The latest higher education news from The Texas Tribune.
UT-Austin Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg has emerged as a leader, albeit a reluctant one, for faculty who oppose allowing guns in their classrooms after saying he will try to prevent students who want to carry handguns from taking his courses. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/26/Steven_Weinberg.jpg)
State senators on Tuesday urged Texas' six university system chancellors not to single out students who carry guns on campus when the state's new campus carry goes into effect this August. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/GunsInsSchools-1.jpg)
Supporters and opponents of two controversial new gun laws passed last year — open carry and campus carry — will update Texas lawmakers Tuesday on how the measures are working so far. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/HandGuns.jpg)
Richard Benson, the engineering dean at Virginia Tech University, will almost certainly become the next president of the University of Texas at Dallas after being named the sole finalist for the job Monday night. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/12/21/Dallas-Overhead.jpg)
At our 1/22 symposium on urban public education, John Fitzpatrick of Educate Texas talked about widening the high school-to-college pipeline with David Anthony, CEO of Raise Your Hand Texas;Susan Simpson Hull, superintendent of the Grand Prairie Independent School District; Daniel King, superintendent of the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District; and William Serrata, president of the El Paso Community College District. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/2016-Texas-Tribune-Symposium-at-UTEP-IPA-23-1.jpg)
At our 1/22 symposium on urban public education, I talked about the intersection of policy and population with superintendents Juan Cabrera of El Paso, Richard Carranza of San Francisco and Michael Hinojosa of Dallas and UTEP's Elena Izquierdo. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/2016-Texas-Tribune-Symposium-at-UTEP-IPA-05-3.jpg)
A Nobel Prize-winning physicist at the University of Texas at Austin declared Monday that he will try to ban guns from his classroom this fall, even if university rules and state law say he can't. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/08/Protest.jpg)
One of University of Texas at Austin President Greg Fenves' top priorities in his first year in office is to expand UT-Austin’s international presence. And a key part of that mission will be Mexico, which Fenves will visit this week. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/19/Mexico-UT.jpg)
Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth announced Friday that it will opt out of the state's new campus carry law, making it the 21st private college to decide to continue to ban guns. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/11/CampusCarry-PencilBullets.jpg)
Texas should consider scrapping its top 10 percent automatic admissions rule for universities, which hurts the prestige of the University of Texas at Austin, UT System Chancellor Bill McRaven said in two separate public appearances this week. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/21/6F6A0410.jpg)
University of Texas System Chancellor Bill McRaven told the state's higher education oversight board Thursday that he probably should have consulted with them before buying about 100 acres for a new campus in southwest Houston. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/10/26/Houston_SkylineTT.jpg)
The chancellors of Texas’s top university systems defended their ambitious expansion plans to lawmakers Wednesday and some pushed back against the idea of more oversight of their growth. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/20/6F6A0452.jpg)
University leaders from across Texas may face tough audiences this week as they are asked to explain their ambitious expansion plans before two key higher education policy boards. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/19/Render_UT_Houston_Campus_copy.jpg)
Texas universities are racing to build new medical schools, but without enough slots for post-graduate residents, some worry they're building a pipeline that will funnel new doctors out of state. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/13/UT_Med_School_Construction.jpg)
Trinity University in San Antonio became the latest private school in Texas to decide it doesn't want guns on its campus, despite a new state law that allows for that option. Full Story
The Texas Tech University System has named one of its own top administrators, John Opperman, to lead the flagship campus while it searches for a permanent president. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/14/John-OppermanTech_TTcrop.jpg)
An investigation commissioned by the University of Texas at Austin has found "no evidence" of academic cheating by its basketball players. The NCAA has also decided not to pursue any punishment. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/13/Frank_Erwin_Center_Basketball_jpg_TT.jpg)
The University of Texas System expects its 14 schools to submit rules for concealed handguns on their campuses by mid-February to comply with the state's new campus-carry law. Full Story
The state's 38 private colleges can opt out of a new state law that will allow concealed handgun license owners to carry guns in buildings on college campuses. No private college has announced plans to allow guns on its grounds. Here is a look at where things stand with each campus. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/07/06/Baylor-Campus.jpg)
Texas professors are still fighting to keep their classrooms gun free. But the state's top universities appear to be reaching a consensus that banning guns in classes will soon be illegal. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/08/Odam1.JPG)