The latest higher education news from The Texas Tribune.
Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes wants to change the way public universities and colleges are funded in Texas. Today, at a meeting of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, he will lay out his latest plan to do just that. Full Story
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M. Smith on the frailties of electronic voting machines, Hu on the big bump in early voter turnout, Chang talks to the national coordinator of Health Information Technology, Hamilton on why the nondiscrimination policies of state university systems don't include sexual orientation, Aguilar on the prospect of high school football referees on strike, Stiles updates our government employee salary app to include 20 more public agencies, Philpott on where the candidates in HD-52 stand on fast growth, Galbraith on damage to Texas roads caused by heavy truck traffic, Grissom interviews the first Hispanic sheriff of Harris County and my one-hour sit-downs with Rick Perry and Bill White: The best of our best from October 18 to 22, 2010. Full Story
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More than a quarter-century has passed since a landmark suit against Texas A&M University established the right of gay student groups to form on college campuses. Yet all these years later, half of the university systems in the state — the Texas A&M University System, the Texas State University System and the Texas Tech University System — do not include sexual orientation in their nondiscrimination policies. Full Story
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A federal judge on Wednesday declined to rule on a request for an injunction filed by a group of high school sports officials seeking to prevent what they call a government takeover of an independent contracting agency. Full Story
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The drama of the gridiron has found its way into a federal courtroom in a standoff between the Texas Association of Sports Officials and the University Interscholastic League. With the threat of a lockout of referees and their ilk, the result could be the hiring of scabs to replace them — or even the halting of games — just weeks before one of the year's most eagerly anticipated moments in Texas: the start of high school football playoffs. Full Story
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About 60 percent of Texas students who continue their education after high school start out at community colleges, whose payrolls have not been part of our database of public employee salaries — until today. We've added in the pay of nearly 20,000 administrators and faculty at seven Texas community colleges and college districts: Houston Community College, Dallas County Community College District, Alamo Colleges, Lone Star College, Austin Community College, Collin College and Tarrant County College. While the median salaries at community colleges are comparable to those of state universities, dramatic differences can be seen at the margins. Full Story
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The Texas Association of Community Colleges is accusing the University of Texas of siphoning money from programs that support community colleges into UT’s College of Education. Full Story
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Thevenot on the fastest-growing charter school chain in Texas, Hu on the continuing legal fights between tort reformers and trial lawyers over the state's windstorm insurance pool, Hamilton on the push for accountability in Texas colleges, Philpott on legislative skirmishing over federal education funds, Grissom on misdemeanor convicts choosing jail time instead of probation that's more expensive for them but cheaper for the state, M. Smith on Bill Flores' challenge in what's billed as the hottest congressional race in the country, Ramshaw looks at scandals that have put some otherwise safe statehouse incumbents in deep electoral trouble, yours truly on the closest and ugliest race on the statewide ballot and Galbraith and Titus on pollution from idling vehicles and why it's so hard to control: The best of our best from September 27 to October 1, 2010. Full Story
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The University of Texas campus has reopened following the apparent suicide of a young man who burst into the Perry-Castañeda Library in a business suit and a face mask, wielding an AK-47, according to witness accounts. We've rounded up the best of the media coverage so far. Full Story
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The halls of public universities are buzzing about the push for accountability, especially as Texas works to catch up with states that have already taken up the mantle — and dealt with some of the inherent difficulties — of a data-driven examination of higher education. Full Story
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The defense bill blocked by Republicans in the U.S. Senate could impact Texas. One of the measures that failed to move forward was an amendment that would have given some undocumented immigrants a path to legal status through education. Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports. Full Story
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A group of people who typically prefer to stay out of the limelight gathered this morning to urge lawmakers to support the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. Full Story
There’s a new student paper coming to university campuses in Texas — courtesy of the Republican Party of Texas. Full Story
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On Friday, Times Higher Education, a British magazine, released its 2010 rankings of the top 200 universities in the world. Rice University, ranked 49th, began touting the fact that it is “the only university in Texas” to make the cut. So where were the others? Full Story
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For the first time in the school’s history, the freshman class at the University of Texas has more minority students than white students. Full Story
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Galbraith's three-parter on the battle over wind power transmission lines, Grissom on a convicted killer who got probation, Aguilar on how the U.S. census counts inmates in the Texas prison system, Stiles launches a new interactive tool tracking the candidates for governor, Hamilton on the Texas A&M University System's latest accountability measure for faculty, Hu's interview with Democratic megadonor Steve "Back to Basics" Mostyn, Philpott on how the Texas economy compares to that of other states and Ramsey on the start of the 2010 election sprint: The best of our best from Sept. 6 to 10, 2010. Full Story
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The former chairman of the UT System Board of Regents on why demography is destiny, why higher education isn't necessarily the key determinant of the state’s economic future, why Texas doesn't need more tier-one schools and how colleges abuse the financial aid system. Full Story
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Like a conglomerate auditing balance sheets, the Texas A&M University System has for six months been dissecting the financial contribution of every faculty member on its 11 campuses around the state, subtracting the salary of each from the tuition and research money he or she brings in. The resulting metrics present in stark detail exactly where the system gets the most and least bang for its payroll buck — and have raised the hackles of professors at all levels, who liken the approach to grading assembly-line workers on widget production. Full Story
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Ask anybody — from the president of the United States to your high school guidance counselor — and you'll probably hear the same, seemingly obvious thing: Higher education is the key to financial advancement. But is everybody going to college a realistic goal? And would the world really be better if we achieved it? Mose Buchele of KUT News reports. Full Story
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