Des Moines Register
12-17-06
Yepsen: Why not just elect regents?
By DAVID YEPSEN
REGISTER POLITICAL COLUMNIST
So Marvin Pomerantz has added his voice to those attacking Michael Gartner
over the selection of a new president for the University of Iowa.
Pomerantz, a former regents president, said Gartner, the current president,
should never have been appointed and is "not a great leader."
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Pomerantz got on the board in the
same manner Gartner did. And like Pomerantz, Gartner is upsetting people with
his strong management style.
Pomerantz, a big supporter of Gov. Terry Branstad's, was placed on the board by
Branstad. Pomerantz says in his book he insisted on being president if he was
going on the board, so Branstad made it happen.
But somehow, when Gov. Tom Vilsack did the same thing with Gartner, it was
bad.
Their problem isn't their differences but their similarities. Iowa law says the
regents are to run the state universities - not the faculty - and that's what
Pomerantz did and Gartner is doing.
Gartner's taking heat over the search brouhaha. Pomerantz took it when he put
Martin Jischke in charge of Iowa State.
Pomerantz and Gartner were put in their presidencies by two governors who
wanted changes made at the state universities. So they tapped two hard-working
guys who love the state and who'd been very successful in changing other big
enterprises.
Anyone who ever worked for the two men will tell you they are tough bosses who
set high standards. If you don't meet their standards, well, life can be miserable,
as David Skorton discovered when he wasn't achieving the goals the regents set
for him.
He left, and that upset his old pals in Iowa City. Change is now in the offing there.
That's naturally making people nervous, just as we all get the jitters when the old
boss leaves and a new one is yet to arrive.
Life was jittery for some at Iowa State back when Pomerantz was trying to get
that university to shed duplication and become what was called an engine of
economic development. ISU folks got so upset at Pomerantz they succeeded in
blocking his reappointment in the Iowa Senate.
Today, Iowa State is a better, more focused institution because of the changes
Pomerantz initiated. While ISU's faculty is holding conferences on renewable
fuels in the 21st century, the folks in Iowa City are spending their time bashing
Gartner and debating "no-confidence" resolutions.
It's a risky game for university communities to erode public confidence in regents.
When liberal Johnson County legislators trash the regents, they make it that
much easier for right-wing lawmakers to raise questions about the six-figure
paychecks, sweet benefits, light teaching loads and outside incomes of some
faculty members. (Breach a hole in the buffer regents provide to universities, and
you never know who will come through it.)
There are other parallels between Gartner and Pomerantz. Both were undercut
by other board members who are jealous or who wanted to be board president.
Both men are quite upsetting to university types who prefer more docile regents you know, the ones who care primarily for good seats or parking spots at football
games. Sleepy regents like these are one reason our state universities don't rank
as well as some in other states.
So maybe it's time we start electing the state Board of Regents. Other states do.
Let the governance of the institutions be determined by the direct whims of voters
every other November.
Think the Iowa City community would like that?