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This conceptual paper analyzes persistent challenges to racially diversify higher education in Texas, paying special attention to trends at this Southern state's most selective flagship--University of Texas at Austin. We apply critical race theorist Kimberlè Crenshaw's frame of race liberalism and her view of equality as either expansive or restrictive to analyze race-neutral approaches intended to remedy longstanding issues of racial diversity. Specifically, we focus on the Texas Top Ten Percent Policy, tracing its trajectory from affirmative action through the recent Abigail Fisher case. This examination clarifies the race-evasive basis of policies designed to improve enduring issues of racial exclusion in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

United States has a history of discrimination against non-whites. Colleges and universities have played an important role against segregation and promoting equal opportunities. Within these actions, this article highlights the case of experiments in admissions to college in Texas, California and Florida, through percent plans that offer an alternative "race-neutral". This paper seeks to serve four purposes. First, it provides a broad overview of the college choice and admissions processes as well as the most commonly considered "race-neutral" strategies. Next, it provides a detailed description of the three percent plan policies in place in the United States, noting the similarities and, importantly, the distinctions between and among them. Third, it summarizes the empirical literature produced over more than a decade describing the effectiveness of these percent plans on various outcomes of interest. Finally, in the context of that research base, the paper reflects on the strengths and challenges of a percent plan in furthering an equity agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of Hurricane Rita on one of the many universities along the Gulf Coast of the United States: Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Hurricane Rita, which made landfall between Sabine Pass, Texas, and Johnson's Bayou, Louisiana, on 24 September 2005, is the fourth strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane on record and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. This paper assesses the tasks that confronted the administration, faculty, and students of Lamar University in the days and weeks after the event. It concludes that the one factor that will influence more than any other the degree of success after any disaster is whether all levels of the administrative command institutionalise, endorse, promote, and encourage the adopted recovery plan. The research seeks to share valuable insights on the vulnerabilities that academic institutions face during natural disasters and to highlight some of the many lessons learned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, five female scholars of color utilize the method oftestimonio(testimony) to document their individual lived experiences as members of a three-year long research and writing collective. This collective served as a space of liberation from the dominant discourses and practices the women were experiencing in the academy. Eachtestimoniopresents themes related to: shared struggles, friendship, trust and vulnerability, a sense of give and take, and their commitment to each other and the group. It is hoped these reflectivetestimonios(testimonies) contribute to the existing literature citing the benefits of such collaborations among female scholars and also encourages and guides other female academicians to develop their own research and writing collectives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent decline of students pursuing engineering degree programs is a great concern for many higher education authorities including Federal and State governments (Kuenzi, 2008). Existing programs in high schools have not yet produced the desired results. Consequently, a number of initiatives to remedy this situation have been proposed and implemented. One such initiative is a funding opportunity by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to conduct summer engineering workshops to provide high school and middle school students with the opportunity to learn about the engineering profession. This includes information about engineering disciplines and careers, the basics of engineering education, and details about becoming a professional engineer, in addition to some subject-related materials being taught. This paper describes a one-week summer program, funded by THECB, that was held at Texas A&M International University, Laredo, Texas, in Summer 2010. This program provides not only adequate information about the benefits for choosing engineering disciplines, but also extends student's knowledge of the required skills and the career opportunities awaiting them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In light of the recent bans on affirmative action in higher education, this paper provides new evidence on the effects of alternative admissions policies on the persistence and college completion of minority students. I find that the change from affirmative action to the Top 10% Plan in Texas decreased both retention and graduation rates of lower-ranked minority students. Results show that both fall-to-fall freshmen retention and six-year college graduation of second-decile minority students decreased, respectively, by 2.4 and 3.3 percentage points. The effect of the change in admissions policy was slightly larger for minority students in the third and lower deciles: fall-to-fall freshmen retention and six-year college graduation decreased, respectively, by 4.9 and 4.2 percentage points. Moreover, I find no evidence in support of the minority “mismatch” hypothesis. These results suggest that most of the increase in the graduation gap between minorities and non-minorities in Texas, a staggering 90%, was driven by the elimination of affirmative action in the 1990s. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Recent studies of graduate education in science and engineering recommend a new pathway for graduate education, emphasizing interdisciplinary interactions, to prepare a versatile workforce that will be able to contribute in a global environment. The National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (NSF IGERT) has funded over 100 projects addressing this need. As these projects progress it is important to assess their successes, best practices and common difficulties. This paper describes one NSF IGERT project, "Graduate Training in Optical Molecular Bio-Engineering," at the University of Texas at Austin, the integrated approach used to carry out its assessment, and how results of the assessment have been used to help achieve the goals of the program. We find that the total number of interdisciplinary scholarly activities (presentations, publications, funded research proposals and patent applications) reported by IGERT faculty and students rose steadily throughout the period of the IGERT award. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sample of 263 junior and senior undergraduates (101 males, 162 females) participated in a study to determine relationships between their agreement/disagreement about a university-wide writing competency graduation requirement and (1) level of writing capability as measured by the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) test, (2) attitudes toward writing in college classes, (3) challenges encountered in writing, and (4) self-regulatory strategies to resolve writing challenges. Students with "high" THEA writing scores approved of the writing graduation requirement, desired more writing in college classes, and sought help in resolving writing dilemmas. Students with "low and average" THEA writing scores disagreed with the graduation policy, desired less writing in classes, and used negative practices to resolve writing challenges. Survey instrument and suggestions for practitioners are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]