Over the past few weeks, former Texas A&M President Ray Bowen said, he's been asked a question by countless colleagues across the country: "What on Earth is going on at A&M?"
Jeff Pilchiek, a guidance counselor at Westlake High School in Austin, said he constantly hears rumors that Gov. Rick Perry is aiming to become president of his alma mater, where he was a yell leader. Other speculation puts him as chancellor.
In Washington, D.C., Claire Van Ummersen -- vice president of the American Council on Education, which serves as a coordinating board for all U.S. universities -- said she had heard of turmoil at A&M but said it didn't seem to be an "extraordinary situation."
In the past few weeks, Texas A&M President Elsa Murano has resigned under fire, other key administrators have been shown the door and faculty members have publicly expressed outrage at the way the school has been governed.
The drama has played out in major statewide newspapers as well as in influential national higher education publications. A story about Murano's resignation made it to the front page of the Chronicle of Higher Education with the headline: "President's Quick Departure Raises Concerns at Texas A&M Flagship."
As the situation progresses, some prominent university voices have warned of major damage being done to the academic mission of A&M.
"You've all heard Aggie jokes, but you don't have to make up Aggie jokes. This is a bad situation," said Provost Jeffrey Vitter during a meeting of the university's shared governance task force last week.
Jon Hagler, a distinguished alumnus and co-chair of the committee that crafted the school's ambitious Vision 2020 plan to achieve national academic prominence, has criticized the governance situation as "an all-powerful 'system,' run by political appointees, without legislative oversight, who wish to unilaterally politicize and 'corporatize' [the] decision-making structure and staffing to their own, and to their political friends', advantage."
Hagler, a major donor to the university, has threatened to cease his support. Others who give generously have privately issued such warnings.
Add these factors to recent action by a panel of university faculty and researchers: By a 27-to-2 vote, the Council of Principal Investigators passed a resolution of "no confidence" in Chancellor Mike McKinney, citing concerns about shared governance, improper influence and irresponsible behavior. The Faculty Senate is to consider a similar resolution Tuesday.
Others, however, aren't convinced that A&M's reputation and academic prominence are so fragile. They agree that the publicity has been negative but say the problems will pass over time.
"Texas A&M is a first-ranked institution," said Van Ummersen, who isn't associated with the university but said she had followed the situation through the Chronicle of Higher Education. "[A&M] has a good reputation throughout the country and it will, I am certain, not affect the institution's ability to find new leadership because individuals who would be interested in positions would be looking at the quality and its reputation over time, not singling out any incident that has occurred."
Governing disputes
Bowen and Hagler have argued that a breakdown in openness has occurred at A&M over the past few years. That breakdown is indicated by flawed hiring for major university administration positions and a lack of openness and inclusiveness in governance, they said.
The problems became public May 27, when McKinney told The Eagle that the A&M System was considering merging the positions of university president and system chancellor.
Responding to concerns that university officials and faculty weren't consulted about this possible move, McKinney told the newspaper: "There's nine people who can tell me what to do," a reference to the regents, who are appointed by the governor. "I'll make my arguments to them. They argue, they listen and then they make a decision, and I carry it out. You want shared governance? That's shared governance."
On June 4, a scathing performance review of Murano was released after the paper filed an open records request. In it, McKinney criticized her for "refusing to acknowledge her commitment to the BOR [Board of Regents] or Chancellor" and saying she "should work WITH the faculty not FOR."
Murano resigned June 14 and will return to the faculty after a year of paid development leave, but the tension at the university has mushroomed. On the day Murano's resignation became official, regents announced that R. Bowen Loftin, who oversaw the Galveston campus, was taking over as the interim. Since then, a few top administrators have been let go.
Loftin has ordered the school's vice presidents to make cuts in their budgets, and system officials have indicated that some university positions may be merged with similar ones in the system.
Throughout the turmoil, McKinney has defended his actions and the regents have supported him. Board Chairman Morris Foster and McKinney have said that many of their decisions are rooted in an effort to control tuition costs, which have risen dramatically in the past decades.
Smart Money magazine reported that, in a comparison of graduates' earning levels with what they paid to attend school, A&M provides the best return on investment in the country.
"I believe in and practice shared governance," McKinney said in an e-mail response to questions for this story, pointing to a 24-member committee formed in April by Murano with the goal of examining the university decision-making process.
He said he successfully lobbied to include a system administrator on the committee.
"I believe that those persons affected by decisions ought to have an opportunity to participate in those decisions," he said. "Those participating need also to have accountability and responsibility for that participation."
Foster could not be reached for comment Friday but, in an open letter to the media, also said he was committed to shared governance. He said that most of the recent changes have been made to remove redundancies in positions in the A&M System and its flagship university.
