Stephen F. Austin State University considers joining a university system
Four systems have expressed informal interest in an affiliation with the East Texas school. Full Story
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Kate McGee is an Austin-based enterprise and investigative reporter. She joined the Tribune in October 2020 as a higher education reporter. She was a three-time finalist for the Education Writers Association's Beat Reporter of the Year award, winning the title in 2024. She was also a Livingston Award finalist for her coverage of the University of Texas at Austin. Before the Tribune, she spent nearly a decade as a reporter at public radio stations nationwide, including in Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Austin; Reno, Nevada; and New York. Kate was born in New York City and primarily raised in New Jersey. She earned her bachelor's degree from Fordham University.
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![Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches.]()
Credit: FJ Gaylor/Stephen F. Austin State University -
Texas A&M faculty leaders say President Kathy Banks is leaving them out of major decisions
Faculty members say Banks could have been more communicative and transparent about a variety of organizational changes she put in motion during her first year as president. Full Story
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![Texas A&M University President M. Katherine Banks at the Zachry Engineering Education Complex in College Station on March 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
As monkeypox spreads, health experts urge Texas universities to prepare for outbreaks
While the risk of exposure to monkeypox remains low, health experts say college students living in close proximity to each other could spur outbreaks. They encourage schools to share their plans and relevant information about the virus. Full Story
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![A woman holds a syringe with a dose of the Monkeypox vaccine at the Edison municipal vaccination centre in Paris, France on July 27, 2022.]()
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Former employee accuses Collin College of racial discrimination in fourth recent lawsuit against the school
Swee Lian Wee claims she was denied a promotion based on race and that school leaders created a hostile work environment. Full Story
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![The Collin Higher Education Center in McKinney.]()
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UT-Dallas is investigating a professor’s homophobic tweet with misinformation about monkeypox
LGBTQ students want the university to take “substantive action” against the computer science professor for his tweet, which included misinformation about how the monkeypox virus spreads. Full Story
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![The UT Dallas Spirit Rock is painted in rainbow colors with a message reading "Here to Stay!" as UTD students use chalk to create messages and art in support of LGBTQ+ students, outside the Activity Center on campus, on July 18, 2022 in Richardson.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Texas universities grapple with how to provide reproductive health care information to students amid new abortion laws
The changing legal landscape is raising questions for public colleges about how to talk to students about reproductive health care options and creating hesitancy among students about whether they can trust their universities’ health centers. Full Story
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![Nikita Kakkad holds a box of emergency contraception supplies that she delivers to anonymous students on campus as requested. July 15, 2022.]()
Credit: Cindy Elizabeth for The Texas Tribune -
Former UT-Brownsville President Juliet García to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
García served as the president of the University of Texas at Brownsville until it merged with the University of Texas-Pan American to become the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She is the first Mexican American woman to lead a college or university in the United States. Full Story
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![Then-UT Brownsville President Juliet García attended the University of Texas System Board of Regents meeting Aug. 21, 2013.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Texas safety officials will begin “random intruder detection audits” of schools in September
Texas School Safety Center officials said they will alert districts and local law enforcement of the audits, where trained staff will try to find access points into school buildings. But school campuses will not be informed ahead of time. Full Story
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![Diagrams of doors used by the shooter at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde are used during the testimony of DPS Director Steven McCraw before the Senate Committee to Protect all Texans at the Capitol on Jun. 21, 2022.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas GOP platform calls for ban on teaching “sexual matters,” while requiring students to learn about “dignity of the preborn human”
The party planks specify what the Texas GOP believes students should and should not be taught in the classroom about gender and sex, signaling further shifts to the right. Critics say such policies would be harmful and discriminatory. Full Story
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![The display at the Texas Alliance for Life booth illustrates the development of a fetus during the Republican Party of Texas 2022 convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston on Friday, June 17, 2022.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Texas rejects more rigorous teacher certification exam
The Educative Teacher Performance Assessment was designed to better prepare new teachers, but faced pushback from people who thought it would create barriers for people of color to enter the profession. Full Story
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![Students work at their desks during a geometry class at Chapa Middle School in Kyle on Aug. 24, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune