Rick O’Donnell

This tag is associated with 44 posts

Longhorns Who Take Too Long

By Mitch Smith Partly in response to outside criticism that its four-year graduation rate of 50 percent is too low, the University of Texas at Austin outlined a number of ambitious proposals Wednesday

UT Admin To Reform – Bill Powers Has Other Ideas.

After the UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa’s speech and the UT regents blessing for his plan, we thought the UT controversy was over and progress now could be made in moving forward with positive measures.  Apparently UT president Bill Powers wants to keep the fight going – all in our opinion to the detriment of … Continue reading »

Frank Talk, Debate on the Future of Texas Universities. By Rick O’Donnell

Teaching and research must continue to be linked for excellence. By Rick O’Donnell Fierce debates continue to rage in Texas about the future of our universities. As is often the case when it comes to big issues, attention gets deflected to personalities, institutional squabbles and turf wars. That this happened in higher education may leave … Continue reading »

UT Chancellor Reflects on Feud Over Faculty Standards, Budget Struggles. By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz

By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz Not too many people perform liver transplants in their spare time. Francisco Cigarroa says it keeps him grounded. Cigarroa’s day job since February 2009 has been chancellor of the University of Texas System, overseeing 15 academic and health campuses. It’s been an especially challenging assignment the past few months. His bosses, … Continue reading »

How Did the Provost Make Such an Elementary Mistake

In response to the below article, people should be asking the following questions: How did the provost make such an elementary mistake? Anyone who has worked with state agency budgets knows the difference between an FTE and a real person.  What do you think? UT provost claim inaccurate. By Rick O’Donnell A story in Thursday’s … Continue reading »

Students, Parents and Taxpayers First – By Rick O’Donnell

Having spent many years in public service, advancing K-12 education accountability, tax relief, higher education reform and running for Congress, one lesson I’ve learned is you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. If you had asked me before I started as Special Advisor to the University of Texas Board of Regents what … Continue reading »

Kenneth Jastrow, Member of the “Coalition” Writes Testy Letter to Powell

Regarding the following article that was written By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz AMERICAN-STATESMAN, students, parents and taxpayers should publicly ask the following question: Is it true or not that UT President Bill Powers attempted to withhold information from the public and regents, as alleged by Rick O’Donnell? Is anyone going to ask Powers this question? By … Continue reading »

How Productive Do Professors Have to Be?

By Charlotte Allen The firing of a controversial aide to the University of Texas system has triggered a full-blown debate over the productivity of teachers and whether “star” professors who teach few classes are really worth the cost to the public. Rick O’Donnell, dismissed on April 19 after only 49 days on the job as … Continue reading »

UT Provost’s Three-Fifths of a Teacher – Rick O’Donnell

If you want to get into the numbers and specifics, here is a post from Rick O’Donnell‘s blog yesterday.  In addition, we posted some interesting comments, if you care to dig into it more. By Rick O’Donnell A story in (today’s) San Antonio Express News quotes UT’s provost as saying my study of faculty data … Continue reading »

UT, Coalition Focused on Striking Back, not Solving Problems.

Here was the original headline: “UT, Coalition Strike Back at O’Donnell Analysis“.  While there continues to be a number of personal attacks on O’Donnell and his research methodology, there has been very little discussion about how to improve the quality, affordability and accessibility of our universities. Whether or not you agree with O’Donnell, now the … Continue reading »

Why Productivity Data Matter

By Rick O’Donnell (plus comments from Inside Higher Ed readers) “Faculty performance data” may be the three most dangerous words on American university campuses these days – much more controversial than anything to do with political correctness, tenure or affirmative action. They hold the key, however, to bringing a true productivity boom to our colleges … Continue reading »

Texas Coalitions Spar Over Scholars’ Time, Research, Pay

Inefficient professors are the targets in Gov. Rick Perry‘s plan to reform higher education By Katherine Mangan Austin, Tex. Depending on whom you talk to in Texas these days, college professors are either elitist intellectuals oblivious to the financial struggles of their students or hard-working teachers and researchers being pressured to churn out graduates like … Continue reading »

UT Controversy – Both Sides Say They Care About Higher Ed

Both believe and fundamentally say they care about the quality and accessibility of higher education. By Reeve Hamilton Randy Diehl, the dean of the University at Texas at Austin’s College of Liberal Arts, is looking for ways to boost undergraduate graduation rates. Earlier this week, UT President Bill Powers told Diehl he’d be leading a … Continue reading »

Powers and Cigarroa Unavailable for Comment. Zaffirini Denied Anything Unseemly.

Top UT officials under fire – Former adviser says they blocked release of data By MELISSA LUDWIG Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7635188.html#ixzz1Qr7dEJQe Rick O’Donnell, a former special adviser to the University of Texas System who received a $70,000 settlement, this week skewered top UT officials for trying to block the release of faculty productivity data, accusing them … Continue reading »

Former UT adviser O’Donnell Says Zaffirini Mounted a Campaign to Demonize the Regents

By Mary Lee Gran A $70,000 settlement could have bought peace between the University of Texas System and former special adviser Rick O’Donnell, but O’Donnell, who was fired April 19, instead spoke out against UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa, UT-Austin President William Powers Jr. and state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, the Austin American-Statesman reported. In an … Continue reading »

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