Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

AUSTIN - State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh on Thursday voted against a bill that would allow universities to compete for money to achieve elite status, saying the proposal would put UTEP at a disadvantage.

The measure by Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, would establish criteria for schools to seek millions of dollars legislators plan to make available for seven universities that want to be designated as national research powers. It passed on a 29-2 vote, but Shapleigh said the measure would penalize the University of Texas at El Paso and elevate Texas Tech University, in Duncan's hometown, and the University of Houston.

"What, in effect, we're doing is putting a crown on two institutions to move forward quickly, because, frankly, the criteria were created with that in mind," said Shapleigh, D-El Paso.

Duncan said his bill would create a level playing field for each of the "emerging research universities" - Texas Tech, the University of Houston, UT Dallas, UTEP, UT Arlington, UT San Antonio and the University of North Texas.

"What we're trying do with this bill is create high standards for our institutions," Duncan said.

A national research institution, or "tier-one university," generally means a school receives at least $100 million a year in research grants and has selective admissions, low student-faculty ratios and competitive salaries.

Only two public universities in the state, UT Austin and Texas A&M University, are considered tier-one institutions. By comparison, six public institutions in California are in the top tier.

In January, El Paso lawmakers said setting the stage for UTEP to compete for the status was their top priority for the legislative session. Last week, the House unanimously approved a similar measure that would allow UTEP and the other schools to earn incentive money for research. But Shapleigh said the criteria in Duncan's bill would leave UTEP behind.

One of six criteria Duncan set out for universities to receive incentive dollars was the awarding of at least 200 doctor of philosophy degrees, or Ph.D.s, each year.

The University of Houston awarded 208 Ph.D.s last year and Texas Tech awarded 184, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. UTEP awarded just 31.

Until the 1990s, Shapleigh said, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which oversees universities, would not allow UTEP and other Hispanic-serving institutions to create a wide range of doctoral programs.

UTEP started its first Ph.D. program in geological sciences in 1974. The coordinating board did not approve another Ph.D. program at UTEP until 1990.

"What may hurt us for years are certain criteria based on discriminatory practices from the past," Shapleigh said.

The criteria, he said, should be primarily based on the amount of federally funded, peer-reviewed research universities conduct, and on whether the institutions are in large cities where businesses can help capitalize on that research.

Duncan, though, said that whether a university is in a population center is irrelevant to an institution's ability to conduct research. Texas Tech is the only one of the seven emerging state research universities that is not in a metropolitan area.

Duncan argued that an array of Ph.D. programs attracts high-caliber students and faculty who conduct research universities need to be competitive. UTEP and other universities that do not award a large number of Ph.D.s, he said, could meet other criteria to compete for research money. Among the other criteria were the number of graduate-level programs the school offers and whether the university admits high-achieving freshmen, especially minority students.

"You can choose your target to where your strengths are so that you can achieve this status," Duncan said.

UTEP President Diana Natalicio said she was pleased with the legislation the House approved last week, a measure that contained the same criteria.

"The important thing all along has been the framework itself," she said, "the acknowledgment that more tier-one universities will help Texas become more competitive."