To Gov. Rick Perry of Texas a “reconstituted” governing board means a replaced board.

Two weeks ago a panel convened by the Republican governor recommended that the Board of Regents at Texas Southern University be “reconstituted” as the university seeks to dig out of a financial mess, a process that will require an emergency bailout by the state. In a written statement released today, Governor Perry, who appoints regents to the 10-member board, said the entire board should resign.

The regents had been asked to devise a plan to fix the university’s financial problems immediately. But that plan “failed to offer the specific recommendations needed to correct the current financial situation,” the governor’s statement said.

In a move that differed from the advisory panel’s recommendations, Governor Perry also called today for the university to be placed under conservatorship. That idea had been opposed by the panel, which said a state-appointed leader, who would oversee the university’s finances and have the power to hire and fire, would “severely stigmatize the institution.” To be appointed, a conservator would need to be authorized by the state’s Legislature.

Meanwhile, in a Houston courtroom, jurors heard opening arguments this week in the trial of Quintin F. Wiggins, Texas Southern’s former chief financial officer. Mr. Wiggins faces charges in connection with the use of hundreds of thousands of dollars in university money to improve the home of Priscilla D. Slade, who was fired last year as president and is scheduled to stand trial herself in August. —Paul Fain