The newly appointed Vice-Chair of the Assembly’s Higher Education Committee, freshmen Assembly Member Connie Conway, has some background in education which for the CSU may serve us well. Conway has an established history of community involvement and has been extremely active as a Tulare County Supervisor prior to her election to the California Assembly. Like her predecessor, Bill Maze, Conway has been interested in creating a CSU campus in Tulare County – Visalia area beyond the presence of Fresno State’s off-campus center at the College of the Sequoias.

Born in Bakersfield, Conway was raised in Tulare and graduated from California State University, Fresno. Ms. Conway followed in her father’s footsteps, the late John R. Conway, who served as a Tulare County supervisor from 1981 until his death in 1991. While as a member of the Board, she served as its Chair twice, once in 2005 and then again in 2008. She also had the honor of serving as the President of the California State Association of Counties, which represents 58 counties at the state and federal levels in 2006 as well as serving as director of the National Association of Counties and as the past state president of the Cities, Counties and Schools Partnership.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger noted her capacity for leadership by naming her to serve as the Chair of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. This 28-member partnership, which includes state agency secretaries, elected officials and members of the private sector, works to improve the economy and quality of life by making policy recommendations to the governor.

The Assembly Member also served as a director for the California Public Employee Post Employment Benefits Commission; the Tulare County Employees' Retirement Association; the San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee; the California State Association of Counties’ Excess Insurance Authority; and the California Elected Women’s Association for Education and Research.

She is a member of the Tulare Kiwanis Club, Tulare City Historical Society, and the Tulare Hospital Foundation board of trustees. She was a founding member of Leadership Tulare. She has volunteered since 1980 at the World Ag Expo, and served on its board of directors since 2001. Before her election as supervisor, Connie served for six years as a director of the Tulare Redevelopment Agency. Before working as a full-time supervisor, she was a district manager of CorVel Corp., a nationally certified health care organization specializing in workers compensation disability management.

Assembly Member Conway beat Rebecca Maze, the wife of the previous member representing the district, as well as Bob Smith, a retired sheriff's deputy in the primary. In an article published by the Sacramento Bee, titled “Five newcomers to watch in California Assembly”, she noted her top priority as being: "Cutting taxes and balancing the state's budget by ending wasteful spending." She has also mentioned that addressing California’s water shortage was an issue of interest to her, noting the stress that urban areas, like Los Angeles, places on rural agricultural areas, like her district.

In addition to her appointment to serve as the Vice-Chair of the Assembly’s Higher education Committee, Ms. Conway will also serve on the Agriculture, Business and Professions, Health, Transportation, and Public Employees, Retirement and Social Services Committees.