U. of Texas Board Hires a Policy Adviser Who Has Questioned the Value of University Research

Some Texas policy makers are expressing concern over the University of Texas System’s hiring of a special adviser to the Board of Regents who has questioned the value of university research, according to a Texas Tribune article in The New York Times. The adviser, Rick O’Donnell, was previously a senior research fellow at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, where he wrote a paper that concluded that much academic research “has few tangible benefits.” The foundation’s administrators have close ties to Gov. Rick Perry, and it was a strong advocate of a controversial new state law that requires public-college professors to post details of their course assignments and other information online. Mr. O’Donnell, whose salary will be $200,000 a year in the new position, said he had no agenda and would collaborate with efforts in place to improve educational quality while lowering costs.