A bill introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives could lead to a restructuring of governance for public universities in the state.
Republican Rep. Bob Genetski introduced House Bill 5000 to the Michigan House of Representatives on September 21, 2011. If passed, the bill will establish a commission to investigate the efficiency of the current governing system of public universities.
On the Michigan House Republicans website, Genetski stated that the “commission would explore more efficient, less expensive ways to offer college education.”
Some people have expressed concern at the possibility that the commission would recommend the state restructure to have a single, governing bureaucracy for its 13 public universities. Michael Boulus, Executive Director of the President’s Council for State Universities of Michigan, did not understand why any such bill would be necessary.
“What’s broke? Michigan has one of the finest groups of public universities in the nation, despite having some of the lowest state support in the country,” Boulus said. “We have our institutional accountability and transparency, we have great control over our fiscal matters, and we do an awful lot of collaboration together.”
Genetski further explained, “This commission may make a recommendation that we need major changes in higher education governance or that we need a whole new form of governance.
Either way, I think it’s time to put the discussion on the table.”
Apparently, the discussion has already been on the table.
“This isn’t the first time this has been considered. Time after time, Michigan has considered handing control of the universities to a politically driven bureaucracy in Lansing. Most recently was the Cherry Commission,” Boulus said. “Ultimately, it decided that this would not be in the long-term interest of our state.”
Leigh Greden, Executive Director of Government and Community Relations at EMU, expressed that the university feels, similarly to Boulus, the bill is unnecessary.
“We respect the legislative process and are willing to have any discussion with the legislature, but we believe that Michigan’s current university system works,” Greden said. “We have one of the best systems of higher education in the nation.”
While there are other states that have a single, governing bureaucracy for public universities, Boulus explained that the trend is that most states are restructuring to have a system similar to Michigan’s.
“The entire country is going the opposite way relative to governance restructuring, saving money by reducing state bureaucracy,” Boulus said. “We ought to be looking for less bureaucracy. I don’t know how bureaucracy solves any type of problems.”
Greden argued that consolidating governance of public universities would ultimately impede the quality of higher education in Michigan.
“Michigan’s 13 public universities serve unique missions and unique populations, and we collaborate with each other on various administrative areas to save money. Each university has its own governing board, and those regents tend to have valuable personal connections with the university and its local community,” Greden said. “A centralized system run out of Lansing could end that local connection and hinder the academic uniqueness of each university.”
Genetski’s bill was referred to a committee on September 21.
The bill can be read online at the Michigan Legislature’s website.
