President of UT Austin Told to Resign or be Fired
Bill Powers, President of the University of Texas at Austin, has reportedly been told to resign by Fransisco Cigarroa, the chancellor of the University of Texas system. Powers, a proponent of raising tuition rates and affirmative action, has frequently clashed with Governor Rick Perry, but was generally defended by UT regents, including Cigarroa himself. But now, the tide has shifted.
More from Scott Jaschik at Inside Higher Ed:
Is U. of Texas at Austin president being forced out?
Bill Powers has enjoyed the backing of student, faculty and alumni leaders while serving as president of the University of Texas at Austin. And he has been held in high regard by university leaders nationally, serving as chair of the board of the Association of American Universities.
But reports spread Friday afternoon that his days as president are numbered. Several Texas newspapers reported that Francisco Cigarroa, chancellor of the University of Texas System, had told Powers to either resign or face dismissal by the Board of Regents. The reports said that Powers has said that he is willing to talk about a retirement plan, but not to quit immediately. While UT system and Austin officials are not commenting on the reports, two anonymous sources with knowledge of the discussions confirmed to Inside Higher Ed both the ultimatum given to Powers and his response.
Powers has been clashing for years with regents who are close to Governor Rick Perry, a Republican who is in his last year of office. Two years ago, Powers survived a push to fire him.
As UT Austin president, Powers has defended the university and its faculty members from criticisms from the governor’s allies, who have questioned the value of research and graduate programs that do not bring in outside dollars (in other words, non-science research). He has also defended the need for tuition increases, which have been opposed by Perry. Powers has also been a strong defender of affirmative action in higher education, notably in defending the university’s admissions practices all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. (The court last year declined to bar public colleges from considering race in admissions, but sent a challenge to the UT Austin admissions practices back to a lower court for review.)
Is U. of Texas at Austin president being forced out? (Inside Higher Ed | News)
Comments
Watchdog.Org has done an excellent series of articles about the issues influencing the admission policies of UT Law. It appears that many state legislators used undue influence to get politically connected applicants admitted, when their LSAT scores were well below the average candidate admitted.
From http://watchdog.org/144169/ut-law-school-hookups/
“Until now, the most striking piece of evidence for the favoritism charge is the result of the February 2014 bar exam, published by the state Board of Law Examiners. UT is usually near the top of the list, with a passage rate for first time takers of about 95 percent. In February, UT’s 59 percent pass rate was dead last in Texas.”
The same article is part of a series of 22 articles looking into the admission policy and provides strong evidence that acceptance into the law school is greatly influenced by who you know. That is unacceptable. As a Texas taxpayer, I want this stopped and the level of academic performance required for admission to be the same for all applicants.
This took place on Bill Powers watch. The buck stops with him.