Michael
D. McKinney, M.D.
I’ve been accused over the years of not being able to hold down a job, because my career has not only meant moving to many different cities, but the jobs I’ve taken might be considered unusual by most practicing physicians.
Fortunately, the experience I’ve gained as a doctor, an agency director, an administrator in higher education and a legislator will prove beneficial in my role as chancellor, especially in working with the Legislature.
Increasingly, being “plugged in” politically is valued for those being considered for top positions in academia.
For example, my good friend and colleague Kent Hance—a former state senator from Lubbock, a former West Texas congressman and a former Railroad Commission member—was named chancellor of the Texas Tech University System last November.
Charles Matthews, the chancellor of the Texas State University System, also reflects this trend, having served as mayor of Garland, former president of the Texas Municipal Power Agency, former member of the Texas Turnpike Authority and former member of the Railroad Commission.
In my opinion, recognition that public service experience is valuable is a good thing. In my case, having been on all sides of the table during the legislative process is helping me as I explain the importance of our budget requests for the A&M System this spring.
This trend also underscores something I have believed for many years—that we’re all in this together. What’s good for UT, or Tech, or Texas State, is also good for the A&M System. We compete on the football field every fall, but the rest of the year we’re working together for the common cause of higher education.
In addition, a growing number of our research and other projects are collaborative, not just among disciplines, but with faculty from different institutions. The federal funding agencies that we work with view this collaboration favorably in an era when resources must be used as efficiently as possible.
From my experience in the Legislature, I know that our elected officials are basically honest, hard working and committed to doing what’s right for Texans in their districts and across the state. Our obligation in the A&M System is to provide information that’s accurate and timely, and I’d like to thank Stanton Calvert, vice chancellor for governmental relations, and his team for doing a superb job in this regard.
Stanton gives a more detailed view of the A&M System’s legislative priorities in his Spotlight column. I think he’s right when he says that the strong state economy bodes well for this session.
Gov. Rick Perry also reminded us in his inaugural address that there is great reason for optimism. “We have a record budget surplus,” he said, and “jobs are at an all-time high, children’s test scores are improving, home and medical insurance costs are decreasing, school finance is out of the courts and school property tax rates are on the way down.”
Still, it is impossible to predict at this point what other urgent funding demands will affect our prospects. We’re off to a good start, but where things will stand a few months from now is unknown. I’ll keep you up to date in future columns.
