84R9067 BK-F

By: Frullo H.R. No. 574

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS, Distinguished representatives of the Texas Tech University System are gathering at the State Capitol on March 4, 2015, to celebrate the system's vital role in the Lone Star State; and

WHEREAS, The Texas Tech University System, governed by a nine-member board of regents and Chancellor Robert L. Duncan, consists of Texas Tech University, Angelo State University, and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Centers at Lubbock and El Paso; the system is a $1.7 billion enterprise currently educating nearly 47,000 students, averaging more than $200 million in research expenditures annually, and counting approximately 290,000 alumni; in addition, it has an endowment of over $1 billion and some 17,000 faculty and staff focused on advancing higher education, health care, research, and outreach across the state; and

WHEREAS, Each component of the system provides innovative educational and research opportunities; Texas Tech University is a major comprehensive research university, led by President M. Duane Nellis; enrolling more than 35,000 students in 10 colleges and two schools, TTU has set a new fall enrollment record for the past eight years, and it has seen an enrollment increase of 25 percent since 2007; with the goal of being one of the nation's premier research institutions, the university's total expenditures in that area topped $153 million in 2014; moreover, 10 faculty members were awarded grants from the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in 2013, the most of any university in its class in the nation; and

WHEREAS, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center is composed of five schools in various health care disciplines, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, allied health sciences, and biomedical sciences, and has trained more than 20,000 health care professionals; overseen by Dr. Tedd L. Mitchell, TTUHSC enrolls more than 4,500 students and has tripled its research expenditures over the past five years, with significant studies under way in areas such as aging, cancer, reproduction, and genetic diseases; the university also graduates more health care professionals than any other health-related institution in Texas and addresses the medical needs of more than 2.5 million people who live throughout a vast 108-county area; and

WHEREAS, Joining the system in 2007, Angelo State University enrolls nearly 6,500 students in five colleges and is directed by President Brian J. May; ASU was the first university in the state to offer a degree in computer science and has been named to the Princeton Review's "Best Colleges" list for the past six years; unique to ASU, its Carr Scholarship program is funded by one of the largest endowments at a regional university in the United States, thus making scholarships attainable by one of every five of its students; and

WHEREAS, The fourth and newest member of the system, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso became a comprehensive health-related institution in 2013 and encompasses the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing, and a regional Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; headed by Dr. Richard A. Lange, the university has enrolled nearly 500 students, is home to the first medical school on the nation's southern border, and conducts important research focused on cancer, diabetes and obesity, infectious diseases, and neurosciences; and

WHEREAS, True to their missions, the Texas Tech University System and its four component institutions continue to serve as influential leaders in the higher education and health care landscapes, and in so doing, they are contributing to the remarkable achievements of the state as a whole; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas Legislature hereby recognize March 4, 2015, as Texas Tech University System Day at the State Capitol and extend a warm welcome to all those from the system who are visiting here today.