TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
The best of our best content from Feb. 14 to 18, 2011. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TribeekFeb192011.png)
The latest higher education news from The Texas Tribune.
The best of our best content from Feb. 14 to 18, 2011. Full Story
In the five years since Abilene Christian University began preparing for the freshman class of 2011, the private West Texas university with fewer than 5,000 students has done just that, transforming itself into perhaps the most technologically innovative campus in the state. Full Story
State Rep. Van Taylor, R-Plano, has filed legislation to allow licensed handgun owners to carry concealed weapons on community college campuses. But some campus police fear it could actually put students and faculty in more danger. Full Story
For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we asked whether colleges can deliver on Gov. Rick Perry's prompt for a $10,000 bachelor's degree. Full Story
The Legislature’s initial budget proposals to close four community colleges caught many lawmakers off guard. But what largely escaped their attention — the slashing of health benefits across all such institutions — concerns community college officials the most. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry has challenged Texas universities to develop a bachelor’s degree costing no more than $10,000, books included. As it turns out, there already is a $10,000 bachelor’s degree here — and the Legislature may be on the verge of eliminating it. Full Story
This week's episode of the TribCast features Evan, Ross, Reeve, and Ben mulling over the State of the State, the new House committee assignments, and the politics of abortion. Full Story
Cries of "Texas fight" and "It's 8:45, and we're still underfunded" rang across a crowd of nearly 100 students, who marched to the Capitol this morning to rally for adequate funding for the University of Texas. Full Story
One state senator calls it "a 20 percent backdoor secret tax" on those paying for college. Another argues that eliminating it would help create a Texas with a "have-and-have-not culture." And some students say the the tuition set-aside program mandated by the state in 2003 is just plain theft. Full Story
University of Texas President Bill Powers has been hospitalized with a pulmonary embolism. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry will challenge the state's colleges and universities to offer a $10,000 bachelor's degree, including books, in his State of the State speech later this morning, according to sources familiar with some of the proposals. Full Story
There’s no universal definition but essentially, the term refers to the country’s top research-focused universities. While there are specific benchmarks to be considered part of that group, some aren't clear or rely purely on perception. Full Story
Jim Spaniolo, the president of UT-Arlington, said the university is committed to increasing its engagement with research that “could change the quality of life of many, many people” — but funding cuts resulting from the state’s budget shortfall would slow that momentum. Full Story
At a recent forum titled "Improving Productivity in Public Education," former U.S. Secretaries of Education Rod Paige and Margaret Spellings under George W. Bush took time to discuss the state's looming budget cuts, the Bush legacy, the Obama administration and what they believe needs to change in public education. Full Story
The simple answer: It's the acronym for University of Texas Investment Management Company, a nonprofit company with a single client, the University of Texas System (and, to a lesser extent, the Texas A&M University System). With the universities it serves under pressure not to hike tuition rates even though fewer state dollars are flowing their way, the company's performance will be under intense scrutiny this session — and UTIMCO officials are still recovering from last session's showdown over their generous bonuses. To explain all this for us, we called in an expert: CEO Bruce Zimmerman. Full Story
UTIMCO CEO Bruce Zimmerman explains what his organization does. Full Story
Lawmakers will soon take an ax to the state budget, but business leaders are hoping one big-ticket item will be spared. At its annual conference in Austin this week, the Texas Association of Business sounded warnings about potential cuts to public education. Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports. Full Story
The 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. Full Story
In a match made in Longhorn athletics heaven, the University of Texas and ESPN have struck a deal to launch a 24-hour TV network that’s all UT, all the time. As Ian Crawford of KUT News reports, it's a lucrative venture for UT, which says it'll use the network for more than just athletics. Full Story
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 Story