Rick O'Donnell "No Longer Employed by the UT System"
Rick O'Donnell, the controversial higher education reformer whose hiring by the University of Texas System Board of Regents sparked an outcry at the University of Texas at Austin, is no longer employed by the UT System effective immediately, according to system spokesman Anthony de Bruyn.
O'Donnell's position initially drew attention with its $200,000 annual salary at a time when budgets are being slashed at universities across the state. There were questions raised about why his job seemed to closely mirror that of Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa. The concern increased as writings O'Donnell did while a senior ...
Comments (9)
Lee B. Weaver via Texas Tribune on Facebook
That man must have been either up to his you-know-what in shenanigans - or received one heckuva a payday - for him to walk away from a sweet gig like that.
Oliver Franklin via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Don't eeeven want to think about it.
gabaltie jones
looks like the first good thing he's done.
Jesper Marklund via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Ahhh, now UT will never get any efficient research done!!
Lonnie Beene via Texas Tribune on Facebook
A "Like" if I ever saw one.
jpt51
The Ledge needs to stand up to Gov. Perry's attempt to dismantle UT. I hope Sen. Ogden challenges Rick Perry for reelection in 3 years. So far, Ogden's the only one making sense under the capitol dome.
WUSRPH
Will his bailing out of the UT System end the investigation of his so-called "report" which sparked a lot of the proposed changes? Putting a stop to that inquiry might well be in O'Donnell interest because, depending on its outcome, it could have a real impact on any future role he might want to play in public life and/or his ability to make suggestions that anyone will consider.
As you know, it has been suggested that the report is misleading and inaccurate....A thorough review might have made anyone else afraid to touch it (and O'Donnell) with any length of a pole....It would also have encouraged others to take a closer look at any other papers he may have published and/or at the other "reports" (sic) issued by the GOP political operation masquerading as a "think tank". One would hope, at the least, that those in the Legislature who have been influenced by their reports in the past will take a more careful look at any other recommendations the outfit tries to sell to the Legislature.
Ben Martinez via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I don't believe a thing they say. He probably just got a lateral transfer somewhere in the whole repug system; like maybe, gov slick hair's aide or advisor.
John Stallone
I encourage folks to dig a little deeper into Mr. O'Donnell's past as an "educational reformer"
in Colorado.......the reason he moved to Texas is likely because the "sweeping reforms" he helped to institute in Colorado were an abysmal failure. Further, I suggest that readers look carefully at
O'Donnell and other educational reformers words vs. their actions........they are quite different! If one really believes in making higher education more cost-effective....does that justify hiring people like O'Donnell at a salary of $200,000 per year? There are already too many administrators in both higher and primary education, and they already consume massive amounts of the budgets, at the cost of losing good faculty (= effective teachers) because of the low pay for teachers. So ask Mr. O'Donnell how he is any different than anyone else in the higher education system that he so mightily criticizes. I would say that hippocracy abounds in these organizations like the Texas Public Policy Foundation and their ilk. They are notorious for twisting the truth and misquoting (or only partially quoting) "real data" to support their cause. Wake up citizens of Texas, you are being taken for a long and ultimately expensive ride, that will result in the serious degradation of one the best things that we have in America.......higher education.