U.S. Senate
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(D) J. Hickenlooper*
(R) Somebody
80%
20%
Governor
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(D) Phil Weiser
(D) Joe Neguse
(D) Jena Griswold
60%
60%
40%↓
Att. General
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(D) M. Dougherty
(D) Alexis King
(D) Brian Mason
40%
40%
30%
Sec. of State
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(D) A. Gonzalez
(D) George Stern
(R) Sheri Davis
50%↑
40%
30%
State Treasurer
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(D) Brianna Titone
(R) Kevin Grantham
(D) Jerry DiTullio
60%
30%
20%
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(R) Jeff Hurd*
(D) Somebody
80%
40%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert*
(D) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Jeff Crank*
(D) Somebody
80%
20%
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) B. Pettersen*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(R) Gabe Evans*
(D) Yadira Caraveo
(D) Joe Salazar
50%
40%
40%
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
November 23, 2008 02:36 PM UTC
8 Comments
Putting someone with zero intellectual curiosity and an aversion to facts he disagrees with in charge of a University is a dagger aimed at the core business fo the school. And as the president’s top job is to sell the school and raise money, how can he do so when he disagrees with what the research there is discovering?
I remember Dave, vet hopeful back at the University of Florida in 1965. He came back from an AI demonstration/practice one day. I’m not sure he got over it.
Whether you are a CSU fan or not, CSU is an important public institution, the second largest institution in Colorado government, behind CU. There are serious people at CSU doing serious things: Learning is foremost among these. Students place faith in CSU to do right by them and forego a lot of money to support this faith. The most objectionable feature of the float of Allard’s name last week (and before) is that its chief author was one Douglas Jones, Chairman of the CSU Board of Governors. Jones qualification to serve on the Board of Governors seem chiefly that he is a Republican. He appears not to have had a background in higher education or a sympathy for the educational mission of universities per se.
Jones was appointed by Governor Bill Owens to serve on the 9-person Board of Governors. He is known to be a leader on the Board, not merely a titular chairman. Like other members, he has a four-year term. See the website www.csusystem.edu for the biographies of all nine board members. You will notice that Governor Ritter has appointed only two members to the board, with two more to be made after the end of this year, and a bunch more after the end of 2009. The longest serving member is Pat Grant, the Steamboat-area rancher, former head of the National Western Stock Show, and former Republican State Senator. Governor Owens appointed him for a second term a few years ago. Note also that the head of the Denver Chamber of Commerce is a member of the CSU Board of Governors.
Our current Governor might well ask himself if appointing Democratic party apparatchiki, paralleling Gov. Owens’ Republican project, would be a good thing. I hope not. One strains to see the benefit of political stewardship of public universities. Oh, sure… as we have seen, there HAS been a Republican vision for CSU… the whole knowledge-to-market approach of CSU’s recent investments and reorganizations. But CSU is becoming a national joke. 70% of its university core curriculum is taught by temporary instructors who, while performing admirably well under low-paid conditions, have none of the security or protection of a professional faculty that we associate with a true university.
While CSU’s tuition has gone up markedly in the past few years, the bulk of the tuition increases have been siphoned to the President’s and Board’s pet projects… The most recent is “CSU-Global,” a University of Phoenix-type effort which passed no academic, marketing or other tests for viability or integrity. This Andy Hardy approach to university management signals the desperation of the institution against the fact that Colorado higher education ranks 49th in the nation in terms of state financial support, a bad joke in itself.
As an institution invested with the public’s trust, CSU is entitled to greater diligence from its Board of Governors than Mr. Jones’ ‘Allard promotion’ indicates. It’s a serious place for serious people. Mr. Jones hasn’t been asked to account for statements prejudicial to the search for a replacement for outgoing CSU Chancellor and President Larry Penley. There seems to be nobody to call Jones to account, save for the other members of the Board who have largely yielded to the leadership of Jones and two other members. Let’s hope that he hasn’t scared off qualified candidates for these positions by signaling to higher education community that CSU’s board is prepared to use them to provide hobbies for old politicos.
Higher Ed in Colorado needs attention and leadership from experienced people committed to higher education. I hope that Mr. Jones can retire his political ambitions and stand aside to permit the institution to select administrators sympathetic to teaching and learning. And that Governor Ritter will use his statutory appointment powers to replace Jones and others with those committed to both CSU and the best interests of the state.
And he definitely does believe that the core role of a university is education and the pursuit of knowledge.
Also unlik Allard, he’s effective.
The main job of a University president nowadays is raising money. Benson was not my preference, but he seems to be doing ok.
This morning’s Post reminded me how hilarious it is that a guy who can’t be bothered to return constituent email thinks he’s got the mojo to run a research university.