University of Texas President to Step Down, Notes Frustration Over Admissions Policy

AUSTIN
University of Texas President Larry Faulkner says he plans to leave his post next year, concluding his tenure as one of the longest-serving presidents of the school.

Faulkner, 60, says he will continue until at least March to help ease the transition.

In a recent interview with The Daily Texan, Faulkner said he expects University of Texas System officials to start a search quickly for his replacement. He does not expect the naming of an interim president.
“But my hope is that we’ll make a smooth handoff and I’ll hand directly to the next person,” he told the student newspaper.

The Austin American-Statesman and The Daily Texan reported Faulkner’s decision. He says he has disclosed his plans to close associates and top state officials, including the governor, lieutenant governor, Texas House speaker and UT System regents.

Faulkner says he wanted to time his resignation to allow the next president to prepare for the 2007 legislative session. He says there was no single issue that led to his decision, but that dealing with the Legislature is one of the toughest parts of the job.

“There’s a lot of wear and tear in the process,” Faulkner says.
Faulkner presided over the university amid major state budget cuts in 2003 and during a several year period in which affirmative action policies were in flux.

The Hopwood v. Texas court case in 1996 banned using race in admissions to scholarships, financial aid and other higher education programs. The U.S. Supreme Court later, during Faulkner’s tenure, reversed that decision.

Faulkner has urged a revision in the state’s Top 10 percent admissions rule, devised in hopes of promoting diversity after affirmative action was banned. It guarantees a university spot to students graduating in the Top 10 percent of their high school class.

This year, as the Legislature considered changing the law, Faulkner said more than 60 percent of the 2004 UT-Austin freshman class was admitted under the law and that the percentage could grow in future years. He urged legislators to give the university room to consider other admissions criteria.