"There is a price for excellence, but there must also be a greater sensitivity to the tough economic times families are enduring today," he wrote. "What can be performed by one entity on behalf of both the university and the system will be shared and coordinated, saving millions of dollars and controlling the cost of education for our families."
While some faculty members agree that cost-cutting measures would prove beneficial in some areas, there are a few, such as research and finances, that should not be merged with the system, they argue.
Attracting talent
Faculty members and some administrators have said recent changes, along with the widespread publicity generated by them, are harming the reputation of the university and will make it difficult for the school to recruit top students and faculty.
"Right now all around the country, people are learning about the differences and the rather unusual situation of a chancellor attempting to micromanage the university," Bowen said in a recent interview. "Anyone that might be contemplating coming here might want some clarity. If we are in the market right now to hire a Nobel Prize winner, they might be in trouble."
Bob Bednarz, a geography professor and speaker of the Faculty Senate, said such perceptions could cause top talents to pay less attention to A&M when they search for a school.
"There have been enough different incidents that have been reported that give the impression that Texas A&M is in a state of instability," Bednarz said, adding that almost every person whom the university would be interested in hiring has the option to go to another school.
"So the easy thing to do is say, 'I will put A&M at the bottom of my priority list and look at other places first,'" he said. "It looks like we could lose a person before having them come to campus."
McKinney indicated that he wasn't concerned about recruitment efforts.
"Architecture, Vet Medicine, the Agriculture and Engineering colleges and some departments -- chemistry, physics, higher education administration, to name a few -- have recruited star faculty and will continue to do so," he said in his e-mail to The Eagle.
Van Ummersen, who develops leadership programs for higher education administrators and previously has served as president of Cleveland State University and chancellor of the University System of New Hampshire, agreed. She said she expected concerns to abate as time passes.
"This is very new, and it may be a bit of a reaction to the current situation. And as the process of searching for and appointing a new president winds forward, this will fade and they will become invested in searching for the new person," she said.
Others disagree. The current controversy about the hiring and resignation of the president may die down, but the long-term concerns about Vision 2020 and the way the university is managed likely will live on, they say.
Vision 2020 is a key recruiting tool for faculty and administrators, and its goals are touted to potential hires.
Bowen, who years ago co-chaired the group that crafted 2020, said the changes could affect student recruitment, too. Academics overwhelmingly are the most important reason students choose to attend the school, and interest will clearly decrease if the academic reputation drops, he said.
"If this continues and becomes a protracted dispute on campus and [a student] looks for a job, they may say, 'You come from the place where they fire presidents and the regents try to control everything,'" he said.
Reputation among peers also is one of the leading factors in a schools' academic standing. The well-respected U.S. News & World Report does an annual college ranking and uses peer assessment as its most influential measure. The magazine sends more than 4,000 questionnaires to academics around the country and asks them to rate schools on a scale of one to five. Those ratings make up 25 percent of the total assessment.
Pilchiek, the guidance counselor in Austin and president-elect of the Texas Association for College Admission Counseling, said he expects potential students to have little concern over the dispute. Incoming students don't expect to have contact with the president, regents and top administrators of a school as large as A&M, he said.
"That is really not what the student of today looks for," he said. "They are looking for quality of education, quality of student life."
The two main reasons students from his school go to A&M, Pilchiek said, are Aggie loyalties in the family and the quality majors the university offers.
McKinney also said potential students' views of the university remain high.
"The reputation of Texas A&M is phenomenal, strong and growing," he said, pointing out that applications to the school are at an all-time high. "Texas A&M's students are our reputation. Our students continue to be outstanding citizens and get good jobs when they graduate."
Recent events aren't likely to have an impact on fall enrollment -- the application deadline had long passed when the controversy came to light.
Crossroads
The 24-member shared governance task force met Wednesday.
"We have to make clear what our expectations are at all levels," said Vitter, the provost and a co-chair of the committee. "We're in a bad situation in terms of our reputation being tarnished."
McKinney has met with faculty leaders and released an open letter to the Aggie community in what he described as "an attempt to correct misconceptions by providing facts."
The Board of Regents will select a new president, and it has assured the Aggie community that faculty and student input will be sought. Regents still haven't made clear what the process will be for selecting a new university leader.
Decisions made in the coming months will affect the school for years, many, including Bowen, have concurred. Bowen said that the mounting disgust by faculty and wrong direction by regents could change Aggieland for a generation. He said it would take time, new regents, more restructuring and less influence by the system to restore A&M's reputation to where faculty will want to work at the university. Still, he said, he believes the path can be reversed if regents "do the right thing."
"It is the kind of thing that could be resolved quickly where it is not an issue [for the future]," Bowen said. "If you look back long-term at A&M's history, there have been times where there has been disputes. There was an enormous dispute where the board and president didn't want to allow women. The community put it behind them. A&M can sustain disputes."
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