O/T President Bill Powers Out at UT???

[Pony^]

At Loggerheads

Mr. Powers has earned the praise of key lawmakers, faculty members, students, powerful alumni, and wealthy donors, many of whom are expected to turn out on Thursday for what is likely to be a heated board meeting. But the president’s support has been tepid at best among many of the very people who ultimately control his fate.

"Powers has had trouble with each chancellor he’s dealt with and virtually every board and all the chairmen," said Charles Miller, whose tenure as chairman of the Board of Regents predated Mr. Powers’s presidency. "And I know that from what they’ve told me personally."

Mr. Miller, who is in frequent contact with Dr. Cigarroa, said that the president had struggled to earn the trust of most of the board’s nine voting members. The two exceptions may be R. Steven Hicks, the board’s vice chairman and a private investor, and Robert L. Stillwell, a retired lawyer who worked with T. Boone Pickens, the legendary Texas oilman.

A simple majority of the board can dismiss the president, so two votes will not be sufficient to save Mr. Powers’s job. The board’s student member does not have a vote.

Mr. Powers has long been at loggerheads with members of the board, but it is unclear whether some catalytic event prompted a renewed push for his ouster.

It has not gone unnoticed in Texas, however, that talk of the president’s dismissal surfaced just a few weeks after Dr. Cigarroa announced that the system would seek an external investigation of admissions practices at Austin, where lawmakers have been accused of trying to influence the process for well-connected applicants.

In May system officials released the findings of an internal inquiry that concluded that there was no evidence of systemic favoritism for applicants who had received letters of recommendation from lawmakers. At the same time, however, the review cited "sufficient reason for concern" because applicants with the backing of lawmakers had been admitted at higher rates than those without such powerful supporters.

New Evidence on Admissions

Until last month, the chancellor and Paul L. Foster, the board’s chairman, had expressed no appetite for a more-rigorous review of admissions at Austin. So what changed?

A person familiar with the renewed probe, who requested anonymity in order to discuss an investigation in progress, said that several individuals with "personal knowledge" of Austin’s admissions practices had brought forward new information to Dr. Cigarroa, Mr. Foster, and Daniel H. Sharphorn, the system’s general counsel and vice chancellor.

The previous inquiry found that there was no evidence of a systemic admissions problem, quid pro quos, or overt pressure on admissions officials. New information, the source said, "contradicted one or more of those conclusions."

The new evidence, which the source would not describe in detail, has contributed to regents’ concerns about Mr. Powers’s forthrightness and accountability.

"This admissions deal, it’s not the reason," the source said. "But it is certainly a big piece."

Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, a spokeswoman for the university system, confirmed on Monday that Dr. Cigarroa "recently became aware of new information that raised questions about internal processes regarding admissions at UT Austin, and that is what prompted the call for an external review."

Neither Dr. Cigarroa nor Mr. Powers have been made available for interviews.

‘Politically Motivated Campaign’

The admissions controversy has been of particular interest to Wallace L. Hall Jr., a regent who has flooded the flagship campus with public-records requests in search of evidence of sweetheart deals or coverups.

A House panel recently concluded that Mr. Hall had abused his power in what amounts to a witch hunt, and the regent now faces possible impeachment.

More than 10,000 people have signed a petition decrying a "politically motivated campaign to attack and discredit" Mr. Powers. "I don’t know of anyone else who could get that kind of support," Horacio R. Villarreal III, a former student-body president on the Austin campus, said on Monday.

"We’re confused as to why this is even an issue," he said. "He’s done amazing things for the university."

Meanwhile, faculty members at Austin have been in touch with their counterparts at the University of Virginia, where furious protests from professors, students, and alumni helped get Teresa A. Sullivan reinstated as president in June 2012, two weeks after she was pressured to resign.

"I’m interested in knowing what strategies the UVa faculty used to form a united front that was so effective in her reappointment," said Andrea C. Gore, chair-elect of the UT flagship’s Faculty Council.

http://chronicle.com/article/As-Fight-Over-U-of-Texas/147535/

[austinponie]

Per twitter:

UT Faculty Council expected to adopt resolution supporting Powers on Wednesday. Exec Committee warns of "chaos on the campus" if he's fired.

[Pony^]

Exec Committee warns of "chaos on the campus" if he's fired.

That's never stopped them before . . . see, Homer Price Rainey and Stephen Hopkins Spurr.

[friarwolf]

Ok, does anyone know what all these great things this dude has done? Fundraising is good but 3BB campaign kinda sounds like us having a 250MM campaign. It started in 2006, same year as ours. I would think Jim Bob, Joe, Red, and Mack could write those checks. Rankings are stagnant.......

[gostangs]

he is super popular with the folks whose kids couldn't get in except through the Powers back door. And those folks have lots of dough

[tristatecoog]

Isn't admissions favoritism at play in nearly every university? At UH, in the early '90s when I worked there, we had an admissions code of "CD" which stood for Chancellor's Discretion. For example, quite a few athletes don't meet regular admission criteria or are applying to transfer after the deadline. As long as Powers' practices weren't rampant, I don't see the big deal. They host state reps all the time at functions, games, etc. and giving their preferred applicant a bit of a boost doesn't sound egregious. Some recommendation letters carry more weight. I guess he just doesn't play well with his bosses, which isn't a good thing. Are their ideas for the direction of UT that different than his own?

