Your University Needs Your Help!

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Dear UT Alumni and Friends,

There are two funding issues before the Texas Legislature that are of
critical importance to The University of Texas
at Austin and all of higher education. These issues are:

Increasing university tuition rates by $2 a semester credit hour each year
through the 2005-2006 academic year; and
Retaining 100% of indirect cost funding earned on research awards and
contracts.

WE NEED YOU TO CONTACT LEGISLATORS TO VOICE YOUR SUPPORT FOR THESE
MEASURES. Unless these two issues are passed
by the Legislature, UT Austin risks being less competitive with its peer
institutions for faculty and research dollars,
and will lose the momentum that resulted from the investment made in higher
education for the last two legislative sessions.

INCREASING TUITION: Senate Bill 1466 by Senator Teel Bivins and House Bill
2531 by Representative Rob Junell would authorize
a $2 a semester credit hour increase in tuition rates each year through the
2005-2006 academic year. The House bill also
increases tuition by $1 a semester credit hour for each of the following
five years. We do not know which bill will
move first. However, one of these bills should be before the full Senate
or House soon. Please call your State Senator
and Representative and other members you know and say, "I support SB 1466
and HB 2531, the bills to increase tuition
rates at universities, and urge you to vote for this legislation when it
reaches the Senate/House floor." (Phone numbers available
at http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/Senate/senmem.htm and
http://www.house.state.tx.us/house/member.htm)
(or copy this address into the location/address field of your
browser) Reasons to support the bill include:

Texas ranks 32nd among the states in total tuition and fees paid to
comprehensive colleges and universities.

Tuition is a necessary part of the financing for university operations
since general revenue provides only a portion of state
appropriated funds. The first year revenue gain from the tuition increase
for all universities would be about $22 million.
Of that amount, over $6 million would flow to UT System universities.

Fifteen percent of the tuition increase is devoted automatically to student
financial aid.

RETENTION OF 100% OF INDIRECT COST FUNDING: Senate Bill 1, the State budget
bill, uses 50% of the indirect cost funds earned
by a university on research awards and contracts to offset university
appropriations. The Conference Committee on SB 1 may consider
allowing universities to retain up to 100% of these funds. Please call
members of the Conference Committee on SB 1 and say,
"I support allowing universities to retain 100% of indirect cost funds
earned on research grants and contracts, and urge you to
make that change in the Appropriations Bill, SB 1." The 10 Senators and
Representatives on the Conference Committee are:
Senators Rodney Ellis (512-463-0113), Robert Duncan (512-463-0128), Chris
Harris (512-463-0110), Steve Ogden (512-463-0105) and Judith
Zaffirini (512-463-0121), and Representatives Rob Junell (512-463-0472),
Garnet Coleman (512-463-0524), Pete Gallego (512-463-0566),
Talmadge Heflin (512-463-0568), and Buddy West (512-463-0546).
Reasons to support this change are:

All of the ten most populous states allow their institutions to retain 100%
of their indirect costs, except for Florida, whose
institutions retain 98%, and Texas, whose universities get only 50%.

UT Austin would gain an estimated $16.3 million per year in additional
revenue with this change. This revenue could be
used to expand UT's research capabilities by supporting faculty, providing
seed money for new projects and purchasing
research-related equipment.

Three recent reports recommend that Texas universities be allowed to retain
100% of indirect cost funding. These
include reports from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, a
special commission appointed by then-Lieutenant
Governor Rick Perry, and Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Carole Rylander.

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO SUPPORT YOUR UNIVERSITY BY CONTACTING LEGISLATORS
ON THESE TWO IMPORTANT ISSUES.

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