Emerging Political Issues for State Coordinating Boards.
The creation of state coordinating boards for higher education has been a significant trend over the past 10 to 15 years. Not only have boards been created in many states, but those in existence have tended to be given increasingly more authority. There has been an evolution of their role from planning, research and review to coordination and governance. 1 Today, boards with strong coordinating authority exist in Ohio and Illinois, and the ultimate development is perhaps exemplified by Wisconsin and North Carolina where all public college and university campuses have been merged into a single university and the governing authority for all of public higher education in the state has been vested in a single board.