re: New rumor regarding Saban.... Honest.

quote:

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Powers wants to turn UT Into Michigan: smaller enrollment, research institution, etc

Perry wants less strict entrance requirements, online classes.

I was told powers idea will win

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Texas already is pretty much Michigan. In-state tuition is right at $10,000. Perry says it should be less. It's very hard to get into the university, even for state residents. In higher education you have North Carolina, Virginia, Cal, Michigan, and Texas: they have their own universe.

Perry's reforms would ensure that Texas would lose that standing. Doesn't mean Perry's wrong to make them -- look, I loathe the guy, and I think it's all about politics -- just that the decision is about what the university will be.

Who'll win is a political matter. Perry makes appointments to the Regents. So far, he has a minority. We'll see.

It's very hard to have rational conversations about higher ed. Misinformation abounds. Right-wingers (not all conservatives) hate universities because they tend to be liberal pretty much all over the world. It's also true that faculty want to protect their turf: if you were hired at Texas on the assumption that you'd do lots of research, sudden changes would really hurt. I doubt anyone's seriously stepping back and looking at the whole system of higher ed in Texas and what's the value of having a single flagship academic institution.

(There's no putdown of A&M here, which is a fine school but with a somewhat different mission.)