Update 7/21/2011: Nesbitt has not been a big fan of the New Partnership. From his Oregonian Op-Ed in March:
So if I were calling political plays for UO, I’d give up on any strategy that requires state borrowing and signal the coaches to do the following:
Go for two. Offer to raise two dollars for academics for every dollar guaranteed by the state. Lawmakers will want to set strict deliverables and put an upper limit on the state’s commitment, but it will be a good start. And donors will be assured that their dollars will supplement the state’s dollars.
Display the colors of all seven state universities. Your colleagues just might sign up for their own matching fund arrangements. And you’d keep the Legislature out of a civil war.
Support our children. There is a whole generation of Oregonians who will have to make their way through an increasingly challenged education system to get to your institution ready to learn and succeed. Support Gov. John Kitzhaber’s proposal for an education investment board that would apportion state funds to motivate better results from pre-K to post-grad. Agree to do your share to meet the state’s goals, and offer to give up some of your state matching funds if you don’t deliver.
Update 7/18/2011: Lewis and Clark Law Prof Jack Bogdanski has posted a brief bio of Nesbitt, here. Excerpt:
Willy Week has called him “one of the smartest men in Oregon politics.”
It will be interesting to see how much Nesbitt does to rein in a state university system that seems to be careening out of control, particularly in Eugene. Whatever he does, you can bet that it will be blue as blue can be.
7/15/2011: From Harry Esteve in the Oregonian. (Sorry, correct link here.)
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