Isn't this all a good thing for SMU but bad for Texans? If there's turmoil at UT and its rankings go down further, SMU will overtake them even sooner.

[StallionsModelT]

We are already attracting and recruiting superior prospective students than UT. The rankings are always a little slow to come around but in the next decade we will pass UT on those lists as well.

[couch 'em]

SMU has always made liberal use of admitting otherwise marginal students from families able to pay full tuition or make donations. Nothing wrong with this. It is "diversity"

[East Coast Mustang]

For those more in the know than me-

How much does the top ten percent rule affect Texas' ranking? And will it be a significant detriment in the future? Seems to me like it's a huge hindrance on their ability to attract top-notch students to Austin when you can only take 10% of the kids from HP or St. Mark's each year but also have to take all of the top 10% from tumbleweed high schools all over the state. If we're being honest here, in the metrics that the US News ranking uses (namely SAT) the top 1/3 or top 40% at HP or St. Mark's are more qualified than the top 10% at many schools throughout the state.

IMO if the Texas Legislature didn't hamstring UT-Austin with the top ten percent rule, it could be the nation's premier public school. Only UC-Berkeley has a comparable in-state population base to draw from, but Berkeley isn't as central to major population centers in California as UT-Austin is here in Texas.

[lwjr]

he is super popular with the folks whose kids couldn't get in except through the Powers back door. And those folks have lots of dough

A very good friend of ours was able to get their daughter in this fall and she finished in the top 15-18% of her high school graduating class.
Money talks

[tristatecoog]

UT used a top 7% rule for Fall 2014 and A&M still uses top 10%. About 75% of enrolled students graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. 25% of enrolled students' families make less than $60K per year.

http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/research/EnrolledFreshmenProfile-2013.pdf

[Topper]

For those more in the know than me-

How much does the top ten percent rule affect Texas' ranking? And will it be a significant detriment in the future? Seems to me like it's a huge hindrance on their ability to attract top-notch students to Austin when you can only take 10% of the kids from HP or St. Mark's each year but also have to take all of the top 10% from tumbleweed high schools all over the state. If we're being honest here, in the metrics that the US News ranking uses (namely SAT) the top 1/3 or top 40% at HP or St. Mark's are more qualified than the top 10% at many schools throughout the state.

IMO if the Texas Legislature didn't hamstring UT-Austin with the top ten percent rule, it could be the nation's premier public school. Only UC-Berkeley has a comparable in-state population base to draw from, but Berkeley isn't as central to major population centers in California as UT-Austin is here in Texas.

They recently reduced it to 7%, not sure what the cutoff is this year. The rule certainly hampers UT's ability to compete, but most of the top public universities have policies that are, in essence, affirmative action oriented no matter what they call them. So they too have to deal with special admissions issues.

In the end, UT is still a top public university, but even with stronger Freshman classes it will not match the best schools as long as the Board of Regents remain political animals focused on construction projects instead of academics.

[StallionsModelT]

The 10% rule has been a major hindrance in UT and A&M being able to attract the top tier students in this state. Also, as others have mentioned, UT-Austin has been treading water for about a decade. Other schools in Texas are gaining ground (SMU, A&M, even Baylor). SMU is on the verge of doing some incredible things in the next 5-10 years that will position the university to be the second best school in the state for years to come. The Ford Research Center will be the focal point of the next phase of growing the university.

[Digetydog]

Ok, does anyone know what all these great things this dude has done? Fundraising is good but 3BB campaign kinda sounds like us having a 250MM campaign. It started in 2006, same year as ours. I would think Jim Bob, Joe, Red, and Mack could write those checks. Rankings are stagnant.......

When he was still a lowly Contracts Professor, he was working the system to follow Mark Yudoff (who was a great leader) to the top of the UT administration. While I thought that Powers was a tool, it was clear that he was moving up.

Basically, he has been working the faculty and major donors since the early 90's. He has built enormous goodwill with everyone but the Perry cronies.

[Digetydog]

For those more in the know than me-

How much does the top ten percent rule affect Texas' ranking? And will it be a significant detriment in the future? Seems to me like it's a huge hindrance on their ability to attract top-notch students to Austin when you can only take 10% of the kids from HP or St. Mark's each year but also have to take all of the top 10% from tumbleweed high schools all over the state. If we're being honest here, in the metrics that the US News ranking uses (namely SAT) the top 1/3 or top 40% at HP or St. Mark's are more qualified than the top 10% at many schools throughout the state.

IMO if the Texas Legislature didn't hamstring UT-Austin with the top ten percent rule, it could be the nation's premier public school. Only UC-Berkeley has a comparable in-state population base to draw from, but Berkeley isn't as central to major population centers in California as UT-Austin is here in Texas.

The 10% rule was/is necessary to ensure that minorities have a chance to gain admission without resorting to illegal affirmative action. In my opinion, if the state makes you go to a crappy school and you "win" by finishing at the top of your class, you deserve a shot at attending the flagship school.

To the rich kid from HP with stellar SAT's and a Top 25% (but not top 10%) ranking, I say tough luck. If you really wanted to go to UT, you should have done better in school.