Proud Graduate and Current Regent Chairman
Andrew Richner Touts U of M
Academic and Financial Strength
Andrew C. Richner, chairman of the University of Michigan Board of Regents and a Grosse Pointe Park Republican, detailed steps the public university has taken to increase efficiency and hold the line on tuition hikes at the February 16, 2010, ERC Forum.
“We put a lot of burden on the administration to find cost-savings instead of shifting all our cost increases to tuition hikes,” he reported.
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Tom George Says, 'Fix Michigan'
Making a campaign stop at the February 16 ERC meeting was Dr. Tom George, Kalamazoo State Senator vying for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.
Saying, “Michigan's economy is broken,” George called for a diversified Michigan economy stimulated by adopting a competitive right-to-work statute.
George favors structural reform and a part-time legislature. An example of inefficiency, he said, was the maintenance of 55 separate "intermediate" school districts.
The Senator said, “Republicans did the right thing in Washington by saying 'No' to the national health care proposal.”
Citing one reason for Michigan's budget woes and taxpayer unrest, the Flint native said, “Health care costs are crippling the State.” The state government, he said, is spending more on health care than on education.
He characterized the Michigan budget as a “health care budget,” noting that it was health care costs that bankrupted Chrysler.
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Richner said university bragging points include academic standings comparable with other top-tier schools and a triple-A bond rating.
Although Republicans constitute a minority on the Board of Regents, his colleagues named him chairman in June 2009. He was first elected to the Board in 2002.
In November 2010, Richner plans to stand for reelection.
Richner told the Forum, “One hundred percent of the university's health care costs are now paid by the university.” He said this reform requires employee contributions on a 30/70% basis, while still allowing the university to present a competitive package to attract quality employees.
“We are more focused on our core mission, and getting out of businesses we shouldn't be in, such as operating a Flint public television broadcasting station,” he said. The station has been sold.
The Regent chairman also pointed out that the university's extensive athletics program is self-supporting--not paid for by the general fund.
According to Richner, the Regents encouraged a university facility utilization analysis, and then called for more Friday and early morning classes to increase facility usage without costly, new construction.
“We have identified ways to conserve campus energy usage,” he added.
He noted that such actions have allowed U of M to keep tuition increases in check. Consequently, annual Michigan taxpayer support has declined from $360 to $325 million.
University reports show that in the 1960s, nearly 80 percent of general fund revenues came from state appropriations, compared to the projected 22 percent in the 2010 university budget.
Contributing to efficiency, said Richner, is the move to multiyear budgeting. “We now operate on a three-year, instead of an annual budget,” he said.
While holding the line on costs, the university has had success with its “Michigan Difference” fund raising campaign. To date, it has raised a record-setting $3.2 billion for the school from private sources, making it the largest fundraiser in the history of any U.S. public university.
Richner, outlining sources of revenue, said the University of Michigan Medical Center accounts for one-half of the school's revenue, and a new children and women's hospital is to open in 2011. Also slated is a new hospital cardiovascular center.
Today, U of M is third in the country in the amount of research support it receives from industry and foundations.
He related that the university has improved its cash position, and gotten out of the insurance business by selling its M-Care operation to Blue Cross for $250 million.
The Regent chairman noted that the university's recent purchase of the former Pfizer pharmaceutical research complex adjacent to the university's North campus will allow consolidation of university operations from more costly and scattered leased space.
Richner is a partner in the law firm Clark Hill, PLC, where he provides advice and advocacy for clients on matters of legislation and governmental law and policy.
He served three terms in the Michigan House of Representatives, two terms as a Wayne County Commissioner, and one term on the Grosse Pointe Park City Council.
In the legislature, he was one of the most productive representatives, sponsoring 49 bills that became public acts.
Richner earned a BBA from the U of M in 1982. He is also a 1986 graduate of the U of M Law School and where he was contributing editor to the Michigan Law Review.
In 1985 he served as an intern in the Office of Counsel to the President in the White House under President Reagan.
Richner and his wife, Susan, live in Grosse Pointe Park and have two children.
