State Editorial Rdp
Filed Under Kitchen Curtain | Posted on December 22, 2008
The presidents of North Texas’ three major public universities are showing the way to strengthen higher education in the region and state.
Their unity should catch the attention of area lawmakers and prompt the Dallas and Fort Worth delegations to similarly come together and work toward the same goal in the upcoming legislative session.
The editorial board of this newspaper met recently with presidents David Daniel of the University of Texas-Dallas, James Spaniolo of UT-Arlington and Gretchen Bataille of the University of North Texas in Denton.
The three conveyed a constructive message of joint support for a plan, detailed to lawmakers by Dr. Daniel, for helping the schools build research programs. The promising concept now embodied in legislation filed by Rep. Dan Branch of Dallas relies on incentives that would better reward each university for attracting major research grants, major endowment gifts and major faculty recruits.
Meanwhile, North Texas’ state universities all now led by new presidents have managed to lift up their research programs, despite state support that is significantly less than that enjoyed by peer schools nationwide.
It’s time for Texas to scrap that model and move aggressively to shore up our knowledge-based economy. The overhaul can be achieved politically if the Legislature follows the lead of this region’s three university presidents.
Tags: bataille, dallas james, david daniel, delegations, dr daniel, editorial board, endowment gifts, gretchen, higher education, knowledge based economy, lawmakers, legislative session, peer schools, public universities, research grants, state universities, university of north texas, university of north texas in denton, university of texas dallas, university presidentsRelated posts
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