Advocates for a moratorium on tuition increases at public universities — specifically at the University of Texas System — will attempt to deliver bags of ice to the Capitol offices of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and other key officials this afternoon as part of their “Freeze Tuition Now” campaign. Read More
For a while, Texas was the hotbed of academic reform. A few regents, at least, were serious about improving faculty productivity, and the Texas Public Policy Foundation pushed for better data. But the bold move of publishing faculty salaries and workloads elicited angry feedback. Read More
By The Daily Texan Editorial Board
In March, the UT System Board of Regents will likely raise tuition for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years, per President William Powers Jr.’s recommendation. Read More
By Liz Farmer
The UT System announced a partnership Tuesday with the interactive website MyEdu to increase online advising efforts across UT institutions.
The partnership is part of UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa’s Framework for Excellence Action Plan, which focuses on trimming costs by increasing university efficiency. The goal for implementing MyEdu is to increase graduation rates by helping students better understand how to navigate through their degree plans with online advising. UT-Austin, UT-Arlington and UT-Permian Basin will be the first to receive the MyEdu platform, although officials did not announce an exact date when the decision was made. The MyEdu platform will expand to all other UT System institutions in 2012.
The MyEdu platform will include a “graduation road map enabling students to visualize their time line to graduation” in an effort to minimize “planning mistakes that leave students extending time in college to complete required courses,” according to a press release. Read More
By Reeve Hamilton
Randy Diehl, the dean of the University at Texas at Austin’s College of Liberal Arts, is looking for ways to boost undergraduate graduation rates. Earlier this week, UT President Bill Powers told Diehl he’d be leading a task force on just that issue.
One set of proposals Diehl is unlikely to look to is the so-called “seven breakthrough solutions” — a set of changes for higher education in Texas written by Austin businessman Jeff Sandefer and promoted by Gov. Rick Perry. Today, Diehl responded to the proposals by releasing an analysis of each one. His conclusion: “Put simply, this is the wrong approach.”
Deihl’s report comes at a time when the state’s higher education debate has been stirred anew, though players on both sides say they are open to reaching common ground.
The latest turbulence was instigated by the re-emergence of Rick O’Donnell, a former adviser to the University of Texas System whose hiring was one of the sparks that ignited the initial controversy. After 49 days on the job, O’Donnell was abruptly ousted in April after alleging that top administrators at UT and the UT System were suppressing information and thwarting needed reforms. While O’Donnell and the system reached a settlement after he threatened a lawsuit over his termination, O’Donnell recently has told reporters that he stands by his allegations.
Gene Powell, the chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, who had written O’Donnell a glowing letter of as part of the settlement, called O’Donnell’s recent comments “unfortunate.” In a statement he said that UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa did not oppose or hinder regents as O’Donnell charged.
“The Board of Regents has an excellent relationship with Chancellor Cigarroa and fully supports his vision and commitment to advance excellence in education, research, patient care and service across the great University of Texas System,” Powell said.
The Texas Exes, the university’s large alumni organization, also issued a press release reaffirming their support for UT President Bill Powers “due to recent public attacks of him and his character.”
Diehl says his response to the “breakthrough solutions”, which took approximately two months to compile and can be accessed on online on a new website, is motivated by a similar sentiment. “I really wanted to stand with the president and the chancellor, and I thought this was one way we could contribute.”
The Texas Public Policy Foundation, the conservative think tank that promotes the “solutions,” also has a new website, improvehighered.com. It makes no mention of the seven solutions. TPPF spokesman David Guenthner told the Tribune last month that the group remains open to other proposals. Read More
By Bryan Preston
Though this story comes out of Texas, it’s not really about Texas. It’s about the liberal elitists and their attitude toward those who question them. In this specific case, Democrat state Sen. Judith Zaffirini would have you know that the status quo in higher education is just fine, thankyouverymuch, and if you don’t agree, you’re just not as smart as she is. The problem is you, not her, as she is more than happy to inform you.
QUESTION: Perry graduated from A&M, which initially embraced the “reforms” (although A&M Systems Chancellor Mike McKinney faced a firestorm and resigned last week). Does Perry have something against UT?
