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The last time the Texas A&M University System combined the roles of chancellor and president of the flagship campus, James Earl Rudder was in charge.
Discussion surfaced last week about the possibility of again combining the positions, likely eliminating President Elsa Murano's job. There is no plan to make such a move, Chancellor Mike McKinney said, but officials are considering it as one of many cost-cutting measures.
The role of chancellor was created in 1948 with the establishment of the Texas A&M University System. The move came after a recommendation by a committee of state legislators who concluded that the university had become too big for one person to manage effectively.
"It may be that the far-flung and ever-increasing activities of the A&M College have become so vast, and its services so varied, that no one individual can direct its operations with full familiarity or its several services, requisite for the most effective functioning thereof," the panel of six lawmakers wrote.
At the time, A&M employed 5,000 people and consisted of four colleges. Today, the system employs more than 27,000 people and has 11 universities, seven state agencies and a health science center.
Several former and current members of A&M's faculty have expressed concern about combining the chancellor and president posts.
"Not and doing a good job, you couldn't combine the roles," said former A&M President Ray Bowen, who said he consistently worked 60 to 70 hours a week during his eight years as president until 2002.
James Earl Rudder served in the dual position of Texas A&M president and system chancellor from 1965 until his death in 1970.
Jon Hagler, a distinguished Texas A&M alumni who co-chaired the task force that crafted the university's Vision 2020 plan, said it was his understanding that Rudder's actions were meant to keep the system from meddling with the university.
"Earl Rudder was on a mission," Hagler said. "He didn't want any interference from the system, so he combined the two jobs."
Hagler said Rudder understood he couldn't move the university forward without taking charge.
"That man was all about trying to do what was right for the university to make it a first-class academic institution," he said. "He understood you couldn't do it by having a compulsory Corps. He understood you couldn't do it by excluding women."
Hagler said the circumstances are much different now, and warned that combining the posts would be "catastrophic" to Texas A&M, a sentiment echoed by Bowen, who said the jobs are too demanding for a single person.
The chancellor, who directs the daily administrative operations of the 61-year-old system, oversees one of the largest higher education systems in the Untied States, including:
* Eleven universities, including A&M in College Station, Corpus Christi, Kingsville, West Texas, Prairie View, Commerce, Tarleton, Texarkana, Central Texas and San Antonio, as well as A&M International University. Central and San Antonio were added to the system last week.
* Seven state agencies, including Texas AgriLife Research, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Engineering Experiment Station, Texas Forest Service, Texas Engineering Extension Service, Texas Transportation Institute and Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory.
* The Texas A&M Health Science Center.
Each of the 19 system members have a president, CEO or director; and each university is independent.
A nine-member Board of Regents governs the system. Each serve six-year terms and are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate. A non-voting member of board -- a student -- was added to the board more than three years ago.
The A&M president oversees the state's first public institution of higher education, which opened in 1876 and has two branch campuses -- in Galveston and the Middle Eastern country of Qatar.
More than 2,800 teachers and researchers make up the faculty, 90 percent of whom hold doctoral degrees or terminal degrees in their field and 300 hold endowed professorships or chairs.
Between 46,000 and 48,000 students are enrolled at the university depending on the semester, and there are about 250 degree programs in 10 colleges. The college does $550 million-plus in research each year, putting it among the top 20 universities nationally. The endowment is valued at more than $5 billion, according to university officials.
A five-year faculty reinvestment campaign is in the final stages and so far has added about 430 new faculty positions with another almost 20 expected to be added soon.
James Huffines, chairman of the University of Texas Board of Regents, said combing the top leadership roles in that system would not work.
"It is not something that our board would ever consider for the UT system," he said.
McKinney has said that combining the posts could be a temporary move, but he declined to explain what he meant by temporary or discuss what the long-term solution would be.
"I could never envision even a temporary combination of the positions in any manner whatsoever," Huffines said, noting that there are differences in the two systems, which may account for different philosophies about the roles of president and chancellor.
Huffines said that when the UT System was looking to cut back, it elected to freeze the salaries of all 15 presidents in the system until August 2010.
Bowen, a professor in mechanical engineering at Texas A&M, questioned whether the issue was prompted by a need to cut costs.
"First of all, we haven't heard anything from the state Legislature about financial problems," he said. "Second, it's highly unusual to come in and say 'Well, the way to save money is to come in and merge positions at the top.'"
During his presidency, Bowen said, he dealt with budget cuts and would get budget guidelines from the chancellor.
"It could be something like, 'We do not want you to reduce enrollment or cut funding for the library,' and then they'd give you choices," he said. "Nothing would be as specific as 'You're out of a job.'"
Bowen said he suspects a reason other than the budget is driving the discussion.
"My suspicion is for some reason they'd like to get a new president of A&M," he said. "I think Dr. Murano has a great talent and the board should have taken a metering role and get her up to speed in every aspect of the job. It doesn't seem like they've done that."
Kathryn Greenwade, vice president of communication for A&M's Association of Former Students, said the organization has heard from "quite a few" alumni who are concerned about the flagship university losing its top administrative slot.
"I would say, we, too, are concerned that the merging of these two positions could have a negative impact," Greenwade said of the organization that boasts almost 280,000 members worldwide.
The university could recover from having a chancellor serve simultaneously as president once a "normal structure" was restored, Bowen said, but for the smaller universities in the system, it would be more difficult.
"All of those regional universities depend greatly on a totally engaged system led by a chancellor that works on their behalf," he said. "On a daily basis [as president], I didn't need his assistance. But those universities are going to have a difficult time receiving the needed attention of a chancellor who is consumed by another full-time job."
