RGV legislators, educators split on Tier One bill

 A piece of state legislation aimed at rewarding the state's emerging research universities with the possibility of reaching Tier One status has been passed by the Texas House and Senate and is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry.

H.B. 51 would create hundreds of millions of dollars to help top universities move on to Tier One status.

But as South Texans look over the list of universities that are currently classified as "emerging" by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board - the University of Texas at Dallas, UT-Arlington, the University of North Texas, Texas Tech, the University of Houston, UT-San Antonio and UT-El Paso - they will likely notice that the Rio Grande Valley is not represented.

University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College representatives say they're disappointed with the bill, but Valley legislators say they never expected the region's schools to be on the list.

"I don't think we're ready to move to Tier One status, nor do I think it should be our priority," said Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville. Oliveira said the Valley's universities have been underfunded for so many years that there are more immediate, realistic goals to aspire to - like establishing a full-fledged medical school in the area.

"We're still in our infancy in terms of getting masters and doctoral level programs," Oliveira said. "I think we also need to focus more on improving our graduation rates."

Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, agrees with Oliveira.

"There are four doctoral level programs in the Valley," Lucio said. "The seven emerging schools have anywhere from 19 to 60 each. This bill is in no way a slight to our area or any other area. But we need more graduate and doctoral programs - we need to rise to the occasion."

Texas is behind other large states like California, which has nine Tier One universities. Texas has three_- Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin and Rice University. The Higher Education Coordinating Board says it could take 20 to 30 years of "significant funding" before one of the emerging universities joins those three.

"(H.B. 51) will give the seven institutions an opportunity to break away from the pack," said Raymund Paredes, commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Paredes said each of the seven universities is likely to need heavy funding.

"(The bill) is a good start - particularly in tough economic times -but nobody believes that we're not going to have to increase funding and sustain it for a good long time before we can get these schools where they need to be," Paredes said.

David Oliveira, the chair of the Texas Southmost College Board of Trustees, says he was disappointed to learn that the legislation had made it to the governor's desk.

"I'm concerned for the border community," Oliveira said.

Universities have to award "100 or more doctoral degrees annually in excellent programs that span at least 15 disciplines," according to the Higher Education Coordinating Board to achieve emerging status.

"With the criteria they've set up, it could be 50 years before we'd qualify as an emerging research university," Oliveira said, noting that UTB-TSC currently has just one doctoral program.

If the governor signs the bill, Texas voters would have to consider a constitutional amendment on the state's November ballot to redistribute money from the state's Permanent Higher Education Fund to create the National Research University Fund.

As voters consider the amendment, Rene Oliveira and Lucio urge Valley residents to remember that Tier One schools will benefit students across the state - not just in the area where the particular school is located. Students will have another top school to apply to when they are considering colleges.

"I'm publicly supporting this amendment," Rene Oliveira said. "We should always be doing more for our universities."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.