Contact: Monty Jones, (512) 499-4363

Date: March 18, 2003

UT System News Release

Three University Systems Unite with Houston Endowment to Strengthen Teacher Education

AUSTIN - Chancellors of the three largest university systems in Texas signed an agreement Tuesday to create a collaborative research center for the enhancement of teacher education programs across Texas.

A three-year $2.9 million grant from Houston Endowment Inc., a private philanthropic organization, will be used to establish the Center for Research, Evaluation and Advancement of Teacher Education, to be known as CREATE. The center will involve a partnership among the Texas A&M University System, the Texas State University System, and the University of Texas System.

The center's mission will include promoting research on the education of teachers, sponsoring research fellowships, disseminating research findings, and undertaking other activities to help institutions develop more effective teacher preparation programs. The institutions have not yet determined a location for the center.

George Grainger, an official of Houston Endowment, said in a statement: "Houston Endowment is excited to provide funding for the establishment of this new collaborative center. Together, these three great university systems have 23 colleges of education and annually account for more than 60 percent of all the new teachers produced by higher education institutions in Texas, so they have a tremendous impact on public education in our state. This new partnership will focus an extraordinary assemblage of talent on one of the most urgent issues in Texas - the need to produce excellent teachers for a growing and diverse population."

Howard Graves, chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, said: "We enthusiastically support this new collaboration, and we are grateful to Houston Endowment for making it possible. Research on the preparation of new teachers is vital if we are to continue to improve our preparation programs and to provide teachers for Texas who can impact high levels of student achievement. This center will bring together top-flight researchers from all three systems to define and deliver high-quality educational research. Working together to integrate this teacher-education research in our separate systems, we will be able to advance this critically important mission much further and much faster than would otherwise be possible."

Lamar G. Urbanovsky, chancellor of the Texas State University System, said: "Allow me to add my thanks to Houston Endowment for their generosity and vision in supporting this new multi-system collaborative center. Few issues are as important to Texas as preparing new teachers for successful careers in the elementary and secondary classrooms of the state. The center that we are endorsing today is a vehicle for meeting that challenge by creating synergies among the on-going research and reform initiatives within our three university systems."

Mark G. Yudof, chancellor of the University of Texas System, said, "Through its generous support of this new collaboration, Houston Endowment has again demonstrated its clear vision for a Texas in which all young people have an opportunity for an excellent education. The education of excellent teachers is essential for creating that opportunity, and we are pleased to join in this partnership to accelerate the achievement of our common goal."

The leaders said that as the center undertakes its work, the other university systems in Texas will be invited to join, as well as professional associations and government agencies.

Photos from the News Conference

Memorandum of Understanding for the center
The Texas A&M University System
Texas State University System
The University of Texas System
Houston Endowment

Related News:

University Systems and Community Colleges Join Forces to Support Students (8/12/02)

U.T. and U.H. Systems Form Partnership to Assist Public Education (8/8/02)