Ind. higher ed chief resigning in April

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Higher Education Commissioner Stan Jones, a top architect of initiatives including a community college system and an advisory group that developed higher academic standards for public schools, will resign in April.

Jones’ resignation, announced Thursday, will end his more than three decades in state government positions. Jones was a state representative from West Lafayette from 1974 to 1990, a top aide to then-Gov. Evan Bayh from 1990 to 1995, and higher education commissioner since then.

“I feel fortunate I have had those opportunities,” the 59-year-old Democrat said. “Thirty-five years is a long time, and so I’m ready to do something else.”

He said he had some new job opportunities to choose from, but did not elaborate.

The Higher Education Commission coordinates and reviews programs and budgets from the state’s public colleges and universities. The 14-member commission, appointed by the governor, will choose Jones’ successor.

Jones carved out a reputation of helping forge bipartisan consensus on efforts to improve public schools and higher education while striving to link the two.

He was no grandstander, instead earning respect quietly through private discussions with many Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature and public education system. It was partly out of necessity, he said, because he served most of his years as a lawmaker under Republican governors with both houses of the General Assembly controlled by Republicans.

In his final year as a lawmaker in 1990, when the House was split 50-50, he carried legislation that created a new scholarship program for low-income students.

Jones ran for state schools superintendent in 1992, losing to Republican Suellen Reed, who did not seek re-election in November after 16 years in the post.

Jones played a leading role in 1999 in creating a community college system, one of the last states to do so.