2 weeks Ago By Shawn A. Akers
As a state representative, Geanie Morrison remembers her efforts 14 years ago to move the University of Houston-Victoria to the Texas A&M University system as if it happened just yesterday. Then the District 30 Representative to the Texas House, Morrison introduced HB 2556 in March 2011. But, Morrison said in an interview with the Victoria Advocate earlier this month, the bill came at a time of leadership change within the House and the person that was the chairman of higher education at that time “just wasn’t very responsive about it.
” Within the past two weeks, a similar bill, SB 2361, was filed by District 18 Sen. Lois Kolkhorst and District 7 Sen. Paul Bettencourt to transfer UHV over to the A&M system.
If passed, the bill would take effect on Sept. 1. Morrison said the move was met with resistance on many fronts nearly a decade and a half ago.
In 2011, the bill never received one hearing. In 2007, when local residents demonstrated their support, Morrison helped to facilitate Angelo State University’s transfer from the Texas State University System to the Texas Tech University System. “I chaired higher education for three sessions, and we had a similar situation in which Angelo State felt as if it needed to move to another system,” Morrison said.
“They felt like they were too far away from the system they were in and felt better connected to Texas Tech. The community members, business people, came to the capital and, after talking to them, we felt like it was definitely something that needed to be done.” The bill four years later (UHV to Texas A&M), however, obviously produced a different result.
“Things like that just weren’t done much back then,” Morrison said. “I mean, it just didn’t happen.” In 2011, Victoria community members, The Texas Tribune recently reported, “pushed” Morrison to fill the bill.
The Victoria Advocate then reported “they thought the Texas A&M system had a better track record of growing rural universities like theirs.” The Texas Tribune reported that the “University of Houston System did not support the effort and the bill did not gain any traction.” “When we did this education group, a community group, it was a large commission of 20 people and it was open to come and talk about what we needed, what we didn’t have and what we could do with higher ed,” Morrison said.
“So, finally, we just felt like we needed change. Mike McKinney was the chancellor at A&M at that time and they were very positive about a potential change. Of course, the University of Houston was not.
” In an interview with the Advocate in 2011, Morrison pointed out that if the transfer were to take place, there would be no tuition hikes. The act would not have affected the status of any UHV student, and it would not affect faculty and staff. The bill noted of its intentions in switching systems that it would do so “without disrupting the students, faculty, staff or programs of the university.
” Questions of whether or not those standards would still apply in 2025 have arisen since Kolkhorst and Bettencourt filed SB 2361 earlier this month. Kolkhorst told The Texas Tribune recently that the school’s move from the University of Houston System to the Texas A&M System will “better support the region’s workforce needs and that, under A&M, the University of Houston-Victoria will be able to offer degrees in engineering and agribusiness that are not currently available there.” “Texas A&M agribusiness offerings are incredible and known throughout the world so I cannot tell you how beneficial this could be not only for Victoria, but for the state of Texas,” Kolkhorst told The Texas Tribune.
Morrison agrees. “Our area is being pointed out. We’ve got a lot of farming and ranching here, and there’s no connection in the UHV system,” Morrison said.
“There are new things happening here with nuclear energy, too. They have a great program at A&M for that. UHV always had a lot of remote classes, but we saw that we needed to have more classes here on campus.
Not having people here on campus where you’re getting face-to-face instruction is difficult. We already have all of these dorms and everything for the students to live.” “There are tons of Aggies here, with the farming and ranching and the nuclear coming in and all, we’ve needed programs that were more for the chemical companies that are here and have been forever,” Morrison continued.
“We need some more things that were really helping to educate our students to get a good job in the surrounding area. The other system kept going in a different direction and we needed a change.” Some area residents have questioned what will happen if the transformation doesn’t take place.
Would UHV still be around in a few years? “There is no question that Dr. (Bob) Glenn and others in the past have been diligent and have done a great job at UHV,” Morrison said. “But when you don’t have enough financing to run the ship and then you need more, and then you have to let people go, especially those who are in student recruitment .
.. there needs to be robust funding and more options for students to take different courses, and that just doesn’t seem to be working right now.
” Morrison says she thinks a transformation will be a lengthy process, but the change will be good for the Crossroads. “A&M covers all of the areas we need that UHV doesn’t currently offer,” Morrison said, “like farming and ranching and the nuclear now coming to our area. We’re getting ready to grow more oil and gas.
There’s a lot more coming along the coast. We have so many alumni here that will be supportive, and I think it will also be good for fundraising in the surrounding area.”.
