October 31, 2008, 7:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m.
Measuring Education's Value to Iowa
Examples of related blog entries:
Nicholas Johnson, "An Open Letter to Regents on 'Governance,'" April 17, 2007.
Nicholas Johnson, "Of Mission and Metrics: Iowa Universities Presidents' 'Performance Goals,'" October 24, 2008
If you're familiar with the two blog entries linked immediately above you can understand why I would be pleased to see the Regents turning their attention to "strategic planning." There are excerpts from this morning's stories below to fill you in on the details.
My comments and caveats would include the following:
o Under the standards of many gurus of governance this should be the Regents' full time job, not something for a couple days of brainstorming (October 30, and February 2). Much of what the Regents currently do involves a level of administrative micromanaging that conflicts with most governance models, is counterproductive, can usually be better done by the universities' presidents (or those to whom they've delegated the tasks), takes time away from what the Regents ought to be doing, with the result that both Regents and presidents are left with little or no guidance as to measurable goals.
o The current Board of Regents includes individuals with an impressive array of the education, skills and experience necessary to do their job. They should do it; without the use of and reliance upon "consultants." (Moreover, of lesser significance but worth noting, at least by my standards $15,000 for a couple days consulting is pretty generous.) This is hard work. But it shouldn't be -- actually it cannot be -- "delegated" to staff or consultants.
o If individual Regents would like a little outside guidance, knowledge of what other universities (and other institutions) are doing, what are thought to be "best practices" in institutional governance, the best way to get it is through self-education; work at it; internalize the skills. It's all out there on the Internet (not incidentally, for free). Want an analogy? Law students use "outlines" of courses. Those who buy and read commercial outlines are sometimes able to pass an exam (barely), but retain little. Those who make their own outlines from the book and class discussion not only do better on exams, they internalize the information, skills and analytical abilities that they continue to draw upon throughout their professional careers. Regents need to do the equivalent of making their own, individual outlines regarding the analytical skills and process necessary to the task of mission/strategic planning/goal setting.
o Strategic planning basics: metrics, metrics, metrics. Any institution needs some general notion of what it's about. But many institutions, whether school boards or universities, never get beyond such generalized "mission statements" and "strategic planning." That's been my primary complaint about past University of Iowa "strategic plans" (and more recently the Regents university presidents' "performance goals," see "Of Mission and Metrics," linked above). If the plan is to be actually used, if it is to have a meaningful impact on anything (rather than be merely printed, shelved, filed, and stuffed into a Web site somewhere), it needs to have some (a) measurable goals, with (b) mileposts of accomplishment, (c) that are in fact regularly assessed and measured according to a, say, monthly or quarterly schedule, (d) reported on publicly with total transparency, and (e) modified as appropriate. (Not incidentally, these then double as the bases for university presidents' "performance bonuses.") You get what you measure;" measure nothing, you'll get nothing. We've not been measuring much.
o Focus. I'm not at all troubled that the Regents' first effort, according to today's press reports, below, was a pretty scatter-shot exploration of a wide variety of possibilities. That's part of the process. That's constructive. But what it does illustrate is that (a) this is a long process requiring much more than a couple of days' effort. Indeed, as I indicated above, properly conceived this is the Regents' full time job, something that should be the first item on every agenda. And (b) that at the end of this long process there comes to be a need, ultimately, to focus on a handful of measurable, attainable goals (what John Carver calls "ends policies").
o Big picture. Regent Michael Gartner threw out the idea of lengthening the K-12 school year. Many educators think he's right about that; others point out the complexities. Our school schedule is still being dictated by the needs of 19th Century farmers to have their kids in the fields, working on the farms, during the summer months. Few of our K-12 students have those responsibilities today ("more's the pity," some of my generation may think). One of the reasons I ran for, and served on, the local school board was because I finally came to the conclusion that we could not do, as law professors, what should have been done to improve writing skills during the K-12 years.
My point? If you're really interested in the role of education in Iowa, its impact on anything (take your pick), it will be most productive to see higher education as but a small part of the overall effort, from pre-natal care for pregnant mothers-to-be, early childhood health care and pre-school education, K-12, community colleges -- as well as other institutions' efforts at training and education -- and not just "higher education." That's what, I'd guess, Regent Gartner was trying to suggest.
Note in this connection that the Iowa Code already urges as much: "The board [of Regents] shall: . . . Explore . . . the need for coordination between school districts, area education agencies, state board of regents institutions, and community colleges for purposes of delivery of courses . . .." Iowa Code, Sec. 262.9 (26).
o "The price of everything and the value of nothing." I don't deny that "productivity of the faculty and the cost effectiveness of academic programs" might be both measured and improved, and that "helping Iowa with economic development [and] job creation" have a role to play in a university's mission. After all, I'm the one calling for metrics. Richard Florida talks about the value of a "creative class" to economic growth (and what it takes for a community to attract such people), something directly related to education. But there are other than economic benefits for the individual and the community of a quality education, "lifelong learning," individuals' curiosity, appreciation of the arts, awareness of history, geography, other cultures, science, involvement in the passions of one's time, that are central (I believe) to a university's mission even though less capable of being measured. I would hope that this enormous value, and purpose of education, would not be lost in the rush to put a dollar value on everything done by a university.