ZAFFIRINI: Rick Perry doesn’t understand higher education. He doesn’t have a graduate degree, and he graduated a long time ago with a major in something like agriculture. I have a PhD, so I understand the value of research and teaching. He just doesn’t understand it. In the legislature, we’re used to dealing with regents who love their universities, who bleed orange or red or whatever their colors. These new regents appointed by Perry don’t seem to have any school spirit. They seem suspicious and cynical. They haven’t taken time to understand what the status quo is; they just want to change it. Read More
Two new appointees to the University of Texas Board of Regents have been peppering UT administrators with frequent, detailed requests for data, prompting one university president to complain and a key lawmaker to accuse the regents of “micro-managing.”
UT regents chair Gene Powell responded by saying that the complaints stemmed from a request from regent Alex Cranberg because it had been misinterpreted as a request from a task force, and not Cranberg’s independent request. But he added he asked his fellow regents to try “to be reasonable and compassionate as a board so we don’t overload the staff.”
“Some of the campuses have gotten a little tired of the requests. They may have been pushed a little too far,” Powell said. But, he added, regents have a right to request information. “When do you tell a regent he can’t do his constitutional duty to manage these schools?” Read More
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
On the same day that University of Texas System regents unanimously agreed to refrain from micromanaging the state’s largest university system, at least one regent seemed to do just that by requesting records on individual faculty members‘ workloads, average grades for each undergraduate course and student evaluation scores of teachers, as well as a timeline for producing those materials, emails obtained by the American-Statesman show.
Regent Alex Cranberg requested the materials for each course taught in the 2009-10 academic year at the UT System’s nine academic campuses, according to the emails. One email said Regent Brenda Pejovich joined Cranberg in the request, but officials said in interviews that she had not done so. Read More
By FRANCISCO G. CIGARROA, M.D. HOUSTON CHRONICLE
With only a few clicks on a mouse, one could find out the graduation and retention rates for baccalaureate students at all University of Texas academic institutions.
A few more clicks will reveal passage rates for UT students on state licensure exams, such as those for teachers, doctors or pharmacists. Maybe you would like to know the proportion of lower-division courses taught by tenured or tenure-track faculty? Or how well UT institutions are using their classrooms and lab space? Or how about how UT campuses are faring at achieving enrollment diversity? Read More
By Melissa Ludwig
Gene Powell, a San Antonio businessman who chairs the University of Texas System Board of Regents, would like to reduce tuition by about 50 percent across system institutions, including UTSA, according to an April 7 memo obtained by the San Antonio Express-News and the Houston Chronicle.
Powell also suggests increasing enrollment at UT-Austin by 10 percent per year beginning in 2013, and by an unspecified figure at all other campuses.
Other goals include making UT-Austin the best public university in the nation and creating a timeline for UT’s four emerging research universities, including the University of Texas at San Antonio, to reach Tier One status. Read More
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF – 445-3604
Chairman Gene Powell, UT Regents
The chairman of the University of Texas System Board of Regents has suggested increasing undergraduate enrollment by 10 percent a year for four years at UT-Austin and reducing tuition across the system in the range of 50 percent, according to a draft copy of his goals obtained by the American-Statesman.
The goals outlined by Gene Powell in an April 7 memorandum titled “Draft Notes and Ideas for Discussion” also include boosting enrollment by an unspecified percentage at the system’s eight other academic universities, adding a “high quality, low cost degree” to the system’s current offerings and coming up with a timeline for making the Austin flagship the nation’s No. 1 public university.
University of Texas System Regent Alex Cranberg is not shying away from previous statements criticizing professor accountability, weighing faculty’s “credentials” versus “achievements,” and praising the Acton School of Business, co-founded by Jeff Sandefer, architect of the controversial seven breakthrough solutions for higher education.
April 18, 2011
Dear Regent Hall:
Per your request, here are my views of the continuing discussions in the media and elsewhere regarding the Regents’ task forces and my work to support them.
