More workers anticipated at site of future UT Dell Medical School
The number of construction workers building the new University of Texas Dell Medical School campus is anticipated to increase from 400 to 750 later this year, according to the university.
This rendering shows what The University of Texas Dell Medical School will look like when it is completed next year.[/caption]Students in the inaugural medical school class are still slated to arrive on campus in July 2016, at which point work should be complete on a new education and administration building, a medical office, a research building and parking garage.
There is also a new teaching hospital under construction called the Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas, a 211-bed, $295 million facility operated by Seton Healthcare Family. The facility will replace the existing University Medical Center Brackenridge at a property adjacent to the UT Dell Medical School.
Major ACC bond projects proceed as anticipated
Austin Community College board trustees selected project coordinators this summer to oversee the design and construction of multiple academic buildings, including the second phase of the ACC Highland Campus—located inside the former Highland Mall—and the development of a new Leander campus.
The projects are funded by a nearly $386 million bond voters approved last November. ACC Highland Campus expansion plans are slated to be complete by summer 2019, according to preliminary ACC staff estimates, and the Leander campus should be done by summer 2018. ACC President Richard Rhodes told board trustees that those dates are subject to change as construction advances.
UT decides to relocate statue under debate
The University of Texas President Gregory L. Fenves announced Aug. 13 plans to move a Jefferson Davis statue from the Main Mall to UT’s Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.
“It is vital that we preserve and understand our history and help our students and the public learn from it in meaningful ways,” Fenves said in a statement. “Davis had few ties to Texas but played a unique role in the history of the American South that is best explained and understood through an educational exhibit. The Briscoe Center has the expertise to do that.”
A lawsuit has temporarily delayed the relocation process. Statues of James Stephen Hogg, Albert Sidney Johnston, John H. Reagan and Robert E. Lee will remain on the Main Mall, according to UT.
In-district tuition remains the same
Central Austin students attending Austin Community College will not have to pay more tuition during the 2015-16 school year under a $312.78 million budget passed July 6 by ACC board members.
Tuition rates[/caption]Students will pay $67 per credit hour in tuition this year, the same as the 2014-15 school year. However, out-of-district students pay an additional fee of $222 per credit hour—a $20 increase from last school year, and out-of-state students saw their tuition increase $17 to $360 per credit hour. All non-hourly ACC staff also received a 3 percent raise as part of the approved budget.
Board trustees acknowledged a growth in the district’s property tax collections helped prevent tuition from increasing for area students. Board Chairman Vic Villarreal also credited strong planning and sacrifices from ACC faculty and staff for helping keep rates level.
“I think we were somewhat rescued by property values, but I’m not sure that’s the whole story,” Villarreal said. “The years of planning complete the story.”
Huston-Tillotson new president replaces longtime campus leader
Colette Pierce Burnette began as Huston-Tillotson University’s sixth president in July. She is the first female president at the school since its merger and only the second female president in the institution’s 140-year history, according to Huston-Tillotson.
Colette Pierce Burnette[/caption]She previously served as interim president at Pierce College, a 30,000-student institution located in Puyallup, Washington. Prior to that, Pierce Burnette worked from 1999 until 2012 at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, in various roles, such as vice president for administration, chief financial officer, vice president for information technology and chief information officer.
“I am deeply honored to serve as the sixth president of Huston-Tillotson University,” Pierce Burnette said in a statement. “When I stepped on the grounds of this campus and interacted with the distinguished faculty, administrators, alumnae, and bright and engaging students, I could see myself here.”
Burnette was among three finalists for the job and one of 70 applicants to replace Larry L. Earvin, who retired after 15 years leading the university.
Huston-Tillotson is a historically black institution in East Austin first established in 1875.
