The full Texas senate will now have to confirm retired state Sen. Kevin Eltife, McCombs Partners CEO Rad Weaver and former vice chair of the UT System board Janiece Longoria before the candidates can start their new roles.
The UT Board of Regents holds the first of its 2017 regular meetings next Wednesday and Thursday.
Eltife, Weaver and Longoria will be replacing Regents Alex Cranberg, Brenda Hall Pejovich and Wallace Hall, whose terms expire this year.
Posted 1:19 p.m. 1/26
New UT regents vetted on Houston land purchase, admissions, relationship with Legislature
Three University of Texas System regents appointed by the Texas governor faced questions from the Senate Nominations Committee Thursday, giving their stance on affordability, admissions, land purchases and the board's relationship with the Legislature.
The board of regents—the governing body for the UT System—comprises nine members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate. Regents Alex Cranberg, Brenda Hall Pejovich and Wallace Hall will all see their terms expire following the state senate's decision to confirm Abbott's picks: retired state Sen. Kevin Eltife, McCombs Partners CEO Rad Weaver and former vice chair of the UT System board Janiece Longoria.
Houston property purchase
The committee grilled the nominees on the $220 million purchase of land in Houston without a heads-up to the Legislature in November 2015. The land is close to downtown Houston near Loop 610 and Hwy. 288.
"I want someone to explain to me why we’re going to spend $200 million on a piece of dirt if we don’t know what to do with it," Elkife said.
Source: The University of Texas System/Community Impact Newspaper[/caption]The discussion carried over to the Senate Finance Committee, where Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said he was disappointed with how UT handled the communication of the sale to state leaders.
"There’s almost an endless set of questions with this perplexing land deal," Bettencourt said.
UT System Chancellor Bill McRaven admitted the purchase was made quickly to secure the land for possible research and educational opportunities.
A task force was formed last March to determine what should be done with the land, and McRaven said he expects a report with recommendations by the end of the month.
"I can't come to you, Sen. Bettencourt, and tell you right now that we have a 70-year plan for that land," McRaven said.
He said he would wait for the new regents to be confirmed before any decisions are made regarding the Houston property.
"This really was about trying to do what I thought was the right thing," McRaven said, adding he apologized to the Legislature previously about the lack of communication regarding the sale of the land. "We intend to stay a great system, and in order to do that, you have to make some risks. You have to make some gambles. If you think we can stand still and not move forward as an institution, I think that's the worst thing we can do."
Relationship with the Legislature
The UT regent candidates stressed having a good relationship with the Legislature and said they would honor state legislation on topics, such as the top 10 percent rule—which allows for all Texas students who are in the top 10 percent of their graduating class to be automatically admitted to any Texas university. Policies regarding sanctuary campuses, or campuses that adopt policies which protect undocumented immigrants, would also be supported.
"It appears to me that the relationship [between the UT board of regents and the Legislature] has been somewhat fractured over the last few years," Longoria said. "It's vitally important that we increase opportunities for partnership and alignment to ensure we are serving constituents."
Weaver, who has a business background, said he wanted to look at the UT system as a business that delivers a product that is "sorely needed."
Each regent serves six years, and terms expire Feb. 1—or whenever a successor has been appointed, confirmed and taken the oath of office.
The Senate Nominations Committee is expected to vote on the confirmation of the nominees Feb. 1. The full Senate still needs to approve them before they can begin their terms. If approved, the regents' terms start Feb. 1. and end in 2023.
