The Senate Higher Education Committee unanimously voted Wednesday to recommend former Sen. Larry Pogemiller as Director of the Office of Higher Education.

The full Senate must now vote in Pogemiller to the position.

Pogemiller stepped down from his Senate seat, where he represented the University of Minnesota area, in October after Gov. Mark Dayton appointed him to the position. The long-term senator had served in the Legislature since 1981 and was Senate Majority Leader from 2007 to 2010.

The Senate recently rejected Dayton’s appointment of Ellen Anderson as Public Utilities Commissioner.

-Kevin Burbach