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UH eligible for funds

UH and Texas Tech are the only two “emerging research universities” eligible to receive money from the National Research University Fund this year, according to a report by the Texas Higher Eduction Coordinating Board.

Pending an audit by state auditor, UH is eligible to receive the funds, said Commissioner of Higher Education Raymund A. Paredes in a memo to the state auditor’s office, published online by the Texas Tribune.

The two mandatory criteria for eligibility are to be an emerging research university and have restricted research expenditures, both of which UH has met.

UH has also met the criteria in endowment funds, number of doctorate degrees awarded, institutional recognition of research capabilities and scholarly attainment and high-quality faculty — meeting the minimum four of six passes necessary to be eligible to receive the funds, according to the report.

UH spent $57 million on restricted research in fiscal year 2010 and $53 million in 2011, according to the report, exceeding the required $45 million.

The value of the institution’s endowment funds also has to be at least $400 million in each of the two fiscal years preceding the year for which the appropriation is made. In 2010 and 2011, UH spent $491 million and $591 million respectively.

Also, UH met the criteria of high-quality faculty by having seven faculty members who had been awarded national or international distinction in 2010 and eight in 2011.

If UH is approved for the funding, it will receive one-seventh of the total money allocated for distribution by the NRUF, plus an equal share — up to one-fourth — of the remaining money after the other eligible schools receive their seventh, according to Texas House Bill 1000.

A boost in admissions is also expected because of the new status, as UH already saw a 12 percent increase in fall 2011 from the year before, said Shawn Lindsey, Director of Media Relations for UH.

“It’s impossible to attribute that rise to any single factor,” he said. “But as the University of Houston’s profile and reputation as a Tier One, nationally competitive research university continues to rise it’s only natural to expect that so will the interest of prospective students.”

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1 Comment

  • Attention Students: The University of Houston gets funded by the state at 25 cents on the dollar. The University of Texas and Texas A&M get funded at 75 cents of every dollar. Why? Because Texas and A&M have systematically worked together to illegally exclude UH from funding (along with every other public University in the state).

    The DC staff has doggedly decided to completely ignore this issue, and the Administration can't address it without committing political suicide. This is why, theoretically, our student paper should be mobilizing us to declare political war on the Texas Legislature and UT and A&M, to ensure that our degrees are funded by society at the same levels as those at UT and A&M.

    There is no justifiable reason why UT and A&M should be funded directly by state funds at a higher level. Understand, this isn't an earmark for a specific project or research center. This is a state of affairs that has gone on for over a century, and no one is willing to take action because of the greed and political monopoly of A&M and UT. But something we have to realize is that half of all public University students in the state of Texas *don't* attend A&M or UT schools. We have political parity; and we need to work together to crush their greed and selfishness, and ensure that funding of public education is 'fair and balanced.'

    The NRUF is simply a pander, to 'pay off' schools like UH and Texas Tech from continuing to fight to get access to equal funding. We shouldn't turn down any step forward, but we shouldn't accept half-measures either. We need to send a clear message to the Legislature: public funds aren't to be used to favor your alma mater. They should be allocated predominantly based on student population, and the massive 50% difference between UT and UH needs to end.

    Rather than writing about your $1500 in library fines, DC, consider a section of $400,000,000 in state funds stolen by UT and A&M every single year.

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