Published Saturday, June 27, 2009 12:08 AM
Merger talks to include A&M faculty
By VIMAL PATEL
vimal.patel@theeagle.com
Texas A&M University will be represented on each of the nine committees responsible for examining how to merge services between the 48,000-student College Station campus and the 11-university system that governs it, officials announced Friday.
The nine teams, with 60 members in all, each will include at least one faculty member. Most members -- 37 -- are from Texas A&M University; 11 are from the A&M System offices; eight are from the system's state agencies; two are from other system universities; and one each is from the Texas A&M Research Foundation and the University of Texas System.
The plan to share services has left a cloud of uncertainty over Texas A&M University, as regents last week embarked on the cost-cutting endeavor on the same day that Elsa Murano resigned as president after a falling-out with System Chancellor Mike McKinney.
Many view the plan as a takeover of certain functions by the system, a contention that the chancellor and the Board of Regents have strongly denied. But the lack of details has fueled speculation about what the plan will entail.
"The shared services initiative will lead to reduced costs, economies of scale, increased expertise, and expansion of shared resources," McKinney said in a statement. "We will maintain our commitment to the highest quality educational experience at Texas A&M University while working to keep control of costs for students and families paying the bills."
Some services between the two entities are already shared, including some in treasury, information technology and state governmental relations. But the new mergers would greatly expand that. Nine areas are being looked at, including some in research administration, which has caused the most concern among Texas A&M faculty and administrators.
Mary Meagher, a psychology professor, will represent the faculty on the research administration committee. Other Texas A&M University representatives on that team include Theresa Maldonado, executive associate vice president for research, and Jeffrey Seemann, who begins next week as vice president for research. The only A&M System official on the nine-person committee is Brett Giroir, vice chancellor for research.
Meagher, who is also a member of the Faculty Senate, expressed the views of many who say the tight deadline for the committees to make recommendations -- mid-August, in time for a September board meeting -- is not practical and that actions of such magnitude should wait until a new president is chosen.
"I don't believe in the charge of the committee," the College Station resident said, "and I'm going to represent those who don't believe in the charge of the committee."
A&M System officials -- including Rod Davis, a spokesman for McKinney; Frank Ashley, the vice chancellor for academic affairs and team coordinator; and Andrew Strong, system general counsel and team adviser -- did not respond to messages left early Friday evening.
Some faculty members said there were reasons to be optimistic. Bob Strawser, a Faculty Senate member who will serve on one of the committees, recommended earlier in the week that the senate be able to pick a faculty member to serve on each committee.
That happened, as Robert Bednarz, speaker of the Faculty Senate, contacted several faculty members about serving on a team Friday morning.
"That indicates to me that they, the people putting these teams together, are listening," said Strawser, who in 2008 was tapped by McKinney to serve as interim president of Texas A&M-Kingsville.
Bednarz said he was contacted by McKinney on Thursday morning after Bednarz had spoken with Board of Regents Chairman Morris Foster the day before. The chancellor asked Bednarz to submit recommendations for faculty representation by 10 a.m. Friday.
Though he had less than 24 hours, Bednarz said, he managed to nominate an appropriate faculty member for each team, and the chancellor accepted the nominees.
"We [the Senate] appreciate the opportunity to designate faculty representatives for the teams but wish that we were allowed to be involved earlier in the process," Bednarz said in an e-mail Friday night. "I hope this represents a first step towards greater cooperation and consultation with the faculty."
The cost-cutting mission was approved by regents after they heard a presentation about the bleak economic picture of Texas A&M University and higher education in general, one that included the potential for continued tuition increases, funding shortfalls in the next legislative session and reductions in other revenue sources, such as investment earnings.
Exactly how much money A&M System officials planned to save was unclear until Monday, when McKinney said during a Faculty Senate meeting that the aim was $20 million.
Texas A&M Interim President R. Bowen Loftin sent out a memorandum to his vice presidents Monday stating that sharing services was not enough to save $20 million and that independent cuts to administrative budgets would also have to be made.
On Friday, Loftin praised what he called the board's and chancellor's effort to reach out to the faculty in the creation of the teams.
"I think things are moving along in a direction toward stability, and that's all we can ask for," he said.
Loftin was asked Friday why the goal was to save $20 million, rather than, say, $10 million or $40 million.
"I really don't know the answer," Loftin said. "That's the number that surfaced from the system. I don't know how that was arrived at."
System officials haven't explained why that number was settled on, and Foster, the board chairman, didn't immediately respond to a message Friday evening. Nor did he respond to several others left over the past month.
In addition to research administration, other areas the teams are examining are business services, construction and physical plant, federal government relations, human resources, information technology, marketing and communications, risk management and training.
Comments
[comment]
12 comment(s) found!
Posted by:
A&M supporter On:
Monday, June 29, 2009 7:21 PM
Comment Title: poor Loftin
the new president of A&M needs to figure out WHY he's doing what he's doing before he does it. This lack of curiosity and knowledge about his charge to cut 20M speaks volumes about his qualifications for the job.
