Earlier this week, this reporter received a letter from a father who is starting to consider what college or university might offer the best educational opportunities for his high school daughter.

This father is a native Kansan who lived in Lawrence for a while and now is a successful professional living elsewhere in the country. He meets and visits with highly successful individuals and travels extensively. Both he and his wife are KU graduates and consider themselves to have strong emotional attachments to KU.

The concerns expressed in this letter should be of deep interest and concern to all those with a genuine interest in KU, as well as other Kansas Board of Regents universities.

The letter states, “I wanted to send you a note and let you know that even though our daughter is just starting high school, we have begun the conversation about where she wants to go to college. Last night, I looked up the public college value chart on Kiplinger. I am sure you already know this; they rank the top 100 public universities based on academics and cost (academics is weighted stronger — making up two-thirds of the ranking). Not surprising to find UNC, NC State, UVA, UCLA, Cal Berkeley, etc., on the list. So I looked for institutions in the Big 12 and other universities that I consider to be similar/peer institutions. Based on what I have been hearing about KU, it did not surprise me when KU is not even ranked. There was not one Kansas school listed. Truman State in Missouri was listed. What was interesting to me was who is listed (these not in any order): University of Iowa, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, University of Nebraska (Lincoln), University of Missouri (Columbia), University of Colorado (Boulder), University of Texas (Austin and Dallas), Texas A&M, University of Arkansas, Purdue, University of Wisconsin (Madison, LaCrosse, Eau Claire), University of Indiana (Bloomington), University of Minnesota, University of Michigan, Michigan State and University of Illinois (Champaign).”

The writer continued, saying he and his wife “must plan for our children’s college, like most families these days. And while we have an emotional attachment to KU, it does not seem to be a good investment for our educational dollar. We will have to give careful consideration to whether or not we can ‘afford’ to send our kids to KU. I am beginning to wonder about the current value of my KU degree.”

He named the school from which he graduated at KU and noted it “used to be highly ranked in the country … I wonder where it ranks today?”

This reporter can confirm it is not as highly ranked today as it was when this alumnus was on Mount Oread.

The letter writer added that very close friends in Kansas City, “KU diehards,” currently are sending their children to Kansas State University and the University of Arkansas. “And,” he said, “their youngest is likely to attend Arkansas.”

“I know that you can get a quality education (or not) at any institution … it really is up to the student. But KU is going to continue to lose out on a generation of quality students if it does not get its act together.”

Granted, there are many parents of KU students or current high school students who think KU is a great, wonderful institution and a financial bargain. Also, the opinion of Kiplinger editors can be off-base or slanted and editors of other magazines may say KU is one of the best bargains in the country.

Nevertheless, the sentiments of the father quoted above should send a wake-up call to those who think KU warrants a national ranking as one of this country’s top public universities.

Currently, it is not ranked as high as it used to be. Several schools within the university rank among the nation’s best, and there are a number of true all-star faculty members, but the overall university ranking has slipped.

Unfortunately, for the past five or six years, KU did not have the visionary, imaginative, challenging leadership it deserved. Once momentum is lost, it is doubly difficult to regain that excitement and forward motion.

Many KU alumni and friends, as well as a number of faculty members, are hopeful the new provost, Jeffrey Vitter, will provide the missing leadership the school demands. (It is unfortunate Vitter did not have a say in the selection of the new dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. It is the largest school on campus, and the provost is supposed to be the academic leader of the university.)

In addition to a lack of leadership, all Regents universities have suffered because of an apparent lack of concern or interest by those on the board about what is going on at the various state university campuses. That certainly is true relative to KU in the later years of the Hemenway chancellorship and recently with the arrogant and almost uncontrolled actions of athletic department officials. Likewise, the regents either were unaware or didn’t care what was going on in the Kansas State athletic department the past few years.

If the regents are so blind to the deteriorating faculty morale and the unhappiness of alumni and friends about what has been happening in the KU and KSU athletics operations, what is to say there has not been the same “don’t bother me” approach to academic affairs at the state universities?

What does it say about the regents’ level of concern or awareness when a national magazine, with millions of readers, doesn’t place a single Kansas university among the nation’s top public schools based on their academic excellence?

Apparently, the regents are basing their actions or level of oversight far too much on what the chancellor and presidents tell them about what a great job they are doing.

It is disappointing that outgoing Gov. Mark Parkinson has not given sufficient importance to appointing truly outstanding individuals to the Board of Regents. As this writer has suggested in the past, the board has become a convenient dumping ground to pay off political IOU’s.

If Sam Brownback does become our state’s next governor, as the polls suggest, one of the best things he could do for the state is to give his utmost attention to upgrading the Board of Regents and demanding that this body take far more interest in what is going on at the various state universities.

Each of these schools should be recognized as among the best in the country in their specific areas of academic excellence. For example, KSU should be known as one of the top three or four land grant schools in the nation. KU, Wichita, Emporia, Pittsburg and Hays should pursue their own areas of excellence.

Too many regents want the honor of being listed on a letterhead but really don’t give the time or attention to the job that it deserves. Likewise, what level of leadership dedication has their president and CEO been giving to board members?

Legislators, governors, regents, taxpayers, alumni and friends of the state universities all have been lazy, careless, complacent and afraid to speak up about what has been going on at our state schools.

As the above-quoted letter says, “KU is going to continue to lose out on a generation of quality students if it does not get its act together.”

As yet, complacency and a reluctance to demand excellence seems to be the name of the higher education game in Kansas, and KU still is waiting to get its act together.