The latest higher education news from The Texas Tribune.
Gov. Rick Perry's go-to problem solver, Jay Kimbrough, could have chosen a more inconvenient time to take out his pocket knife in response to his firing from the Texas A&M University System, whose flagship university is Perry's alma mater. But maybe not much more. Full Story
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The Texas Tech climate scientist and author of A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions on why why working in Texas, a state full of both prominent climate skeptics and extreme weather, is an "opportunity." Full Story
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At today's hearing of the Joint Oversight Committee on Higher Education Governance, Excellence and Transparency, experts weighed in on how — and how not — to make universities in Texas more accountable and transparent. Full Story
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Today brings the latest step in the state's ongoing higher education debate: the inaugural hearing of the Joint Oversight Committee on Higher Education Governance, Excellence and Transparency. Full Story
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In a much-anticipated speech this afternoon to the Real Estate Council of Austin, state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, outlined his plan for the development of a medical school in Austin. "This is the moment," he said. Full Story
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The University of Texas at Austin reports that its Hispanic enrollment has hit a record high this year. Nathan Bernier of KUT News has a closer look at the figures and what they mean for the state’s efforts to close achievement gaps. Full Story
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The University of Texas System regents today gave UT President Bill Powers the authority to take any necessary actions regarding conference realignment, another step in the university's possible departure from the Big 12. Full Story
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Aaronson on the rise in the state's unemployment rate, Aguilar on the push to mandate use of an electronic employment verification program, Galbraith on fears about the drought's impact on lake levels, Grissom on the latest in the Duane Buck case, Hamilton on the possible end of physics (academically speaking), Murphy updates our public employee pay app, Ramsey on David "Mitt" Dewhurst, Ramshaw on Rick Perry's campaign swing through Virginia and Iowa, Root on the deletion of gubernatorial emails and M. Smith on the teaching of safe sex where you'd least expect it: The best of our best content from Sept. 12-16, 2011. Full Story
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The former Texas Tech football coach on his pending lawsuit against the university, how the state's doing at educating student athletes and what happens if the Big 12 falls apart. Full Story
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Texas A&M University System scientists want cinephiles to know that the scenario in the movie Contagion is a very real one — and that if it did come to pass, they'd have a major role to play in solving the problem. Full Story
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The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board wants to eliminate degree programs with low enrollment — like physics. Critics, including many professors, say that could do lasting harm to the state. Full Story
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A mountainous tract of West Texas land that has been a point of contention between the General Land Office and environmental groups will serve a new purpose — a research and educational area for university students. Full Story
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This morning we've posted a 2011 update to our government employee salary database, which now includes 140 entities and salary data for more than 664,000 public employees. Full Story
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University of Texas President Bill Powers isn't mincing words in his State of the University address. He takes head-on the controversy that has dogged the state's higher education community for several months. Full Story
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The fourth president of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center on federal health care reform, the difficult budget pressures on his institution and others, the critical importance of academic research and the timeline for finding a cure for cancer. Full Story
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Depending on whom you ask, the University of Texas is either the 45th best university in the country, or the 186th. Texas A&M? Either the 58th or the 178th. College rankings are pervasive, highly variable — and controversial. Full Story
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The new president of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston calls the political hot potato "one of the great scientific advances in the history of medicine." Full Story
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After a decade of conflict in the Middle East, and with a boost from the expanded benefits of the post-9/11 GI Bill passed by Congress in 2008, the college enrollment of veterans is increasing — as are efforts to make sure they succeed in higher education. Full Story
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M. Smith on Rick Perry's allergic reaction to federal school money, E. Smith elicits Ted Cruz's take on David Dewhurst, Root and Ramshaw cover Perry's first presidential debate, Ramshaw and Aguilar poke at Perry's immigration record and how it plays among Republicans, Hamilton on the dash for top status among Texas colleges, Galbraith on an environmental ruling from the White House that got conservative applause and one that didn't, Grissom has the latest on the Willingham arson case and the state's plans to look at other fires and Aaronson's widget for comparing the presidential candidates: The best of our best content from Sept. 5 to 9, 2011. Full Story
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The early results of the latest leg in a key fundraising race for Texas universities seeking tier-one status are in — and the University of Texas at Dallas is in the lead. But there's still more than $1.2 million up for grabs this biennium. Full Story
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