An advisory group for a state commission looking for ways to cut government costs is suggesting all higher education systems in Louisiana fall under the jurisdiction of the Board of Regents.The four public college systems in the state are currently run by separate governing boards. The Advisory Group on Efficiency and Benchmarking for the Commission on Streamlining Government recommended the move Monday. Another state group, the Louisiana Postsecondary Education Review Commission, is doing its own research on increasing efficiency in the state’s higher education system. House Speaker Jim Tucker is running that commission, which formed after higher education endured steep budget cuts for the fiscal year that began in July. The LSU System in laying off 142 employees, eliminating 453 vacant positions and canceling merit pay increases because of these budget cuts. State Treasurer John Kennedy supports the recommendation and is part of the advisory group. He said a single governing board would be more efficient, rather than the separate board of supervisors for the LSU System, the University of Louisiana System, the Louisiana Community and Technical College System and the Southern University System. The Board of Regents currently oversees all higher education in Louisiana, including the separate boards. The move would save the state money and increase efficiency, the group said. To change Louisiana’s higher education system, like the group is suggesting, would require a vote by the public because it would be a constitutional amendment. The group also recommended state agencies cut a certain number of jobs each year for the next three years to help cope with budget shortfalls. The group’s findings and recommendations will be presented to the Legislature next session, said Amber King, Public Information Officer for the Louisiana Department of the Treasury. Tucker’s Postsecondary Education Review Commission will do the same. The Postsecondary Education Commission’s next meeting will be Sept. 28 and 29 in the Louisiana State Capitol Building at 8:30 a.m. both days.”This whole exercise is about setting up for the next 50 years — for the future of higher education,” Tucker said in a Board of Regents news release. “It is critically important that you don’t hold back. This commission needs to tell it like it is and hit us over the head with a two-by-four, if necessary, so that we do what’s right for our students and our state.” ————Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]