Earlier this week, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius attended a meeting in Kansas City titled “Innovation America Initiative,” a project of the National Governors Association.

Sebelius and Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt are part of a six-member task force charged with getting states to think about higher education as crucial to the country’s economic health.

Sebelius is reported as saying universities that are not in touch with skills needed in the work world may be preparing students for jobs that no longer exist. According to a news report, Sebelius admitted, however, that until becoming part of the task force, she had not been focused on higher education in Kansas.

She said, “I am guilty of governance by abstention. I have not done a good job of articulating goals for universities in Kansas. : My analysis of our system is that we need to ramp it up. We have a great platform, but we are light-years away from where we need to be.”

The governor’s lack of attention and focus on the state’s system of higher education is not surprising to many observers, but it is great she has the honesty to acknowledge this oversight and seek to correct it.

She can start immediately by making a serious assessment of the leadership, vision and courage of those overseeing the state’s higher education system. How good a job is the Kansas Board of Regents doing? Do its members measure up in every respect? There is no need or justification for Kansas taxpayers, students and faculty to settle for second best in the leadership of our universities, community colleges and vocational-technical schools.

The first step – and this can be fixed tomorrow – is for Sebelius to give far more attention to the caliber of individuals she appoints to the board of regents. For too long, governors have used appointments to the Board of Regents as a means to show their appreciation for favors and help or as political payoffs.

In June 2006, three regents completed their first four-year terms on the board and were eligible for reappointment. Two of the three continue to serve while the governor decides about appointments. The third, Dick Bond, resigned from the board in March. This month, three more regents complete their terms. Two of these regents would be eligible for reappointment and the third has served the maximum of two terms. In all cases, the governor has the option of replacing current regents with new appointees.

What kind of individuals will she nominate for the board? Will she stress the importance of regents doing a far better job of monitoring the performance of the chancellor and presidents of the regents’ universities?

It is refreshing to have the governor acknowledge “I am guilty of governance by abstention” and she has “not done a good job of articulating goals for universities in Kansas.”

Let’s hope she follows through and does something positive about these oversights. The state’s universities deserve the best in their chancellor and presidents! Also the state needs the best qualified and motivated men and women serving as regents rather than individuals who are receiving political payoffs or have a mission to favor one school over another.