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Governors and Higher Ed
As anyone who follows higher ed knows, the strong, independent board is a centerpiece of American academia's carefully calibrated system of checks and balances.
"Historically and philosophically a part of our democratic tradition, lay governance brings the perspective of informed citizens to the heart of the university," writes former University of Wisconsin regent Phyllis Krutsch. "Part insider and outsider, never completely satisfying the advocacy wishes of the university nor the oversight expectations of elected officials, the board's role is akin to a fiduciary. The ideal board takes into account the perspective of students, faculty, parents, administrators, elected officials, and others--yet is beholden to none of them. It is mindful of the mission and special purposes of the university, and the trust that it holds."
In other words, the lay board is independent, the mouthpiece or rubber stamp of no one. Its job is to fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities--not to serve special interests. This is true whether the board is appointed by the governor or the legislature, or nominated by a nominating committee.
Consider Texas.
There, the governor appoints trustees. Naturally, those trustees are likely to be individuals who share the governor's vision of what the state's colleges and universities should be doing. They are also quite likely to be individuals who supported the governor's election campaigns--after all, campaign contributions tend to go to like-minded candidates. And so it is in Texas, where Governor Perry's lengthy incumbency has resulted in boards filled with his personal appointees. Those boards, in turn, have chosen campus chancellors. Most of those appointments have gone to non-academics, some of whom are former elected officials.
Last week, Inside Higher Ed devoted a long article to this fact, strongly suggesting that there is something very wrong with this picture. "The academic chancellor seems like a rarity in Texas right now," IHE notes. Acknowledging that this is par for the course, that many university systems work just fine without academic chancellors, and that in Texas, it's important for chancellors to know their way around the legislature, IHE nevertheless maintains that "Many see the appointments as a further politicization of higher education systems that have had a tumultuous relationship with the state's political elite."
One could reasonably ask what the story is here. In Texas, higher ed governance is operating just the way it is supposed to. As a general matter, governors provide leadership; they appoint trustees; they set an agenda for change. (This is outlined fully in ACTA's new publication, Leading the Charge: Governors, Higher Education and Accountability.) Governors shape priorities for funding. They have the bully pulpit to put issues of quality, cost and accountability at the top of the public agenda. And while some professors may be nervous that governor-appointed boards and their hand-picked chancellors may bring an unwelcome agenda with them, that is, quite frankly, the nature of the democratic process. The way to achieve results in a democracy is for elected officials to advocate changes based on concerns of the public, and to empower their appointees to make such changes.
Faculties always regard trustees and administrators with suspicion. It's part of the academic landscape. They also tend to believe (as do many trustees) that the main job of trustees is to advocate for their institutions. In fact, trustees are public officials with a fiduciary obligation to represent the taxpayer.
The real test is in whether Texas boards and chancellors function independently, with the public interest in mind. And just three days after IHE expressed its doubts about Texas, it ran a glowing piece about how the Texas Board of Regents, working with the chancellors, is managing to thread the needle when it comes to implementing new, hotly contested accountability measures across the system. The new plan, proposed by UT chancellor Francisco Cigarroa (a former academic), was unanimously adopted by the board, and has drawn praise from a wide range of previously conflicting constituencies--even those who didn't vote for Governor Perry.
Posted by Anne D. Neal on September 01, 2011 at September 1, 2011 02:20 PM
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