DALLAS TX - On Tuesday morning October 20 Texas State Representative Roberto R. Alonzo along with other lawmakers and business leaders from the Dallas area joined the Dallas Regional Chamber in collaboration with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Arlington Chamber of Commerce the Dallas Citizens Council and Texans for Tier One at a Press Conference to discuss the business communitys support for Proposition 4 and its role in elevating the University of North Texas University of Texas Dallas and University of Texas Arlington to Tier One status.
If passed the referendum item will establish a national research university fund (NRUF) to help emerging research universities achieve national prominence as major research universities. Along with lawmakers executives from various North Texas chambers will also be in attendance.
In addition to Rep. Alonzo also in attendance will be State Senator Florence Shapiro and State Representative Dan Branch all leaders of the effort to gain passage of legislation which led to Proposition 4. Lawmakers will discuss the importance of the referendum and its possible impact on the North Texas region. Rep. Alonzo is a member of the House Higher Education Committee and also cochairs the Higher Education Task Force of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) a 44-member caucus within the Texas House of Representatives.
Education at all levels including accessibility of a college education for all students has consistently been one of my personal passions and legislative priorities in the Legislature since I was first elected in 1992. And I will continue to keep that at the top of my agenda.
That is the reason I wholeheartedly support and endorse the passage of Constitutional Proposition 4 by Texas voters which will create more Tier One universities in Texas including the DFW/North Texas region. The benefits of passing Prop 4 will translate into many positive things all the way around including more research funding venture capital top students faculty researchers and scientists alike said Rep. Alonzo.
With my veteran legislative experience and as a member of the House Higher Education Committee coupled with my co-chairmanship of MALC Higher Ed Task Force I feel that I will be in better position to ensure that all colleges and universities in Texas will adequately and effectively address the needs of all college students educators and communities alike. The passage of Proposition 4 will certainly help cement that position even more. As I have always emphasized before I want to ensure more financial aid resources are accessible for all students to be able to afford a quality education graduate from college and become productive citizens of society but at the same time I also want to make sure that our students have more options available to them other than just UT-Austin Texas A&M to take advantage of those benefits. There is no doubt in my mind that having more Tier One institutions closer to our region will also cement that accessibility to more students continued Rep. Alonzo.
Additionally I also want to ensure that we do more to lessen the gap that currently exists between minority and non-minority students attending college not only in Texas but across the U.S. And finally I want to ensure that we do more as a state to increase diversity among our campuses by enrolling more Latinos and other minorities in our institutions while at the same time encouraging more minorities to assume high-ranking collegiate positions that will serve as a role model for future generations.
Latinos have now become the majority population in Texas but yet many of our colleges and universities still continue to show a disparity in diversity both among student bodies and college professors.
That concerns me. But at the same time I also firmly believe that creating more Tier One institutions closer to home - particularly here in the DFW region - can go a long way in closing those gaps for students and faculty alike continued Rep. Alonzo.
Rep. Alonzo co-authored HB 51 and the enabling legislation (Constitutional Amendment No. 4) which is intended to add more top tier universities to the State of Texas in addition to the 3 that we currently have:
(1) the University of Texas at Austin;
(2) Texas A&M University at College Station; and
(3) Rice University in Houston.
The legislation and proposed amendment if passed will create two funds and an incentive research program to create additional national research universities in Texas. The performance funding is not intended to supplant base formula funding but rather to serve as a supplement.
In comparison to the only 3 top tier schools in Texas there are nine and five tier one institutions in California and New York respectively. Tier one institutions bring together a critical mass of talent and enrich the area they are located. Texas loses out in research funding venture capital top students faculty researchers and scientists by not having more tier one institutions.
As there are no current statutes to support aid and encourage emerging research universities and create tier one higher education institutions this legislation would create two new programs and enhance another to promote this effort.
This legislation amends current law relating to measures to enhance and maintain the quality of state universities including funding and incentives to support emerging public research universities in developing and maintaining programs of the highest tier to the abolition of the higher education fund and to the institutional groupings under the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Boards accountability system.
