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Texas Association of College
Teachers
Serving Educators Since 1948
First Alerts
Archives:
2008 TACT First Alerts June 26, 2008- Senate Finance Discusses Systems Structure May 22, 2008- Education Reform Topic of Discussion Between Governor Perry and University Regents April 15, 2008- Coordinating Board Considers Significant Formula Funding Change March 24, 2008- Write to Thousands March 20, 2008- Ballot for 2008 TACT Officers March 13, 2008- Call for
donations for 2009 legislative session January 24, 2008 - Higher Education Coordinating Board Accepts College Readiness Draft 2007 TACT First Alerts The Cost of Education - TACT President Informs the Press April 17, 2007- HB 3828: Incentive Funding for Universities March 5, 2007- HB 894 Committee Hearing Requested - Your Response Needed February 19, 2007- Legislative Visits Follow-up February 7, 2007- Subcommittee Considers ORP Rate Increase February 5, 2007- Faculty Salary Bill: HB 894 February 2, 2007- State of the State Address January 31, 2007- Senator Watson Wants New Flagship
June 26, 2008 - Senate Finance Discusses Systems Structure
The Senate Finance Higher Education Subcommittee
met yesterday to take testimony on its Interim Charge #1, which includes the
structure of higher education.
May 22, 2008 - Education Reform Topic of Discussion Between Governor Perry and University Regents
In an unprecedented move, Governor Rick Perry met with the regents of the major university systems on Wednesday in order to push higher education reform. One of the major issues on the agenda was increasing the criteria for professors to gain tenure. Former Congressman Dick Armey voiced his opinion toward university faculty, saying “I believe tenure actually diminishes academic freedom” and that faculty lounges are “one of the most brain-dead locations in the United States.” TACT is following this situation and stands with our colleague Lynn Tatum, president of the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors, who believes that universities should follow an educational model focused on producing “thinking, well-rounded, educated adults.”
For more information on this subject:
April 15, 2008 - Coordinating Board Considering Significant Formula Funding Change The Strategic Planning Committee of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board met today to consider formula funding recommendations to the full Board next week. Though the calculations are complex, the policy differences were between the Commissioner's recommendation for calculating funding hours based on completed courses and the Formula Funding Committee, chaired by TACT member and Midwestern President Jesse Rogers, suggesting using hours attempted. While the final recommendation was somewhat of a hybrid, the Commissioner’s concept of using outcome-based course completion carried the day. Interesting data was presented that in 2003, the State paid for 40 percent of the cost of higher education, while by 2007 that percentage dwindled to 34. Correspondingly, in 2003, students paid for 22 percent of the cost of education, and four years later it had risen to 27 percent.
March 24, 2008- Write to thousands! The opportunity to be published is just at your finger tips. If you have an issue you feel your professional peers need to be aware of, be it academic or legislative, we want to hear your voice! Write your article and summit it to TACT. Our next deadline is May 9, 2008. After a review, your article could be published in our quarterly eBulletin. Your experience is valued and appreciated. This would be an excellent opportunity to reach thousands of professors across the state. You can email your article to tact@bizaustin.rr.com Or mail it to 5750 Balcones Dr. Suite 201 Austin, TX 78731 Your opinions and thoughts need to be expressed! And college professors need an advocate, and that is TACT’s job. Join TACT today and strengthen the concerns and issues relevant to your position. Be aware of up to the minute legislation through our first alerts.
March 20, 2008- TACT Board elections At its February 15 meeting, the TACT State Board endorsed the slate of officers recommended by the Nominating Committee as they are named below. All offices are for two-year terms beginning June 1. A write in opportunity is also available. Please submit your ballot by return email, fax or mail to the State Office for tabulation by April 15. Your identity will be known only to staff. President-Elect Gary Coulton, Texas A&M Univ.-Kingsville System Center Write in:__________________________________ Director at Large Mark Gaus, Sam Houston State University Write in:_________________________________ Director at Large Allen Martin, University of Texas-Tyler Write in:_________________________________ Thank you for your participation.
