HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- A new committee formed by top area elected officials could endorse the University of Alabama in Huntsville severing ties with the parent UA System, two people involved with the committee said Monday.

The committee is yet to hold its first meeting and its objective is to improve relations between UAH and the UA System and its governing board of trustees "in as positive a route as possible," Madison County Commissioner Mike Gillespie said Monday.

But asked directly if the committee would entertain the possibility of breaking away from the UA System, Gillespie said, "Every option is going to be on the table, up to and including that."

Gillespie, along with Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and Madison Mayor Paul Finley, announced on Friday the formation of the committee "to examine alternate ways to improve the relationship between the community and University of Alabama System office."

It has been a tumultuous year at UAH, starting with the departure of President David Williams in March to become engineering dean at Ohio State University. Then UA System Chancellor Malcolm Portera took over as interim president. Portera disbanded the school's NCAA Division I hockey program.

UAH eminent scholar Michael Griffin, a former NASA Administrator, was bypassed for president despite having support in the Huntsville political and business community. And the Tuscaloosa campus is establishing an office in Huntsville to compete with UAH for federal grants that have been the lifeblood of UAH's high-tech growth.

"Tuscaloosa coming up here trying to carve into those dollars doesn't sit very well with the business community," said Huntsville businessman David Johnston, who is one of the 12 committee members.

Contacted Monday, fellow committee members Wally Kirkpatrick and Dave Hargrove declined to comment. Efforts to reach some of the other members of the committee Monday were not successful.

When contacted about the formation of the committee, UAH emailed a statement from new UAH President Robert Altenkirch.

"The University of Alabama in Huntsville is an essential component of Huntsville and Alabama's academic, creative and research competence, as well as a vital part of The University of Alabama System," reads the full statement. "The relationship among the campus, the system and the community is crucial to the future of our university, the North Alabama region as well as the state and nation."

"We look forward to continuing the work of educating our students, growing the economy and working collaboratively with our sister institutions in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham."

Gillespie said he expected the committee to meet perhaps as early as this week and that he, Battle and Finley would not be an active part of the committee. The elected officials would seek input from the committee on how best to improve relations, Gillespie said.

"It's not a competitive environment (between the Tuscaloosa and Huntsville campuses)," Gillespie said. "We're all on the same team. We feel like on occasion that the trustees have not necessarily always indicated we're a part of that team."

None of the 14 trustees who oversee the three campuses in the UA System hold a degree from UAH. Two hold degrees from University of Alabama in Birmingham and the other 12 graduated from the Tuscaloosa campus. One trustee, UA graduate Ron Gray, lives in Huntsville.

Johnston said the business community - and, by extension, the relationships UAH holds with the Army and NASA - have been adversely affected by the departure of former UAH president Williams, whom he credited with elevating those relationships to their highest points ever.

The research division, Johnston said, is generating "in the range of $90 million a year in research grants."

"What it's also doing for the Army and for NASA is it's helping them solve and address some high-tech research issues that help them justify their presence in Huntsville, rather than taking those dollars to some other military base and spending them," said Johnston, adding that UAH is "helping sustain their presence here."

Williams' departure, Tuscaloosa's new presence in town and Altenkirch's previous public statements about wanting to grow UAH beyond its high-tech scope has the business community concerned, Johnston said.

The idea of breaking away from the UA System is also being studied by state Rep. Phil Williams, R-Monrovia. And just like Gillespie, Johnston didn't shy away from that option.

"I would think this committee would be willing to entertain that," Johnston said, "if that was the only way to obtain the kind of independence necessary to continue to support the Army and NASA."

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