UT System: Email - From the Chancellor, Spring 2005

Yudof Dear Friend of the UT System,

I hope this letter finds you enjoying a beautiful Texas spring. Today, I want to update you about the progress of the legislative session, the completion of a new economic impact study and our work with national laboratories.

As I write this, there is a little over a month left in the regular legislative session. Not unexpectedly, public school finance is proving to be the dominant issue, one that continues to be unresolved. Those of you who follow the process know that many bills - especially the budget - reach a conclusion only very late in most sessions. This year is no exception. Most of the major concerns regarding University of Texas System institutions remain unresolved as well.

Differing versions of the appropriations bill, which sets the state budget for the next two years, have now passed the House of Representatives and the Senate. Conference committees from both houses have been appointed and charged with resolving the differences and reporting back to their colleagues.

Both versions of the appropriations bill contain additional funding for higher education. The Senate version is substantially more generous, but contains a provision that would have the effect of limiting the Board of Regents’ ability to set tuition for our institutions. Initially, the provision would impact only UT Austin.

We at the System believe that the leadership of all the UT System institutions made a commendable effort to be both innovative and fair in their recommended tuition levels. Unlike many other institutions of higher education in Texas, UT Austin has chosen to raise tuition, not fees, and to introduce an expanded flat rate tuition package that could generate substantial saving for students and their families. The significance of raising tuition rather than fees is that at least 20% of any tuition increase must be set aside for financial aid; there is no corresponding requirement for dollars raised through fees. Because they choose to raise fees, which have not come under the scrutiny of the legislature, several public universities in Texas are actually more expensive than UT Austin even though their tuition rates are lower. Visit the tuition website to find out more.

At the Board of Regents’ March meeting, a new economic impact study detailing the UT System’s direct contributions to the Texas economy was presented. The study was conducted by the Institute for Economic Development at UT San Antonio; it focused on the impact of the System’s operations and construction and our students’ spending.

This study’s approach is quite conservative, measuring only the spending directly attributable to our 15 institutions and their students, plus the appropriate economic multipliers. Nothing in the report reflects the contributions that System institutions make as a result of business start-ups, technology transfer, improvements in health and culture, and the myriad other benefits that you and I know flow from the work of our 9 academic and 6 health science campuses. Even by the barebones methodology used in the study, however, the UT System had a $12.8 billion impact on the Texas economy last year. A more detailed explanation of the economic impact report can be found in this newsletter, in the column to the right.

Our work with national laboratories is producing great dividends for Texas and the nation. Earlier this month Chairman Huffines and I traveled to Washington for the signing of an expanded memorandum of understanding with Sandia National Laboratory. Lockheed Martin manages Sandia. We have an excellent working relationship with them and are proud of our expanded role there.

As many of you will recall, I mentioned in our first e-newsletter that I would recommend to the Board of Regents that we forego bidding for the management contract at Los Alamos National Laboratories. The Board accepted my recommendation.

However, since February, the situation has changed. Lockheed Martin which had withdrawn from potential competition for management of Los Alamos has now decided to reevaluate its position. After Lockheed Martin announced their renewed interest, Chairman Huffines asked me to revisit my earlier conclusions.

I am now working through that process. I want to stress that we are considering doing scientific work, not managing the facility. A more detailed account of our relationship with Sandia and our discussions about Los Alamos can be found in the column to the right.

We appreciate your continuing interest in the University of Texas System and look forward to hearing from you on the activities discussed in this letter or any other matters which you believe warrant the System’s attention.

Mark G. Yudof Signature

Chancellor Mark G. Yudof