Kalispell devotes several hours Thursday to a presentation about the Business and Education Council and a panel discussion, "Creating Montana’s Economic Road Map for the Future."
Bob Nystuen, senior vice president of Glacier Bank in Kalispell, and Hank Ricklefs, general manager with Plum Creek, will talk about the Business and Education Council at 2 p.m. in the Learning Resource Center. The panel discussion follows from 2:15-5 p.m.
Jasmin said the university system should function as a resource in the process.
"The university shouldn’t take the lead but it can be a partner in the discussion," he said.
According to Jasmin, each campus in Montana’s system of higher education has some degree of expertise in economic development. He said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., recently invited the university system to become more active.
"Lots of people have good intentions about what they want to get done," Jasmin said.
He envisions the university system’s expertise helping crystallize those ideas. Jasmin expects progress over the long term, not overnight.
During his six years on the board, Jasmin said he has seen a gradual shrinking in state support for the university system. While actual dollar amounts increased, those allocations failed to keep up with inflation, Jasmin said.
He joined other regents in lobbying the Legislature for a bigger slice of the state’s shrinking revenue pie. Jasmin sees a more productive role for Montana’s universities in becoming part of the solution.
Jasmin said both the state and higher education benefit from cranking up Montana’s economy to produce more tax revenue for all state needs.
Jasmin’s ideas come backed with a massive resume of business, civic and educational credentials. He spent 34 years with NorWest Bank Helena, including 12 years as president. He also was president of the Montana Banker’s Association.
Jasmin said he has always taken an active interest in economic development. He served as the first president of the Montana Ambassadors, a nonpartisan business and economic-development group.
Although he’s a Republican, Jasmin was appointed to state boards by Democratic governors. Tom Judge named him to the Board of Pardons and Ted Schwinden appointed him to the Hard Rock Mining Impact Board.
Jasmin earned a degree in business administration at the University of Montana in 1959. In later years, he served a chairman of the Carroll College board of trustees and the Helena school board.
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