The Lege is Open: What to Watch for

It's that time again.

The Texas Legislature convened at noon last Tuesday for its 80^th biennial session.

As always, higher education issues will be key, and bills that affect the University of Houston will be filed.

Alumni advocacy is vital to the success of the UH System’s legislative agenda, which emphasizes:

• Increased formula funding to provide for the core functions of our universities, based on enrollment by level and discipline and predicted square footage needs. Insufficient formula funding will lead to increased student/faculty ratios, reduced class offerings, faculty losses, fewer graduates, and less research.
• Increased funding for the Research Development Fund (Tier One), of critical importance to the Texas economy through the advancement of bionanotechnology, materials science, life science, and other areas requiring a highly-skilled workforce.
• Retention of authority to set tuition. With continued growth and unpredictable revenue streams, it’s important that universities have the flexibility to assess appropriate charges in order to maintain course offerings and quality.

To read the complete UH System legislative agenda document, visit www.houston.edu/gov/state/80/legislative_agenda.html

All UH alumni are encouraged to get involved in the legislative process. If you haven’t done so yet, you can subscribe to receive weekly legislative updates from Austin. Just visit www.houston.edu/gov and follow the prompts on the right side of the page.

For information on how to find your state legislator, letter-writing guidelines, and how to get involved in the legislative process, visit www.houston.edu/gov/process/

As the session progresses, we will keep you informed about important issues affecting higher education in general, the UH System, and the University of Houston in particular.