Emails trace hiring of UT adviser University officials met O'Donnell before posting job or consulting chancellor

The attorney for the Board of Regents at the UT System met Rick O'Donnell in what she described as "an excellent meeting" the day before an official job description was written and posted online, and then asked Chairman Gene Powell if he would "like to get this show on the road?"

"Next step would be to craft a short job description (and I can start that for your review unless you already have something in mind) and for you to give me the target salary range," Francie Frederick wrote in an email to Powell.

O'Donnell is an associate and former employee of Austin businessman Jeff Sandefer, a major contributor to Gov. Rick Perry. Sandefer has promoted controversial "Seven Breakthrough Solutions" to reform higher education, mostly by de-emphasizing research and evaluating professors based on how much they earn a university. O'Donnell, who has worked for Sandefer, wrote policy papers as a senior analyst for the conservative Austin think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, expressing similar views.

The emails also indicate the job was posted without consulting Cigarroa.

"Francie, can I see posting - I really do not know full responsibilities - just generalities. Who is going to announce this to our officers?" Cigarroa asks in a Feb. 11 email after being informed of the job posting. "They should not be caught by surprise."

State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, who last month questioned the need for O'Donnell's $200,000 position, called the email revelations "very disappointing."

"It is mind-boggling. I'm not sure if it is just a breach of protocol or if it is illegal. At a minimum, it wasn't fair," Zaffirini said. "It is also dishonest to the other applicants, allowing people to apply while the choice was predetermined."

On Feb. 11, Frederick emails O'Donnell that "we have just posted a new position and I encourage you to apply for it electronically." The posting remained online until Feb. 23, the day that Powell gave Frederick approval to offer O'Donnell a job. Eight people applied; only Powell was interviewed.

On Feb. 24, O'Donnell was offered the job and accepted. That same day, Frederick tells Powell, "I know you will alert the Board first, but we should also do a communication to Chancellor and others." Four days later, she assured Powell "that Chancellor is now up to date on the hiring of Rick O'Donnell."

Contacted Tuesday evening, Powell said that he consulted with Frederick about hiring a staff person for two Regents' task forces he planned to name to study efficiency and on-line learning.

"I had met Rick and told her I thought he would be a good individual. She met him and found him to be a fine young man and well qualified."

When they decided to hire him, Powell explained, "she said, 'I need to take over at this point, because we need to follow the procedure,' the procedure prescribed by law and probably by the system. She took it over from there."

Powell reviewed the other applicants, and then informed Frederick, "'I think there's one individual qualified.' She handled it from there."

"I had met Mr. O'Donnell once before and had talked to common acquaintances in Colorado about him."

Powell said he relied on Frederick to follow proper procedures for hiring O'Donnell. "She handled the hiring and the interview. I did interview him by phone," Powell said.

Frederick could not be reached for comment.

Both the Texas Exes, the UT alumni organization, and the Chancellor's Council, a fund-raising arm of the university, have sent letters to the Board of Regents in protest of O'Donnell's position, saying it undermined Cigarroa's role.

O'Donnell was reassigned within the UT System office after complaints from prominent lawmakers, and now reports to Cigarroa.

patti.hart@chron.com

joe.holley@chron.com