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Posted by:
On:
Monday, June 29, 2009 1:31 PM
Comment Title:
Good
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Posted by:
On:
Monday, June 29, 2009 1:31 PM
Comment Title:
Nice
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Posted by:
On:
Saturday, June 27, 2009 6:08 PM
Comment Title: Time for It all to Hit the Fan
Those of us inside the System are calmly waiting for McKinney to be hit with his own bull patty. First of all, the reasons for tuition increasing by leaps and bounds is confined to the spending practices by Texas A&M University; their income compared to their expenditures. Literally millions of dollars are spent for the hiring, firing and paying off the contracts of ex-coaches and a good ole boy or two. The TAMU Athletic Department was given a sixteen million dollar loan that will never be repaid. The agencies and other universities within the System have their own budgets and expenditures. None of their income or expenditures have anything to do with TAMU tuition, period...end of story. So why are they being dragged into this political saga? Why are they having to participate in Mikey's off the wall ideas that are going to result in the firings of staff at the lower end of the salary pyramid? If he had any intelligence at all, beyond medical, he would have done his homework before beginning his dictatorship and found out that many of the services that he is asking the other members to share are already being shared. Poor Mikey; even those against him pity him for his ignorance, as well as the mission that Texas' pretty boy governor has given him. What if he fails? Well, Mikey, you had better get ready because you are going to fail miserably. I certainly hope that you won't be subject to any open records requests. For that would be truly sad, embarrassing and most likely, affect your career. The best option for you is to stop this fiasco while you still can. Sound advice, I promise.
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Posted by:
On:
Saturday, June 27, 2009 4:03 PM
Comment Title: Shared Services Again?
I cannot believe they are having this discussion again. We go through this every few years. How do we share services? And, after wasting time and money, the powers that be realize it's not possible. We are a system in name only. Each member does their own thing. If they really want to cut costs, has James Hooten come off the payroll yet? How much longer do we have to pay Franchione? Employees are always told there is no money for raises or to hire more help. Those of us who have worked within the system long enough know there's plenty of money for things THEY want to do. It's all a big joke. Here's an idea, how about the so-called executives go without a raise and let those of us in the trenches actually get a decent raise for a change?
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Posted by:
On:
Saturday, June 27, 2009 11:57 AM
Comment Title:
It is not cost cutting. It is a plan that started about 3 years ago to remove all strong people of integrity who understand how the system and the university work effectively together. Look what has happened in the last couple of years to wonderful system employees in Human Resources and Communications. Removing the best people and replacing them or their functions with idiots does not seem to be a good plan even in the corporate world.
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Posted by:
On:
Saturday, June 27, 2009 10:38 AM
Comment Title: How abt cutting top salaries?
How about cutting 10% off the top of the top salaries? The five top salaries (ranging from $435K to $500K) go to the--get ready. . . not faculty or administrators. . . ATHLETIC DIRECTORS (Franchione, Sherman, Turgeon, Byrne, Blair). Asst. Coach Kines makes $400K, Cromwell $330K. And these are salaries going to a department which is losing so much money that the President's office had to LOAN them money to keep afloat. The argument that sports dollars help keep the University afloat doesn't seem to hold any water. FYI Salaries of public officials (including University) are open access and public. Look them up!
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Posted by:
On:
Saturday, June 27, 2009 9:32 AM
Comment Title: Cannot Laugh Any Harder
Let me see, 60 people are going to form one giant committee to determine how to merge services to save dollars for the A&M conglomerate? This should take a couple of weeks? Ha ha ha.
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Posted by:
jj On:
Saturday, June 27, 2009 9:15 AM
Comment Title: All about control...
If the Regents and the Chancellor were serious about cost cutting, there would not be half a BILLION dollars worth of new construction taking place on campus. There would not be multiple FORMER football coaches making six figure salaries to play golf. They would not have trumped up a phony performance evaluation on Dr. Murano and then a 3/4 of a million dollar settlement if she agreed not to sue them. They're doing so mmuch damage to our beloved university and to our community. And just imagine what a field day Texas Monthly is going to have with this.
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Posted by:
On:
Saturday, June 27, 2009 8:31 AM
Comment Title:
If research is really all the system wants, why not give it to them? There will be no stability in A&M leadership until they find someone to give it away and it is hurting all of the rest of the university. Give it to them.
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Posted by:
On:
Saturday, June 27, 2009 8:23 AM
Comment Title: Research Administration
Good luck Mary and thanks for serving on the research administration committee. You may have little input on this. Rumor is that the pre-ordained results of this committee have already been announced by the Research Foundation president to his staff and to others. The real charge from the Chancellor is to make sure that University is not in the research administration business even though it is the reseach institution responsible for its risks. Deals may have been cut with the College of Engineering but who knows? You will be serving with the representatives of the Research Foundation Board of Trustees (whose goals are to increase business to the 5019(c)(3)and with A&M administrators who will probably not be free to defend the University or the State agencies goals when different from the Foundation. But it is good to know that we will have faculty looking out for all of the interests of the faculty. Thanks for serving.
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Posted by:
On:
Saturday, June 27, 2009 7:49 AM
Comment Title: cost cutting -NOT
Of course, no one knows where the $20 million is coming from...... it is bogus....Cost savings between the System and A&M can occur only with allowing A&M to handle their risks and the services. If the cost cutting initiative was real, the Board of Regents would simply mandate that A&M cut their budget. A&M would then find the best ways to cut its budget and they would do so. This way the cuts will be done based on University priorities and what is in the best interest of the UNIVERSITY and not in the best interest of the Research Foundation need(a separate private entity 5013) or not based on the university business that the system has now decided they want to run. If the A&M budgets are cut, why should the chancellor or Board care how they are cut? This is for control of the university....
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