Note in this connection that the Iowa Code provides that "The university of Iowa ['s] . . . object shall be to provide the best and most efficient means of imparting to men and women, upon equal terms, a liberal education and thorough knowledge of the different branches of literature and the arts and sciences, with their varied applications. It shall include [a college] of liberal arts . . .." Iowa Code, Sec. 263.1.
o Do we have "public universities"? Do we want them? With a mere $750 million of the universities' $4 billion -- 18+% -- coming from the state, there's some question whether the people and legislature of Iowa even have, let alone want, a "state university." Regent Gartner says even this modest "level of state support is not sustainable."
The average number of years of education thought basic for most citizens, and paid for with public funds (because of its benefit to the entire community and nation), has extended over time from third grade, to sixth grade, to eighth grade, to the full K-12 "high school diploma." Wouldn't you have to agree that if K-12 was necessary, say, 50 years ago, that K-16 (i.e., a four-year college education) would be its equivalent today? If so, what is the rationale for stopping the community benefit from the public funding of public education at K-12?
Initially state universities were created to provide free or radically reduced-cost education*; now they charge more in tuition than our nation's most expensive private colleges charged not that many years ago. Might the Regents and presidents at least explore the implications of a complete split, a candid recognition that these universities have become, in fact regardless of name, "private universities"? If that's a feasible idea, perhaps the State could then provide more adequate funding for the community college system, putting on it the primary responsibility for liberal arts education (along with its associate degree programs), leaving the newly-private universities to focus on graduate and professional education and advanced research.
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* 
The 1845 law establishing what became the University of Iowa and the Board of Regents (a) was expressly subject to revision and has of course been revised over the years, (b) uses the word "tuition" (though without specifying any amount, nor authorizing the Regents to collect it), and (c) does not expressly provide for "free tuition." However, it does speak in terms of the University being "equally accessible" to all, students being "freely admitted," and authorizes the Regents to "admit gratuitously."
"An Act to Incorporate the University of Iowa" of 1845 provides:
"Section 1. Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Iowa, That a Seminary of Learning shall be, and the same is, hereby, established in Iowa City or vicinity thereof to be known by the name and style of the 'Iowa City University;' which shall be founded and maintained forever on the most liberal principles, being equally accessible to students of all religious denominations who shall be freely admitted to equal advantages and privileges of education . . ..
"Sec. 7. That the Regents shall have authority whenever in their opinion the funds of the Institution may justify the measure, to admit gratuitously, in whole or in part, as the respective case may require, such person or persons as they may think proper to enjoy the benefits of tuition in said University."
Laws of Iowa, Passed at the Extra Session of The Legislative Assembly Which Commenced on the 17th Day of June, 1844, Also, The Laws Of The Regular Session, Which Commenced on the 5th Day of May, 1845 (Iowa City: Williams & Palmer, 1845).Chapter 41, University of Iowa City, p. 61.
However, the Act of February 25, 1847, often referred to as the Act creating the University of Iowa ("There shall be established at Iowa City, the present seat of government of the state of Iowa, an institution to be called the 'State University of Iowa,' . . ."), does expressly provide (with regard to education of future "common schools" teachers), "That the grants . . . herein made are upon the express condition that the said university shall . . . commence and continue the instruction -- free of charge -- of fifty students annually, in the theory and practice of teaching, as well as in such branches of learning as shall be deemed best calculated for the preparation of said students for the business of common school teaching." Acts and Resolutions Passed at the First Session of the General Assembly of the State of Iowa Which Convened at Iowa City, on the Thirtieth Day of Novembeer, A.D. 1846 (Iowa City: A. H. Palmer, 1847), Chapter 125, Secs. 1, 7, p. 156 (February 25, 1847), in Laws of Iowa, First to Fourth General Assembly, 1846-1913, Reprint 1913.
Here are some stories reporting on the Regents' efforts:
Brian Morelli, "Gartner suggests lengthening the K-12 school year," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 31, 2008, p. A1 ("System-wide, the regents are a $4 billion enterprise, Regent President David Miles said, noting that is two-thirds the size of the entire state budget of Iowa, which is about $6 billion. 'We are an enterprise of scope, scale and significance that if we set our direction, we should be able to make a difference,' Miles said. . . .
The conversation included access for Iowa students; managing budgets, state appropriations and tuition; helping Iowa with economic development, job creation and attracting people as the population ages; improving diversity; increasing competition from overseas; and improving the quality of education, among others. One of the areas of focus was productivity of the faculty and the cost effectiveness of academic programs, and putting research into practice. . . .
Regent Michael Gartner discussed increasing the K-12 school year by 30 days as a way Iowa could invest in education and use it as an economic development tool. 'If we could say, "Move your company to Iowa, and when your employees' children graduate from high school, they will be a year smarter than if they were in Illinois or Kansas or Ohio," that would be awfully powerful,' the Des Moines businessman said. . . .
Another topic was the declining level of state dollars -- about $750 million this past year -- as a proportion of the regents' overall budget. 'The level of state support is not sustainable,' Gartner said.").
