The Texas Senate passed a budget this week for the next biennium, but only after nearly suffering a meltdown. Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden has blamed some of the drama on the meddling of outside interest groups.
Politics
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Politics
For Congress, Fundraising Can Never Begin Too Early
Members of Congress from Texas — and potential candidates for those offices — have raised more than $9 million in the first quarter of this year in advance of the 2012 federal elections, campaign records show.
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Economy
Schools Consider Legal Action Over Budget Cuts
With school districts across the state passing belt-tightening budgets due to cuts expected at the Legislature, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports that some districts are gearing up for legal challenges.
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Higher Education
UT System Releases Data on Faculty “Productivity”
This afternoon, the University of Texas System released much-anticipated data on faculty “productivity” — noting, however, that the 821-page spreadsheet is in a raw draft form that has not been fully verified and “cannot yield accurate analysis, interpretations or conclusions.”
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Higher Education
Jeff Sandefer Opens Up on Higher Ed Debate
Jeff Sandefer, the author of the “seven breakthrough solutions” that have rocked the Texas higher education community, has broken his silence on the matter.
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Higher Education
TribLive: Powers and Loftin on “Breakthrough Solutions”
At last Thursday’s TribLive conversation, I interviewed Bill Powers and Bowen Loftin, the presidents of the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University, respectively, about the seven “breakthrough solutions” proposed for higher ed by advocates of reform.
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Higher Education
TribLive: Powers and Loftin on Faculty Accountability
At last Thursday’s TribLive conversation, I interviewed Bill Powers and Bowen Loftin, the presidents of the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University, respectively, about the need to quantify the financial contribution of faculty members as part of a higher ed accountability effort.
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Higher Education
Highlights: TPPF’s Higher Ed Reform Panel
At a panel hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, UT president Bill Powers, TPPF senior fellow Ronbald Trowbridge and speaker of the A&M faculty senate Robert Strawser discuss the conservative think tank’s seven proposed reforms to higher education.
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Higher Education
UT President, A&M Professor Tussle With TPPF
At a panel hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation today, Bill Powers, the president of the University of Texas, and Robert Strawser, an accounting professor at Texas A&M University and the speaker of its faculty senate, responded to the conservative think tank’s proposed higher education reforms.
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Higher Education
Guest Column: The Case for Higher Ed Accountability
Taxpayers and students make considerable financial investments in Texas universities. As such, they deserve excellence in both teaching and research. Full transparency and accountability are needed to ensure that neither of those priorities is shortchanged.