Autonomous boards and university budgets

Doug Thompson writes about the lack of oversight of university boards and mentions that accountability of these boards by the legislature is limited to the process we haven't seen much of since pre-term limits -- taking a more active role in controlling their budgets. Nobody's going to hold UCA's budget or anyone else's over this latest flap, especially considering that UCA sits in the district of the incoming speaker of the House. I do find it interesting, though, that UCA (and all other four-year Arkansas institutions) is seeking a 10% increase in base funding next year, as outlined in this Democrat-Gazette article this morning.

I'm sympathetic to their plight and would do anything to see us climb out of the cellar in many of the rankings showing us at the bottom (we're now 50th in number of residents holding at least a bachelor's degree). Still, it might be a tough sell this session, considering the anticipation by many of a slowdown in revenue. We'll know more once the official forecast is released in November.