@Newcowboyintown.
You said.....
I suspect the Natural Gas Engineering program has past on due to the passing of Dr. Dotterweich - past dean of the engineering school at A&I. "DOC" was the department of Natural Gas Engineering - and without him there to champion the program - it is gone

Dotterweich was long gone when I recieved my B.S. and M.S. degrees from A and I. A&M have made their intentions clear by firing any TAMUK president who even thinks of listening to the Alumni. There is currently a bill introduced to change the name back to A&I as a first step to restoring the school to what is was before A&M screwed us.

The Engineering program was the best in the world when I was enrolled there, with 6 consecutive years of 100% passing rate for the FE or EIT exam for engineers. It's not like only 5 people took the test per year either, over 100 took it at the same time I did. No other school in the nation had a 100% pass rate during that time.... Not Rice, not MIT, surely no other university in TX. A&M have done everything they can to dismantle and steal the engineering program that is still better then A&M's to this day.

Do some research before you open your mouth and make it clear you have no idea about what you are speaking of.

the NGE undergrad program at tamuk is getting started up again

LOL edpost. I had to break it down. I saw a lot of people mentioning parts of it at different points, but not it all together laid out. So there you go!

100k 100k 100k 100k

Since All these folks on these endorsement videos think this is such a great idea, why dont they save their breath open their wallets and give our city back its money! Starting with Morrison,..... Sure heard alot of " I's" in her vid ( with conviction).

After reading what lots of folks have been saying, I think that UHV should leave the system in Victoria. UH is so metropolitan - lots of research, one of the best business schools in the Country, a fabulous architecture school, etc., etc., etc. Victoria doesn't seem to want to change and those elements are not important to a small town as Victoria. If a town doesn't want to change, it will not; it will not progress. A&M has agricultural programs - more beneficial/important to a town such as Victoria. Just remember, $100,000 is but a "drop in the bucket". Financial problems will come up in the future - I wonder where that $ will come from?? And, also remember, when students graduate (whether it's UH or A&M) they will not remain in Victoria. What does the town have to offer? Back to "square one".

Gabe, while I enjoyed the university comparison....can you do one with a slight broader scope. Lets look at system (minus the flagship institution) and have comparisons. Lets look at size sure, scholarships sure, rankings of the universities in the system, awards for those universities, spending on the universities and upgrades, support, etc. Lets look at how universities like UH Downtown, Clear Lake, UHV compare to Kingsville, Corpus, Texarkana, Tarleton, Prarie View, WTAMU, etc.

RedRage you have posted 3-4 times on this topic? Try almost 4 times that according to your comment history. I will admit to having outposted you, mainly on March 8 when it first came out. How many times have you seen post since then on this topic from me? I am not dilusional and I know things will not change overnight and building and facilities are not going to pop up like a pop up book overnight. I just believe we have a better chance. I am like a lot of people and against the $100,000 expenditure and the shady way around the law the people used. Also, when have you seen me say "Gig'em?" Please point that out? Its kind of funny, any person I talk to in person about this....in favor...it seems like the only people I have met in person against this...well on here. One more post to Gabe on this and then onto a fight that I deserves more of my time....Legalizing Gambling in Texas.

Using US News to make a point about ratings is like reading the Classic Comic Book to explain a novel. The Wall St Journal and others exposed their methodology many times.
I don't have a dog in this race but they are both better than average universities. A student can get a decent education at either.
The University of Texas in Austin is clearly the best public university in the state. I attended the high school govt championships last year and of the 20 finalists, 12 were attending UT and 1 A&M. That is only one example the ACE ratings, London Times and Chronicle of Higher Education are the best sources. A&M however is better than UT in some areas, just not overall.
If one wants the best quality public education the University of California, Berkeley is clearly number one in the US and the world. Michigan and Virginia, follow.

Older Guy: You say, “... UH has now achieved Tier 1 status as a research institution.” That is not fully correct.

UH received designation as a Tier 1 university for research by the Carnegie Foundation. However, receiving such designation by the Carnegie Foundation does not necessarily make it a Tier 1 school in the eyes of the state. The process is more complex than that.

I emailed Richard Bonnin, spokesman for the UH System, to better understand where UH stands on Tier 1. I should note Bonnin offered this info because I requested it; this info was not sent out as a release and is not posted on any UH website.

His email:

“Specifically, in the academic community it’s accepted that recognition by any one of these three organizations conveys Tier One status on an institution. These three are:

1) The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching: http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/

2) Top American Research Universities (TARU) – run by the Center for Measuring University Performance: http://mup.asu.edu/

3) Association of American Universities (AAU): http://www.aau.edu/

Each organization has its own criteria. As a result, there are “Tier One” schools that may be top-ranked by TARU but may not be in the Carnegie top tier. And vice-versa. Or, a school may not be in either Carnegie OR in TARU, but is Tier One by virtue of being a member of AAU ...

The “Texas Tier One” subject adds to the possible confusion.

