WASHINGTON, DC --- NAFEO urges Governor Perry to reconsider his decision to eliminate the Texas Southern University (TSU) Board and appoint a conservator for the University. NAFEO President Lezli Baskerville said, "Eliminating the Board would most assuredly impact TSU’s accreditation. The SACS Principles of Accreditation require that its accreted institutions have a board of directors. The elimination of the Board could result in public sanction or loss of accreditation. The appointing of a conservator would make matters worse. It would cast a pall on and further destabilize the University." "It would also bode ill for the University’s accreditation and deter enrollment and fund development – both of which have been on the rise in recent years. It would have a negative impact on the morale of faculty, administrators, staff, students and alumni. Some may flee," she said. "Surely this is not what Governor Perry intends," Baskerville added.
As the trade association for the presidents and chancellors of all of the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and predominantly black institutions, NAFEO is uniquely situated to assist TSU through this challenging situation and to return it to its position of preeminence in the higher education community. NAFEO’s membership of sitting HBCU and PBI presidents, and its network of former presidents and chancellors, academic vice presidents, business and finance officers, accreditation experts are willing, able and available to work with the Governor, legislators, the state higher education executive officer, TSU’s Interim President J. Timothy Boddie, Jr., and others to put in place the structure, systems and personnel necessary to strengthen the institution.
President Baskerville said, "We are particularly concerned that Governor Perry’s decision to appoint a conservator mimics a very disconcerting pattern. We have seen it in Florida, where last month the Florida Board of Governors established ‘The Task Force on FAMU Financial and Operational Control Issues’ and the state university system chancellor said the worst case scenario ‘would be a decision not to fund [FAMU]. And without funding, the university would cease to exist.’"
"The trend toward states’ expanding academic programs and establishing facility citadels at flagship and other historically white institutions while disinvesting in HBCUs is a problem we must quickly address. One of the challenges for TSU and other HBCUs is that at no time have they been provided public funding that would enable them to be comparable and competitive to their white counterparts. Today, when economic and social freedom are increasingly linked to a postsecondary education, and when the data demonstrate that HBCUs and PBIs are the most cost efficient and in many regards the most effective institutions at preparing disproportionate percentages of traditionally underserved students--the growing populations of the State of Texas and the Nation— states are continuing to invest disproportionately fewer dollars in public HBCUs than in their white counterparts. To be sure, this does not absolve HBCUs from being exemplary stewards of whatever resources they have. It does suggest that while it is critical to examine management issues and to address deficits we must simultaneously examine state policies, practices, appropriations and finance issues to ensure equitable funding that will take away from HBCUs and other under-funded institutions the need to continue doing more with less than their white counterparts and stretching disproportionately fewer dollars to remain competitive. This often leads to financial and other business practices that get under-funded institutions into difficulty." NAFEO will send representatives to Texas later this week to meet with its members there and other stakeholders to learn more about how NAFEO can play a central role in assisting Texas Southern through this challenging time and return it to its traditional luster.
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