By Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO
David Skaggs, director of the Department of Higher Education, resigned Friday, according to a statement from Gov. Bill Ritter’s office.
No reason was given in the statement, and Skaggs wasn’t immediately available for comment.
The departure, effective Sept. 11, was unexpected. Several officials and others contacted by EdNews expressed surprise and were at a loss to explain why Skaggs quit.
The vacancy comes in the middle of a difficult time for Colorado’s state colleges and universities.
The state’s recession-induced budget problems forced the 2009 legislature to hold higher ed funding flat, and that was accomplished only with the help of federal stimulus funds. Direct state support of colleges and universities is at the same level as 2005-06. The department’s administrative budget was cut by lawmakers.
Ritter is proposing additional cuts in state support for the current 2009-10 budget and has sought a federal waiver in order to use even more stimulus money to hold higher ed spending even.
Skaggs’ departure also comes only a month before the department is due to convene a higher ed “summit” that is supposed to kick off an 18-month process of creating a new master plan for Colorado higher education. Ritter and Skaggs proposed the master plan process earlier this summer as a way to craft long term plans for both college financing and to refocus the mission of the state system.
Some college and university presidents have been lukewarm about the master plan idea and have urged a quicker fix for financial problems, which are expected to worsen significantly after the stimulus money runs out in 2011.
Skaggs was one of Ritter’s first cabinet appointments, named in December 2006. A Boulder-area Democrat, Skaggs served 12 years in Congress and was a member of the Colorado House before that. He’s a lawyer who served in Vietnam as a Marine. He’s known for his articulate, diplomatic and occasionally self-deprecating style.
In addition to wrestling with higher ed budget woes and the occasionally fractious chiefs of state colleges and universities, Skaggs has been heavily involved in the forging the cooperative relationship between his agency and the Department of Education that is required by the 2008 Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids education reform program.
Friday’s statement contained the usual kinds of comments about the resignation:
Ritter: “It is with great regret that I have accepted David’s resignation. He is an extraordinary public servant and someone of strong principles and integrity. …I thank him for his service and his dedication.”
Skaggs” I am grateful to have had the opportunity too help advance the Ritter administration’s important educational enterprise. We have strengthened our higher education system, both in terms of additional funding even in a tight economy, and in implementing important reforms that positions Colorado well for the future.” (Ritter did achieve significant budget increases for colleges at the beginning of his term.)
No timetable was announced for naming a replacement.
Distributed by Colorado Capitol Reporters
