Survey Says Texans Want More Efficiency in Higher Ed
A new survey commissioned by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank, finds that 80 percent of Texas voters believe that colleges and universities could be run more efficiently than they are now.
Only 5 percent of those surveyed did not think it was possible for universities to spend their money more wisely. This comes at a time when universities, anticipating massive budget cuts in the upcoming cash-strapped legislative session, are already looking for ways to get better results with less money to spend.
The telephone survey of 800 registered voters was conducted on Nov. 7-9 by Austin-based ...
Comments (10)
Gary Skaggs via Texas Tribune on Facebook
As the article states:
"The telephone survey of 800 registered voters was conducted on November 7-9 by Austin-based Baselice & Associates. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent."
"...telephone survey..."
As seen by the growing bias of the land-line-locked Rasmussen polls of the last several elections, these polls are becoming less and less a measure of "public opinion" and more and more a measure of "a significant, but aging part of the public".
Also, at least in this article, we do not get to see the questionnaire which was used. Was it a real poll or a push-poll?
"When did you stop beating your wife?"
Anyone got the script for this?
Abbas Deidehban via Texas Tribune on Facebook
things i learned in statistics class:
phone surveys are never accurate.
Richard Moore
Well, I’m just a country boy now and I don’t remember much about survey approaches – but I do know that “where there is smoke, there is fire”. Past experience has shown me that Higher Ed admin expenses can typically be reduced rather dramatically.
The thing that worries me the most about this information is the apparent lack of support for "research" as part of the educational process. Research activity at our institutions is a critical component that differentiates (and to a large extent funds) Texas’ Higher Education Institutions.
Laurissa James Grinnell via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Even if it's true, all it proves is that most Texans are short-sighted.
Kenneth Collier
The problem is that the administrative bloat in Texas universities are largely the result of Governor Perry, his appointees, and groups like the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In their misguided attempts at "accountability" they've created a flood of new paperwork. Those administrator aren't working for the students of Texas, they're shuffling papers for the politicians in Austin.
TPPF probably means well. However, they've chosen to waste their donors' money by putting together a survey that involves meaningless labels like "administrative overhead" that most citizens know little about. Does anyone think that the average Texan knows anything about administrative overhead? The only people left sitting on university board of regents are Perry's conservative appointees. Is TPPF saying that those conservative regents are wasting the taxpayers' money?
If the TPPF has any courage they'll start by standing up to the excessive spending on college athletics. They should go after Mac Brown's $4 million salary before lecturing faculty members who earn 1 to 3% of that each year. At the moment, TPPF seems to chosen the convenient scapegoat of anonymous "administrators" whose only sin is that they must labor in the bureaucratic mess the last round of "reform" generated.
JJ Baskin
So TPPF takes a survey asking about higher education and only 6% of the people believe the most important thing to preserve is "conducting research led by professors to create knowledge."
I respect Baselice's professional acumen, but this is a loaded survey. If I were to ask whether "people support research that creates jobs and patents," I would get a VERY different response. Using the word "professor" is loaded as well.
If I were to survey with the question: "Who do you want telling the legislature what to do: Think tanks with biased push-polls or the people?" I wonder what the answer would be.
When you only ask the questions you want answered, you will get the answers you want.
Ben Martinez via Texas Tribune on Facebook
@Laurissa, "short-sighted" is a euphemism for ignorant and low information voter.
Roger De Leon via Texas Tribune on Facebook
skewed, just look at their clients.
Truth Hurts
Trib, enough reporting on polls already. How about informing your readers so they can better answer polls . . . How about this? A story on how college and university funding from the state have been doing a nose-dive for at least 15 years. Universities have had to make up the gap with private funding, endowments, grants, and yes, increasing tuition to exorbitantly and prohibitively high levels.
Trib, please be smarter than this. Me, I would have held on to the poll, worked a real story on college funding, and included a mention of the poll to show a contrast between actual funding and the "fat" 80 of Texas purportedly believe can be trimmed.
Fact v. Opinion = Interesting. TPPF drivel masked as a poll = Fox News.
johncoby
As my buddy said "This poll is like saying 80% of Houstonians want the Houston Astros to go to the World series".
You know......a paperless society works until you have to go to the bathroom.