A&M Regent Willing to Throw Out "Solution"?

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-education/higher-education/am-regent-willing-to-throw-out-solution-/

An influential Texas A&M University System regent appointed by Gov. Rick Perry was caught on tape saying that system officials might jettison a controversial teaching award program, once touted by the governor as a potential "solution" for higher education.

Phil Adams, the vice chairman of the A&M board of regents, referenced the Student Led Awards for Teaching Excellence (SLATE) awards during Thursday's board of regents meeting. The program, which has been renamed since its initial creation, provides cash rewards to professors with high student evaluations. The SLATE awards were created in response to one of the controversial "seven breakthrough solutions" for higher education, which Perry and the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank, have encouraged regents at public university systems to implement since 2008.

Adams, who is a TPPF board member, leaned over to regents chairman Richard Box and indicated that the regents could "throw that out." Then, with a nod to protesting faculty, Adams added, "We don't want them to think they did it."

Texas A&M University assistant professor Jaime Grunlan had just delivered an energetic speech confronting the regents in which he repeatedly asked them to eliminate the program. Grunlan said the program offends the faculty and doesn’t serve the students well. He received a standing ovation from the many faculty that had come to hear his speech, and it was as the applause dragged on that Adams made his comments. A YouTube clip of the speech with the comments that follow is being widely shared in the A&M community.

While Box did not appear to react strongly to Adam's comment, he did tell reporters after the meeting, "We’ll take a look at the metrics of these programs and see what’s working and what’s not. If we feel like it’s beneficial for the university, then we’ll refine it or it will be something else.”

[Ilsa]

1. Here's more about how Perry's henchmen are trying to destroy

Higher education. The professors are very upset over lack of support from the university administration.


http://www.theeagle.com/am/Professor-receives-ovation

[kjackson227]

2. We are going to lose a lot of prestigious faculty because of Perry's...

interference.

[sonias]

3. This state is going straight to the bottom

Why are the moderate Rs standing by on the sidelines and letting Perry kill higher education too?

I know they don't normally give a crap about public education. They send their kids to private schools anyway. But usually higher ed is something they feel is a good thing. Not so much now.

:shrug: