Loftin held hostage?

On Sunday we wondered where President Loftin was. On Monday, some at A&M received a communique purporting to be from him:

Texas A&M has had, for many years, mechanisms in place that allow the full range of your activities to be considered in annual performance evaluations as well as for promotion and tenure (which are guided by our faculty rules and guidelines). This report will not be used (even if inaccuracies are corrected) to assess the overall productivity of an individual faculty member, and it certainly does not speak to the quality of that productivity.

Vision 1920 is worried that President Loftin is being held hostage by faculty terrorists and sent this email under duress. Here's why:

• The message was not delivered in public
• Although President Loftin sends weekly emails from president@tamu.edu, this one comes from a different address.
• There is nothing like it on his university webpage. Note how he fooled his captors by not sending faculty propaganda to the whole TAMU community.
• Like POW Jeremiah Denton blinking out Morse Code, Loftin gets the real message through

  ...What I wish to emphasize to you is that the existence of this document does not imply change in our focus or behavior as a university. More explicitly, let me say that the mission of Texas A&M University has not changed nor have the processes we have in place for evaluating faculty.

What other explanation could there be?

Enhancing the undergraduate experience

More from Loftin's email

- Unofficial preliminary fifth-day figures show another year of record enrollment - 49,426, or 724 more than last fall.
...
- We have two open forums scheduled for this week as we continue our discussions on the Strategic Budget Reallocation. The first, on enhancing the undergraduate experience, will be today from 4-5:30 p.m. in Rudder 601.

Our plan to enhance the undergrad experience is to reduce teaching staff while increasing enrollment. That way Aggies get to experience more of each other in every class they take.

Update: The email also says:

My memo about these forums, and how you can view them remotely if you are unable to attend, can be found at http://tamunews.tamu.edu/2010/08/31/strategic-budget-reallocation-process/.

But if you follow the link, all it says is

All open forums are taking place in Rudder 601 and will utilize electronic simulcast for maximum participation.

Note the email says today is the first, while the website shows one from last Friday on graduate programs.

Update 2: the streams are at http://ttvn2.tamu.edu/home/?p=streams

Amazing

A highlight from President Loftin's email to the Aggie family:

Often when I meet with other university presidents, they express amazement at the level of support provided by our former students through the Association of Former Students. For the 2010-2011 academic year, our students, faculty and staff will receive $3.2 million from the Association to support 65 initiatives for which state appropriations are not available, such as scholarships (more than $1 million), student activities (including travel support for the Aggie Band), and enrichment programs for faculty and staff.

Vision 1920 imagines these meetings:

Other University President: "Hey Bowen, given how fanatical your former students are about A&M, it's amazing that your alumni giving ranking is not even in the top 50, which means you're behind Texas, Michigan, Berkeley, UNC, UCLA, and even UC-Davis."

Loftin: "Yes, it's an amazing level of support. Of course, we've been working very hard lately on impressing some of our big donors".

Look out, Gophers!

President Loftin boasts about how we did in the 2011 US News rankings:

Texas A&M fared well in rankings released this week. U.S. News & World Report (http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/) placed us second nationally among public universities (and the only public university in Texas) in the “Great Schools, Great Prices” category, behind only the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Overall, we remained tied at 22nd among national public universities. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (http://whatwilltheylearn.com/) again gave Texas A&M the top grade of “A” for our focus on core course requirements, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked Texas A&M 95th in its annual list of the world’s 100 best universities (http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2010.jsp).

The President didn't point out how we did in the actual National Universities rankings:

Vision 2020 Abbreviation	2011 Ranking
Minnesota	64
Texas A&M	63
Purdue	56
Ohio St.	56
Florida	53
Penn St.	47
Illinois	47
Wisconsin	45
Texas	45
UC Davis	39
UC San Diego	35
Georgia Tech	35
North Carolina	30
Michigan	29
UCLA	25
UC Berkeley	22

We may remain tied for 22nd among public schools, but we've crept up to 63 in 2011, while we were only at 61 in 2010. Among the Vision 2020 schools, we're achingly close to passing Minnesota. C'mon Ags! We can do it!

Consensus builder

Austin American Statesman calls Loftin a consensus builder. Vision 1920 notes that the reporter does not go far enough. He should tell us what that consensus is in the areas mentioned in the article.

He pledged strong support for shared governance, the practice of consulting with faculty members, students and other stakeholders before making major decisions. It's a touchy subject at A&M: Faculty members voted to express no confidence in McKinney shortly after Murano's resignation, citing the chancellor's assertion that he takes his marching orders from the regents.