As you know, I was hired six weeks ago to serve as Special Advisor to the Board of Regents. I accepted this role because I believed that my previous experience as head of higher education for the State of Colorado would allow me to assist the Regents as they seek answers to (1) how to advance excellence to ensure that more Texas students graduate with the knowledge and skills they need to find a job in the 21st century economy, (2) how to serve more students by expanding access to the many educational assets of the U.T. System, and (3) how to encourage innovation in policy, program and resource management at every level to make a four-year college education more affordable. Every day, even after subsequently being informed of a new title and reporting structure, my work has been focused on following-up on these vital questions that you and other Regents are actively
exploring.
Even though I have become a part of the story, these are the issues that take up most my time on a 24/7 basis. In my experience in public life, it often happens that attention to big issues and big ideas often get deflected to personalities or institutional squabbles (e.g., turf wars). It is unfortunate but true. But I am not deflected from the real issues, which do not revolve around personalities or politics. The real story is how massive shifts – demographic, financial, technological and attitudinal – are transforming the higher education landscape across America. There is also the question of the role of competitive proprietary institutions providing post-secondary degrees and what that means for state-supported institutions.
I have always taken the view that it is the responsibility of leaders to define reality. That comes first, before you can do anything. While some opinion leaders are allowing their attention to be deflected from the real issues, the facts remain: Almost every state continues a long-term decline in taxpayer funding for colleges and universities. Students and parents cannot afford another tuition increase, and it’s wrong to saddle graduates with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt. More low-income and first-generation students want to attend college. Employers continue to raise concerns about the quality of education students receive. New technologies are transforming how students learn and teachers teach, but it is not clear we are taking full advantage of these assets that can help us increase access, improve quality, and reduce per-student costs.
These massive shifts coupled with these facts make this a critical time to ensure all nine of our academic campuses are deploying the latest learning technologies and modern management techniques. The question is, how will our universities thrive in this rapidly changing landscape and make more affordable the very best learning in America, making Texas first for students and employers?
Unfortunately, in the last few weeks, that central question has been lost in a torrent of personal and political attacks, which continue to escalate.
Some have attacked white papers I wrote, which were intended to spur a dialogue on how to measure the return of taxpayer dollars invested in research. As we’ve previously discussed, the role of a think tank white paper is to spur debate, while the role of a leader in government is to act – as I did in Colorado where my track record as a leader who understands and values research, including basic research, was crystal clear, including the high value I place on the many important roles of research universities.
Recently it was discovered that one of my white papers suffered from a production snafu the result of which caused problems within the text and footnotes. The think tank that published the paper has acknowledged the errors occurred during their publication process. I have also noted that this and all my whitepapers are the result of collaborative projects where many hands touch them during the research, writing, editing and publishing phases. So there are many opportunities for error. Still, because I was the project leader and because my name is on the piece I accept ultimate responsibility. I have no doubt that those who want to deny or mute the need for higher education reform are busy pouring over the dozens of advocacy pieces I have published in my career, using a fine tooth comb to identify areas where I could have been more precise with footnotes, quotations and other items. It seems that some want to retroactively apply the standards of a scholar and the academy to work I did years ago, yet none of my writings were for academic journals and I am not a scholar, and I have never claimed to be; I am an average citizen who cares deeply about improving higher education, and I have expressed those views in public many times – in writing, while running for Congress, in testimony before the state legislature.
Errors are part of life…even professional life. That’s why academic books have “errata” pages and newspapers publish “retractions” when inadvertent errors occur. I have acknowledged “errata” and offered retraction and correction. Notwithstanding, those who want to delay and deflect are unwilling to move on. Instead, taxpayer money is now being wasted on a review of this issue, forcing me to hire an attorney to defend myself. I think students, parents and taxpayers care far more about reforms and innovations that can expand educational opportunities at an affordable price than they do about digging into reasons that admitted errata crept into a report from a project years ago.
Things I have written and said have been attacked. My associations with former colleagues and organizations have come under intense scrutiny. One of the core principles of our universities is the idea of free inquiry – including the freedom to ask tough questions. I have simply exercised that same freedom of inquiry as I work to assist the task forces in trying to find answers to the questions Regents are asking. And the questions being asked are pretty fundamental – e.g., how to strengthen our universities to better serve students, parents, economic competitiveness and the pursuit of knowledge and discovery.
So, why the uproar? How is it that someone who has been on the job just 49 days, with no decision- making authority, has become an object of such scorn and caused such tumult that, in the words of the chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, it “shook the foundations of UT”?
