will culminate in the development of a State Plan for Higher Education that is
supported by all major stakeholders, the Governor is requested to convene a State
Conference on Higher Education in 1999. Participants in the Conference shall include
public and private leaders; representatives of all institutions, including faculties,
staff, and boards of visitors; members of the Maryland Higher Education Commission
and governing boards; and other interested stakeholders. Following the Conference,
the Maryland Higher Education Commission shall continue to coordinate the
development of the State Plan which shall be complete by April 30, 2000. The State
Plan shall be updated every 2 years and culminate in a State Conference for Higher
Education, hosted by the Governor, to focus the public agenda on higher education.

SECTION 9. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That as a starting point for the
development of the State Plan for Higher Education in accordance with Section 8 of
this Act, the Maryland Higher Education Commission and the other participants in
the strategic planning process shall consider the following goals for the University
System of Maryland, and for higher education in general, as recommended in the
Final Report of the Task Force to Study the Governance, Coordination, and Funding
of the University System of Maryland:

1. Enhance the University of Maryland, College Park as the State's
flagship campus with programs and faculty nationally and internationally recognized
for excellence in research and the advancement of knowledge; admit freshmen to the
campus who have academic profiles that suggest exceptional ability; provide access to
the upper division undergraduate level of the campus for students who have excelled
in completing lower division study; and provide the campus with the level of operating
funding and facilities necessary to place it among the upper echelon of its peer
institutions;

2. Maintain and enhance an academic health center and a coordinated
higher education center for research and graduate and professional study in the
Baltimore area (University of Maryland, Baltimore and University of Maryland
Baltimore County) with a focus on science and technology;

3. Enhance and support high quality undergraduate, teacher
preparation, and masters programs at the regional comprehensive institutions,
recognizing and supporting the very unique mission of each of these institutions;

4. Support Towson University as the largest comprehensive institution;

5. Enhance the historically black institutions and recognize the unique
role of University of Maryland Eastern Shore as the State's 1899 land grant
institution;

6. Encourage collaboration among institutions for the benefit of

students;

7. Encourage and enhance higher education centers, such as the Shady
Grove Center in Montgomery County, through the use of technology, as points of
collaboration and access for underserved areas of the State;