Appointed in 2009, Francisco Cigarroa became the first Hispanic to serve as Chancellor of the University of Texas System, which consists of nine universities, six health institutions and has an annual operating budget of $11.9 billion.
A pediatric transplant surgeon, he was previously the president of the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio. Originally from Laredo, Cigarroa received ...
Why do Texas colleges hire former lawmakers to run the show? It's because the key trait for a new chancellor is the ability to attract money, both from donors and from the Legislature.
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When UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa unveiled his action plan last week, it was national news. Not so when Brian McCall, chancellor of the Texas State University System, did the exact same thing — a week earlier.
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The warring parties in the state’s ongoing debate over higher education reform experienced something new in the wake of this week's University of Texas System Board of Regents meeting: consensus.
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Lawmakers and local leaders are hopeful a plan unanimously adopted at Thursday's University of Texas System Board of Regents meeting means they could finally get what they've long been waiting for: a new medical school.
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At this morning's meeting of the University of Texas System Board of Regents, Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa won unanimous approval for a plan addressing hot-button higher ed issues of the moment like productivity, efficiency and accountability.
Full StoryWhen University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa rises to address the UT System Board of Regents today, the room won't be quite the pressure cooker it was in May.
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In recent months, the various forces in Gov. Rick Perry’s conflicted higher ed history have come to a head. The result: an overwrought public identity crisis in the higher education community, the resolution of which could define the governor’s legacy on the topic.
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Randy Diehl, the dean of the University at Texas at Austin’s College of Liberal Arts, has released a response to the so-called "seven breakthrough solutions" for higher education, calling them "the wrong approach.”
Full StoryThe 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.
Full StoryThe 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.
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Earlier this week, we published a quiz to see if readers could distinguish between comments made about higher education by Gov. Rick Perry, University of Texas President Bill Powers, and others. It turns out: They (sometimes) can’t!
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Of the new University of Texas System regents, none has received more scrutiny than Alex Cranberg. After months of controversy, he said the time has come to “push a reset button” on the relationship between the regents and the leadership at UT.
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At the end of a turbulent week in Texas higher education, the circumstances of the chancellors of the state’s two largest university systems stand in stark contrast.
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At a meeting of the University of Texas System Board of Regents in Austin Thursday, UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa won unanimous support after laying out his “framework for advancing excellence throughout the university system.”
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One week ago, Rick O’Donnell’s employment at the University of Texas System came to an abrupt end after 50 days marked by tension and confusion in the higher education community — especially at the University of Texas at Austin. So what happens now that he’s gone?
Full StoryThe University of Texas System leadership has officially reassigned controversial new hire, Rick O'Donnell, to a new position — one that will only exist for a matter of months.
Full StoryAfter running a gantlet of concerned legislators, Gene Powell, the chairman of the University of Texas System Board of Regents, took steps last week to assuage concerns over his direction of the system.
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Grissom on threats to re-entry programs for criminals, Hamilton on the tempest over the direction of UT, E. Smith's interview with Joe Straus, Stiles and Chang's new lobbying app, M. Smith and Weber on where state officeholders send their children to school, Aaronson on allowing new nuclear power plants, Aguilar on how Hispanic Republicans are handling immigration issues, Ramshaw talks abortion with Planned Parennthood's Cecile Richards, Tan and Dehn on tapping the Rainy Day Fund and Galbraith on San Antonio and its water: The best of our best content from March 14 to 18, 2011.
Full StoryTop officials at the University of Texas System said in an interview Wednesday that they are moving quickly to allay the concerns regarding the direction of UT, starting with the reassignment of Rick O'Donnell.
Full StoryA high-priced new hire at the University of Texas System has some worried, both because of budget pressures and what they fear might be a precarious new direction for the system that could threaten its flagship university’s elite status.
Full StoryToday, University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa issued a letter to Gov. Rick Perry weighing in on the touchy issue of allowing concealed handguns in college campus buildings. In short: He's against it.
Full StoryThe Trib staff on the sweeping cuts in the proposed House budget, Grissom on what's lost and not found at the Department of Public Safety, Galbraith on the wind power conundrum, Hamilton on higher ed's pessimistic budget outlook, Stiles and Swicegood debut an incredibly useful bill tracker app, Ramsey interviews Rick Perry on the cusp of his second decade as governor, Aguilar on a Mexican journalist's quest for asylum in the U.S., Ramshaw on life expectancy along the border, M. Smith on the obstacles school districts face in laying off teachers and yours truly talks gambling and the Rainy Day Fund with state Rep. Jim Pitts: The best of our best from January 17 to 21, 2011.
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Every chancellor of a university system in Texas knows — down to the exact, excruciatingly precise percentage point — how much worse higher education fared than other agencies when their current budgets were cut. With the state facing a massive budget shortfall in the next biennium, the chancellors know they're in for another round. But this time they're adamant that they not bear a disproportionate share of the pain.
Full StoryIt took decades to get Texas lawmakers to allow students to sit on each university system's board of regents — and only on the condition that they can't vote. But most other states with student regents do grant voting privileges.
Full StoryMark Yudof vs. the crappy California economy.
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