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23 October, 2000 E.T.
York, PhD Re: Education Governance Reorganization Dear ET: I apologize for getting back to you so slowly regarding the above-cited issue. I have been out of town for the past 10 days and, so, wanted at least to e-mail you regarding this important issue. The document your office FAX'ed me was entitled Comments Before the Structure and Function Workgroup, Education Governance Reorganization Transition Task Force, Jacksonville, Florida, October 12, 2000. The paper to which you refer in your cover note and in the Comments was not included. None the less, there are interesting suggestions to which I will address my comments. Perhaps we can again discuss this issue, at a later time, after I have had the chance to review your proposed program. ET, I am not sure how this topic ought to be addressed. You and I have briefly spoken previously about this issue, and I believe I commented that I thought it was a remarkably bad idea to abolish the BOR, in spite of my past disagreements with them. However, I assume- and you please tell me if this is a correct assumption- that the BOR is dead and is not possible to re-vitalize. If this is so, then we must move on to assist our Legislative colleagues in their attempt to come up with another form of governance. So…… 1. The Comments suggest that you have in mind a three tiered system for educational governance. The overarching group would be the State Board of Education, responsible for K-12 plus the SUS [hereafter termed K-12+] and setting general policy for the SUS while it actively runs the rest of the educational system. Beneath the State Board of Education in this K-12+ system, you have suggested a system-wide governing body [hereafter termed the SWB] for the SUS. The SWB would have at least some of the prerogatives of the present BOR. Finally, there would be a local governing body [hereafter termed the LGB]. The role of this group is unclear to me at this time. 2. For the K-12+ system, I wonder if the Board of Education has the expertise or wisdom to run the SUS. Certainly if they were to set only general policy, and left the overall management of the SUS to the SWB, this might be acceptable. I also wonder if the Board of Education is enough of a firewall between the SUS and the Governor and/or Legislature. As you well know, the politics of manipulation and pork do not E.T. York, PhD 23 October, 2000 Page 2 bode well for a University that wishes to become world class. Having said this, please do not think I am arguing that our State Government has no role in the management of the SUS. That is not my argument at all. Rather, I would like to see some description of the system of checks and balances that would prevent the Legislature from manipulating new program development or Tenure and Promotion for political purposes. 3. The system-wide body [SWB] would have, as I mentioned above, some of the prerogatives of the present BOR. I assume they would set strategic policy, put together proposal for overall funding, develop the outlines of new programs, and so forth. This seems like the present BOR, so why do we need a new system ? Again, my question is: What are we trying to accomplish ? What is the problem we wish to solve ? I remain puzzled by the goals of the Legislature and Governor. 4. Finally, we have the local governing bodies [LGB] at each of the campuses of the SUS. I am absolutely mystified by this structure. What will it do besides providing for another handful of appointments for the Governor ? Is the LGB to be the President's sounding board ? His/her legislative body ? His/her modulating influence ? Is the LGB to go to the Legislature each year to lobby for funds and programs ? How will the LGB justify its' existence, and how will this impact each of the campuses of the University ? Well, ET, as I read this over, I can see that I am still not clear about what we are going to have in the stead of our BOR. I apologize if I have not appropriately responded to your Comments. I believe it would be useful for me to read your full paper about the new governing structure. I also believe it would be useful to configure a response that has Faculty, Administration, and Student input. Perhaps we might discuss how to make this operational. I look forward to meeting with you soon. Yours, A. Joseph Layon, MD Chairman, UF Faculty Senate, Professor of Anesthesiology, Surgery, and Medicine Error processing SSI file |