Spring Break
Board of Regents: No merge of chancellor, president in progress
By: Meagan O'Toole-Pitts
Issue date: 6/3/09 Section: News
It is unknown if the merger in discussion would be temporary or permanent, or what it would entail, Davis said.
"There's no evidence that this would even happen," Davis said.
Local media reporting has led students, faculty and staff to consider as factual what is, for now, speculation, Davis said.
"It's just a lot of talk, which is okay in a blog but not in journalism much," Davis said.
At the Board of Regents last meeting, a tuition increase of four percent was discussed.
"The governor asked all state agencies to make budget cuts last fall," Davis said. "There is a reason to prepare for hard economic times."
A faculty survey, polling faculty opinion on a merger of the chancellor and president positions, had more than 850 responses, largely from College Station but also from Galveston and Qatar, said speaker of the faculty senate and geography professor Robert Bednarz. Of those polled, 85 percent opposed a merger.
"[We conducted a survey] because faculty senate was trying to develop policy or a response to the possibility, the combining of the chancellor and president, and we wanted to represent the faculty accurately," Bednarz said. "We wrote a statement from the executive committee of the faculty senate expressing faculty's feelings about combining positions."
Bednarz encourages student input on the matter, and said it would be very valued.
"I would think … the student senate would be in a similar situation. I think the Board of Regents would be interested in knowing what all University stakeholders think," Bednarz said. "So however you could gather students' attitudes would help the regents make a wiser decision."
Though an email from President Murano, addressed to all faculty, students and staff stated, "On issues of this magnitude, we all agree that an open dialogue is critical," an open forum discussion with Murano is not planned, said Jason Cook, vice president for marketing and communications.
"There's no evidence that this would even happen," Davis said.
Local media reporting has led students, faculty and staff to consider as factual what is, for now, speculation, Davis said.
"It's just a lot of talk, which is okay in a blog but not in journalism much," Davis said.
At the Board of Regents last meeting, a tuition increase of four percent was discussed.
"The governor asked all state agencies to make budget cuts last fall," Davis said. "There is a reason to prepare for hard economic times."
A faculty survey, polling faculty opinion on a merger of the chancellor and president positions, had more than 850 responses, largely from College Station but also from Galveston and Qatar, said speaker of the faculty senate and geography professor Robert Bednarz. Of those polled, 85 percent opposed a merger.
"[We conducted a survey] because faculty senate was trying to develop policy or a response to the possibility, the combining of the chancellor and president, and we wanted to represent the faculty accurately," Bednarz said. "We wrote a statement from the executive committee of the faculty senate expressing faculty's feelings about combining positions."
Bednarz encourages student input on the matter, and said it would be very valued.
"I would think … the student senate would be in a similar situation. I think the Board of Regents would be interested in knowing what all University stakeholders think," Bednarz said. "So however you could gather students' attitudes would help the regents make a wiser decision."
Though an email from President Murano, addressed to all faculty, students and staff stated, "On issues of this magnitude, we all agree that an open dialogue is critical," an open forum discussion with Murano is not planned, said Jason Cook, vice president for marketing and communications.
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