Montrose Daily Press

By Will Hearst June 6, 2012

CU Regent candidate aims for 2012 rematch

Davidson believes increased college tuition isnt completely a state funding issue In November, voters across the state will see only two races on their ballot that they will all have in common. One will be for president of the United States and the other will be for the at-large seat on the Colorado University Board of Regents, the governing body for the 55,000-student higher education institution. One of those candidates for the at-large seat may be physician Brian Davidson, providing he can defeat fellow Republican opponent Matt Arnold in the primary election on June 26. Davidson, who spent Tuesday campaigning on the Western Slope, is currently the associate chair of quality and patient safety, as well as assistant medical director of perioperative services, at Colorado University Anschutz. He holds two degrees from CU, including his doctorate of medicine and a master of business administration. With nearly 16 years of post-secondary education, Davidson is well aware of the amount of debt students can be left with following college and believes it is time to act. I have paid a lot of tuition, Davidson said Tuesday during a visit to Montrose. I currently owe about $130,000 in student loans. He noted that the average CU graduate owes approximately $25,000, and the current level of student debt in the country is at $1 trillion. With recent cuts in funding for higher education, the costs passed on to students is rapidly increasing, he said. There are huge parallels in health care and education the costs are going up, and the quality is stable, Davidson said. Many higher education officials blame the tuition hikes on decreased state funding, which is true, according to Davidson. However, he believes there is more that can be done from the inside of those organizations. We cant sit back and blame it all on state funding; we need to do our part to control what costs we can, he said. I believe the institution can be more efficient by cutting costs that dont add value to the mission of the university. Davidson believes his experience in health care makes him an excellent candidate. In 2011, the CU budget was approximately $2.8 billion, and 40 percent of those funds came from the universitys medical program and services. He also said that, although the institution is located on the Front Range, statistics show that four out of every five Coloradans receive some type of medical attention from a CU graduate. Davidson believes the states flagship educational institution can serve as a positive example to smaller colleges and universities, including those on the Western Slope, if it can come up with ways to decrease costs and increase the quality of the education it offers. Davidson is running for a seat that features a six-year term. In 2006, he ran uncontested in the primary race but was beaten by incumbent Democrat Stephen Ludwig by less than 1 percent of the vote. If Davidson earns the Republican nomination, the November election will be a rematch of the 2006 race. Without some changes in higher education, Davidson fears the position of the nations economy on the world stage may be in jeopardy. We need to be sure our graduates are provided with the skills our

society and economy need, he said. We should be able to graduate enough people to meet the demands of American industry.