78R3977 JNC-D

By:  Brown of Brazos                                            H.C.R. No. 32 



CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, The retirement of Wanda Mills on January 29, 2003, 
brings to a close 22 years of outstanding service as executive 
director of the Council of Public University Presidents and 
Chancellors; and
	WHEREAS, This native Texan recognized the value of higher 
education early on in her life as she pursued her degree at 
Midwestern State University while maintaining a full-time position 
at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls; she married Jim Mills 
in 1959, and their long and happy union has blessed them with two 
sons, Michael and Mitchell, and two grandsons, Andrew and Nathan; 
and
	WHEREAS, Mrs. Mills began her professional involvement in 
higher education in the Lone Star State in 1977, when she was named 
assistant to the vice president for public affairs at the 
University of Houston; the first Austin-based government relations 
person outside of The University of Texas, she was also the first 
noncommittee member to attend meetings of the Texas Higher 
Education Coordinating Board's Formula Advisory Committee, and by 
regularly monitoring that committee, she acquired a valuable 
understanding of the complex world of higher education formula 
funding; and
	WHEREAS, Executive director of the Council of Public 
University Presidents and Chancellors since October 1980, she has 
worked for 12 different chairmen over the course of her career, and 
she currently works for 50 chancellors and university presidents; 
in response to the highly demanding nature of her position, Mrs. 
Mills has elevated efficiency to an art form and has become 
legendary for her comprehensive accounts known as "Wandagrams" in 
which she exhaustively documents and deciphers governmental 
proceedings affecting higher education in the state for a grateful 
audience; and
	WHEREAS, For more than two decades, Wanda Mills  has 
furthered the cause of higher education in Texas, while earning the 
affection, admiration, and respect of all those who have been 
privileged to work with her, and her contributions will not soon be 
forgotten; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby congratulate Wanda Mills on the occasion of her retirement 
from the Council of Public University Presidents and Chancellors 
and extend to her sincere best wishes for great happiness in the 
years to come; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 
prepared for Mrs. Mills as an expression of high regard by the Texas 
House of Representatives and Senate.