UT regents meet with eye on the future

System’s mission, McRaven’s role hang in balance

University of Texas System regents are looking ahead to a July retreat to discuss the system’s role as it relates to its universities and health institutions.

Regents met in downtown Houston on Wednesday afternoon at a preliminary summer meeting and discussed legal issues and personnel matters in a lengthy executive session.

Two University of Texas System regents — chairman Paul Foster and Sara Martinez Tucker — called the conversation “productive,” but they offered little insight into how they viewed the system’s mission moving forward after the private meeting concluded.

Big-picture talks about the system come as Chancellor William McRaven has said he needs to determine if he shares regents’ views on the best direction for UT. McRaven, whose three-year contract expires at the end of the year, has put out his vision for large-scale projects from the system while several board members have indicated that they see the system as solely a support structure for UT’s university campuses and health institutions.

McRaven told the Texas Tribune early in June that he needed to see if the board wants him to stay and if there is a “match” between his views and the board’s.

“If some of the things that have occurred over the last couple years, have created friction for the board … if I’m not adding value to the University of Texas system, then maybe I’m not the right guy for the job,” he said.

He said Wednesday that he looked forward to moving ahead “with the direction from the board. … we are here to execute.”

McRaven’s role was listed as potentially up for discussion in the executive session.

In open session, Foster called Wednesday’s meeting “chapter one” of an evaluative process of discussing the system’s mission. “I think the system will be better for it for the long term,” he said.

Regents and McRaven left the Houston meeting immediately after it concluded. McRaven’s idea for a Houston expansion, which he retreated from earlier this year, was one of his big system ideas that saw pushback from state lawmakers, newly appointed regents and the governor’s office, according to various state officials.

Other projects were a leadership institute and a national security network.