March 27, 2007
SENATOR JAMES J. RHOADES NAMED TO BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
State James J. Rhoades, R-Mahanoy City, has been named to the State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors.
The 20-member board has overall responsibility for planning and coordinating the development and operation of the State System. The governors establish broad fiscal, personnel and educational policies under which the System universities operate.
The Board comprises 11 members who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, four legislators, three students, the governor or his designee and the secretary of education or his designee. Sen. Rhoades was appointed to the Board by Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer to replace recently retired state Sen. F. Joseph Loeper, who had served on the Board since 1988.
Rhoades, who first was elected to the Senate in 1980 and is now serving in his sixth consecutive term, is chairman of the Senate Education Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations, Transportation, Law and Justice and Environmental Resources and Energy committees and is a member of the State Board of Education.
“I am honored to be appointed to represent the Senate of Pennsylvania in this capacity,” Rhoades said. “The State System is an example of what is best about education in Pennsylvania. I look forward to working with the other members to enhance a system that provides so many of our students with a high quality, low cost education.”
Rhoades has a bachelor’s degree from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree from Lehigh University. He began his professional career as a teacher and coach at Pottsville and Mahanoy City high schools and became principal of Mahanoy Area Junior High School in 1971.
Since his election to the Senate, Rhoades has become one of the General Assembly’s foremost authorities on education issues. He has served as a member the Education Commission of the States and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.
He has worked to enact major education reforms such as the Pennsylvania Safe Schools Act, the Teacher Continuing Professional Education Act and the Commonwealth’s regulations on Academic Standards and Assessments.
The Board of Governors originally comprised 16 members. Four legislators were added to the Board in 1988. Legislative members of the Board are appointed by the party caucus leaders in each chamber of the Legislature.
Other legislators serving on the Board are Sen. Vincent J. Hughes, D-Philadelphia; Rep. Jere Schuler, R-Lampeter; and Rep. Jeffrey W. Coy, D-Shippensburg.
Other members of the Board of Governors are Chairman Charles A. Gomulka of Pittsburgh; Vice Chairs Kim E. Lyttle, Pittsburgh, and R. Benjamin Wiley, Erie; and Syed R. Ali-Zaidi, Shippenville; Angela M. Ambrose, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania; Daniel P. Elby, York; Secretary of Education Eugene W. Hickok Jr., Harrisburg; David P. Holveck, Malvern; James V. Manser IV, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania; Gov. Thomas J. Ridge, Harrisburg; David M. Sanko, Harrisburg; B. Michael Schaul, Mechanicsburg; John K. Thornburgh, Pittsburgh; Christine J. Toretti, Indiana; and Amy M. Yozviak, West Chester University of Pennsylvania. There is one vacancy.
The State System of Higher Education’s 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 350,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.