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UTB-CBIRD Report: “At The Crossroads” Education & Training 81
There is a need to develop more masters and doctoral level university and
community college instructional certification programs in the South Texas region.
Regional community colleges and state technical colleges do not have sufficient
graduate training programs to expand the capacity of their faculty and staff to
respond to a growing student population that has many special needs.
GOAL 3: Close The Gaps In Research
Research should be an essential element of all Texas institutions of higher
education regardless of their ranking on different research tiers. South Texas
and other regional colleges and universities should not be isolated and insulated
from the practice of research due to the lack of research funds that have been
allocated to these institutions in the past.
Capacity Building
A research infrastructure is a critical component of a regional post-secondary
institution’s role in the development of local economies and sufficient funds
should be allocated to implement an achievable research agenda. Among the
industries that are impacted by research in the South Texas region are
biotechnology, medical technology, healthcare, manufacturing, environmental
sciences, transportation & logistics, and cross-border economic development as
well as those that attend to the needs of the education of the region’s school
population.
Research and teaching are part of the training and preparation of certified
master and doctoral level professionals to meet the needs of the expanding
South Texas regional economy. The development of more stand alone as well as
collaborative graduate, masters and doctoral, programs should be funded in
South Texas colleges and universities to meet emerging needs for certified
professionals to work in the higher education institutions throughout the state.
Funding
Research and development collaborations between senior institutions and
community and technical colleges should be funded for the development,
piloting and validation of instructional and training models and curriculum to
address the needs of unprepared and under-represented populations in the
South Texas border region.
Research funds should be allocated to the newly created South Texas health and
medical training centers as quality medical education is not feasible without a
strong research component.
Research institutes along the Texas Border should be allocated state funds to
address the region’s emerging environmental, infrastructure, labor, economy,
technology, housing, educational and health needs. There is a paucity of
research on the emerging challenges and opportunities within South Texas and
on the border with Mexico.
One Region -- One Future
GOAL 3: By 2015,
increase the level of
federal science and
engineering research
funding to Texas
institutions by 50% to
$1.3 billion.
Our research production
has increased dramatically
over the past few years.
This fall we were one of
only four universities
nationally that received
$7.9 million from NASA to
establish a Center fro
Gravitational Wave
Analysis that will produce
science teachers and
researchers.
Juliet V. Garcia, Ph.D.
President, UTB/TSC
to the House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Education
February 19, 2003