Diane Heldt, "Regents Want Goals with State Focus," The Gazette, October 31, 2008, p. B4 ("[Dennis] Jones, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, said he sees four areas the regents should focus on . . . closing the achievement gap . . . ; higher education's role . . . in economic development . . .; providing a trained work force . . .; keeping higher education affordable. . . . [W]hat are the societal needs in Iowa . . ..").
Erin Jordan, "Regents see population-tuition link," Des Moines Register, October 31, 2008 ("Iowa's state universities may have the potential to reverse the state's declining population trends, several members of the Iowa Board of Regents said. The about-face could be made by charging nonresidents the same tuition as residents or recruiting more international students, suggested regents and university leaders at a strategic planning brainstorming session Thursday.").
Amanda McClure, "Regents See Need for Diversity; Bringing People to the State on the Forefront of the State Board of Regents' Strategy," The Daily Iowan, October 31, 2008, p. A1.
Amanda McClure, "Regents Want to Burnish Iowa's Rep," The Daily Iowan, October 31, 2008, p. A4.
Other university news:
Brian Morelli, "Regents Turn to AG on Stolar Note Request," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 31, 2008, p. A5 ("The Iowa state Board of Regents is backing off statements that it intends to release notes from interviews conducted during an investigation of the University of Iowa's handling of a sexual assault case. Regent President David Miles said Thursday that the regents have turned the Stolar Partnership notes over to the Iowa Attorney General's Office and are waiting for direction.").
Erin Jordan, "U of I Hospitals to cut $24.8 million to meet budget," Des Moines Register, October 29, 2008
# # #
August 21, 2007, 8:40 a.m.
Lots of news items inspiring commentary this morning:
Building Character (or is it "characters") Through Sports
Three Iowa football players are in trouble with the law; two for credit card theft and one for failing to make a court date regarding a prior offense based on an offense before that. Scott Dochterman, "2 Iowa Receivers Charged, Suspended," The Gazette, August 21, 2007, p. C1.
And pro ball players are also on the legal pages. The Atlanta Falcons' Michael Vick pleaded guilty yesterday to animal abuse in a dogfighting operation, conspiracy charges, and bankrolling gambling -- crimes with a maximum term of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is now scheduled for August 27 (next Monday) -- at which time it's more likely to be one year than five. AP, "Vick to Plead Guilty," The Gazette, August 21, 2007, p. C4.
Very likely in the minds of these four the greatest penalty will be the interference the legal system is going to put in the way of their getting back on the field for awhile.
What ought to be on the minds of our UI and athletic program administrators is: What went wrong? We put enormous resources into the recruiting, guidance and academic assistance for these athletes.
Ironically, one of the credit cards was stolen from inside one of those very expensive resources: the University of Iowa's Gerdin Athletic Learning Center. Makes you wonder what they're learning inside that building.
No program, however tightly run, can prevent all conceivable legal violations and other misconduct. But does the story behind these sad and costly violations provide any insight into how our own program could do even better? Let's find out.
Party On!
Of course, every time the reputation of the University and its athletic program take a punch in the nose like that, fortunately there is always some good news to balance it out. And so it is this morning.
The UI may only rank 64th among America's universities according to U.S. News & World Report, but by golly we're 5th in the nation for students' consumption of hard liquor according to the Princeton Review (not to mention number of bars per student and "most profitable market in which to operate a bar with the least City Council and University oversight" according to me). Hey, at least we're known for something positive around here. Hieu Pham, "UI Again Ranks Among Party Schools; School Also Ranks 5th for Har Liquor Use, 18th for Beer Use," Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 21, 2007, p. A1.
UI VP for Student Services, Phillip Jones, put it best: "We suffer from a reputation that has, unfortunately, been earned." Erin Jordan, "Less Partying Gives U of I a Real Reason to Celebrate,"
Des Moines Register, August 21, 2007. How earned? The University's own statistics reveal that "nearly 70 percent of U of I students surveyed last fall by Student Health Services said they had participated in binge drinking in the previous two weeks."
How is the United Way Like an Overcrowded Jail
I often write about governance models, and governance guru John Carver's notion of "ends policies." This approach requires the kind of hard thinking by board members that produces little beads of blood on your forehead. "What is it we're really, and most fundamentally, trying to accomplish?"
Once you think about it, it turns out that "We got 32% more news coverage for our organization than last year," or "We exceeded our fund raising goal by more than $25,000," or "We handed out more leaflets in high schools this year than in any prior year" don't qualify as "ends policies."
The Gazette, always a leader in "civic journalism," is this morning editorializing about -- regardless of what the United Way of East Central Iowa folks are calling their process -- amounts to this kind of tough thinking about "ends policies" (or "goals").
The whole editorial is worth reading, but here's an excerpt:
Some details on what’s changing in United Way’s transition from its traditional role to the new community impact model:
* Traditional: United Way is a fundraising organization. New: United Way is a community impact organization.
* Traditional: Funds agencies and programs. New: Invests in strategies for community change.
* Traditional: What do agencies need? New: What does the community need/want?
* Traditional: Emphasis is on money raised. New: Emphasis is on impact agenda results
* Traditional: Builds relationships with businesses. New: Builds relationships with businesses, individual donors and the entire community.
Editorial, "United Way's Expanded Role," The Gazette, August 21, 2007, p. A4.
So what on earth does this have to do with jails?
