In July 2025, as Special Advisor to the Board of Regents, I was asked to provide “strategic guidance and research-driven insight to inform Board deliberations and long-term planning.” It was meant to be a year-long project focusing on four areas: 1) workforce development, 2) public higher education funding models, 3) early college models, and 4) system office structure, function and alignment. I delivered the final analysis in late June 2026, and I am proud to say that the ye