Higher Priorities: How Post-Secondary Education Lost Ground in 2019

Oregon's Student Success Act promises a big increase in education

funding over the next two years. However, higher education was not

included in that bill and many college students will face another

tuition hike this fall. At a time when a post-secondary education is

required for a vast majority of jobs, why is Oregon investing so little

in our future workforce?

Join us as we examine higher education policy in Oregon and consider the

opportunities for a stronger higher education system in the future.

Speakers

Ben

Cannon is the executive director of the Higher Education Coordinating

Commission. In this position, Cannon oversees state funding allocations,

policy-setting, and coordination for Oregon’s higher education system,

including community colleges and public universities. Cannon is a former

teacher, state representative, and education policy advisor to the

Governor. Elected three times to the Oregon House of Representatives

(2006-2011), he chaired House committees with jurisdiction over

environment, energy, and water policy, and served on committees related

to health care and education. From 2003 to 2011, he taught humanities to

middle school students at the Arbor School of Arts and Education. He

earned his BA from Washington University, St. Louis, and attended Oxford

University, England, on a Rhodes Scholarship, earning graduate degrees

in comparative and international education and philosophy, politics, and

economics.  

Mark Mitsui

is the president of Portland Community College. Previously, President

Mitsui served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges

within the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education for the U.S.

Department of Education. In Washington he worked to advance President

Obama’s community college agenda through partnerships with numerous

federal agencies and national stakeholders. In this capacity he co-led

the My Brother’s Keeper Postsecondary Completion interagency team

working to improve college access and completion for the nation’s young

men of color.

Before serving in the Obama administration, he was president of North

Seattle College in Washington state from 2010 to 2013. In 2013, he was

honored with the Rhonda Quash Coates Award for contributions to the

Multicultural Student Services Directors Council of Washington state.

President Mitsui holds a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education from

Western Washington University, and completed a master’s degree and

doctoral studies in Education at the University of Washington.