Former Gov. Arne Carlson's opinion piece on the University of Minnesota ("A skewed U," April 7) contained inaccurate information, omissions and contradictory criticisms.
His claim that the university's administration "brush[es] aside" the importance of the cost of education is not compatible with the facts. The university's Board of Regents and President Eric Kaler share a commitment to aggressively tackle administrative costs and keep a quality higher education within reach of Minnesota's families.
The university has realized millions of dollars of savings by closing and merging colleges, freezing salaries, leaving faculty slots open, drastically cutting energy and technology costs, decommissioning old buildings, increasing employee-paid health care premiums, eliminating entire administrative offices and vice president positions, and redirecting administrative costs to our core missions of teaching, research and outreach.
In fact, as part of our legislative request this year, we have pledged to freeze Minnesota resident undergraduate tuition for two years and redirect $28 million of administrative costs to our core missions.
Many of the ideas advanced by consulting firms hired to help other universities save money are already being implemented here at the U. We will hire outside help when necessary — as we did this year to examine our administrative structure, as requested by Senate leaders. But we will not substitute a glossy report produced by a consultant for real reform.
Minnesotans might be surprised to learn that for families earning adjusted gross incomes of $75,000 or less, the university's Twin Cities campus has a lower net price (tuition, fees, room and board minus financial aid) than any other four-year college in the state — public or private.
To suggest that the board is not fulfilling its oversight responsibilities or is "kicking the can into the future" is anything but the case. Even before the senators' request, the board and the Kaler administration undertook an aggressive internal review to study the U's costs of delivering its education, research and outreach mission, as well as its administrative costs. As a result, we are better equipped to make strong policy and compensation decisions based on facts.
Carlson's column also rehashes claims from a months-old Wall Street Journal story that the university has already successfully rebutted in a series of public hearings, particularly the assertion that 81 "administrators" earn more than $200,000 a year. Actually, the number is less than half that total, with the others having teaching or academic leadership responsibilities.