Prairie Village attorney Logan talks priorities for new position as Regent

Last week, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback appointed local attorney Fred Logan and two others to the Kansas Board of Regents, the body charged with overseeing the state’s higher education system.

Long a champion of public education in the state, Logan has been hailed as an excellent choice for the position by the Kansas City Star’s Steve Rose, and by a number of the local political observers Logan frequently chats with as a panelist on public affairs shows.

Logan has deep ties to the Prairie Village area. His law office is located at Corinth Square, and both his sons recently graduated from SM East.

Though he says the appointment “has definitely been keeping me busy,” Logan took a few moments to answer our questions about what he hopes to accomplish as a Regent.

1.) What’s the biggest challenge facing the state’s university system at present?
The biggest challenge facing higher education in Kansas is the state’s budget crunch. I am pleased that Gov. Brownback stopped the cuts to higher education that had taken place in the previous two years. His budget actually included new dollars for higher education.

2.) What will be your top priority at a Regent?
My top priority as a Regent will be to support initiatives that promote excellence in all of our institutions of higher education – our universities, community colleges, and technical schools.

3.) Will you still be involved in the Committee for Excellence, and working to fix the school funding formula?
I plan to remain as chair of the Committee for Excellence. I have been promoting a fix for the school funding formula for more than a decade.  I am not going to stop now.