Banker appointed chairman of Indiana higher education commission

The state Commission for Higher Education named Ken Sendelweck, president of private banking and wealth management for Jasper-based German American Bancorp, as its new chairman.

Sendelweck, 56, replaces Mike Smith, the former CEO of Mayflower Group Inc. and former chief financial officer of Anthem Inc., who had been the commission chairman for two years. Smith will remain on the commission, heading up the Budget and Fiscal Policy Committee.

Also, Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Chris LaMothe, the former president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, to the commission. LaMothe is currently CEO of Sherry Laboratories in Daleville.
 

Sendelweck

The higher education commission is a 14-member panel that does planning and coordination for Indiana’s system of seven state-supported colleges and universities. The commission has been increasingly assertive in recommending more moderate tuition increases by the schools—who have often ignored those recommendations.

Also, the commission has drawn national attention for its performance-based funding plans, which have based ongoing funding and even funding cuts on how successful and efficient the schools are at graduating students. Previously, funding was based almost solely on enrollment.

The commission staff is led by Teresa Lubbers, a former Republican state senator, who was appointed by Daniels in 2009.