The Press-Citizen is editorializing this morning that we need a timeline for building a new Johnson County jail. Editorial, "Establish Clear Timeline for Overcrowded Jail," Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 21, 2007, p. A11.
In fairness, the editorial does provide the balance that Press-Citizen editorials often do. It notes,
the question has long been whether the county is using the space it has most effectively. The Sheriffs' and other departments have to prove that they are working together to alleviate enough of that overcrowding through jail diversion programs and other alternatives. Only then will Johnson County voters be convinced that a new jail is not merely an expansion of the "incarceration industry." No one is interested in merely having the county lock more people up; we want the county to lock up the people who present a danger and to be providing alternatives and rehabilitation to those inmates for whom it would be beneficial.
When it comes to the final sentence, however, the paper advises, "It's past time to establish a clear timeline for how long the county expects the jail staff and other law enforcement officers to work in such an overcrowded facility."
How might we think about the "jail issue" if we were to apply the Cedar Rapids United Fund, and Gazette's, notion of "traditional" and "new" thinking -- or what John Carver calls "ends policies"?
What is it we're really trying to accomplish when we have conversations (and editorials and blog entries) about the number of Iowa City police officers, whether or not to arm the campus police, or whether to build the consultants' recommended 450-bed new jail?
Isn't the "end" we seek a community that minimizes the threats to its inhabitants' health, safety and (as the Declaration of Independence puts it) "pursuit of happiness"? That includes a focus on clean air, water and safe food; the need for affordable housing; plans for dealing with natural disasters, such as tornadoes and flooding; epidemics of new strains of flu -- and, of course, the adverse consequences of criminal behavior.
That is one (not the only) way of expressing our "ends policy." That's not to say we're unconcerned about criminals in crowded conditions, or county employees working there. It's only to say that it is but a relatively minor sub-set of what we're really trying to accomplish.
When we do get around to that subset issue, that "means" to our "end," we have another challenge. As the Press-Citizen puts it, "The Sheriffs' and other departments have to prove that they are working together to alleviate enough of that overcrowding through jail diversion programs and other alternatives."
And after we have put in hours of searching the Internet for what other counties -- and nations -- have done to most efficiently deal with this challenge, and after we have run the benefit-cost analyses for all conceivable alternatives to the way the current criminal justice system works, we are left with another question.
Like the issue of how many police officers the City of Iowa City should employ, the question of how many beds for criminals should be supplied by Johnson County in the form of a 450-bed, multi-million-dollar jail is a "peak load problem."
That is to say, it's highly unlikely we will ever have enough police -- or space in jail, or hospital emergency room personnel, beds and supplies -- to deal with worst case scenarios. We probably want to maintain something more than the average (whether mean, median or modal measures) need for all of these resources. But how much more is a judgment question -- and a judgment question that must balance the enormous cost of maintaining mostly unused facilities and resources against the costs of not having them on the rare occasions when they really are needed.
This further complicates the comparative benefit-cost analyses of, say, a 450-bed Johnson County jail vs. transportation to other State of Iowa or counties' facilities. (It's almost inconceivable that there would not be economic and other benefits to Iowa's 99 counties cooperating on this, as other, basic county obligations -- as has been advocated to little avail over the past half-century or more.) If, after exhausting all possible alternatives to putting persons in jail, we are transporting, every day between 20 and 30 prisoners elsewhere, and the most reasonable projections are that this will continue and possibly even increase, and the cost of doing so is greater than housing them in Johnson County, a case could be made for creating more jail beds here (although not necessarily 350 more).
There are others more wise than I about the criminal justice system, prisons, county government -- and benefit-cost analyses. But it does seem to me that our logic is a little simplistic when we say that (1) our jail is "overcrowded" (without providing answers to the "what do you mean? and how do you know?" questions), (2) the only way to solve an overcrowded jail problem is to build more and bigger jails and prisons, and, therefore, (3) we need a timeline regarding the planning and ultimate construction of a multi-million-dollar, 450-bed jail.
# # #
May 30, 2007, 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 10:55 a.m.
Today's topics
Senator Obama's Heathcare Proposal
Search Committee II Meeting Today; Campus Visits Plan
Downtown Iowa City's Planning Meeting
Senator Obama on Healthcare
Although Senator Obama's healthcare proposals are in some ways only yesterday's news, and indeed were reported here in yesterday's blog entry, Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 493 - Sen. Obama's Healthcare," May 29, 2007, it's all over today's papers. In fact, given how the national media is playing this story, it was a rather peculiar editorial decision at The Gazette that resulted in its placing its story this morning on page 3B rather than page 1A: James Q. Lynch, "Obama Unveils Health Plan," The Gazette, May 30, 2007, p. 3B.
I thought Dean Borg's report in this morning's "Morning Edition" on NPR an especially well edited, written, and delivered piece. (It should be available later this morning from http://www.npr.org.) Yesterday's blog entry linked to an early version of Kathryn Fiegen's story in this morning's Press-Citizen.
And, as you might imagine, State29 has his own take on what he characterizes as Obama's "snake oil health scare plan," State29, "Snake Oil Obama," May 30, 2007.
