….In May 2008, Perry summoned all Texas university regents and chancellors to a higher education summit and to hear Austin businessman Jeff Sandefer, a major Perry campaign contributor, explain “Seven Break-through Solutions” to shake up higher education.

Many of the ideas — measuring a professor’s “productivity” based on numbers of students and linking compensation to positive student evaluations — received a chilly reception, but the emails, obtained from the University of Texas and Texas A&M University, show Perry’s office continued to demand strict implementation of Sandefer’s ideas. The emails covered July 2008 through April 2009.

In a Dec. 5, 2008, email, Perry aide Marisha Negovetich invited regents and chancellors to a “Seven Break-through Solutions Follow-up Meeting.”

“The Governor is anxious to put together a cohesive plan of action … and also learn from you what progress you have made to move these reforms forward,” she wrote.

In an interview last week, Perry said he introduced his regents to Sandefer’s “Seven Break-through Solutions” at the 2008 higher education summit simply to generate ideas about higher education reform.

“I made it abundantly clear in my remarks that I thought these were some good ideas that were worth having an open and intellectually engaged conversation about,” Perry said.

‘Not the governor’s call’

Perry insisted he left policy decisions to his appointees: “I appoint people to the board of regents. They are in charge of setting policy … that’s their call. It’s not the governor’s call. It’s never been the governor’s call, and I don’t get confused about what my role is.”

Emails, however, show that Perry’s office constructed a timeline for implementation and pressed university administrators for regular updates.

Among the questions Negovetich sent the university representatives: “Have you measured and ranked faculty productivity, exactly as described in Breakthrough Reform #1?”

A follow-up email said, “As Governor Perry stated during the meeting, it is imperative that you ensure your university systems’ faculty evaluation ratings and course syllabi are available to students, online and in campus buildings, no later than the 2009 Spring Semester. In an effort to assist your system with implementing this, as well as the other reforms discussed, we are attaching a list of the next steps to be taken along with a correlating timeline.”

That “reform” led to Texas A&M posting an online spreadsheet ranking professors based on how much they earned the university by teaching the most students, an evaluation system critics say puts senior faculty involved in research and graduate level education at a disadvantage. The American Association of Universities, a national organization of the major research institutions in the U.S., sent A&M a letter calling the document “counterproductive” and criticizing it for “undermining the linkage between research and teaching.”

Sandefer’s “Solutions” have been promoted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank. A storm of protest by UT and TAMU academics and boosters broke out last month when the new chairman of the UT Board of Regents, San Antonio developer Gene Powell, hired “special adviser” Rick O’Donnell, who promoted the ideas as a TPPF analyst.

Perry communications director Mark Miner said Friday he saw nothing inconsistent with the emails and Perry’s public advocacy of “accountability and transparency.”

‘Regent driven project’

In February 2009, Perry’s staff again informed university representatives that they would be holding conference calls in March and April “to discuss your progress on the remaining initiatives. … The Governor is anxious to learn what progress you have made to move these reforms ahead.”

Another email advised regents not to be influenced by university staff: “The Governor’s intent is that this be a regent driven project. We asked that senior system and/or institutional staff be assigned to listen in on these calls as resources to their respective board members by providing information and research only. Staff should … not try to influence the regents as to the policy or direction of the proposals.”

Former University of Texas President Dr. Peter Flawn called Perry’s actions “absolutely a new and unique situation.” He also said Sandefer’s “Solutions” will lead to a reduction in the number of tenured faculty.

“To me, that would be a backward step from a first-class research university to a second-class undergraduate degree mill,” he said.