Elmer "Lloyd" Matherne
February 15, 2010
Attempt to raise rates denied by insurance dept.
February 18, 2010Dear Editor:
Congratulations and thanks to the Higher Education Review Commission for recommending a single board to govern Louisiana’s four-year universities.
Louisiana is one state, but we have three systems of higher education – the LSU, Southern and University of Louisiana Systems – governed by four boards. We should abolish our three systems of higher education and their boards and place all four-year schools under a single regulatory authority.
Under a geographically, racially and gender diverse single board of higher education, LSU would be our flagship, but the single board would be open to the ambitions of all schools.
A single board would be able to make strategic decisions based on data and resources, not politics and turf.
A single board would be able to efficiently allocate scarce resources by reviewing all degree programs and eliminating those that are low priority or unnecessarily redundant.
A single board would emphasize cooperation and consensus, not the conflict and crisis of our current three system, four dueling boards structure.
Louisiana taxpayers deserve a higher education governance structure that looks like someone designed it on purpose. Thanks again to the Higher Education Commission for moving us toward that end.
John Kennedy,
Louisiana State Treasurer
