NASHVILLE – Tennessee Deputy Gov. John Morgan says he wants to be named the State Board of Regents’ next chancellor, a job that will be key to enacting the higher education reform legislation passed earlier this year.
“I’ve been interested in education, education policy for years and years,” Mr. Morgan said. “What we started in the special session, I believe, is something that if well executed can be really transformative in Tennessee.”
Mr. Morgan was involved closely in developing and pushing the higher education reforms passed during the legislative special session at the urging of Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen.
Officials with the Regents’ search for a new chancellor said they have not reviewed the applicants for the position but will consider everyone’s qualifications.
“We want to select the very best candidate,” said Howard Roddy, a board member from Chattanooga. “That might be John, but it might be another candidate.”
In the past, chancellors were required to have a degree such as a doctorate, but the Regents’ committee overseeing the search recently decided to change the criteria and make a bachelor’s degree the minimum requirement.
Mr. Morgan, who doesn’t have a doctoral degree, said he hasn’t talked with the Regents’ search committee about changing the criteria but said he agrees with the decision.
“It’s really about system management and for that, it really doesn’t necessarily suggest that any particular academic credential is necessary,” he said.