Will the New Year Bring a New University to the Valley?
EDINBURG — Robert Nelsen, the president of the University of Texas-Pan American, does not like to think of the 85-year-old institution he has run since January 2010 being abolished by the Legislature.
But he intends to spend much of the 2013 legislative session encouraging lawmakers to do just that. “I hate that word,” he said recently from his office in this Rio Grande Valley town. “But that’s the technical word you have to use. 'Abolish.'”
Nelsen’s partner in this effort is Juliet García, the president of the University of Texas at Brownsville, who will make a similar push ...
Comments (6)
Carolyn Moon via Texas Tribune on Facebook
The Lege doesn't even think we're part of the state and that we don't speak English.
Donna Pazdera via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I teach at UTPA and as long as it doesn't involve layoffs, I think it could be a game-changer for the region. I hope this comes to fruition.
Jose B. Gonzalez via Texas Tribune on Facebook
^^^ Typical, as long as it doesn't affect my job I'm all for progress.... BUT if it affects my job - to hell with progress and what's good for the region and its people. The typical me me me syndrome...
Richard S. Moore via Texas Tribune on Facebook
This could be the best thing for the area SOSA (South of San Antonio) ever - yes, even a bigger deal than the Eagle Ford shale boom. Focus on collaboration with Mexico and So. America, focus on research, focus on a medical school. This will really reinvigorate the area!
Adolfo Moreno via Texas Tribune on Facebook
To hell with med school we need math physics and engineering!
baltazar acevedo
There is nothing "New" in this proposal. The term was coined to detract attention from a failed 20 year partnership between the University of Texas Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. This partnership was a failure and what should be done is simply realign what is working and get rid of what is not working. There should be a satellite campus at Brownsville that is under the operational oversight of the Edinburg campus.
Such a proposal would be new if another executive team was selected to manage the "new" university. The present executive teams at both schools are rather weak and the one at Brownsville is similar to the hacienda model that was present in Mexico prior the revolution. The UT System chancellor is using this charade to use the medical school as the linchpin for his initiative. South Texas needs a series of regional public hospitals rather than a medical school since the public schools in this region hardly produce a cadre of college ready students to enroll in pre-med studies. One has to be wary when UT Pan American is proposing to build a new stadium for a non-existent soccer team. There does not seem to be evident strategic thinking to guide these proposals. Lots of serendipity here.