DALLAS TX - On Tuesday morning October 20 Texas State Representative Roberto R. Alonzo along with other lawmakers and business leaders from the Dallas area joined the Dallas Regional Chamber in collaboration with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Arlington Chamber of Commerce the Dallas Citizens Council and Texans for Tier One at a Press Conference to discuss the business communitys support for Proposition 4 and its role in elevating the University of North Texas University of Texas Dallas and University of Texas Arlington to Tier One status.
If passed the referendum item will establish a national research university fund (NRUF) to help emerging research universities achieve national prominence as major research universities. Along with lawmakers executives from various North Texas chambers will also be in attendance.
In addition to Rep. Alonzo also in attendance will be State Senator Florence Shapiro and State Representative Dan Branch all leaders of the effort to gain passage of legislation which led to Proposition 4. Lawmakers will discuss the importance of the referendum and its possible impact on the North Texas region. Rep. Alonzo is a member of the House Higher Education Committee and also cochairs the Higher Education Task Force of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) a 44-member caucus within the Texas House of Representatives.
Education at all levels including accessibility of a college education for all students has consistently been one of my personal passions and legislative priorities in the Legislature since I was first elected in 1992. And I will continue to keep that at the top of my agenda.
That is the reason I wholeheartedly support and endorse the passage of Constitutional Proposition 4 by Texas voters which will create more Tier One universities in Texas including the DFW/North Texas region. The benefits of passing Prop 4 will translate into many positive things all the way around including more research funding venture capital top students faculty researchers and scientists alike said Rep. Alonzo.
With my veteran legislative experience and as a member of the House Higher Education Committee coupled with my co-chairmanship of MALC Higher Ed Task Force I feel that I will be in better position to ensure that all colleges and universities in Texas will adequately and effectively address the needs of all college students educators and communities alike. The passage of Proposition 4 will certainly help cement that position even more. As I have always emphasized before I want to ensure more financial aid resources are accessible for all students to be able to afford a quality education graduate from college and become productive citizens of society but at the same time I also want to make sure that our students have more options available to them other than just UT-Austin Texas A&M to take advantage of those benefits. There is no doubt in my mind that having more Tier One institutions closer to our region will also cement that accessibility to more students continued Rep. Alonzo.
Additionally I also want to ensure that we do more to lessen the gap that currently exists between minority and non-minority students attending college not only in Texas but across the U.S. And finally I want to ensure that we do more as a state to increase diversity among our campuses by enrolling more Latinos and other minorities in our institutions while at the same time encouraging more minorities to assume high-ranking collegiate positions that will serve as a role model for future generations.
Latinos have now become the majority population in Texas but yet many of our colleges and universities still continue to show a disparity in diversity both among student bodies and college professors.
That concerns me. But at the same time I also firmly believe that creating more Tier One institutions closer to home - particularly here in the DFW region - can go a long way in closing those gaps for students and faculty alike continued Rep. Alonzo.
Rep. Alonzo co-authored HB 51 and the enabling legislation (Constitutional Amendment No. 4) which is intended to add more top tier universities to the State of Texas in addition to the 3 that we currently have:
(1) the University of Texas at Austin;
(2) Texas A&M University at College Station; and
(3) Rice University in Houston.
The legislation and proposed amendment if passed will create two funds and an incentive research program to create additional national research universities in Texas. The performance funding is not intended to supplant base formula funding but rather to serve as a supplement.
In comparison to the only 3 top tier schools in Texas there are nine and five tier one institutions in California and New York respectively. Tier one institutions bring together a critical mass of talent and enrich the area they are located. Texas loses out in research funding venture capital top students faculty researchers and scientists by not having more tier one institutions.
As there are no current statutes to support aid and encourage emerging research universities and create tier one higher education institutions this legislation would create two new programs and enhance another to promote this effort.
This legislation amends current law relating to measures to enhance and maintain the quality of state universities including funding and incentives to support emerging public research universities in developing and maintaining programs of the highest tier to the abolition of the higher education fund and to the institutional groupings under the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Boards accountability system.