Here’s my answer. Immediately upon starting my new job, on your behalf and that of the other Regents, I began to ask for data that would inform the task force members on how student tuition dollars and taxpayer money were being spent. Despite the fact that these data belong to the public, that by law it should be available to every citizen (and certainly to the Regents), and that the Regents governing the University of Texas are duty bound to ask for these data and had done so, the release of such data was resisted at the highest levels of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas System.
Rather than release these data, we were met with what some have called a well-orchestrated public relations campaign of breathless alarms, much like shouting “fire” in a crowded theater. Generous donors and loyal alumni have been understandably (and needlessly) disturbed by dire warnings about a “loss of prestige” and “destroying research.” But given that the Regents are simply exercising their fiduciary responsibility to ask questions and request data about faculty productivity, I believe these were false alarms, meant to divert attention away from questions about how tuition and taxpayer money are being spent and to delay reforms that might arise out of the Regents’ task forces.
If there has been any damage to the reputation of the University of Texas, it has not come from the Regents’ task forces or my work for them. Any damage that has occurred must be laid at the feet of those who have diverted attention to secondary issues and then encouraged the uproar. Whether university norms were violated with regard to spreading false rumors or if there was the improper use of political influence by university employees, as some have pointed out to me may be the case, I leave to others to inquire.
I am concerned, however, that data I have reviewed, which has not been released to the public, shows a growing number of student tuition and taxpayer dollars are being paid to professors and administrators who seem to do very little teaching. And let us not forget, in a public opinion research study last year, 87 percent of Texans said that that universities’ top priority should be educating students, with only 6 percent stating that conducting research should be the top priority.
My belief is that these data, which rightfully belong to the public, should be fully released, not only so the task force members may analyze it but also so the public and outside experts may do so as well. The chairwoman of the Senate Higher Education Committee recently raised concerns about university business being done “behind closed doors, as secretly as possible. And if there’s any arena in which that is wrong, it is higher education.” I concur with her sentiments and believe that the business of the task forces should be done with complete disclosure according to the transparency rules the Regents have adopted for this effort.
Only then will people be able to know, in the words of former U.T. Austin arts and sciences dean and Boston University President Emeritus John Silber from yesterday’s Austin-American Statesmen, if “the cost of education is largely a function of the reduction of productivity in the faculty, and also the huge engorgement in administration.”
I know there are many inside the universities, the hard working people who serve students and taxpayers, who are also concerned with a decline in faculty teaching. I know this because I have been privately encouraged by many of our faculty members to continue following-up on the questions Regents are asking even though they fear speaking out in public. One brave man who was not scared to speak up was Dr. Murphy Smith a long serving scholar teacher in accounting, who among his specialties is an expert in the area of financial reporting and fraud. Although I have never met Dr. Smith, he reached out to me and authorized me to share his letter, which I attach.
Notwithstanding the personal and political attacks of the last six weeks, I want to thank you and the other Regents for the opportunity to work every day on the central question that has driven all my higher education work during my career: trying to discover ever better ways to ensure that as many students as possible have access to the highest quality college education at the most affordable cost, so they are prepared for successful careers and meaningful lives. The task forces that you and Regent Pejovich chair are doing some of the most important work in the country in terms of answering that question.
It is an honor to be able to assist you and it is my firm belief that we are on track to ensure that all nine of our campuses continue on their path of excellence and that the University of Texas System becomes the finest public university system in America – one that is of the highest quality, serving an ever growing and diverse Texas population, and affordable for all families.
Best regards,
Rick O’Donnell
In a letter signed by Regents Chairman Gene Powell and vice chairmen Paul Foster, Steven Hicks and James Dannenbaum, the regents assure the worried alumni that they are committed to maintaining UT-Austin‘s status as one of the nation’s foremost public research universities. “Our view is that academic research is extremely valuable to society,” they write.
See story by Reeve Hamilton @
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-education/higher-education/research-extremely-valuable-ut-regents-tell-alumni/
by Weston Hicks at Agenda Wise Reports March, 23rd
Evan Smith, head of The Texas Tribune, has gone journo-nuclear, attacking UT Board of Regents interested in examining the effectiveness of current practices. Carrying the agenda of the higher ed establishment, Smith is using a newly hired adviser, Rick O’Donnell, as a proxy for the Regents.
