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Dear Friends,
With a new school year under way, things are buzzing across the 14 institutions of The University of Texas System. I had the opportunity to help celebrate the very first day at our newest institution, UT Rio Grande Valley, on Aug. 31. Student enrollment topped 29,000 — more than 2,000 beyond our expectations — and more than 4,200 of those students are first-time freshmen. And just yesterday, it was my distinct honor to attend the inauguration of President Greg Fenves at UT Austin. I am confident that with the support of the entire Longhorn nation — myself included — President Fenves will lead UT Austin to unprecedented heights and this great institution will continue to change the world for the better.
Another recent highlight for me was the fall meeting of the Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee, held earlier this month in Chicago. With members hailing from all over the country, the meeting was a great opportunity for me to share the important work going on across our 14 institutions and to personally thank those who do so much for our students and faculty through their contributions of time and resources.
In this message, I wanted to give you a brief recap of our August Board of Regents meeting. The two-day agenda included a number of very important items, starting with the budget to fund operations at our institutions for the 2016 fiscal year. The Regents approved an operating budget of $16.9 billion, a $1.3 billion increase over 2015.
My own personal highlight of the meeting was celebrating this year’s winners of the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards (ROTA). This year the Regents honored 79 phenomenal teachers from across the System. ROTA is the most prestigious teaching award we have, and in addition to prestige, each outstanding educator received $25,000 – a tangible demonstration of the value our Regents place on great teaching.
The Regents also addressed the admissions process, an issue that has received much attention in recent years. Ultimately, what I wanted was an admissions policy that is fair to aspiring students, transparent to the public and supports excellence at our institutions. At the same time, I think it is very important that our presidents have the flexibility, authority and discretion to do their jobs. I’m pleased to report that the admissions policy approved by the Regents – which was written in collaboration with all the presidents of our academic institutions – achieves these objectives.
As always, last month’s Board of Regents meeting underscored what a unique opportunity we have at the UT System to positively impact our state, nation and world. The UT System is getting stronger by the day, and we owe much of that to the generous support we receive from you. Rest assured, we don’t take your support for granted – in fact we’re working hard to earn it every day.
Thank you for reading and for all that you do for the University of Texas System.
Bill McRaven
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