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    • Technology regents review changes in campus layout; abandon negotiations on tuition hikes
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    Technology regents review changes in campus layout; abandon negotiations on tuition hikes

    Pabio Posted on

    As the Texas Tech University System Board of Trustees gathered for its final quarterly meeting of the calendar year in Lubbock, one important item was notably removed from the agenda at the last minute: tuition.

    Tuition rates at Texas Tech, Angelo State and Midwestern State University were to be considered — including a potential increase — for fiscal year 2025. However, Texas Governor Greg Abbott spoke the day before the meeting.announcing its opposition to any increase in tuition fees at public universities until 2027.

    Here are the takeaways from the meeting.

    Abbott ‘bans’ tuition increases at Texas public universities, extends in-state tuition freeze

    As a reminder, at their August 2023 meeting, the Texas Tech Regents froze tuition at TTU, ASU and MSU through the 2025-26 academic year at the request of state legislators.

    A previous AJ report indicated that this freeze came from the Texas Legislature’s 88th General Appropriations Bill, Special Provision III Sec. 58., which states “residents’ undergraduate college costs, including tuition, mandatory academic fees, all general study-related fees, and college course fees at currently approved levels.”

    Dig Deeper: Texas Tech Regents Accept Coaching and Leadership Contracts, Freeze Tuition

    The reason is that the state is experiencing a large surplus this year and some of that funding is going to universities in an effort to make higher education more affordable.

    On November 13, Governor Abbott sent a letter to all Texas public university boards prohibiting tuition increases.

    “As this tuition freeze expires, let me be clear: I will not support any increase in tuition at any public institution of higher education during the next biennium,” reads the statement. letter.

    Read the full letter: Governor Abbott Bans Texas Tuition Raises

    Abbott cited ongoing economic pressures, including inflation, to explain his opposition to a tuition increase. He also pledges to make college affordability a top state priority in the next legislative session beginning in January 2025.

    Tech seeks to revamp the appearance of its campus; council errs on the side of caution

    Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec has a vision for the future of the college campus as to how it will evolve and operate in the future to better align with aspirations for acceptance into the Association American universities.

    Gregory Janks of DumontJanks presented to the board preliminary results of his research on the campus landscape and how its buildings are used.

    Janks noted that the core of the campus – the technical key to the administration building – was built with a north-south flow, but the campus grew to the west.

    Other results include:

    • Most campus occupants socialize in the east-west corridor on the south side of campus, which extends from the Student Union Building to the Student Recreation Center.
    • Two major classroom centers – Holden Hall and the College of Media & Communication Building – are more than 11 minutes apart – during the allotted time, the university allows students to move from one class to another if they are back to back.

    Although these are preliminary concepts, some proposed changes to the campus layout are:

    • Eliminate surface parking on campus and opt for covered parking on the outskirts of the campus.
    • Adding a third of additional green space to campus.
    • Create diverse societies on campus to foster interdepartmental collaboration using walking spaces.
    • Move and consolidate research spaces, student resources and collaboration spaces.
    • Creation of an interior transportation loop on campus.

    “It’s not unusual that universities often start with a more commuter orientation and a more localized parking solution,” Janks said.

    However, Janks said that as institutions mature and evolve, the achievement of prime real estate in the heart of campus is recognized and reconfirmed in a way that provides more value to the campus community.

    However, several regents on the board have shown some hesitation regarding this project.

    Regent Dustin Womble said this endeavor Tech is seeking to undertake needs to be fully thought through before the board considers moving forward.

    “This is a significant commitment that could be made if we start to change direction and it will only have an impact if we are fully committed to seeing it through,” Womble said. “If this lasts six or eight years, and then we go in a completely different direction, then we will not have done the service to this institution that we should be doing in the long term.”

    Regent Clay Cash also requested that the board be provided with materials for this proposed master plan, to which Janks responded by saying that DumontJanks was working on the final version of the plan.

    Womble said the commitment to such a plan would extend to several variations of boards because they are appointed to six-year terms, with regents coming in and out every two years.

    Leadership of the TTUS Board of Directors, composition may change

    The leadership of the board will soon change. Regent Mark Griffin and Ginger Kerrick Davis were elected President and Vice President, respectively, by the Board of Trustees in November 2022.

    However, Griffin and Kerrick Davis’ terms on the board, as well as Regent Womble’s, are set to expire on January 31, 2025, paving the way for who the new board leaders could be.

    Under Texas law, the governor appoints people to serve on the governing bodies of public higher education systems for six-year terms, meaning the TTU system will eventually see three new regents. However, Abbott has the authority to appoint people to serve on the board for another term.

    There has been a history of this, such as Mickey Long and John Steinmetz, both of whom were reappointed during their tenure on the board.

    The board of directors will also soon appoint its new president and vice-president.

    After January 31, 2025, its members will be:

    • Arcilia Acosta — term expires in 2027.
    • Cody Campbell — term expires in 2027.
    • Pat Gordon — term expires in 2027.
    • Clay Cash – term expires in 2029.
    • Tim Culp — term expires in 2029.
    • Shelley Sweatt — term expires in 2029.

    The Board of Directors will reconvene for its next regular meeting in March 2025 in Lubbock.

    Pabio
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