(1) The executive director of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission shall appoint a Director of the Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development who shall serve at the pleasure of the executive director.

(2) The director shall be a person who by training and experience is well qualified to perform the duties of the office and to assist in carrying out the functions of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission under this section and ORS § 341.015, 341.440, 341.455, 341.626, 341.655 and 341.933.

(3) The director shall:

(a) Be the executive head of the Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development.

(b) Direct and supervise all activities of the Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development.

(c) Hire staff, as authorized by the executive director of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to assist in carrying out the duties of the director. The staff shall be considered employees of the Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development for purposes of ORS chapters 240 and 243.

(d) Be responsible directly to the executive director of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission for those duties enumerated in ORS Chapter 341.

(4) The director, with approval of the executive director of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, shall be responsible for the representation of community college interests to the Governor, the Legislative Assembly, state agencies and others.

(5) The executive director of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission shall be responsible for submitting community college budget requests for the Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development to the Legislative Assembly. The Higher Education Coordinating Commission shall ensure that the budget request for community colleges and for the Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development are separate and distinct from the commission’s other requests to the Legislative Assembly. [Formerly 351.762; 2016 c.117 § 58]