News Room

Plan to elevate universities advances
April 23, 2009

Two measures intended to lift more public universities in Texas to national prominence were approved today by the Senate Higher Education Committee. The proposals now go to the full Senate.

Written by Ralph K.M. Haurwitz, The Austin American-Statesman

Univ_texas_el_paso

Two measures intended to lift more public universities in Texas to national prominence were approved today by the Senate Higher Education Committee. The proposals now go to the full Senate.

The state currently has two public universities with nationally prominent research programs, the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. The legislation seeks to give seven others a shot at the top tier by providing additional state funding for which they would compete. The seven so-called emerging research universities are UT-Dallas, UT-Arlington, UT-San Antonio, UT-El Paso, the University of North Texas, the University of Houston and Texas Tech University.

The schools would compete on the basis of such measures as research grants, gifts and doctoral degrees awarded. The amount of funding has not been nailed down.

Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, the chairwoman of the Senate committee, said she was pleased that her Senate Bill 9, as well as S.B. 1560 by Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, both advanced.

View Printer-Friendly Format

Related Stories

SHAPLEIGH: WAGING WAR ON HISPANICS IN TEXAS
March 1, 2011

By now, the Rick Perry, Radical Republican agenda is clear. During the 82nd Session of the Texas Legislature, TEA party Republicans mean to wage war on Hispanics.

In Perry’s party, which just took 22 seats away from Democrats to create a supermajority in the Texas House, the agenda is now crystal clear—cut taxes for the billionaires that funded Perry’s last election, cut budgets for key programs that invest in Hispanic education and health, cut regulations to corporations like the predatory lenders whose PACs pay for House wins and do anything possible to keep Hispanics away from the ballot box.

The "T' Word
April 19, 2010

After a decade of budget malpractice in Austin, UTEP and all nine school districts in El Paso face massive deficits. Just last week, our office spoke with a superintendent who faces a ten percent deficit that "must be resolved today." At UTEP, many programs are now facing cuts due to lack of support from the state of Texas. And on April 15th, Tea Party protesters did what they do best. Just what happened here?

From the Senator's Desk. . .
March 11, 2010

Un Abrazo Fuerte!

In our family, public service is the highest calling. Way back in 1846, on Christmas Day, our great, great grandfather fought here near the Rio Grande so that Texas might join the Union, not secede from America. His dreams then are yours and mine now—a more just society for all Texans; great public schools to educate all our children; strong Texas universities to make us proud; super highways to move commerce and create jobs; and fundamentally, government of the people, by the people and for the people, not just the privileged few.

"Duck Lessons"
March 4, 2010

What can Texas learn from ducks? By that I mean Oregon Ducks, that strain of independent westerner whose university's duck mascot comes often to entertain El Paso in the Sun Bowl. From our view here in God’s Country—in a state that is first in those without a high school diploma, last in insured, and about to face a $17 billion deficit in ten short months—we can all learn a lot from ducks.

Making the Grade
February 11, 2010

The future of Texas depends on our greatest resource—namely Texans. If we educate Texans to compete for good jobs in the 21st Century, we win. If we don’t, we lose. So, are we winning?

The Select Commission on Higher Education and Global Competitiveness, created by a resolution sponsored by our office, recently released a report that bluntly states:

Fair Use Notice
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.