Perry's plan to weaken UT continues

Oh well , right now we're spittin' out too many super smart {so they think} liberals that can't walk and chew gum at the same time.
 
huiasche

That's what achievers do , tee it up. Not sit around with messed up hair saving caterpillars from construction crews
 
Can you believe he wants to increase enrollment by a huge margin, and cut tuition by a huge amount over a several year period? And we are smugly gloating over Nebraska getting kicked out of the AAU?
This will ruin UT academically, and that's no exaggeration.
This crap needs to be stopped, and stopped right now. Perry wants to devalue UT, turning it into an internet cheapo diploma mill.
Every UT grad should read this article and write a letter, email, or phone Perry's office over this. This is an outrage. This is serious. This is real. Please call your representatives, write letters to the editor, we need to take action!
 
I think there should be low-cost options for getting a college degree, particularly those for which high tech labs are not needed, but lets be good stewards of the value proposition that is UT. UT Austin shouldn't be the experiemental lab for that.
UT's prestige and cutting-edge research serve as a dynamic engine for growth in the Texas economy.
I honestly would like to see some revolutionary change intended to make quality education more affordable using technology, adjunct faculty and new ways of imparting knowlege.. Honestly when I went to UT some of the best classroom teaching I had was from graduate assistants and adjunct faculty -- people that then and now don't cost the university a lot of money. Sadly I don't trust the man who put the "goober" in gubernatorial as the one to lead or pick the people to lead the charge on change.
 
I voted for him. Twice. I always consider both candidates in each race, weight their views, and vote for the Republican. After all, I'm a right wing reactionary.

It was a mistake. I'm voting for the Democrat next time. Perry is willfully ignorant about education. Worse, he is now being vindictive about losing the first round against the UT establishment. His ego is such that he believes the state is his personal sandbox.

I hope his regent appointees (who he constantly reminds that they serve at his pleasure) understand that someday Perry will be gone, UT will still be here, and that the objectives of Perry will be seen as destructive to UT.
 
Despite Wayne Chisum, Leo Berman, Debbie Riddle, and other long-serving clowns, I think I'd prefer a strong Lege and a weak governor after too many years of Goodhair's grandstanding and power grabs.
 
Well, this is just stunning. Who'da thought an aggy republican would try to weaken the Home of the Longhorns? I am shocked! Shocked, I say!

You vote for him? Once? Twice? Thrice?
You got him.
 
Better late than never, the Aggies are joining us in pushing back against these hare-brained "reforms" that would threaten the reputation and AAU accreditation that UT and TAMU have worked so hard over the past decades to secure.

In reply to:
Click to expand...
 
The adjunct instructors and graduate assistants you had were people working very hard to secure full time employment elsewhere. That is why they were so good. However, how do your propose that they make enough money to pay their bills, save for their students college fund, perhaps dream of buying a house, have health insurance, etc. Eventually, if there are no full time teaching positions, they will have to seek some other employment as oppossed to an entire life making about $25,000 a year. I have no problem with having several different tiers of instructors .. those who primarily teach, those who research, some who are part time ... the very young and the very old. But would you try to run a corporation with everyone working part time, no benefits, etc? Wait, I guess many here see the world operating this way.
 
A&M has just as much to lose by the attack on higher education Perry is orchestrating behind closed doors, and they clearly don't like it either.
We may not like admitting it, but A&M has become a highly ranked academic institution, and they won't like being told to vastly increase their enrollment while halving their tuition any more than will UT.
The state has decreased its support of UT over the years to the point where state funding covers 30% of the annual operational budget. Therefore, tuition has risen accordingly. Now Perry wants to direct UT to lower tuition and serve a huge additional number of students, while further cutting state support. Is he nuts? Does anyone see a flaw in this reasoning?
If the state cannot help fund UT the way it once did, which I can understand given the current economic climate, then they should reduce their ham-handed attempts to control the university system by the same amounts. You pay, you get say. Otherwise, get the hell out of the way.
I see nothing wrong with creating low cost higher educational colleges for the growing population of Texas. But this can be accomplished with better community colleges and some four-year colleges. The state should still have some flagship schools that strive to be Tier 1 schools.
If the state doesn't want to provide flagship schools with the support they need, the alumni and private sector may be able to fill the void. Many dedicated funds for endowed faculty chairs and scholarships have been raised over the years. Now more may be needed, but all the money formerly donated to Perry's election fund by UT and A&M alumni could be used for a much better purpose-support of these donors' respective institutions of higher learning.
 
What if anything can we do, as individuals, to help stop this?

Is anyone aware of any organized group that Alumni have to refute this dumb idea?
 
saahorn -- I didn't realize adjuncts make only $25K a year. Obviously, a sustainable system must provide well for those who handle the work, though that is becoming increasinly unfashionable in today's business world. I also think the emphasis on "affordable" needs to be elsewhere than UT and A&M.
 
UT is bursting at the seams as is. Can you imagine an enrollment of 69,000 (a 35% increase) in only four years? They can't possibly make that kind of increase without having to spend a TON on more infrastructure, more dorm space, etc. We would either see a lot more land grabs around campus or a fast-tracking of the development of Pickle as a full-blown campus. Or, the worst case scenario, they would spend nothing at all and start cramming 750 students into 550-seat auditoriums.

I have voted against Perry in every one of his elections because of dumbass ideas like this. This is definitely one area where UT and A&M need to both give Perry a giant middle finger.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

NEW: Pro Sports Forums

Cowboys, Texans, Rangers, Astros, Mavs, Rockets, etc. Pro Longhorns. The Chiefs and that Swift gal. This is the place.

Pro Sports Forums

Recent Threads

Back
Top