Single Idaho university system deserves to be discussed

It´s far too early to say whether a single university system is the answer for higher education in Idaho. But it´s time to listen to some smart and powerful people who want to hear a thorough discussion of the issue.

Idaho Statesman Opinion

At this point, that´s all Gov. Dirk Kempthorne´s Blue Ribbon Task Force committee is suggesting. “We shouldn´t be afraid to discuss different ideas,” said former U.S. Sen. Jim McClure, a member of the task force´s education committee.

One benefit we can see is that a single university system would give Idahoans an opportunity to define what they want and expect from the system. Instead of four universities, with four presidents and four different missions, there would be one.

And under this plan, Idaho — at long last — would have a cohesive community college system. The proposal calls for community college campuses in Nampa, Twin Falls, Idaho Falls, Coeur d´Alene and Lewiston.

Kempthorne, for one, is taking the committee´s recommendation seriously — as he should. The task force has provided the governor with some valuable guidance in dealing with the budget crisis and is looking for ways to run government more efficiently through 2020.

Kempthorne isn´t committing himself to a single university system, but agrees there´s no harm in discussing it. If nothing else, he said, these discussions could serve to validate Idaho´s higher education system.

It´s significant that McClure and Kempthorne — two prominent University of Idaho alums — say the state should look at the proposal. In the past, U of I folks have seen a single university system as an effort to weaken the U of I.

Will this idea get some legs? It depends on whether anybody takes up the idea after June 24, when the education committee presents it to the full task force.

Somebody should strike while the issue is hot. The State Board of Education or Kempthorne, who created the task force, would do well to hold field hearings.

The idea of a single university system isn´t new. McClure remembers bringing up the issue in the 1960s when he served in the Idaho Legislature. It has been discussed, and quickly dismissed, many times since. This plan has a new wrinkle. In addition to calling for one president for all universities, it proposes consolidating deans. For instance, the university system would have one dean for engineering or political science.

McClure says the thinking is to reduce administrative costs and free up more money for academics. In theory, that may be true. In practice, it would be difficult for a dean in Pocatello to preside over programs in Moscow or Boise.

The proposal calls for forming a board of regents, which has some merit. The State Board once acted in this kind of a role, but in recent years, the board has concentrated on public schools as much as it has higher education. Still, there will be a lot of opposition — from the universities and communities.

“I sometimes think this system was not built by education, but built by chambers of commerce,” McClure said.

The initial opposition might make this proposal easy to squash before it gets off the ground.

But higher education is all about discussing different approaches to solving problems and keeping an open mind. The committee´s plan deserves discussion.

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