The future of Texas A&M

If you have been so unfortunate as to inquire about my feeling about Governor Rick Perry, you know that the answer to that question is a long, bitter diatribe about the numerous reasons I detest him. And while I could make this entirely about why I cannot stand him, I am going, instead, to focus on the most significant TRUTH about why I do not like him as a politician and why I pray for the day he is finally out of office.

The cover story in the October 2012 issue of Texas Monthly- on newsstands NOW- is titled, "The Battle Over UT." The cover depicts the revered campus clock tower amidst rocket and gun fire, rubble and tanks and beckons the image of a battle ground. Before I even picked it up, I knew EXACTLY what I was about to read...because it STARTED at Texas A&M over two years ago.

And while I have a whole separate tirade as to why TM just NOW decided this is a crisis (when it has been going on for years now) because it has finally come to UT's doorstep (nevermind what it has ALREADY done to Texas A&M), I am going to skip ahead to what's important, because this article really does highlight the problems going on at BOTH schools. I guess a war-torn UT clock tower sells more magazines than a skirmish at Kyle Field, but I digress...

There is a serious crisis happening RIGHT NOW in both College Station and in Austin. And what's at stake is the very thing that you-- and I-- hold as the source of our pride in our Alma Mater-- their pristine academic reputations. THEY ARE IN JEOPARDY.

And that is almost entirely because of Rick Perry.

Without going into gross detail-- seriously, read the TM article if you want names and dates and/or to double check that I am not completely full of shit-- here is the situation.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation-- a "conservative think-tank" located in Austin determined about four years ago that there needed to be reform in public institutions of higher education in the State of Texas. Read-- Texas A&M and The University of Texas.

Generally speaking, these individuals determined that tenured professors with high salaries, as a whole, are not the best individuals to be teaching students because they are too expensive, they dedicate too much time to research and they answer to no one. The reforms they seek to impose would stress, "accountability, efficiency and productivity."

As a result,  they moved to evaluate the public university system in the state because of rising costs of tuition and how that impacts prospective students and families. And that is a just and valid reason to evaluate where fat can be trimmed and things can be changed to try to keep tuition costs down.

But I guess the bigger picture here is that, the Governor cut the education budget in the state and as a result, ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS are having to find other ways to bring in the money they did not receive from the state. Tuition was raised in DCCCD for this exact reason; UT and Texas A&M are no exception.

The reforms the TPPF wants to instill would link professor salaries to student evaluations, increase professor workload, quantify the amount of work that professors do and correlate it to the value it beings the university. Essentially, the idea is to change the structure of the university to mimic the efficiency of a major corporation.

What Rick Perry has done, as a result of the agenda of the TPPF, is to appoint his apolitical allies (and generally, a huge segment of the membership of the TPPF) to the Board of Regents of both Texas A&M and The University of Texas. And for those of you that are unsure of how major decisions are made at a university, suffice it to say that the Board of Regents are like mom and dad-- you aren't going anywhere or doing anything without their Permission. for the most part, actually, they tell YOU what to do.

So essentially, good 'ole Rick Perry has infiltrated the powers-at-be at BOTH institutions to impose this agenda...all, they contend, for the sake of the "customer" (AKA-- the student).

I have so many problems with this, I do not even know where to begin.

First of all-- what makes Texas A&M and The University of Texas the schools they are is their academic reputation. Say what you will about what happens on the gridiron, but these institutions are respected on a national scale because of their academics and their RESEARCH STATUS. These schools would NOT be competitive-- and draw the number of students (both domestic and international) to their campuses (which serve to stimulate the local, and thus, state economy)- without those reputations.

WELL, THOSE REPUTATIONS WERE EARNED ON THE BACKS OF PROFESSORS AND THEIR RESEARCH!THE CREDENTIALS OF THOSE REVERED SCHOLARS IS WHY THESE SCHOOLS HAVE GOTTEN TO WHERE THEY ARE. WHAT HOPE DO THEY HAVE OF MAINTAINING SUCH A STATUS WITHOUT THEM?

And that is EXACTLY what Rick Perry wants to attack. To attract the biggest and brightest, you have to offer the biggest and brightest. Is that not what Mac Brown and Kevin Sumlin offer their prospective players? Why should that be any different for students interested in the school for its academics?

Beyond that, linking a professor's salary to student evaluations? Seriously? I am a professor. And I am sure there are a few students that would say I should pay them to be their teacher. College is HARD and immature 18-year-olds who are pissed off they have to read The Canterbury Tales on the same night as their frat's big party are NOT going to write a favorable evaluation of their professor. And THAT GUY is going to affect a seasoned, PhD professors income!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

I am not saying that evaluations should not be factored into job performance, but having them linked to SALARY? Ok, so the most popular teacher makes the most. Cool, sweet-- bet you that teacher decides to stop testing his students altogether and just hands out A's for showing up...he'll be a millionaire.

And as far as pleasing the customer-- well, I was a customer. And I am one of those people they are trying to serve because my parent's couldn't afford tuition and I am saddled with my entire education's worth of student loan debt. And I didn’t struggle to find a job outside of college because of my debt or because I was ill-prepared; I encountered trouble finding a job BECAUSE THE ECONOMY IS IN A DOWNTURN! And what did I do in that time? I worked a job beneath my education level until I could find one that suited my interests and experience and NEVER ONCE did I miss a student loan payment. I still, have never missed a student loan payment.

Furthermore, as I entertain the notion that my student loan debt would be less at the expense of even one day of difference from my college experience (academic or otherwise), I cannot come around to how that would EVER be worth it. I will happily pay my student loans each month until I’m 100 because what I learned from Texas A&M as a student, citizen and human being, truly is priceless to me. And I would be willing to bet that it is priceless to a lot of people, with or without student loans, Texas Aggie or Texas Longhorn. I know my parents wouldn’t trade what money they DID spend to help me out in college for my experience to have been different OR cheaper. And again, I would be willing to bet a LOT of parents would feel the same way.

Lastly-- it is an incredibly ignorant and foolish assertion that professors do whatever they want and only care about research and publishing papers. I teach on the community college level and cannot think of a full-time teacher I work with who is not over extended. I am SURE that translates to 4-year universities as well. To suggest that college professors do not work hard enough-- especially at a school as large and populous as Texas A&M or UT, is absolutely absurd. The suggestion that part-time professionals would be a better fit (as offered by the TFFP) is preposterous! Our adjunct faculty-- AKA, the part-time teachers-- are usually ALWAYS the source of problems. They do not have enough invested in their TEACHING JOB to put in the extra time and commitment NECESSARY to be a teacher. Teaching on the college level requires a lot of extended office time, student meetings, project grading, etc. Try and find me a part-time teacher with a regular full-time job or commitment that is going to give their students the time or attention they require to succeed in college.

(oh did you see that just there...that was Texas A&M's future going down the drain...)

And what I fear is what this spells for future students and the reputations of these two institutions. And that has no relationship whatsoever to politics or my feelings thereof. If you want a cheaper option in the State of Texas—or anywhere for that matter—there are ALWAYS alternatives; Texas Tech, UNT, University of Phoenix, etc. But trying to restructure the core of what makes these institutions the academic pillars they are will do NOTHING but hurt the future of great minds, great students or this great state.