Democrats may have a shot at the seat being vacated by Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, according to a new poll from Public Policy Polling, a left-leaning polling firm. 

Jay Kimbrough, a former chief of staff to Gov. Rick Perry, this morning was named deputy chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. He will also serve as interim chancellor.

This week on the TribCast, Ross, Reeve, Emily, and Julian discuss the theatrics of the end of the special session and look forward to the interim.

The controversial former adviser at the University of Texas System on his termination, the subsequent settlement, his critics and why he thinks his side is winning the battle over higher ed reform.

The University of Texas System has released an updated set of faculty productivity data. "The System has been working diligently to review and verify the data and most of the data in the file are complete," a spokesman said.

On Thursday, the Texas A&M University System is set to appoint a deputy chancellor and an interim chancellor. The man for both jobs may be Jay Kimbrough, a former chief of staff to Gov. Rick Perry, sources tell the Tribune.

The Rick O'Donnell saga at the University of Texas System appears to have reached an end. Last week, under threat of a lawsuit, the system agreed to a settlement with the former adviser.

Gov. Rick Perry isn’t backing down from his push for a “no-frills” approach to higher education. He wants students to move and be moved through the system quickly and efficiently. And if that wasn’t clear enough already, he underscored it with his veto pen.

Natalie Butler and Christopher Covo, are both student leaders from public universities in Texas. But they find themselves on different sides of the state's ongoing higher education reform debate. 

With multiple third-party organizations cropping up, along with a new Legislature-created oversight committee, expect a protracted debate about how best to tackle the state's higher ed problems. 

The political ambitions of state Rep. Aaron Peña, R-Edinburg, have been the subject of speculation since he switched parties prior to the recent legislative session. But he’s announcing today that — for now, at least — he doesn’t intend to go anywhere.

The political ambitions of state Rep. Aaron Peña, R-Edinburg, have been the subject of speculation since he switched parties prior to the recent legislative session. But he’s announcing that, for now at least, he doesn’t intend to go anywhere.

This week on the TribCast, Ross, Reeve, Thanh, and Ben talk about vetoes, groping, and the imminent end of the special session.

Only 16 percent of Latino adults have an associate's degree or higher — compared to 33 percent of the total working-aged population in Texas. The national average is 38 percent.

A powerful group of individuals — including former regents, former university system chancellors and former university presidents — from around Texas have joined together to address the state's ongoing higher education controversy.