Basically, the state legislature and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board agreed they wanted to provide extra support to seven “emerging research universities” IF they could demonstrate they had the potential to become a nationally recognized “Tier One” institution. So the National Research University Fund (NRUF) was set up – along with criteria a school had to meet to show it qualified for the funds. Some of the criteria were announced immediately – like research expenditures, endowment, etc.

But three other benchmarks – concerning faculty, freshman class and grad program – were not specified. That is, until last month.

UH appears to meet the criteria. So we just need the legislature/THECB to take the next step – confirm it and provide us with the NRUF funding.

Of course, meeting these NRUF benchmarks does not “make” us a Tier One university – it shows that we have met the state’s guidelines to receive the funding set aside to help schools achieve (or, in our case, maintain) Tier One status.”

So, currently, there are only three Texas universities -- UT, Rice and A&M -- that the state has confirmed as Tier 1 schools. That, of course, could change soon.

I hope this clears up any confusion.

-- Gabe Semenza

There are a quite a number of UH rankings that were omitted in this comparison with A&M. Take a look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universi...

For balance, here is a similar list for A&M:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_A%...

I suspect the Natural Gas Engineering program has past on due to the passing of Dr. Dotterweich - past dean of the engineering school at A&I. "DOC" was the department of Natural Gas Engineering - and without him there to champion the program - it is gone.

JLord,

You're on here more than I am so don't act like you have better things to do lol I've probably posted 3 or 4 times on this topic but you're running around screaming GIG EM on every thread like this campus will be A&M-CS lol

Has ANYONE asked the question of our state rep, Geanie Morrison, on the filing of this bill?

Who requested her to make this change? Was it people/businesses of Victoria, or was it someone like alumni, Governor Rick Perry?

How does this change affect the future cutbacks of the existing colleges in Texas?

Still waiting to see how much of that $100K was spent on the tamuv.org website and facebook page.

Also, still waiting to see how much money San Angelo paid for lobbyists and educating the public about Angelo State's switch to the Texas Tech system.

RedRage I disappear from the conversation because some people actually sleep at night instead of getting huffy and puffy about stuff all night. To answer your question I would agree, A&M will probably want Sugar Land and Cinco Ranch. I agree the face to face UHV numbers are below 1000....but growing now that it is a four year institution. There are plenty of online course takers in Victoria that like online courses for convenience (I was not one of them because I like the discussion element of the classroom). The reason I have been more silent is that frankly, I have better things to do than sit on a message board and gripe all day. This is no where near taking action. Also, as far as the A&I alumni wanting the name back, just did a google search for that site (not much luck in finding it quickly, but did find tons of people asking the house and senate to vote against the name change from A&M to A&I.

The more I hear that this deal is to good to pass up, but no one will say what the deal is from TAMU - the more I say - pass!

Texas A & I joined the A & M system with all kinds of pie-in-sky promises from the Board of Regents. Guess what they got. A & I Alumni are trying to get the name restored and need your help. The following was copied from the Alumni webpage verbatim.

TAMUK receives NO funding from The Texas A&M University System, so there will be no loss in funding with the restoration of the A&I name.

Alumni have agreed to pay for the actual cost of restoring the name, so there will be no costs to the university or taxpayers for name restoration.

Texas A&I University will remain a member of the Texas A&M University System, as it was in the years 1989 - 1993 before the Regents broke their promise.

All new buildings are paid for by the issuance of bonds paid for from student tuition. The Texas A&M University System has not paid for any new buildings.

TAMUK does not have a Pharmacy School. In 2001 the Texas Legislature authorized the creation of Pharmacy school at TAMUK.
The building was built and faculty hired.
From 2001 to 2005, the Texas A&M University System failed to do its job in obtaining operational funding for the new pharmacy school at TAMUK. Once the System coerced the TAMUK president into relinquishing control to the A&M Health Science Center, their lobbyists went to work and got immediate funding. Result: 320 PhD students for them and nothing for TAMUK except a 30 year bond payment of $1.3 million per year.
No tuition from Pharmacy students goes to TAMUK.
TAMUK students pay the $1.3 million bond payment each year on the Pharmacy building.
The Texas A&M Health and Sciences Center pays less the $5,000 each year (not month) to rent the building.

TAMUK no longer has the premier program in Natural Gas Engineering - It no longer exists.

The once highly regarded MBA program in business has been indefinitely suspended and an "online" program (think DeVry Institute... credits not transferable) is being proposed as a replacement

Good questions, loud&clear. The A&M spokesman I have worked with to collect this and other information is Jason Cook, the system's chief communications officer. Cook's and that staff's page is here: http://www.tamus.edu/offices/communic...

At the UH System, I regularly work with Richard Bonnin, a system spokesman.

As for me getting comments from the A&M System about whether it's excited about the bill, we've reported numerous times that universities and system staff cannot advocate for or against state legislation. They also decline to comment about what their plans would entail if the switch occurred, saying that such statements would be premature and could indicate that they are advocating for the bill (which is forbidden).

