Education

MT Commissioner of Higher Education seeks continuity

Posted: Jan 26, 2012 6:29 AM by Breanna Roy- KPAX News

MISSOULA- The most popular question asked to Montana's new commissioner of higher education: What will you do different? But Clayton Christian said his goal is the opposite of that.

"It's how much continuity I can bring," the former Montana Board of Regents chairman said. Christian was appointed to replace Sheila Stearns who served as commissioner from 2003-2011.

Christian held a public listening session with primarily University of Montana staff on Wednesday afternoon and told them their benefits are among his priorities, along with making a Montana degree more financially accessible for students.

"How do we make the overall college experience more affordable for a student? How do we make a degree more affordable?" Christian said. "I don't think we can make an individual semester cost less, I'm hopeful we can make it not cost too much more."

Christian also said he wants to see more collaboration between all of the state's universities. He acknowledged the competitive spirit between Montana and Montana State University, but said that should not be the case when it comes to education.

"Montanans, since I've been on the board, have said, 'We're okay with fierce competition in the middle of November, one day a year. But the rest of the year we want a system that acts as a system, works as a system,'" he said.

Christian said achieving that continuity might require statewide software upgrades, so students who transfer schools wouldn't have to re-register every time. It would also include common course numbering to simplify the system.

Christian hopes Montana education leaders can join together to send a unified message to the Legislature to optimize funding.