Where does Loftin stand with respect to confidence in the Chancellor

Loftin said he knows that he must stay in close touch with faculty members and students, "not just by listening but by telling what I know. I also have got to have a strong working relationship with the chancellor, which I've had for a long time," Loftin said. "Within a week of his becoming chancellor (in 2006), he was down in Galveston for a visit, and we got acquainted then. We've been able to work together pretty effectively ever since."

This might not seem like consensus to an outsider. But that would be wrong.

Faculty members seem satisfied with the regents' choice for president, said Robert Bednarz , speaker of the Faculty Senate and a member of the search committee that recommended Loftin and one other candidate, whose identity has not been disclosed.

Qui tacet consentire videtur.

5% solutions

In the email from President Loftin:

I sent a memo to Deans and Vice Presidents last Friday that gave instructions for addressing the 5 percent budget reduction (about $28 million) that the Legislative Budget Board has requested from all state agencies. Each college and division will receive a target budget reduction goal and will be asked to give me a plan by Feb. 8 for meeting this goal. If you have a suggestion, please send it to me at president@tamu.edu no later than Feb. 5. These are tough economic times and we have tough decisions ahead of us, but our university is extremely resilient. Also, we are fortunate that our state is in better economic shape than many others. Our foremost guiding principle as we address these budget reductions is to protect our core mission of teaching, research and service.

Vision 1920 wonders if all the colleges and divisions will have 5% targets or if some targets will be more than 5% and some will be less. The future tense "will receive a target" suggests that tough decisions may actually be made to make the targets different. But the expectation of a plan by Feb 8; the first workday after suggestions are due suggests otherwise.

It's Loftin

yawn.

Aren't you glad we hired a high-priced search firm?

More Loftin trial balloons floated

The Eagle reports:

"Get two or more faculty together, and they're going to talk about the administration," said Slack, who admittedly has done a lot of the complaining in the past. "But the general feeling was people were positive about [Texas A&M Interim President R. Bowen] Loftin."

He continued: "He's taken a big bathtub splashing back and forth and just calmed it. He had the right personality and demeanor to keep the [A&M] System officials from the necks of the faculty and the faculty from the necks of the System officials."

Some at the CPI might disagree with the part about keeping System officials from the necks of the faculty. However, Vision 1920's faculty contacts have nothing but praise for President Loftin. The most common refrain: it could be a lot worse.

That's the standard around here these days.

Easing anxiety

The Eagle profiles President Loftin

"I've had to really prioritize and say, 'What can I do to bring stability to campus ... and to ease their anxieties and make them recognize that this place is going to go on just fine?'" Loftin said during an interview in his office Thursday, about 2 1/2 months after he was tapped by the Board of Regents to serve while a search committee looked for a permanent president.

Vision 1920 points out to President Loftin that easing anxiety is another benefit of our proposal for the NCTMj.

President Loftin corrects the record

President Loftin looks back on the summer in an interview with the Batt, and uses the opportunity to set the record straight:

Contrary to statements by local media, Provost Jeff Vitter was not asked to resign, Loftin said.

"He came to the conclusion that because of the leadership change that happened here it was really appropriate for him to go back to the faculty again," he said. "We met several times my first week here, for lengthy periods, to work on issues and ultimately he made the decision not to continue as provost."

Vision 1920 never really believed he was asked.

Watson, come here, I need you

President Loftin names Karan Watson as interim provost.

exas A&M Interim President R. Bowen Loftin said Tuesday that he wants to hold off on the search for a new provost until a new university president is selected.

He also announced that he selected Karan Watson to serve as interim provost, a day after noted academic Jeffrey Vitter resigned the post after serving for less than a year.

Watson, the vice provost for strategic initiatives under Vitter, has held several administrative positions at Texas A&M, including dean of faculties from 2002 until December. She could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

"During this time of transition, it is imperative that we maintain our focus on our academic mission of teaching, research and service," Loftin wrote in a statement released Tuesday morning announcing the appointment. "I thank you in advance for supporting Dr. Watson in her interim position and new era of service at Texas A&M."

Vision 1920 admires President Loftin's chutzpah:

a person who kills his parents and pleads for the court's mercy on the ground of being an orphan.

Vitter out

This apparently was not brought up at yesterday's open forum.

Texas A&M University Provost Jeffrey Vitter, the school's No. 2-ranked administrator, has been asked to resign by Interim President R. Bowen Loftin, a top-level administration official and others familiar with the situation confirmed to The Eagle.

Vision 1920 admires how President Loftin is not letting his "interim" title restrain him. Loftin was asked about his interest in the permanent job during yesterday's forum:

When asked whether or not he is considering himself for the position, Loftin said its too soon to tell. Loftin says once the committee defines the profile of the next president, he will think about it.

