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May 01, 2009 04:08 AM UTC

Late-Introduced "No More Ben$ons" Act

  • 25 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

We’ve talked a couple of times about the uncertainty over the search process for Colorado State University’s new “chancellor,” a position being carved out of the system independent of CSU’s campuses and based in Denver. In addition to fresh concerns from stakeholders over the speed, secrecy, and possible favoritism of usual suspect cronies in the CSU search, the situation reminds many of the controversial process that elevated GOP kingpin Bruce Benson to the Presidency of the University of Colorado.

Today, leadership from the House and Senate introduced a late bill that attempts to address these concerns, and from what we hear it’s being given as fast a track in the session’s closing days as the CSU search process. From the House Majority Office’s release this afternoon:

House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann and Senate Majority Leader Brandon Shaffer announced legislation today to bring openness, transparency and accountability to the selection of leaders of Colorado public colleges and universities.

“Now more than ever, our students deserve top notch leaders.  The people of Colorado should have trust and confidence in the leaders chosen to educate our children and prepare them for the jobs of the 21st century,” said Majority Leader Shaffer. “For Colorado to pick the right leaders for our colleges, we need the right process. We need a process that is open, transparent, accountable and inclusive.”

The legislation seeks to put into law basic requirements for the hiring process public colleges and universities use when choosing new leadership.   The bill requires schools to use search committees to advertise available leadership positions, develop job qualifications and to take ample time to make thoughtful decisions.

The legislation was in part prompted by concerns about the current search process at Colorado State University…

We mentioned previously key figures in the CSU chancellorship situation like Pat Grant and Joe Blake, who some say might have eyes on the job themselves–and at the very least are perfectly content, one can assume, with the backroom status quo. Since these guys can deploy armies of pushy lobbyists, subtly threatening donors and other forms of pressure on legislators with a couple of phone calls, this last-minute bill could get red hot in the couple of days it’s legally permitted to.

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25 thoughts on “Late-Introduced “No More Ben$ons” Act”

  1. I’ve been in academia with one or both feet for most of my professional life.  CU and CSU are public institutions in name and face only, certainly not from the level of financial support they get from the state of CO.  If the state political apparatus would like to continue to exert micro-managerial control over the flagship campuses, perhaps it could quit embarrassing itself by being such a small share of the cost it takes to run the campuses.   CU is a Tier-I research school in spite of state money, not because of it.  Last I saw the numbers, and I’m sure it hasn’t changed in 5 years, 100% of the research performed at CU was awarded in grants to faculty, a vast majority from the feds, and zero from the CO general fund.

    1. Wouldn’t be Denver Chamber of Commerce’s Joe Blake and the Republicans he funds, would it?

      As soon as you can explain to me why people who spend their careers undermining public universities suddenly become college presidents, we can debate “micro-managerial” control from the legislature.

      1. so i don’t need to explain it, do i?

        my point stands: the legislature exacting policy control over university hiring would sit better with me if the legislature actually gave a shit about the campuses.  My main complaint is that the state loves to be able to say, “Look at our awesome public universities!” without providing the public backing to match the words.    

        1. another Friday afternoon special from central planning.

          CU has controls and I’d assume CSU, the CCs, etc…. do too. According to Tom Lucero, extensive and transparent purchasing process at CU were the model for A54.

        2. who are at least as political as the legislature, yet are less representative since they serve six-year terms. They represent Colorado as it was four years ago, a much more conservative place.

          The state universities don’t get a lot of state money, it’s true, but they’re still managed by elected politicians one way or the other. The alternatives are open processes or crony favoritism. Which do you prefer?

          1. Following your central planning theory the state leg should take over Kennedy at Treasury … open up the PERA management process, make her go public on her trading options and decisions.

            Better yet, take over the Guvs. Boards and Commissions too.

            1. Do you even know if there were any other candidates?

              Do you know what the recruiting process for candidates was?

              Now I understand, you don’t know much of anything, so it’s not fair to ask these questions of you. But the point is that all we know is that somehow, again and again, the “best person for the job” has been an old out-of-work Republican.

              I don’t have a central planning theory; I have a theory that sometimes out-of-work Republicans should stay out of work. The public universities are not a welfare program for right-wing hacks, or at least they shouldn’t be.

