Higher ed handwringing

Budgetcutting choices are difficult and painful – for everyone, that is, except Gov. Rick Perry, who still jets around the country, bragging about all the “belttightening” in Texas. But one alleged “costsaving” proposal making the rounds of higher education administrators is so obviously unrealistic as to be silly.

Before I explain, I will digress for a moment.

On one hand, I have some sympathy for university regents and administrators who, like other public agency heads, have to try to provide important, critical services while their budgets continue to shrink. But my sympathy for higher education leaders also is limited because, although they know better, they continue to help the governor slash and burn because they don’t have the courage to tell him he is wrong.

All the regents on every university governing board are Perry appointees – many of them are major political contributors to the governor and all the university chancellors and presidents were hired, directly or indirectly, by Perry’s regents. It would be refreshing for a change to hear one of them tell the wouldbe emperor – loudly and publicly that his budgetary policies have no clothes. (If one already has, I missed it.)

Instead, they continue to cozy up to power and then have handwringing sessions among themselves, including one that just concluded in Dallas, where a number of possible costcutting steps were discussed, including an effort to get more students to earn their degrees in four years instead of five or six.

Raymund Paredes, the state higher education commissioner, even wants to tie part of a university’s budget to its ontime graduation rate.

There always will be slackers, or “career students,” who take longer than necessary to complete degree requirements. But, nowadays, many conscientious, hardworking students are being forced to take extra semesters to graduate because they simply can’t afford to complete their course requirements in four years.

These are students who have to juggle their coursework while they take jobs – sometimes more than one – to pay for increasing tuition and fees. And while regents continue to raise tuition because the Legislature won’t increase appropriations, the state continues to cut back on student financial aid. Instead of worrying about these young people taking an extra year or two to get their degrees, university administrators should be taking steps to accommodate them. Otherwise, many will simply give up.

It’s time to quit picking on the kids. They and their families already are doing their share to support higher education. It’s time for the governor and the Legislature to step up – and time for some university regents to demand it.

http://educationfrontblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/11/texaspublicuniversitiesbrac.html

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