Smith’s treatment of O’Donnell has been equal parts overreaction and character assassination. O’Donnell’s personal political history has been magnified in a way any number of employees of the University of Texas could be, but aren’t. At least seven articles in week and a half have peppered Smith’s Texas Tribune. Three articles appeared on the same day. Aspersions have been cast upon O’Donnell’s integrity and motives.
O’Donnell was essentially brought on by the Board of Regents as a staff member. Staff members work at the behest of their bosses; they don’t set the agenda. It’s common for staff members to work for bosses with very different agendas during their careers; just ask around the Texas State Capitol. In short, O’Donnell’s hiring, by any reasonable standard, just isn’t a big deal. What precipitated this explosive reaction by Evan Smith?
The University of Texas at Austin Board of Regents recently sent an internal memo indicating they’ve formed two task forces to examine technology, teaching, and research at UT. They want to find ways to improve teaching quality, research quality, accessibility, as well as find ways to lower costs, if possible. The first step in any self-improvement sequence is an internal audit. The self-assessment hasn’t even begun yet, much less have conclusions been drawn or recommendations made.
Even so, Smith has implemented a strategy of yelling at full volume, trying to drum up disgust. Nowhere are the merits of an internal audit examined, likely because they make such good sense. Instead, Smith finds “experts” to quote, similarly invested in the status quo, such as the Association of American Universities, a club of elite universities that UT currently belongs to.
Evan Smith is defending the higher education status quo like his job depends on it.
What gives? Well, we can say a few things that Evan Smith has left out of his Texas Tribune blitzkrieg:
1) Ellen Susman sits on the Texas Tribune Board of Directors. She also sits on the Board of Directors for The Democracy Alliance, a philanthropic group formed through major backing from George Soros.
2) Ellen Susman’s husband Steve Susman is on the UT Development Board. The Development Board encourages philanthropic giving on behalf of UT.
3) George Soros’s Open Society Institute recently gave a $150,000 grant to The Texas Tribune.
4) Many Texas Tribune donors work for the University of Texas.
5) Senator Judith Zaffrini chairs the Higher Ed Committee in the Senate.
6) Senator Zaffrini has extremely close ties with UT Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa. The Cigarroas are a heavy-hitting political family from Senator Zaffrini’s senate district, and have given money to Zaffrini over the years.
7) Chancellor Cigarroa was nominated in 2009 for the position of chancellor by Senator Zaffrini.
8) O’Donnell has now been moved from the Board of Regents to directly under Chancellor Cigarroa.
Evan Smith has spent more time and money in the last 10 days on the UT Board of Regents than many hot-button issues such as the sonogram bill or Voter ID. There’s plenty of reason to wonder why his reaction has been so outsized. The connections between Smith and both Higher Education Establishment and liberal donors suggest a lack of impartiality is part of the answer.
See story @
http://www.agendawisereports.com/2011/03/evan-smith-attacks-the-ut-board-of-regents/
Image via Wikipedia
The University of Texas board of regents Tuesday appointed San Antonio developer Eugene “Gene” Powell as chairman.
He replaces Colleen McHugh of Corpus Christi, whose term expires this month.
Powell, who was first appointed to the board in 2009 by Gov. Rick Perry, has developed various projects in San Antonio, including Lincoln Heights, Alamo Quarry Market, Shavano Park, Longhorn Quarry and Rogers Creek.
Powell was raised in Weslaco and is a native of the Rio Grande Valley. He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree at the University of Texas at Austin.
He is a former board member of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which cheered his selection.
“During his short tenure on the UT board, Powell has focused on access and affordability, and has worked harder to create a college-going culture in South Texas residents,” said Eddie Aldrete, chairman of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“He knows that an educated work force not only creates opportunity for all, but also enhances all of our economic development efforts to continue bringing high-paying jobs to San Antonio.”
Powell is a fundraising leader for Perry’s campaigns, giving about $56,000 over the past decade, according to Texans for Public Justice, an Austin-based nonprofit that tracks political money.
