Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, Chairman of the Senate Redistricting committee leads a hearing, Thursday, May 30, 2013, in Austin, Texas. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wants lawmakers to adopt the court's maps as a bid to pre-empt yet another set of maps that could further hurt Republican candidates. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
AUSTIN—Republican Sen. Kel Seliger filed on Wednesday a bill that limits regents’ authority to fire a university president, requires more rigorous training for regents and clarifies a university’s autonomy in certain management areas.
Gov. Rick Perry vetoed a similar bill in 2013.
Bills filed now could be considered in the upcoming session, which convenes in January.
The proposed legislation comes after years of dust-ups between some members of the governor-appointed University of Texas System Board of Regents and UT-Austin President Bill Powers.
For more than a year, a House panel conducted an investigation into the actions of UT Regent Wallace Hall. Hall had been waging a personal investigation of Powers and lawmaker influence in the admissions process at the flagship. The UT system commissioned an outside investigation into admissions practices following Hall’s accusations. That inquiry is ongoing.
In August, the House committee voted to censure Hall for misconduct, leaving impeachment on the table depending on the result of a criminal investigation into Hall’s behavior.
Critics, including many lawmakers, have called Hall’s efforts a “witch-hunt” to oust Powers, who has clashed with some regents on higher education issues such as research and tuition.
Hall has said his actions were within the bounds of his role as a regent.
The Amarillo Republican’s bill makes clear the autonomy granted to university campuses and administrators. Regents must “defend each institution’s right to manage its own affairs through its chosen administrators,” it says. Additionally, it says that regents must “ensure that the powers and duties of the board are not controlled by a minority of its members or by organizations or interests that are separate from the board.”
The bill says regents cannot fire a university president without a recommendation from the chancellor.
Seliger co-sponsored a similar bill last session, which passed with bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. Perry vetoed that bill. Perry said then that a “lack of board oversight…diminishes accountability and provides fertile ground for organizational malfeasance.”