Prepared Remarks
Gary L. Rosenthal
Chairman, University of Houston System Board of Regents
Senate Finance Committee Hearing
February 5, 2001
Austin
Good morning... and thank you, Chairman Ellis and members of this committee, for the opportunity to address you today...
I would like to speak from my own perspective as a Houstonian who has for 25 years been deeply involved in a wide range of commercial and nonprofit enterprises.
Every day the businesses and institutions with which I am involved are searching out the most educated, most highly qualified individuals we can hire in order that we can accomplish our missions in a highly competitive environment.
These entities are in desperate need of nurses, accountants, information technologists, engineers, and skilled machinists to name only a few of the positions we have great difficulty filling in the local labor market. These are jobs that pay well, and even at entry level, offer immense opportunity for advancement. But they also require more education than has previously been the case.
In addition, there are segments of these enterprises which require advanced research and very high levels of expertise just to keep up, much less to move ahead. The ability to keep pace is predicated on having a highly educated workforce and a vibrant reservoir of talent devoted to making new discoveries and finding innovative solutions to complex problems.
These needs are particularly critical for Houston. Houston is the nation's fourth largest city. The Houston Metropolitan area represents 22 percent of the state's population, 22 percent of the Texas workforce, and 28 percent of the gross state product. A failure in Houston to maintain and increase our economic strength will have a serious and materially adverse impact not just on Houston's population but the entire state.
The University of Houston component institutions play a significant role in being able to address these concerns. We are indeed an urban university and we work hard to serve our area's population.
A major portion of our students work part or full time, many have families, many are the first in their families to attend an institution of higher learning, and most do not actually live on campus. We serve large numbers of students who come from poor backgrounds, who do not have English as their first language, or who are members of groups which have been historically underrepresented in higher education.
We have a large and growing array of programs to address the needs of our students and to allow each of them to achieve a high degree of education which will open the opportunities of today's economy. Dr. Smith will talk about a number of these programs, including the Texas Grant Program which Chairman Ellis has championed to our benefit.
However, I would be less than candid if I did not tell you that our resources are not what they need to be. Today, I am here to request your consideration of increased funding for higher education throughout the state, and in particular for the four UH System universities.
Part of this increased funding should be in the form of monies allocated to identify and elevate more institutions throughout the state to flagship or Tier One status. In spite of being the second most populous state in the nation, Texas has only two Tier One institutions, neither of which is located in a major metropolitan area.
I am convinced that the University of Houston, with enhanced levels of excellence funding, and other initiatives, can elevate itself to Tier One Status. This would have a major positive impact on our ability to meet the challenges I described earlier.
As we all know, state provided funds have to be effectively and efficiently spent. The Regents at the University of Houston System, working closely with our very talented, focused and successful Chancellor, Dr. Smith, are fully committed to being good stewards of the public funds that you provide us.
During the past few years we have consolidated a significant number of senior positions, we have brought renewed discipline to our fiscal affairs, we have reinvigorated many of our major schools and departments with new leadership and programs, and we have set goals and began to benchmark against them in critical areas.
I can assure you that additional monies will be prudently applied to the task of providing educational opportunities to our local populations and advancing critical research as we work together with you to raise the educational attainment of all our citizens, improve our economy, and build a better Texas.
Chairman Ellis, thank you again for the time... Now, it is my pleasure to call on Dr. Arthur K. Smith, Chancellor of the University of Houston System and President of the University of Houston main campus, who will speak on behalf of the UH System and its four institutions. Chancellor Smith...
Guidelines for Contacting Legislators
It's important that legislators hear from faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the UH System. But if you are a member of the faculty or staff (a state employee) wishing to contact your legislator, it's equally important to follow certain guidelines when you write or fax letters. Go to
<http://www.uhsa.uh.edu/gov/process/letter_writing.html>.
for letter-writing guidelines.
For information on governmental relations policies, go to
<http://www.uhsa.uh.edu/gov/policies/lobbying.html>.
To find the names and addresses of U.S. Senators and Congressmen/women, go to
<http://www.usfronline.com/congress.htm>
To find the names and addresses of Texas Senators and Representatives, go to
<http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/members.htm>, or
<http://www.house.state.tx.us/house/byzip.htm>.