Newly installed board members of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission — under fire for its oversight of the troubled College Illinois prepaid tuition program — voted Friday to oust its executive director, Andrew Davis.
Illinois’ director of capital markets, John Sinsheimer, will serve as interim director. Sinsheimer, who previously was ISAC’s chief financial officer between 2007 and 2009 before taking his current position, will serve in both roles until a permanent replacement is found.
Gov. Pat Quinn last week named five new members to the board. They followed his recent appointment of Kym Hubbard, a former executive director of the Illinois Finance Authority, as chairman.
Davis, head of the agency since 2007, was behind ISAC’s move to place nearly half of the assets in a $1.1 billion college investment program in riskier investments to bridge a 31% shortfall in the fund. Participants in the program were unaware of the shortfall and believed the state backs up their investment, which it does not.
ISAC also approved various measures Friday aimed at overhauling the fund’s investment policies.
