A good coach always pushes his or her players to win. Whether it’s running play after play on the field in the summer heat, taking shot after shot in the gym, or swimming lap after lap in the pool. Other teams will find excuses for their shortcomings and blame the scorekeeper for their losses, but a winning team takes real work, real commitment and honesty about success.

It reminds me of the story of the soccer player walking back to the locker room after practice. One of his teammates complains to the coach, “Why are you always getting on us? Why the hard time?” The coach smiles, “Well, what would it mean if I stopped?” The coach looks around to each of the teammates, then to the smallest player. “It’d mean you gave up on us,” the player says. “It’d mean we weren’t worth the fight.”

“Worth the Fight” is much more than a campaign slogan. It’s a commitment to excellence—for El Paso and everything we do in our community. At UTEP, for instance, we must constantly strive to be the best. Every great town has a great university. UTEP is the heart of our community in so many ways—it’s where our children grow into adults through education; where we develop the academic base of our regional economic capabilities; and where we show our team spirit.

In 1998, I worked with Texas Comptroller John Sharp to develop a report called Bordering the Future: Challenge and Opportunity in the Texas Border Region. The report found that if the 43-county Texas border region were the 51st state, it would have ranked 44th for the percentage of residents with a bachelor’s degree. At the time, 16.6% of El Pasoans had a bachelor’s degree and 7.4% had a post-graduate degree.

“Border residents must share a commitment with state and local leaders to post –high school education that can lead to dramatic, lasting job gains and economic prosperity,” the report said. Today 19.1% of El Pasoans have a bachelor’s degree and with continued work many more individuals will have an opportunity to attain a higher education in the future.

One challenge is that for every 100 students at UTEP, less than 5 will graduate in four years or less. And just last Wednesday, the El Paso Times reported that El Paso’s poverty rate is the fourth-highest in the United States. According to recent U.S. Census figures, El Paso County has among has among the lowest median incomes in the nation at $30,968.

More work lies ahead to turn these numbers around, but it takes dedicated leadership committed to that fight—and a realization that the fight exists in the first place. In 1999, I worked to increase UTEP’s state appropriation by 18.3% over the biennium. The increase included $7.5 for technology and library materials and building renovations. It also included $3 million to help fund the border legal studies program, a sport medicine program and $25 million for border health research at UTEP.

Today, UTEP’s Law School Preparation Institute is a model program entering a unprecedented number of El Pasoans into top-ranking law schools around the nation. Furthermore, the Medical Center of the Americas—a inter-disciplinary, multi-institutional center of medical education and research—is closer to becoming a reality than ever before in El Paso’s history.

In the last legislative session, in 2005, I fought to improve our university enrollment and graduation rates by passing a bill that would allow college credit for IB diplomas, CLEP and AP exams, and dual credit courses. For some students, it means they can now enter college as sophomores and graduate early!

76th Legislative Session (1999)
In the 76th Legislative Sen. Shapleigh was able to make significant improvements to higher education in El Paso. He was able to procure funding for higher education institutions, mainly UTEP; he supported scholarship and loan programs for college students; and, he worked to clarify UTEP’s student fees.

76th Legislature Higher Education Highlights:
1.Secured an increase in appropriations for UTEP.
UTEP was appropriated $120.3 million, an increase of 18.3% over their current biennium, for the 2000-2001 biennium.
The appropriation included:
-$7.5 million for technology, library materials, and building renovations
-$3 million for a border legal studies program
Additionally, $50 million was also appropriated to establish an endowment for the Border Health Institute, which included:
-$25 million for UTEP
-$25 million for Texas Tech

2. Secured $1 million, two-year appropriation for UTEP’s Center for Law and Border Studies. This center will prepare undergraduate students for law school and also bring law students to El Paso to learn about legal issues affecting the border region.

3.Worked to address disparities in funding to UTEP from the Permanent University Fund and the Higher Education Fund. As a result, $90 million was set up for various institutions; UTEP received $5.6 of this amount.

4. Supported creation of Texas Grant Program. This program would provide college scholarships to students who completed college preparatory courses in high school and maintained a minimum grade point average of 2.0 during their first year of college. Higher education officials estimated that the program would fund grants for up to 20,000 Texas college students.

5. Supported $400 million bond proposal for Hinson-Hazelwood Student Loan Program.
This program would help low-and moderate-income Texas students attend college.

6. Clarified UT System’s Authority to set student fees at UTEP.
At the request of UTEP officials, Sen. Shapleigh worked to pass a bill which authorized the UT system to levy a student union fee not to exceed $30 for students enrolled in a summer session for six weeks or more. The bill also authorized the UT System to increase the compulsory student services fee if the proposed increase is approved by a majority vote of UTEP students.

7. Worked to authorize institutions of higher education to waive certain fees.

Sen. Shapleigh worked to pass a bill which allowed the governing board of an institution of higher education to waive mandatory or discretionary fees for certain students if the board determined that the students were not able to participate in or use the activity, service, or facility for which the fee was charged.

8. Secured performance review of El Paso Community College. With the support of EPCC president Dr. William Campion, Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander agreed to conduct a performance review to evaluate EPCC’s educational services.

9. At the request of college officials, worked to help the International Business College keep name at new location.

77th Legislative Session (2001)
During this session, Sen. Shapleigh worked with several representatives from higher education institutions to improve education in El Paso. Two significant victories were 1.$8.9 million in research funding for UTEP; and, 2. a private-public partnership promoting higher education in engineering and computer science.

77th Legislature Higher Education Highlights:
1. Helped pass research and excellence funding legislation for institutions of higher education. Through this bill, UTEP received $8.9 in research funding.

2. Sponsored bill to establish a long range statewide plan for higher education in the State. This bill required the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) to document the widely varying educational needs, services and resources throughout the state and to publish this information in biennial reports to the legislature. Additionally, these plans will include recommendations to address the needs of the different populations throughout the state.

3. Sponsored bill to facilitate the transfer of credits between community colleges and other institutions.

4. Sponsored bill to establish a framework for repayment of law school loans for defense lawyers.

5. Co-authored bill to expand the technology workforce by promoting engineering and computer science.

6. Worked to improve reporting of university collaboration with private sector entities.

78th Legislative Session (2003)
78th Legislature Higher Education Highlights:
1. Authored Sunset bill to increases the state’s ability to close gaps in higher education.
2. Introduced bill requiring the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to create a central clearinghouse to rank the state’s colleges and universities.

3. Authored bill to authorize Comptroller to carry out performance review of universities with low graduation grades.

4. Authored bill to direct Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to increase awareness for junior college students about Individual Development Account programs.

5. Collaborated on a bill to protect college students from unnecessary charges and fees.

79h Legislative Session (2005)
79th Legislature Higher Education Highlights:
1. Introduced bill that would require higher education institutions in Texas to adopt and implement a polity regarding the awarding of course credit for entering freshman who successfully complete the Advanced Placement Exams, CLEP tests, dual credit courses or the International Baccalaureate program.