Clearly Senator Obama's is a "detailed plan" -- or about as detailed as you're likely to get as a campaign document from a candidate. It responds to the attacks from Senator Obama's toughest critics that he's just an inexperienced, charismatic, "empty suit" who won't reveal what he stands for. That has always been an unfair and inaccurate charge in any event, but yesterday's proposal should help answer it. It also responds to the SEIU demand that all candidates reveal their detailed healthcare proposals by August 1. (Senator Obama now joins former Senator John Edwards as one of the only two to do so.)
If you're hoping for "universal, single-payer" healthcare (as I lean toward -- and State29 leans as far away from as he possibly can without falling over) -- as is provided to the citizens of virtually every other industrialized nation -- this ain't it. But until we get meaningful public financing of campaigns, I'm not sure that's in the cards from this "best Congress that money can buy." So maybe this is a much better plan in its details than the "universal, single-payer" critics give it credit for. Maybe it's the most that a pragmatic, politically savvy healthcare policy wonk can honestly and realistically put forward.
Those who oppose any changes in the healthcare system will oppose this plan, just as they would oppose any other. But those who have a major economic stake in the present system, have disproportionate political power in shaping future changes, and are aware that some changes are simply going to have to come, may well get on board, figuring that this is the least-worst of the possible scenarios.
(1) The super rich don't need (and many don't even want) President Bush's tax cuts for the rich. That's a realistic source of funding for Senator Obama to look to for the modest public investment in healthcare he envisions -- but repealing those cuts will certainly not be a "slam dunk" for any president. (And, even if successful, we're still left with the roughly $40 trillion in unfunded entitlement obligations scheduled to become due and payable within the next 20 years or so.)
(2) His program will continue to be administered by the plethora of insurance companies we have now, which means doctors and hospitals will still be dealing with a variety of forms and reimbursement procedures, and we'll continue to pay these companies' executives healthcare administrative costs many times those of other countries. That should take at least much of the sting out of what would otherwise have been the overpowering objections of this politically influential group.
(3) The system will still be (in terms of numbers of persons covered) an employer-based healthcare system. So it's not disruptive in that regard. Why should employers support a proposal that continues to leave much of the burden on them? Because he lightens their burden. He points out that 80% of the cost of healthcare goes to benefit 20% of the people. And he proposes shifting much of that 80% to the federal government. He represents that this will result in lower premiums for the insured. Well, perhaps. But we've all seen lots of instances when that didn't occur -- as when the price of oil declines and the prices of gasoline goes up. (a) What provisions are there to insure that this element of his program won't simply further enrich insurance companies and employers, rather than reduce premiums for employees? (b) And, given the rate of inflation in healthcare costs, how many years will it be -- even under the best case scenario, with all the cost-shift benefits going to employees -- before the premiums are back up to what they are now?
(4) As for the currently uninsured, or under-insured, or only-sometimes-insured, Senator Obama proposes that the federal government "subsidize" the cost of premiums for those unable to pay market rates. But what will be the practical effect, and benefit, for, say, an unemployed, homeless, single, high school dropout, male in his mid-thirties? I mean that as a real question, not an assertion.
Look, I don't claim any more expertise on this subject (economics in general, and the economics of healthcare in particular; even though I guess I did serve for a time as co-director of the University of Iowa's Institute for Health, Behavior and Environmental Policy) than I do for any of the other subjects I write about. Moreover -- as also with those other subjects -- I quite regularly change my position once someone bothers to explain to me the errors in my thinking. So this is not, to borrow from the TV show, "my final answer." But it's what I'm thinking this morning.
Search Committee II Meeting Today; Campus Visits Plan
The quote from Professor Steve Collins, and the headline on Brian Morelli's story, make a powerful point in support of early revelation of the identity of potential UI presidential candidates. Brian Morelli, "Vetting Finalists Will Reveal Key Info," Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 30, 2007, p. A3.
He quotes Steve Collins as saying, "Once your candidates have been publicly identified, the search committee can then call a wide variety of people. You also start hearing from faculty members here and at other universities that have information about the person." Collins speaks from experience. He chaired the UI search committee in 1995.
Collins continues, "I think when presidential searches around the country get into to trouble it is because they haven't spent enough time with the search and screening process."
That squares with my own experience with search committees. I recall one where a supposedly high powered (and certainly well paid) search firm was involved. We didn't have assignments, but I decided to take on a little interviewing on my own. I merely checked the Internet, and called some folks who had worked with the candidate and seemed logical people to talk with. What I came up with was extremely relevant. And yet none of the information I easily found on the Internet was presented to us by the search firm. None of the people I interviewed had ever talked to anyone at that firm or the institution doing the hiring.
(As Morelli quotes Search Committee I vice chair and UI history professor Katherine Tachau as saying, "[there are] two types of reference checks, a formal check with calls to candidates' references and an informal process of finding your own sources. The formal check is minimally useful, she said. 'It is not enough to hire on. That in combination with background checks are not enough. . . . The disadvantage of formal [checks is that those you interview] will not want to tell you anything negative about a candidate. ... No one becomes an adult without an enemy here or there. There are going to be negative comments out there [that will come out of the informal process].")
The University and Iowa City communities are made up of individuals who, together, will have hundreds of potential sources of information about any candidate Search Committee II will come up with. But they are not going to be able to gather that information in 48 hours. Some Iowa City folks will be out of town, and won't even know the person was a candidate. Some of the potential sources we know will be out of the country, or on holiday.
