The second-in-command at the state higher-education commission was appointed executive director Thursday, a position not expected to last beyond Gov. Bill Owens’ term.
Jenna Langer, deputy director and general counsel of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education for the past two years, said she expects her term to end in January, when a new governor takes office.
Langer, 33, replaces Rick O’Donnell, who resigned this month to focus on his campaign for the 7th Congressional District. She previously was a business litigation lawyer in Denver and Washington.
Some lawmakers said they’re concerned the position has deteriorated to a political appointment, rather than a job reserved for people with extensive backgrounds in higher education.
But Langer, whose experience in education consists of her past two years at the commission, said, “This is not a political appointment.” The governor picked her because she is “somebody who could step right in and continue the work of the commission,” Langer said.
Owens called her “thoroughly familiar” with state higher- education issues.
Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, who criticized the past two higher-education commissioners for not having enough education experience, said Langer’s appointment is less concerning because it isn’t likely to last more than 10 months.
“We all had always hoped that we would have somebody in the CCHE position that really was experienced in managing all colleges and major research universities,” he said. “The time for that was a long time ago, not now.”
Pommer and two other members of the House Education Committee, fellow Democrats Angie Paccione of Fort Collins and Michael Merrifield of Manitou Springs, fired off a letter saying Langer was “inaccurate” and “unprepared” while testifying last month in support of a tenure-reform bill they didn’t like. Her former boss, O’Donnell, called the Democrats’ letter “in bad form and bad taste.”
Langer spent Thursday chatting with lawmakers, including those who wrote the letter.
“It was an issue that concerned me, and it was very important for me to talk to those legislators,” she said.
Senate Education Committee member Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, said that Langer was a “wise” choice to serve out the administration’s term and that she is unlike some previous executive directors who “had other agendas.”
Interim University of Colorado president Hank Brown praised Langer’s legal and educational background, calling her “exceptionally bright.”
The higher-education executive director oversees the 11-member commission board. The CCHE sets the tone for state colleges’ budgets and negotiates their performance contracts, which require schools to meet goals for graduation rates, quality and access.
Langer negotiated the first performance contracts last year when Colorado switched to a new funding system for higher education and granted public colleges “enterprise status,” allowing them to escape tuition limits imposed by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-820-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