Unlike soon-to-be-ex-Provost Vitter, President Loftin is not tainted by having been selected by a search committee of faculty whiners.

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum

Vision 1920 was not able to attend President Loftin's second open forum, and is relying on the KBTX story to figure out what happened.

Texas A&M Interim President R. Bowen Loftin held the second of open forums for the Aggie family to ask questions and make comments Friday morning. Loftin has been told by the Board of Regents to slash 20 million dollars from next year's budget. Loftin says over 6 million dollars has already been saved at the central administration level.

Is the number shrinking? When the Regents met, the savings were reported as $6.8M.

The beauty of asking all units to cut the same amount is that the pain is not based on arbitrary and capricious criteria like what they contribute to teaching and research.

Advance to the rear

KBTX reports on budget presentations made Wednesday to the Regents. Interim President Loftin described how $6.8M has been trimmed already. Most of the savings come from reducing the merit pay pool, but Loftin is also cutting the fat from his own office.

Reductions in the president's office included the elimination of the Office of the Executive Vice President for Operations, a position created by former President Elsa Murano.

By August 31, the Office of Advancement will also be eliminated.

Advancement? Aggieland is already the best place on earth.

Pres. Loftin's town hall

Our new Aggie President's first public town hall meeting was today in Rudder Theater. Overall Vision 1920 thought he did well, but wished he had pointed out the ways in which Vision 1920 (the vision, not the blogger) will btho Vision 2020.

President Loftin was especially good in his answers to two questions: The first claimed there was a crisis of legitimacy, and asked him to comment about the Faculty whiners proposal

Peter McIntyre, a senator from the College of Science, called on the Board of Regents to do two things to show it's committed to shared governance: rescind a policy enacted in March that states it can hire a president not vetted by a search committee, and postpone the timeframe of making recommendations on what services to share until a new president is selected.

President Loftin didn't lower himself to address the inappropriate question about "legitimacy" - we all know that whatever the Board says is legitimate by definition - and he answered by telling the audience how the task forces are moving ahead.

The second question was about why the faculty should trust the Regents and the Chancellor after recent events. The President's answer was even more masterful... he talked about his love for Texas A&M. It made Vision 1920 want to burst into song:

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy.
There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you
in time - It's easy.

All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
There's nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
All you need is love (all together now)
All you need is love (everybody)
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

The Margraves files

In his interview with the Eagle, President Loftin emphasized saving money:

"The objective I've been given is, we need to be cost-effective," said Loftin, sporting one of his trademark bow ties, a maroon one. "We need to anticipate that the economic situation we're in now will not improve that quickly. So it makes sense for us to very quickly examine our own costs and our structures to make sure we do things as efficiently as possible."

President Loftin is the right man for the job, based on his experience in Galveston.

Ross Margraves Jr. -- who was convicted of felony misconduct more than a decade ago for his actions as a Texas A&M University Regent and later pardoned -- has been recommended for a board position at the system's Galveston branch.
...
Margraves was recommended for the position by R. Bowen Loftin, the Galveston branch's chief executive officer and vice president.

Anyone who's ever watched the Rockford files knows what a great job a pardoned felon can do.

A message from the new Prez

To the Aggie Family:

It is an honor and privilege to have this opportunity to serve as interim president of Texas A&M University. As a former student and a faculty member, both here and in Galveston, as well as CEO of our Galveston campus, I have an abiding love for Texas A&M and a keen awareness of its rich history and countless contributions in the areas of teaching, research and service. I pledge to the Aggie Family that this transition to a new interim administration will be as seamless and efficient as possible, and that I will continue to promote our core values as well as our status as one of the top teaching and research universities in the nation. I look forward to working alongside each of you as we continue to enhance and advance our great university.

Over the days and weeks ahead, I will be meeting with faculty, students, staff, former students and other stakeholders to seek their perspectives about the important issues facing our university as we move forward. I welcome the opportunity to meet personally with as many of you as possible. Even with our recent challenges, please be assured that we will not waver from our firm commitment to the citizens of our state, nation and world. Thank you for your continued dedication and commitment to Texas A&M University.

Dr. R. Bowen Loftin
Interim President

Meet the new boss

KBTX:

Loftin said he had worked closely with Murano during her year-and-a-half as president, but did not sense any issues with her performance until media reports surfaced recently.

Apparently the Chancellor was the only one who saw the threat to the System posed by Murano. He must have super spider-sense, like Spiderman. Gotta be careful with that spider-sense, though... if you don't tune it right, you get false positives.

Must say... the new Prez looks like he could lead us into the 1920s.