Chuck Hempstead
March 13, 2008 TACT is expecting a significant session in 2009 including a reintroduction of Academic Bill of Rights, which TACT killed in the last session. A further issue is College Readiness, which the Commissioner accepted, where the responsibility falls most heavily on faculty members teaching intro course. TACT’s
main objective is to lobby on your behalf. 5750 Balcones Dr. Suite 201 Austin, Texas 78731 Thank you for your help at making this upcoming legislation session a success!
February 1, 2008-Lieutenant Governor releases Interim Charges Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst has released the charges for the Senate Interim Committee, you can view the full list by clicking here. The following issues are the most particular to TACT’s concerns. Subcommittee on Higher EducationExamine different methodologies for assessing the quality of degree and certificate programs at higher education institutions and for measuring student learning outcomes. Review current institutional performance standards and make recommendations that promote academic and financial accountability. Review the method for measuring graduation rates to determine whether alternative measures are more appropriately suited for institutions with a large percentage of non-traditional students. Examine ways to assess and improve academic advising to help students succeed in higher education and complete their course of study and graduate in the minimum time required. Finance Subcommittee on Higher Education Finance: Review and make recommendations regarding the structure and organization of higher education, focusing on funding of the current higher education system, including financing capital projects for general academic institutions and for health-related institutions and changes to funding flagship research universities such as The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M at College Station. Determine the adequacy of formula funding to support basic functions as well as supporting critical statewide needs and improvements on the various methods of funding research. Reviews should include institutional structures that maximize efficiencies and incentive structures that increase the number of graduates. A review of funding formulas should also include the application of proportionality of state contributions for higher education employee health benefits. Review state student financial aid programs (TEXAS Grants, B-on-Time) and provide assessment of the programs' effectiveness and future funding needs. Study the effects continued tuition deregulation will have on college enrollment and accessibility. State Affairs Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of phasing in a defined-contribution pension for future employees versus the existing defined-benefit pension plan. Study options for transition or implementation issues and how the phase-in could be structured. Evaluate the possibility of requiring the state employee contribution rate to meet the annually required contribution for the statewide retirement funds each biennium in order to prevent unfunded liabilities.
January 24, 2008 Higher Education Coordinating Board Accepts College Readiness Draft The Coordinating Board accepted the college readiness draft today and is sending it to the State Board of Education. For more information on the draft please click here . A full conversation on this matter will occur at our annual spring joint conference with the Texas Council of Faculty Senates and the American Association of University Professors. Dr. Selina Vasquez of Texas State University and co-chair of the Mathematical Vertical Team will be speaking on this issue along with Susan Brown, the Assistant Commissioner, Planning and Accountability Division, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Also during the conference, legislative appointments are being made for Friday morning. Please let us know us know if you will join us and if you want to see any particular legislator.
December 11, 2007 House Speaker Releases Interim Charges Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick has released his charges for the House Interim Committees, you can see the full list by clicking here http://www.house.state.tx.us/welcome.php. The following issues are of particular interest to TACT. House
Committee on Appropriations 4.
Study state employee compensation and benefit packages and recommend
alternatives designed to attract and retain superior management personnel
and other areas of potential professional shortages. Review executive
director salaries, classification schedules, merit and bonus pay, pay
ranges, and agency flexibility. House
Committee on High Education House
Committee on Public Education
November 8, 2007 Comment Period Open on College Readiness The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board recently opened the public comment period on the draft College Readiness Standards. CRS is arranged by Vertical Teams in language arts, math, science and social sciences that include faculty from public schools, colleges and universities. The draft was presented at the October board meeting when it was accepted for public comment between October 26 and December 10, 2007. We strongly encourage viewing and commenting on the draft as it will most likely set the bar on standards and expectations to assure high school graduates are ready for college work. The comments will be reviewed by the Vertical Teams and a final version of the draft will be presented to the THECB and the Commissioner of Education in January 2008. To review the 104 page draft, please click here. To comment, please click here.
