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If the EU didn't have Baloney, only the rich could have Universities

Texas A&M University System

Statewide Network

Texas has a land and water area of 695,621.6 square kilometers. The 25 member EU is 5.7 times the size of Texas. Texas is 7.5 times the size of Portugal. Texas, however, is not very densely populated and it has only about twice as many people as Portugal.

The A&M System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the USA, with a statewide network of nine universities, seven state agencies and a comprehensive health science center.

The A&M System educates more than 101,000 students and reaches another 11 million people through service each year. With 26,000 faculty and staff, the A&M System has a physical presence in 248 of the state’s 254 counties and a programmatic presence in every Texas county. Externally funded research brings in $600 million every year to help drive the state’s economy.

Universities and Agencies

Each of the 17 members of the A&M System has its own mission, history and goals. The oldest institution and founding member of the A&M System is Texas A&M University, established in 1876. Many of the member universities and agencies joined the A&M System decades after being established. Together, they strive to provide educational programs, outreach and community enhancement services as well as research that will improve the lives of people in Texas and beyond.

* More than one in five students in a public university in Texas is enrolled in an A&M System institution.
* Texas A&M consistently ranks in the forefront among public universities in Texas in retention rates—keeping students enrolled and on course for graduation both overall and for African-American and Hispanic students.
* A&M System students received nearly $207 million in scholarships and grants in 2005.
* The A&M System awarded 21,886 degrees in 2004-2005.
* The A&M System’s faculty includes recipients of the Nobel Prize, National Medal of Science, Pulitzer Prize, World Food Prize and Wolf Prize, as well as members in the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

The A&M System encourages innovation and discovery. Faculty in the A&M System conducted about $600 million in research in FY 2005 using funds received from the state and federal governments, industry, foundations and individual donors.

The Office of Technology Commercialization provides revenue to the A&M System through the licensing of technologies. In FY 2005, A&M System intellectual property generated $9 million in gross revenue as A&M System researchers provided 118 new disclosures, received nine U.S. patents, executed 43 licenses and options, and formed five start-up companies, including Telemedicus and Texas Enterosorbents Inc.

A&M System History

Did You Know?

The A&M System is governed by a nine-member Board of Regents, who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate for six-year terms. A non-voting student member was added in 2006. The A&M System chancellor, Bob McTeer, oversees the day-to-day administration, and each of the A&M System’s 17 members has a president, CEO or director. Each university is independent; only Texas A&M at Galveston and Texas A&M at Qatar are branch campuses of the oldest and largest member of the System, Texas A&M.

Texas A&M University-Texarkana, Tarleton State University-Central Texas and the Texas A&M University-Kingsville System Center-San Antonio are upper-level institutions. This means that the university offers courses only for junior and senior students (and perhaps graduate students). Students transfer to these institutions after completing their freshmen and sophomore years elsewhere.

The Permanent University Fund (PUF) is a public endowment contributing to the support of certain universities and agencies in the A&M System and certain universities in the University of Texas System.

The PUF was established in the Texas Constitution of 1876. Today, the PUF includes over 2.1 million acres in 19 West Texas counties.

Mineral income from this land has accumulated over several decades and the PUF was valued at approximately $9.4 billion as of Aug. 31, 2005. All mineral income and all increases in the value of equity investments from PUF capital gains become and remain an inviolate part of the endowment.

The PUF’s 2.1 million acres of West Texas land produce two streams of income. Mineral income remains forever part of the PUF endowment and cannot be expended, but surface income (primarily grazing and surface leasing) flows directly into the Available University Fund (AUF). In addition, financial investments held in the PUF are utilized to provide a payout stream into the AUF.

The annual distribution to the AUF is based on 4.75 percent of the market value for the last 12 quarters ended each February.

The A&M System may sell debt equal to 10 percent of the book value of the PUF. The indebtedness is secured by AUF income and among other factors is rated on the stability of the PUF, the quality of its investment management and other commitments of the AUF.

The Texas constitution specifies allowable uses of the AUF to include debt service on PUF debt, and support and maintenance for the A&M System Administrative and General Offices, Texas A&M and Prairie View A&M.

Those who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class from a Texas high school will gain admission into any of the A&M System’s nine universities. Students must contact directly the preferred A&M System institution’s admission office. A degree program inventory that lets search the offerings at all Texas A&M System universities. Academic Programs Search.

The System HR Office maintains links to all the job opportunities with the A&M System.

Answers to other FAQ.

System Offices and History.

The five articles, with a total of twenty sections, of the Bylaws of the Board of Regents.

Organizational Chart of the Executive Committee:
Chancellor
Executive Vice Chancellor for Finance
Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs
Vice Chancellor for Administration
Vice Chancellor for Governmental Relations
Vice Chancellor for Research and Federal Relations
Vice Chancellor for Technology Commercialization
General Counsel
Director of Communications
Chief Auditor
Chief of Staff

The Texas A&M University System CEOs
Universities:
Texas A&M University President
Prairie View A&M University President
Tarleton State University President
Texas A&M International University President
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi President
Texas A&M University-Kingsville President
West Texas A&M University President
Texas A&M University-Commerce President
Texas A&M University-Texarkana President
Health Science Center President and Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs
Agencies:
Vice Chancellor for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Director
Vice Chancellor for Engineering, Texas Engineering Experiment Station Director
Texas Cooperative Extension Director
Texas Forest Service Director
Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory Executive Director
Texas Engineering Extension Service Director
Texas Transportation Institute Director