Resolution concerning

The status of higher education in the state of Texas

Whereas,   The Texas Junior College Student Government Association is a group composed of over 60 community, junior and technical colleges committed to improving the condition of Higher Education in Texas, and
Whereas,   Texas is losing ground in comparison to other colleges, both national and international, when it comes to number of students admitted, degrees awarded, and quality of education, and
Whereas,   In order to ensure that students both now and in the future, receive the quality of education needed to ensure that we remain competitive in an increasingly global market, and that schools in Texas continue to receive the kind of federal funding that they do, a significant level of change and reexamination needs to be brought about by the Texas Legislature.

Resolved that TJCSGA put its full support behind senate committee report 47 wherein the Texas State Senate has put forth the following plan.

That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby request that the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of representatives create a select commission on higher education and global competitiveness to draft a Texas Compact that reflects a long-term vision and step-by-step plan to attain the following goals by 2020:

  1. Educating the population of Texas to levels comparable to the highest performing competitor states and nations;
  2. Achieving global recognition for Texas public colleges and universities for excellence in their core missions and for innovations that strengthen the state’s economy and improve the quality of life for its citizens; and
  3. Serving different regions of Texas in ways that respond to each region’s unique higher education needs

This committee will also seek to analyze the following issues:

  1. Current trends in educational attainment in Texas and competitor states and nations and the potential impact of those trends on the state’s long-term economic competitiveness and quality of life
  2. Objectives and accountability measures related to the state ’s educational attainment goals, including performance benchmarks comparing the best performing programs in Texas with the best performing programs in competitor states and nations;
  3. Enhancing regional support for higher education and strengthening the link between higher education and regional economic development goals;
  4. Improving the number of Texas adults attaining postsecondary credentials and strengthening the role and performance of Texas’ community colleges;
  5. Structuring higher education funding to reward student and institutional outcomes that are aligned with state and regional priorities;
  6. Increasing the quantity, quality, and commercialization of university-based research;
  7. Assessing long-term higher education capacity needs and creative approaches to meeting those needs; and
  8. Creating a policy research mechanism to track, analyze, and make recommendations to state policy makers based on the state’s progress in achieving goals with respect to educational attainment and economic competitiveness; and,

Be it further resolved that TJCSGA member schools, through the various communication methods at its disposal, i.e. letters, email and phone calls etc., seek a commitment from each Texas senator and congressman to support this report and ensure that Texas students will receive the kind of world class education that we deserve.

Be it further resolved that the region executive board present each school with a petition to be signed by as many students as possible by January 20th which is then to be turned in by February 28th. The executive board will then mail said petition to each relevant legislature with a formal letter to be written by the executive board. Each member school will also make phone calls to their own legislatures in support of these two bills.