I think that covers your other questions, too. I've done 13 FAQs about the potential switch, all of which are found here: http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/...

With a little digging in that special section, I think you'll find a lot of answers to your questions.

If anyone else has other questions you'd like to see covered in a story, please e-mail them to me at gsemenza@vicad.com or call me at 361-580-6519. Those are the best ways to reach me.

Thanks -- Gabe Semenza

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

@Gabe Semenza, I would like to know who within the A&M System is speaking on behalf of A&M? I also would be interested in a comment from "Whomever" this may be about the excitement level or the anticipation of absorbing the Victoria Campus. I really don't care about Sugarland and Cinco Ranch (No ofense), I'm far more interested to hear real comments from the A&M people about their plans for VICTORIA. It's a no brainer that A&M badly wants Sugarland and Cinco Ranch included in this deal, however, I think the readers of this paper need good hard comments from A&M about their commitment to Victoria, their plans for Victoria, and what is being done to prepare for this "locally expected" massive expansion. Also I would love to hear about the funds they anticipate they will need for a complete build out of a major 4 year university away from their current location. What cahnges does A&M forsee both academically and institutionally?

How does the Sunday(?) article about Sen. Hager and the other officials in Cinco Ranch ans Sugarland NOT wanting to change schools? Would the A&M system jsut take UH-Victoria and not the others? This may not be a done deal like the locals think.
Patrick Barnes

How is education and economics related? Does education have return on investment? Does an educated workforce produce more or less? What does the research say?

Re: current enrollment figures here brought up by RedRage00. Using this data will not answer the question of demand for a destination university. If this were the case and we could only use commutable residents to determine if there is a market, there would hardly be a university anywhere considering all were started at some point prior to actually having a university. The market for a destination university will come from areas not in commuting distance.

Some residents will still commute as at any college town, but this number is not representive of a demand for the service. UHS doesn't want to grow here. It may have nothing to do with knowledge of demand or lack of it. What we do know is that UHS has a very worthy goal of shoring their homefront (downtown campus) so that they can become the number 1 Tier 1 Metro school. They have determined that their resources are better spent in Houston to do this, which I can understand. But this does not help our own community.

Re: A&M's desire to open up here. They cannot say anything at this point. It is against the law. One sure way to find out that they will not be coming here is if they were to lobby for wanting the change. However, I would seriously doubt that Ms. Morrison would offer this bill without first knowing their interest to some degree.

Gabe, a more appropriate comparison would be between UHV and comparable TAMU satellite institutions.

To those of you here who continue to bash the proposed changeover, please understand that this is an economic development issue. UH System wants to build UH at home and has nothing to gain from investing in Victoria. TAMU is in the business of building regional universities. Different business models, different outcomes.

If you think that economics and education are unrelated, then you haven't been paying attention.

Again right next to this report we see the anouncement that UHV is number 1 in student satisfaction.

I would like to see something from TAMU - officially! Stating what their vision is for TAMUV if the change is made. Will this become an engineering school since we have industry? Will it become an agriculture research school since we have agriculture? Just what will TAMUV become?

you failed to mention that, for decades, UT and the Aggies exclusively drew money from oil revenues on state lands in West Texas, giving them a distinct competitive advantage. Despite this UH has now achieved Tier 1 status as a research institution and just yesterday received notice it is now considered one of the country's best universities for undergraduate education. If you like, I'll forward Dr. Khantor's email with the announcement and you can print that to bring some "balance" to your reporting.

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

We did this comparison because it was one of the questions raised by our readers. If you think the universities or systems should be compared in some other way, let public service editor Gabe Semenza know at gsemenza@vicad.com.

You people crack me up. Yall are more into the "A&M" name than anything else. Every post I've read from supporters is focused on how great a school A&M-College Station is along with a couple of WHOOPS and GIG 'EMs thrown in there, but nothing really about UHV. If you don't know by now they are 2 separate schools. A&M-Vic is not going to have the same credibility/status as A&M-CS. They won't be the Aggies. They won't be anything close to the Aggies.

The UHS knows the demand is not there in Victoria. UHV has less than 1,000 students that actually attend face to face classes in Victoria. Everyone else is online or in Sugar Land!! What part of that don't you understand??? The growth is NOT in Victoria!

JLordTree, what is your opinion on the actual enrollment figures IN VICTORIA? You seem to have disappeared from that conversation.

It must be an optical illusion and I won't cry bias, but the graphic looks slightly tilted towards A&M...

;-)

They are talking about the quality of education at UH and A&M...not UHV/A&M-V.....it's not gonna be the same. UHV/A&MV is not going to all of a sudden become a powerful university b/c A&M is the flagship school.

You have unrealistic expectations. Where were you when we were discussing how UHVs record enrollment were really at the Sugar Land Campus and online? Those numbers speak for themselves.

Wow, I guess the numbers speak for themselves as far as tuition, quality of education, etc.