Former UH Interim President John Rudley has been the president of Texas Southern University for only a little more than a month, but he’s already making big changes to boost the beleaguered school’s graduation rate and reputation.
The Houston Chronicle reported Saturday that Rudley is seeking to raise the university’s admissions standards, which currently require students only to have graduated high school.
Raising the school’s requirements will go a long way in restoring faith and financial stability to a university racked by the scandals of former President Priscilla Slade’s questionable spending and Gov. Rick Perry’s call for the TSU Board of Regents to resign last April after an audit committee found evidence of gross mismanagement.
Rudley also hopes the change would reduce the number and expense of remedial courses and raise the school’s graduation rate of only 16 percent, the Chronicle reported.
The main concern we see in all this is Rudley’s reasoning behind the changes. Although raising admissions standards would be a positive move for the university, Rudley’s eye seems to be on the bottom line, not on the lives of the students and communities who would benefit, or be hurt, by the decision.
Change, even change for the better, is always going to face resistance. In this instance, community members fear students who don’t meet the standards of other colleges will lose their only opportunity for advancement if TSU raises the bar. And although some negative fall-out is unavoidable, that doesn’t mean Rudley can’t respond with compassion or at least attempt to address these concerns.
However, Rudley told the Chronicle that, "As a young accountant, the firm told us that we can get a lot of clients, but if they’re not quality clients, they could cost us more in the end."
It is troubling that Rudley sees the students and communities he serves as numbers, dollar signs and clients rather than as people. He is an accountant by trade, and undoubtedly his strong, reliable financial background was a major reason he was chosen to lead the unstable school.
Rudley’s push to raise TSU’s admissions standards is a good one, but he must remember, now and throughout his tenure at the school, that the budgets and attendance records and graduation rates he’s so concerned with represent individuals, families and communities whose futures depend on his leadership.
If he is to lead an entire university, and not just its financial offices, he must look up from the ledgers now and again and see the men and women he serves.
