Messing with the (U of) Texas

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today points to a story on efforts by Texas Governor Rick Perry to micro-manage the U of Texas. Summary at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/04/18/qt#257247

Perry emails tell a different story: Regents were pressed to adopt list of higher ed ‘reforms’ (excerpt)

Patricia Kilday Hart, April 17, 2011, Houston Chronicle

Contrary to his public statements distancing himself from a brewing controversy in higher education, Gov. Rick Perry continually pressed his appointees to university boards of regents to promptly adopt “reforms” that critics say are simplistic and harmful to research institutions, according to emails obtained by the Houston Chronicle. In May 2008, Perry summoned all Texas university regents and chancellors to a higher education summit and to hear Austin businessman Jeff Sandefer, a major Perry campaign contributor, explain “Seven Break-through Solutions” to shake up higher education.

Many of the ideas — measuring a professor’s “productivity” based on numbers of students and linking compensation to positive student evaluations — received a chilly reception, but the emails, obtained from the University of Texas and Texas A&M University, show Perry’s office continued to demand strict implementation of Sandefer’s ideas. The emails covered July 2008 through April 2009. In a Dec. 5, 2008, email, Perry aide Marisha Negovetich invited regents and chancellors to a “Seven Break-through Solutions Follow-up Meeting.”

“The Governor is anxious to put together a cohesive plan of action … and also learn from you what progress you have made to move these reforms forward,” she wrote…

Full story at http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7524955.html

The guv’s just making sure everything at the university is under control:

UPDATE: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7529216.html

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