By David A. Daz Legislative Media
Published: 02-11-09
To set up McAllen teaching site
A plan to set up a graduate school facility in McAllen in conjunction with the University of Texas-Pan American is on the way to the Edinburg-based campus for approval McAllen City Manager Mike Prez confirmed on Monday February 9.
A graduate course is an area of academic study for a student who already has received a bachelors degree. Successfully completing graduate courses can lead to a Masters Degree or Ph.D.
As part of the plan by McAllen city leaders first publicly advocated late fall by McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez the City of Palms is proceeding with its hopes to add more university-level courses including for the first time those at the graduate school level in the countys most populated city.
The city commission has approved the inter-local agreement and will be sending it to (UT-Pan American) in the next few days Prez said following discussion of the item by the city commission in executive session.
What we are trying to do is provide access to higher education such as Bachelor and Masters degrees and hopefully eventually some Ph.D. programs.
Prez credited Rep. Ismael Kino Flores D-Palmview and Sen. Judith Zaffirini D-Laredo for successfully passing a law in 2005 that allows McAllen to promote the creation of the graduate school complex.
Under that measure Flores whose House District 36 include much of McAllen and Zaffirini authorized the establishment by McAllen and many other cities in Texas of dual usage educational complexes such as the one envisioned by McAllen to bring in more higher education resources.
Prez said the city will soon appoint a nine-member special advisory panel to look at major issues dealing with how to most effectively create the complex.
We are going to create a committee on nine individuals I believe including seven members appointed by the city commission and one person from The University of Texas-Pan American and one from South Texas College he explaihed. That committee will put together a strategic plan over the next 1o months if we want to take a look at a permanent site.
In the meantime he predicted UT-Pan American is going to rent what we call a store front probably for the first year or two and that is where they are going to work out of. They will rent space remodel it and use it as classrooms for the first year or so.
Within the next year the city and the advisory panel will work with that committee to develop a strategic plan to see where we should permanently put that facility should it be owned by the university or by STC or McAllen the city manager added.
Although UT-Pan American will play a major role in the development of the graduate school Perez believes the city will eventually retain control of the complex for numerous reasons including an ability to more effectively tailor graduate school programs for the regions needs.
He noted that the center dubbed a teaching site in the commissions agenda item wording is not limited to education course.
For example today South Texas may need a Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in manufacturing but in four years perhaps they will need MBAs with an emphasis in banking Prez said. It allows a greater flexibility by having a teaching site rather than having a permanent site.
This effort is not the first major law passed by Flores that is affecting higher education advances in Hidalgo County.
Several years earlier under separate legislation passed Flores South Texas College then known as South Texas Community College was one of a handful of the 50 community colleges in Texas given permission to offer bachelor degrees. Most community colleges are only authorized to offer two-year associate of arts degrees and certificates but not four-year diplomas.
Flores said the graduate school plan is part of his strategy in passing the law to encourage the wealthier state universities to build a presence in the rapidly-growing and legislatively important Texas border region.
UT-Austin Texas A&M Rice these are the flagship universities in the state the ones with the national reputations the biggest financial endowments the most research-oriented Flores noted. Under this law they can set up graduate programs in the Valley and the rest of the border region that otherwise could take years to materialize.
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