By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
More than two dozen business executives in Texas have signed on as members of a newly formed group dedicated to improving the quality and reducing the cost of the state’s public universities.The nonprofit advocacy group, Texas Business for Higher Education, includes some major campaign contributors to Republican Gov. Rick Perry. The governor has described recent debate over the direction of the universities as a distraction from more important matters, such as the role the University of Texas could play in an effort to make Austin the next Silicon Valley.
“This is a group that thinks we need to do everything we can to improve both teaching and research, improve access and lower costs,” Justin Keener, a spokesman for the group, said Wednesday. Keener, a partner in a local public relations firm, is listed as the group’s organizer in papers filed Monday with the secretary of state’s office.
In an interview, Keener said the group sees no need to separate research and teaching budgets, a recommendation by some higher education reformers that many higher education leaders see as an oversimplification of the quality and impact of faculty members’ work. Keener also said the group considers research vital to universities, in contrast with some reformers who have described much research as lacking value.
The group intends to be active in policymaking, including the work of two advisory panels at the University of Texas System, Keener said. “Just because you ask questions about how to improve does not mean you are not a loyal supporter.”
A statement by the group lists such goals as trimming costs so that teaching and research can be improved and tuition lowered, improving operational efficiencies and raising graduation rates. The statement notes that UT is ranked 45th and Texas A&M University 63rd among the nation’s universities by U.S. News & World Report.
“What if our football team was ranked 45th?” Keener said. “There would be some serious discussion about how to improve.”
Group members who donated to Perry in 2009 and 2010 include Clayton Williams, an oilman and onetime GOP gubernatorial candidate, who gave $52,822; David Weekley , chairman of a homebuilding company that bears his name, $50,000; and Ben “Bud” Brigham, who runs an Austin-based oil and gas company.
The figures were supplied by Texans for Public Justice, an Austin-based group that tracks money in politics.
Other prominent members include Leo Linbeck Jr., a construction executive who led a review of the 1999 bonfire stack collapse at A&M, and Ralph Cox, former vice chairman of the Atlantic Richfield Co.
Brigham, the president, CEO and chairman of Brigham Exploration Co., said he likes the group’s positive approach. “I’m going to learn what I can and help any way I can,” he said.
It’s not entirely clear what role, if any, Jeff Sandefer, a Perry donor and critic of much university research, played in forming the group. Keener said Sandefer is not a member but might have spoken with some members.
“I’m aware the group is being formed,” Sandefer said Wednesday, adding that he didn’t know exactly what positions it was articulating. “I wish them the best.”
rhaurwitz@statesman.com; 445-3604
See story @ http://www.statesman.com/news/local/business-group-seeks-to-improve-universities-1382168.html
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