October 30, 2007 Constitutional Amendment Election Many interesting constitutional amendments on the November 6 ballot (early voting through Friday this week). Though TACT does not have a position on the 16 propositions, the first two deal with higher education and deserve your attention. The first one moves Angelo State University from the Texas State University System to the Texas Tech University System. The second one provides $500 million in general obligation bonds for student financial aid loans - money which will find its way to the campus budgets. Please vote.
October 25, 2007 Legislative Board agrees to restore money to health care expenses The Legislative Budget Board, a.k.a., Governor, Lt. Governor and House Speaker, have forged an agreement to restore more than $150 million - previously vetoed - to community colleges for health care expenses. The debate during the last session, called proportionality, hinges on whether the state should pay faculty benefit expenses relative to the percent of salaries that are funded by non-state revenues. To a lesser extent, the issue had the potential to spill over to four-year universities. An additional agreement now permits community colleges to be eligible for the inaugural $100 million incentive fund, initially proposed by the Governor at $300 million for four-year institutions.
Representative Lois Kolkhorst named "Legislator of the Year" State Representative Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) has been named by the TACT State Board as the organization's "Legislator of the Year" for her accomplishments and leadership during the 80th Legislative Session. Rep. Kolkhorst chaired the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, as well as other legislative leadership roles such as membership on the recent House Select Committee on Higher Education. Highlights of her work include creating the Texas Competitive Knowledge Fund, increasing university formula and Higher Education Group Insurance funding, better funding for nursing education, doubling the student Work Study Program, and increasing the Texas Grant scholarship program. "I am proud to have known Lois for years," said TACT President Debra Price. "Sometimes we compliment legislators for having an open ear, but I compliment her for listening to our ideas and then pushing them through the political process. She has a track record of accomplishing what she attempts for the benefit of the students, the faculty and all of the beneficiaries of our system of higher education." TACT has invited Representative Kolkhorst to accept her honor in conjunction with providing the keynote address during the TACT Fall Conference October 19 and 20 in Austin.
May 4, 2007 Appropriations Conference Committee Meeting The
final version of the state budget for the next two years is currently in the
hands of five senators and five house members. April 23, 2007 New Developments for Incentive Funding Bill Last
Monday's First Alert outlined components of Representative Morrison's HB 3828 on
institutional performance incentive funding. It includes a matrix for
additional funding to reward legislative priorities, such as degrees by at-risk
students and high-demand professions including nursing and technical degrees.
This morning, the companion bill, SB 1029 by Senate Education Committee Chair
Florence Shapiro, was heard in the Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education. The Cost of Education - TACT President Informs the Press Please
review TACT President Elizabeth Lewandowski's letter to the editor in response
to allegations regarding the cost of higher education published in the
Times Records News on April 13, 2007.
If the cost of higher education
is truly bothering you, please write to your state legislators and demand that
they appropriately fund higher education! HB 3828: Incentive Funding for Universities The
highlight of Monday's committee meetings was Chairman Morrison's HB 3828 -
institutional performance incentive funding - in her House Committee on Higher
Education. March 5, 2007 HB 894 Committee Hearing Requested - Your Response Needed. Representative Jim McReynolds has requested that his HB 894 - the TACT-backed bill that would study faculty salaries relative to comparable schools in other populous state - be heard by the House Higher Education Committee on Monday morning, March 26. That date has NOT been confirmed. You can
help two ways:
Legislative Visits Follow-up February 7, 2007 Subcommittee Considers ORP Rate Increase The
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, chaired by Rep. Lois Kolkhorst,
is scheduled to consider today the Legislative Budget Board recommendation on
funding levels for the Optional Retirement Program. February 5, 2007 Faculty Salary Bill: HB 894 State
Representative Jim McReynolds has again filed a bill at TACT's request which
seeks to increase Texas faculty salaries to the average of the other top
ten most populous states over the course of eight years. February 2, 2007
State of the State Address Additional information about TACT and its advocacy programs are available at www.tact.org January 31, 2007 Senator Watson Wants New Flagship Senator
Kirk Watson of Austin today called for a third flagship university in Texas and
says his staff is researching the issue to determine whether he will file a
bill.
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