Newsroom

Sen. Watson calls for another flagship university

Wednesday, January 31, 2007
by A.J. Mistretta
Austin Business Journal

To compete effectively in education on the national and international stage, Texas needs a third flagship university, says newly elected State Sen. Kirk Watson. The Austin Democrat says he may introduce a bill during this legislative session that would take the state a step closer toward that goal. Texas currently has two flagship schools with Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin. Together, the two schools have a combined enrollment of roughly 95,000 students. But across the state, there are more than three-dozen more -- tier-two or below -- higher education institutions. Watson says it's clear from the state's forecasted population growth that the demands on higher education will only expand in coming years. Coupled with that, he says, are the continued development of the Texas economy and the employment needs of new and expanding businesses. But at the moment, he says, Texas is "engaged in a zero-sum game."Watson says his office is close to completing research that will allow him to make a decision on whether or not to file a bill that would create a commission to jumpstart the process for a new flagship school. That group's objective would be to determine the best way to add another first tier university somewhere in the state without taking anything away from the work already conducted at the two existing schools. "This does not have to do damage to what we already have," he says. Watson says it's unfortunate that when people think about centers of research in the United States, they only think about institutions on the East Coast and the West Coast. "There are great things happening here in Texas and we already have premier universities," he says. "They are big deals and we need to preserve and enhance them. But 20 years from now, at a very minimum, we want to have enhanced our higher education generally, enhanced our existing flagship universities and created at least a third new flagship university."Watson says Austin is experiencing some of the great benefits it has now in large part because of the decisions made decades ago with regard to UT. Now is the time, he says, to begin making those decisions for the next generation. "Somewhere along the way, we stopped thinking big in Texas," he says. "We need to be thinking big again."