Oh, ye liberals, Democrats and college professors, weep. There is no doubt now that the man you love to hate – Governor Rick Perry – will be the biggest winner of the 82nd Legislature.

Perry has gotten his way on almost every item on is legislative agenda and squeezed the state budget turnip until it bled. Perry is the flavor of the week nationally for the politicos and pundits looking for a candidate of principled policy and pizzazz to join the Republican presidential contest. And Perry’s biggest public relations flop of the session – meddling with higher education – hasn’t fazed him in the least. If you believe the higher education community and alumni and newspaper backlash to Perry’s support of Jeff Sandefer and his proposed “Seven Breakthrough Solutions” for university reform have prompted Perry to back off, think again.

Sources close to the governor tell me that in either late June or July, Perry will unveil his own proposal for higher education reform. While the details are still being worked out, it is sure to contain his call for $10,000 undergraduate degrees, greater efficiencies in the teaching of undergraduates, teacher accountability and a potential rebalancing of instructional and research budgets with a goal of lowering the cost of a bachelor’s degree. Perry, in his Austin American-Statesman op-ed, said academia wants him to “butt out.” He’s not going to: “Our knowledge-dependent economy and you — the taxpayer footing the bills — deserve better.” (more…)

Tagged: higher education, Jeff Sandefer, president, rick perry

From today’s story in The Eagle, the newspaper for Bryan-College Station:

Texas A&M University System officials are considering merging the jobs of system chancellor and Texas A&M University president, Chancellor Mike McKinney confirmed Tuesday.

No plans for such a move are in place, McKinney told The Eagle, but he and regents are looking at a variety of ways to cut costs, and combining the two posts is one of many possible solutions.

McKinney said combining the posts would reduce duplication of duties between the system and university.

“I will promise you, one of the things [regents] noticed and they talked about before is that people they have within the system and people within the flagship university appear to be doing the same thing, and sometimes they appear to be doing things in contrast to what their counterparts are doing in the other places,” McKinney said.

“They’re going to look at whether there needs to be some elimination of duplication,” he said. “It’s not just about the chancellor and the president. It’s about the whole organization. Their concern is about wasting taxpayer money.”

Texas A&M President Elsa Murano, like several A&M faculty members and administrators, said she had heard talk about the possible merger.

“I’ve heard those rumors, and they concern me deeply,” Murano said during a brief interview Tuesday afternoon. “I’m working to see if it’s just a rumor. I haven’t talked to Chancellor McKinney, but I plan to.”

To read the complete story, click HERE.

I have heard reports from A&M for several months that Murano may be in trouble but I had no confirmation. Some say that the problems have to do with the circumstances surrounding A&M’s back-door $50 million grant from the governor’s emerging technology fund. I’m skeptical of that. That was a play by chancellor Mike McKinney. I wonder if Perry is clearing the way for McKinney to be president. Yes, chancellor is a bigger job, in theory, but at A&M the president’s job has always been more influential than the chancellor’s.

Tagged: chancellor, elsa murano, mike mckinney, president, Texas A&M