Grand Valley State president puts policy questions to lawmakers

MT. PLEASANT, Mich. -- Grand Valley State University President Thomas J. Haas told lawmakers he embraces the Cherry Commission’s mandate to get more Michigan students to attend college. But Michigan’s newest president said that success requires the universities to have a “dependable, predictable, and sustainable partnership with the State of Michigan.”

Haas testified before the Michigan House subcommittee on Higher Education, meeting in Mt. Pleasant today. He asked lawmakers to consider the following questions:

• What is the state’s obligation to Michigan residents who want to obtain a college degree?
• What is the proper tuition burden on students and their families?
• If the state is unable to adjust university appropriations to match enrollment, should the Legislature expect universities to continue to allow enrollment growth?

Haas said that access to higher education is a core value at Grand Valley, telling lawmakers, “Higher education is a public good. It must be accessible to all who qualify to seek a college degree.”

Haas concluded by telling the subcommittee members, “Michigan is in transition to the knowledge economy of the 21st century. That’s what the Cherry Commission was all about. It sets an agenda and defines public higher education as a shared responsibility. At this critical juncture, you serve on what may be the most important subcommittee of the Legislature. The judgments you reach, the decisions you make, may well determine whether this transition, so important to our state, and to our children, will succeed.”