“Politicians” and “courage” are not usually connected in the same sentence.
There are any number of times when a great idea is dashed because a special interest, a lobbyist and sometimes a constituent mounts a flurry of activity to squelch a reform.
Once a government program is in place or a bureaucracy is entrenched, an immovable object it becomes.
For more than five years the reform-minded governor of Tennessee has eyed a well-fortified, well-entrenched bureaucracy for a remake.
Tennessee has three tiers of management when it comes to higher education.
The Tennessee Higher Education Commission sets broad policy while the Tennessee Board of Regents commands a set of schools and the University of Tennessee steers the Big Orange armada.
When Gov. Phil Bredesen has tiptoed into the higher education minefield, the push-back has been, if something is working, why fiddle with it? “Working” is the operative word and probably falls into the Bill Clinton dictionary of defining the word “is.” The meaning is in the eye and mind of the beholder.
Two years earlier, Gov. Bredesen proposed sending state students to community colleges for free, but coupled with that notion was splitting the two-year institutions out of the Board of Regents system, combining them with technical schools. The ink was not dry on the paper before the death march began. Community colleges are nicely located across the state, garnering broad legislative support, and the notion of losing the four-year institutional umbrella was more than the reform could carry. DOA, if it got even that far.
Now comes a realignment of the stars.
The Board of Regents is searching for a new leader, and the University of Tennessee is embarking on its fourth presidential search in less than 10 years.
The sinking economy has provided leverage to the Bredesen team to demand a major overhaul to the way the state conducts business, including higher education. The search for savings resulted in identifying excessive bureaucracy and streamlining the delivery of services.
An infusion of stimulus cash from the federal government earmarks millions for higher education, avoiding a second set of cuts and possibly opening the door to embracing real reform.
Raising tuition is a no-brainer. Freezing salaries is anticipated so the tenured crowd has something to gripe about. The cause of reforming the administration of higher education in Tennessee — streamlining the bureaucracy — will be looking for champions if it is to move ahead.
Gov. Bredesen seized the opportunity once more to bring efficiency to state government — this time at institutions of advanced learning, as he has done with the state’s health programs. But storm clouds already are forming to preserve the status quo.
The new Republican majority in the state House of Representatives, if it truly is reform-minded, should embrace
the approach that strips away layers of
redundancy. Democrats should join so the GOP upstarts do not get all the credit.
The people of Tennessee should embrace the notion of one set of administrators for a commonsense approach to higher education.
One model sets up two major institutions: Knoxville and Memphis; a set of mid-major schools that includes Chattanooga (notice the UT was dropped for all the diehards); and spinning off the community colleges into a universe that aligns them with the technical schools. There are any number of trip wires with this approach, but at least the discussion begins. The conversation will evolve into research, undergraduate courses, enrollment caps, advanced degrees, duplication of courses, distance learning and jobs. There might be teaching institutions that are different from those with a research focus. Services that large corporations centralize such as finance, human resources, legal and purchasing might be more efficiently and effectively delivered by a single higher education administrative body.
Opportunities arise at times that offer quantifiable reform and test those who claim they advocate freedom of thought and speech and even teach Management 101. Let’s see if they are ready to step up to the challenge.
To reach Tom Griscom, call (423) 757-6472 or e-mail tgriscom@timesfreepress.com.
