NASHVILLE - Although Gov. Bill Haslam intends to create independent governing boards for the six universities overseen by the Tennessee Board of Regents, the governor says he has no intention of doing the same for the University of Tennessee system.
Haslam said he sees the UT system, which includes the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, in a different light.
The governor took pains to explain the two systems are entirely different when asked whether the TBR move - spurred by years of effort by powerful advocates for the University of Memphis - might encourage a similar situation with UTC.
"The UT system is very different than TBR," Haslam said. "You got 46 [TBR] institutions versus either four or six, depending on how you define UT with three campuses, the med school, the two institutes."
But Haslam acknowledged there long has been talk in some local circles about independence for UTC, which as the then-private University of Chattanooga became part of the UT system in 1969.
"Since [UTC] became a part of the system, that's been a question that's come up," Haslam conceded. "Heck, when I was running for governor, some people said, 'We're not getting our full attention that we should.'"
The regents system, created in 1972, is comprised of 46 separate institutions with six universities, 13 community colleges and 27 colleges of applied technology.
Chattanooga State, a two-year college, is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents and will remain so.
The University of Tennessee has its main, original campus in Knoxville, as well as UTC and UT-Martin in West Tennessee. The system also operates the UT Space Institute in Tullahoma, the UT Institute of Agriculture and the UT Health Science Center in Memphis.
Since becoming part of UT, the Chattanooga university's enrollment has more than doubled to more than 10,000. UTC also has developed graduate degree programs and seen accompanying growth in on-campus life. Observers say UT system President Joe DiPietro has allowed UTC to maintain a separate identity in a number of ways. For example, one of UTC's emblems is the "Power C" that stands for Chattanooga.
Last week, DiPietro drew distinctions between the UT and Regents' systems.
"We have a statewide board, and it functions very well," DePietro said. "We have more similarities in our six components than TBR does. So managing them is a little easier because we're more similar and there's less disparity."
Haslam's proposal calls for the University of Memphis and the five others - East Tennessee State, Middle Tennessee State, Tennessee State, Austin Peay and Tennessee Technological universities - to be governed by their own boards, which would appoint the campus presidents, manage the universities' budgets, set tuition and oversee other operational tasks.
But the Tennessee Board of Regents would continue to provide administrative support to the six state universities. Meanwhile, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, which for decades has acted to coordinate and referee activities between the UT and TBR systems, would be given beefed-up oversight and presumably the firm authority and resources to carry that out under Haslam's proposal.
Haslam last week pitched the move as the logical next step in his "Drive to 55" program that places new emphasis on two-year colleges and technical schools. The goal is boosting the percentage of Tennesseans with post-secondary degrees to 55 percent by 2025.
Still, powerful interests in Memphis have pushed the issue for years, winning pledges from former Govs. Don Sundquist and Phil Bredesen to do something for Memphis. While Sundquist and Bredesen never delivered, Haslam clearly intends to.
Among those pushing for an independent University of Memphis are Federal Express founder Fred Smith and Brad Martin, the retired chairman and CEO of Saks Inc. and a former interim president of the University of Memphis. Early in his career, Haslam once worked for Martin.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com, 615-255-0550 or follow via twitter at AndySher1.