And many of the potential sources aren't immediately obvious. They come out of the serendipity of chance encounters and conversations.
"Where did you say this provost is now?"
"X university."
"You know, I think my neighbor's daughter graduated from there last year. Let me see if I can find out anything from her."
or . . .
"X university, eh? You know, I was on a panel a couple of years ago with a woman faculty member from there. I'm now remembering something she said at the time about his treatment of women. She left shortly thereafter. Let me look through my notes, see if I can find her name, and track down where she is now. We probably ought to find out more about that."
When you are able to have 10,000 people having those conversations -- instead of just the 10 or 15 on a search committee -- and you give the process months, rather than two days, to work through all the people included within their "six degrees of separation" you can avoid the problems Steve Collins identifies: "I think when presidential searches around the country get into to trouble it is because they haven't spent enough time with the search and screening process. When a search fails or presidents are appointed and they fail, I would consider that failures of the search process."
Search Committee II has done an excellent job of meeting one of its goals: keeping the UI and Iowa City communities in the dark, and giving the potential candidates a veil of confidentiality and secrecy. Whether, as a result, they will have "spent enough time with the search and screening process" will only be known after we are able to evaluate our new president's performance over the next year or two.''
Downtown Iowa City's Planning Meeting
The Iowa City Press-Citizen is not exactly noted for being hostile to local business. So when there was absolutely nothing in the paper (that I saw) on Monday or Tuesday (before the meeting) or today (following it) I should have figured out that the meeting I went to last night was not intended to be a public meeting.
The problem was, I thought I had read about it in the paper and that it was open to all. It turns out the reason I knew about it was because of an email my wife had been sent.
The meeting was led by a woman from the "Marketek" consulting firm for which the City of Iowa City is picking up the $62,500 tab as a gift to the business community. The other sponsors of the undertaking are the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Association (for the leadership of which, I should add, I have very high regard).
It was one of those meetings with which you are surely familiar at which a consultant stands in front of the room, asks questions, and then writes on a flip chart or white board, or puts little sticky dots on posters of ideas -- or, on this occasion, took little slips of sticky paper on which audience members wrote ideas and stuck them on the wall. Ultimately they write up what you've said and sell it back to you.
Well into the meeting I felt a little like I'd accidentally walked into the wrong restroom. But since it wasn't a restroom, and no one seemed startled or hostile, we stayed. It was kind of interesting in its own way, and got me to thinking about what my vision of a future downtown Iowa City might be were I to have a vision, and were it to make any difference what my vision was.
While the Press-Citizen didn't cover the event The Gazette did. Gregg Hennigan, "Housing Urged in Downtown I.C.," The Gazette, May 29, 2007, p. 1B. He picked up on my remark that "the area was no longer the business hub of the community it was when he was a child.' At that time, downtown was the mall,' he said."
My own vision builds on that observation -- as well as much of what I heard during the evening.
For starters, we should stop referring to it as "downtown" and start thinking of it as a "neighborhood."
When I was a kid (late 1930s, 1940s), the University of Iowa notwithstanding, Iowa City had a lot in common with any one of the other 98 county seat towns in Iowa -- except for the lack of a "square." It was where the surrounding farmers came on Saturdays to trade and shop. "Downtown" was the shopping area -- somewhat like today's malls -- with grocery and hardware stores, department and clothing stores, Sears and Wards, a couple of banks and book stores, movie theaters, and an ice cream parlor. There were no parking garages built by the City, nor parking meters lining the streets (though there were still some hitching posts around town). You parked in front of the stores.
Whether or not one would like to recreate that kind of shopping center downtown today (and I'm not sure I would) there's just no way that's going to happen. There's a reason why people like shopping malls and big box stores -- not the least of which is the freedom to park, for free, without the hassle of driving round and round in a parking garage while paying by the hour for the privilege.
So I think this new neighborhood needs to be a place where people live, not where they shop. And not just a place to live for those who desire, and can afford, condos going for between $250,000 and $1 million. A diverse population of college students and working class, and a variety of nationalities and ethnic groups, not just the wealthy. A place of arts and entertainment and restaurants. A bar or two, perhaps -- but not the 40 or 50 we have now. More trees and plants. A place that's friendly to bicycles and electric golf carts and those who like to walk. A place that's fed with shuttle buses running every 5 minutes to large parking lots (not garages) on the outskirts of the neighborhood. Interesting architecture. Historic markers telling the story of prior occupants.
But, quite frankly, I don't think my vision, or that of anyone else, will make much difference. I think we will continue to have the bars, traffic and parking garages. I think what will determine what downtown Iowa City becomes are those who profit from promoting Iowa City as the under-age alcohol abusers' binge drinking capital of America. That and the profit opportunities perceived and seized upon in the projects of our wealthy developers -- at least those projects ultimately approved and funded with taxpayers' money by a subservient City Council.
But it was fun to think about for an evening anyway.
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UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007. Since then there have been two major additions: Nicholas Johnson, "Open Letter to UICCU Board" in "UI Held Hostage Day 423 - March 20 - UICCU," March 20, 2007, and "'Open Letter': Confirmation from World Council of Credit Unions" in "UI Held Hostage Day 424 - March 21 UICCU," March 21, 2007.
# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .
These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.
Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)
For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.
My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.
Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]
# # #
Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
_______________
Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
May 23, 2007, 11:55 a.m.
Regents, Governance, PR Firms, Strategic Planning, Presidential Selection, and June 13
As I have written here at length over the past few months, the number one, top priority issue confronting the Board of Regents -- and especially its new additions -- is the study, eventual selection, and application of, a governance model. See, e.g., most recently, Nicholas Johnson, "An Open Letter to Regents on 'Governance," in "UI Held Hostage Day 451 - Open Letter to Regents," April 17, 2007.
Two recent items further illustrate this need.
So far as is known, the Regents' Executive Director and President, without formal Board action, have decided to hire a public relations firm. "Request for Proposals: Promotional Services for the Board of Regents, State of Iowa;" see especially, Section F. Proposal to Implement the Statement of Work, p. 8. By May 21 there were sufficient questions regarding the content of this RFP that a "Questions and Answers" had to be issued. See, Associated Press, "Regents Want to Hire a Marketing, PR Expert," Des Moines Register, May 18, 2007 ("I don't have the expertise to say, 'How do we get this news on the front page of some newspapers around the state?'" [Regents Executive Director Gary] Steinke says. "That's the kind of thing we need to do a better job of — blowing our own horn.")
Clearly, anyone who would phrase the question in that way is in need of a little guidance. The way you "get this news on the front page" is to provide the newspaper, in timely fashion, with information which -- in their judgment, not yours -- is worthy of the front page, and then return their phone calls promptly when they call. Every for-profit and non-profit institution in the country, along with most celebrities, wants to "blow its own horn." Do you have any idea how much of their public relations firms' self-serving (and not incidentally very expensive) horn blowing on behalf of clients ends up in newspaper editors' circular files -- often unopened?
Actually, it's highly unlikely that there is advice from any public relations firm in the country that is even the equal, let alone better than, that which could be easily provided by the fellow who happens to be the President of the Board of Regents. He is, after all, a former newspaper editor, a frequent newspaper contributor, a newspaper owner, and former President of NBC News. Aside from his advice and guidance, most of the routine media relations tasks can be performed by someone among those 21 employees in Steinke's office ("The Board Office has 21 individuals," Answer to Question 9, "Questions and Answers," p. 3).
So it's not clear to me (without knowing more) why the Board would need a public relations firm. As "JackDM" put it, in a comment on the Register's May 18 AP story:
Since when do we need to hire PR and Marketing Firms for State departments or agencies? I mean are they going to do ads that say "We are better than the Illinois Board of Regents?"
The Board of Regents and their staff have never had a sense of reality. Instead of all those salaries they should disband the Regents Office and allow the Universities to govern themselves like the majority of states do. We save money on the building rent in Urbandale, we eliminate salaries and benefits for the goof offs in the office, and eliminate private plane travel, meal benefits at five star restaurants, and...the embarrassment of the Board of Regents. The money could be placed into the colleges to at least keep tuition steady. Go to the Board of Regents website and look at the budget they have!
Now don't get me wrong. I don't think we should do away with the Board of Regents, and I frankly doubt that its staff consists of "goof offs." But I do think the Board -- and we -- need to think through the governance model. What, exactly, is it that the Board should be doing and why?
Why does "the Board" need a public relations firm? There is relatively little news that comes from the Board of Regents, as such. Not only is a Board public relations firm unnecessary, it would make matters worse in a variety of ways -- not the least of which would be public relations.
The most newsworthy stories (mostly positive, but also negative) come from the Regents' institutions themselves -- such as the University of Iowa. In the nature of media relations -- especially in an age of the 24/7 news cycle -- efficient and effective coverage requires that the stories, and the media's contacts, come from those on the scene. So far as I can see, the institutions' news services are doing about as good a job as anyone could, given their resources. Requiring them to run their stories and responses to reporters' questions through "the Regents' public relations firm" would be one of the biggest steps backward imaginable.
So far as I know, it's relatively unusual for, say, a corporate board of directors to have its own public relations firm -- separate and apart from that which serves the company. So we're back once again to governance issues.
If you conceive of the Regents' institutions as the subsidiary corporations of a conglomerate corporation called The Board of Regents, with the President of the Board as the CEO, the Executive Director as the COO (his actual self-characterization), and the 8 other Regents as vice presidents reporting to the CEO, that's one model -- not very far from the way the present Board seems to work. Under such a model, it would still be inefficient, but otherwise understandable, to have all contact with the media run through "headquarters." [Source: "The single contact person will be the Executive Director . . . chief operating officer of the Board of Regents . . .." Answer to Question 9, "Questions and Answers," p. 3.]
If, on the other hand, you apply the John Carver model to the Board, along with the 80-year-old national tradition of "shared governance" of universities, with the universities' presidents as close as you'll get to a CEO, responsibility for media relations would normally rest with the universities.
And that is why, before the Board can even think about the matter of hiring a public relations firm it first needs to address, as its top priority, the matter of a governance model.
The same thing can be said for Michael Gartner's unilateral announcement that the June 13 meeting is to be devoted in large measure to "strategic planning."