            2. that if Cary Kennedy had been involved in secret deals with results as disastrous as the one at CU, and was starting out on a path that looks as similar as the one at CSU, the legislature would be considering ways to add some mandates to prevent this from continuing.  They are being sensible, and more power to them.

    1. Didn’t she get promoted to some new position at a really cool university after bringing to CU so many new cultural advances (rapists and Ward Churchill)?

      And Gordon Gee, he’s at a private rich kids place —  Vanderbilt, right? The wife’s allowed to toke dope in the Presidents mansion I hear.

      2. Gee left Vanderbilt to return to Ohio State (a public institution, wow!) in 2007.

        Betsy Hoffman has been provost at Iowa State since 2006, a year after leaving CU. Not exactly a promotion…

  3. As long as the state is willing to pay for these “nationwide, regional, and statewide” searches, go for it.  Nothing wrong with that…

    What’s funny though is that this “No More Ben$ons” Act would have done nothing to prevent your favorite evil repub from landing himself a job at CU.

    CU had a search committee.  They formulated a list of qualifications.  They created a job description.  They interviewed multiple candidates.  They kept those other names private…as Shaffer and Weissmann’s bill would do.  They named a finalist.  That finalist was “direct[ed]…to make a

    public presentation to the institution community before any vote is taken

    by the board.”  And then he was approved as the next president of CU.

    Man…it must suck when folks like the Board of Regents use the rules to get what they want.  If only they had to abide by HB 1369 to make their process even more…uh…exactly the same?

    Anyway, this is a good bill…and should stop those slack-jawed yokels at CSU from screwing up their chancellor search.  Too bad us CU folks have all our shit together…  🙂

    You can put all the dollar signs in Benson’s name you want, pols; but the guy went through a process and got himself hired.  A process remarkably similar to the one Weissmann ans Shaffer magically came up with…  

    1. It’s stunning that you can put so much gloss on the most controversial appointment in CU’s history. And if you really think everyone in the CU community is happy about that process, or feels it was conducted fairly, you’re not spending much time there.

      BTW, when was the last time Ben$on gave a speech that didn’t have the words “political diversity” (David Horowitz codeword) in it? Been awhile for me.

      At least he got kicked off Metro State’s board…

        1. http://www.cufund.org/wp-conte…

          This fiscal year through April 23, total dollars raised for CU have declined 18 percent. But we’re substantially outperforming our peers-colleges undergoing major fundraising campaigns have seen a 32 percent drop-and with over $80 million raised to date, this year still ranks among CU’s best ever for private support.

          Nice spin on it. With the recent 10% increases in tuition, it seems like Benson’s primary source for fundraising is students’ parents.

          Of course, it’s not his fault. Nothing ever could be.

          1. is that the way Benson and others seem to get these positions is that they promise to bring in all sorts of fundraising.  

            Tuition is getting out of hand as well – my son is not even 3 yet and I have 5 figures saved already for his college education and it’ll probably never be enough – ridiculous.

            Our country is becoming like Japan more and more each day.  We are rich in absolute terms but in relative terms we are poor.  We make good money but we are charged up the yazoo for our kids college, health care, daycare, etc.

            1. As I recall, the evidence that Benson was good at raising money was that he had donated money personally to the university. Turns out it’s harder to get other people to do it.

        2. he hasn’t been around long enough to grade him on fund raising.  but it continues to the heart of my point in the first comments on this post.  If the f’ing state would pony up to the levels it should be, CU wouldn’t need to hire a gun to suck up to corps and other donors to get money.  If the state of CO wants a top-notch PUBLIC university, they should be paying for it with PUBLIC money.  The fact that this university’s balance sheet is dominated by and thus completely dependent on federal grants is a disgrace.  The fact that CU felt it had to explicitly hire a fundraiser to be prez is another disgrace, and the disgrace is all on the state.

      2. None of you gave a flying you know what when Steve Bosley was named the chair of the search committee and they came out with their ridiculous set of qualifications for Hank Brown’s replacement.  Then, once the process was complete, you start screaming bloody murder.  Way to be on the ball…

        The point is that Shaffer and Weissmann’s nice little oversight plan would have done nothing to prevent Benson becoming CU’s president.  Care to argue the actual point…or just keep on complaining about Benson?

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