UT Senate of College Councils

Senate “Core Curriculum Stream” initiative set to pilot in the fall

michaelmorton — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:41:07 +0000

University-Wide Appointment Applications Due

chrisnguyen — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:39:10 +0000

Senate and Invest in Texas host Legislative Day at the Capitol

michaelmorton — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:39:32 +0000

Bills aim to make textbooks tax-free for a period

michaelmorton — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:48:37 +0000

Textbooks costs are a bit nutty (read: excessive) these days. It’s even worse when we’re expected to hand over the hefty amounts of cash (or credit) for them as college students. According to an infographic about textbooks by the Education Database Online, the average textbook is a pricey $175 (roughly equivalent to a month’s worth of groceries) and the average amount of money spent on textbooks per year is $900 (roughly equivalent to a Macbook Air with a student’s discount).

So what are our state legislators doing to lend us a hand? Well, there are five bills filed in the Legislature that may grant us a tax exemption on our textbooks — S.B. 46, H.B. 230, H.B. 603, H.B. 854, and H.B. 902). S.B. 46, H.B. 230, and H.B. 854 propose to provide a tax exemption on textbooks if the books are purchased within a certain timeframe. H.B. 603 and H.B. 902 propose to provide the exemption without a restriction on the time period. And of course, you would have to be a full-time or part-time student enrolled in a higher education institution in Texas at the time of purchase.

As the Invest in Texas Legislative Day approaches (Tuesday, April 2nd), remember to ask for your representatives’ support for these bills. Even though these bills exempt a small portion of the total cost of our textbooks, we all know that we could use a little extra cash in our wallets.

Outcomes-based Funding…coming to a university near you?

michaelmorton — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:45:41 +0000

There’s been a lot of buzz about maximizing our four-year graduation rate around campus these days. The reason why is because the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) has been encouraging lawmakers to move towards outcomes-based funding for higher education institutions. Outcomes-based funding (also referred to as success-based funding) is the allocation of funds for universities based on student achievement marks, such as the number students having graduated from a university within a four-year graduation rate, the number of at-risk students having graduated, etc.

Currently, there is no formula in place for the outcomes-based funding. However, our legislators have already taken steps to implement the THECB recommendation. Last legislative session, the 82nd Texas Legislature passed HB 9, which allows 10 percent of state funding for universities to be allocated based on student success measures agreed upon by THECB and Texas universities. This session, in the 83rd Texas Legislature, Representative Dan Branch filed HB 25, which would more than double the proportion of outcomes-based funding, increasing the current 10 percent to 25 percent if the bill is passed. With this potential increase, you can expect to continue to see universities, including UT-Austin, pushing for on-time graduation. HB 25 is currently in the House Higher Education Committee.