From this morning's Gazette: Diane Heldt, "Regents ready for strategic planning," The Gazette, May 23, 2007, p. B2.
The state Board of Regents, the presidents of Iowa’s three public universities, and a University Hospitals leader will discuss long-term strategic planning at the June 13 regents meeting in Des Moines. Regents President Michael Gartner, in an e-mail to the regents, the presidents of the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa, and to Jean Robillard, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine, laid out a plan for the discussion.
It’s a good time to jump back into the subject, Gartner told The Gazette, because the June meeting is light on other business, the UI presidential search is coming to a close, and four new regents are in place. ‘‘It seems like a good time to sit back and take an assessment of where we are and where we’d like to go,’’ he said.
It will be an informal, public discussion of the long-term views for the UI, ISU, UNI and University Hospitals, he said, and likely the first in a series of discussions.
Questions suggested in his e-mail include:
| What should the universities look like academically and structurally in 10 years?
| What areas should each excel in, both in teaching and in research?
| When is duplication needed and when is it a less-than-ideal use of resources?
| What existing areas at each institution need to be fortified, what new areas need to be launched, what areas must be maintained but not emphasized, what areas should be phrased out?
| How can each university best serve the state’s and its citizens’ changing and increasingly diverse interests?
| What can the universities do to make sure entering students are more than adequately prepared for a university curriculum?
* * *
This raises all kinds of questions. A month ago I addressed some of them in the context of the need for a Regents-Universities governance model. Nicholas Johnson, "An Open Letter to Regents on 'Governance," in "UI Held Hostage Day 451 - Open Letter to Regents," April 17, 2007.
The Board of Regents already does some of this [establish John Carver's "ends policies"] with "strategic plans" and "goals" for its institutions' presidents. (See, for example, "2004-2009 Strategic Plan of the Board of Regents," which, while largely hortatory and devoid of measurable goals, anticipates such might be developed.) One of the most relevant sections of its "Policy Manual," Chapter 6, "Academic Policies and Procedures," is "Under Revision." Although the Board may also have addressed the equivalent of "executive limitations" I am not aware it has done so. But see, e.g., Regents' Policy Manual, Chapter 7.02, "Code of Business and Fiduciary Conduct," (3) "Compliance with Law."
Earlier, in January, I addressed related issues:
We know that Regent Gartner earlier wanted to get a "strategic planning" process started before UI had a president or the UNI president had much time on the job. Is that still going on? Will there be a new UI strategic plan in place to greet the new UI president (if one can ever be found under these circumstances)?
* * *
(5) A lot of work needs to be done on a new "strategic plan" -- as well as a governance model for Regents-universities' relationships. A new president will walk into either (a) the current vacuum, not knowing what will emerge from the Regents' process on either topic, or (b) very recently adopted documents the president had no opportunity to help shape.
Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search Held Hostage Day 59 - Jan. 14," January 14, 2007.
1. If we are, in fact, to have a new UI president selected by July 1, Search Committee II has concluded its clandestine interviews, campus visits are planned, and there's to be a Regents meeting on June 13, I would think (without knowing more) that the top priority on June 13 would be a consideration of Search Committee II's list of finalists for Regents' consideration.
2. Now it's one thing not to undertake strategic planning between last November and this month because we want to wait until we have a new UI president in place. That's proven to be a long time to wait. But wait we did. So now we're going to take it up two weeks before he or she has been selected? Why does that make sense -- especially given our prior patience?
3. The current Regents' strategic plan is titled, "2004-2009 Strategic Plan of the Board of Regents, State of Iowa." Since that would seem, on its face, to have a couple of years yet to go, it's not totally clear what the effect of the proposed discussion will be. Is the new Board about to "take it from the top" with a sort of "zero-based strategic planning," or will the output be revisions to the 2009 Plan?
4. Most fundamental, of course, once again, is the matter of governance model. Until the Regents and their universities' administrators have decided who is responsible for what and to whom and when and why, it is a little difficult to come up with what they call a "strategic plan," Carver calls "ends policies," and most would simply call "measurable goals."
5. Finally, we still have the related issue of the relative role of the President of the Board and the entire membership of the Board. My own preference (and that of many other students of governance) would be for the setting of agendas, the posing of discussion questions (as in Gartner's email), and the focus of the Board at its meetings to be something that comes out of prior discussions among all 9 members (rather than unilaterally from the President or staff).
_____________
UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007. Since then there have been two major additions: Nicholas Johnson, "Open Letter to UICCU Board" in "UI Held Hostage Day 423 - March 20 - UICCU," March 20, 2007, and "'Open Letter': Confirmation from World Council of Credit Unions" in "UI Held Hostage Day 424 - March 21 UICCU," March 21, 2007.
# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .
These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.
Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)
For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.
My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.
Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]
# # #
Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
_______________
Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
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Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
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The 1845 law establishing what became the University of Iowa and the Board of Regents (a) was expressly subject to revision and has of course been revised over the years, (b) uses the word "tuition" (though without specifying any amount, nor authorizing the Regents to collect it), and (c) does not expressly provide for "free tuition." However, it does speak in terms of the University being "equally accessible" to all, students being "freely admitted," and authorizes the Regents to "admit gratuitously."
