Chapman Rackaway: How about Brownback as K-State president?

One of Kansas’ most visible and revered leaders, Kansas State University president Kirk Schulz, shook up the state by announcing he was leaving to take the helm at Washington State University. The move makes great sense for Schulz, who had established an excellent record at the state’s second-largest higher education institution.

Washington State will pay Schulz a $625,000 salary, up from his $476,000 in Kansas. And while Schulz loves K-State, there is only so much of a hometown discount anyone would be willing to extend to their paymaster.

That Washington State could pay Schulz so much more is unsurprising to anyone paying attention to states’ budget priorities. The Kansas Legislature has decided that education, whether K-12 or higher education, is a funding priority somewhere between paying dues to the Democratic National Committee and reserving a Tesla Model 3. Washington state, on the other hand, recently committed to increasing higher education support, making for a higher salary and more supportive environment.

Schulz’s departure leaves a big pair of shoes to fill. A national search will be conducted, and speculation has already begun as to who might replace him. But Kansas’ recent well-earned reputation for hostility to education, combined with the likely salary, will not encourage a strong applicant pool. Perhaps, then, the search committee should keep its focus inside the state.

Some states have looked to former elected officials. Under former Sen. David Boren, the University of Oklahoma has become one of the nation’s most respected public higher education institutions. Mitch Daniels, previously the governor of Indiana, took the helm at Purdue University in 2013, and while his tenure has been more controversial, his connections in the legislature and negotiation ability are greatly valued by higher education regulators.

So maybe K-State could look 50 miles east, to the governor’s mansion, for its next president.

Gov. Sam Brownback appointed every current Board of Regents member, so they are certainly comfortable with his leadership. The governor is a Kansas State alumnus, and he will be out of a job in another two years. If he wanted to mimic his predecessor, he could even leave early, as Kathleen Sebelius did to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Brownback could claim that the “sun is shining in Manhattan,” even on the rare occasions when the football team loses. To grow student enrollment, he could use the same approach he took on taxes, slashing tuition to attract more students.

Brownback and his allies in the Legislature claim that K-12 school districts should accept their state funding cuts and use their reserve funds to make up the shortfall. Brownback could thus lead by example in allocating K-State’s nearly $500 million endowment for faculty salaries and everyday operations.

Seriously, there may be an important reason to pursue Brownback as K-State’s next president. After years of comfortably believing that education was a bloated money sink, a few years at the helm would show Brownback just how difficult a job higher education leadership can be.

Taking the helm of K-State could provide the governor some much-needed empathy for the educational needs of his state.

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 7:08 PM with the headline "Chapman Rackaway: How about Brownback as K-State president?."