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UHV expansion not in jeopardy

Chairmanship not necessary for legislation, Morrison says

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  • Madeline Lewis •
  • Originally published January 7, 2009 at 11:36 p.m., updated January 7, 2009 at 11:36 p.m.

AUSTIN - State Rep. Geanie Morrison expects the speakership will change hands when the Texas House of Representatives convenes on Tuesday, but she does not anticipate that this will affect her ability to successfully push through legislation transforming the University of Houston - Victoria into a four-year institution.

"It is local legislation and will benefit the state," she said.

Morrison spoke about UHV Wednesday afternoon immediately following the 2009 Texas Associated Press Managing Editors Legislative Preview meeting at the Headliners Club in Austin. She was one of several panelists who discussed higher education issues at the event.

As chair of the House Committee on Higher Education, Morrison is in a good position to advocate for the UHV legislation. But she may not retain this position when a new House speaker, likely state Rep. Joe Straus (R-San Antonio), takes charge.

She is an appointee and ally of current Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, who opposed Straus in the speaker's race until dropping out Sunday evening.

On Wednesday, Morrison did not know if Straus would re-appoint her committee chair.

"Those are decisions that will be made after we are sworn in," she said, adding that committee appointments would probably occur three weeks after the swearing in ceremony.

But the Victoria Republican said she had a "great visit" with Straus on Tuesday.

"He knows my commitment to higher education," she said.

Morrison plans to file the UHV legislation even if she does not stay on the Higher Education Committee. She will put the legislation forth after UHV reviews it.

"There might be some tweaking that they will want to do," she said.

During the panel, Morrison, state Sen. Royce West, a member of the Senate Higher Education Subcommittee (D-Dallas) and William Powers, Jr., president of the University of Texas - Austin talked about other matters pertaining to higher education in the state, including whether the Legislature should reform the Top 10 Percent law.

The law mandates that any Texas high student in the top 10 percent of his or her class automatically gains admission to one of the state's four-year universities. Eighty-three percent of UT-Austin's incoming freshman class was admitted through this law, Morrison said.

Powers would like UT-Austin to have more flexibility in its admissions process because many prospective students have talents that are not reflected by their grade point averages.

"There ought to be a lot of things we value coming into the university," he said.

Morrison does not want to do away with the law because she thinks it has opened educational opportunities to students in Texas, but she would like to see it changed.

"I think it's always bad when you have one criteria for admissions," she said. "When you are only looking at GPAs, you can't even consider SAT scores."

She wants to create a 50 to 60 percent cap in admissions based on the Top 10 Percent law, she said. This means UT-Austin would only have to accept 50 to 60 percent of its class from the top 10 percent.

"Once you hit that point, then you can use other holistic reviews to admit the students," she said.

  • BREAKOUT

    Gov. Rick Perry's higher education priorities:

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    Morrissey was one of the panelists to attend the 2009 TAPME Legislative ...

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    • BREAKOUT

    Gov. Rick Perry's higher education priorities:

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    Morrissey was one of the panelists to attend the 2009 TAPME Legislative Preview Wednesday in Austin.



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