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Editor’s Note: The Texas Southmost College board of trustees has “the exclusive power to manage and govern the college,” according to the board’s policies. “The board shall have the sole right to adopt policies,” and its powers include: “the establishment, governance and control of the District according to law; the acquisition, sale and retention of real and personal property in the name of the district; the approval and receipt of all fees, tuition, charges, income deposits, bequests, gifts and donations or other moneys coming legally to the district; the admission of students and the adoption of curricula, subject to the laws of the state and the regulations of the Coordinating Board, Texas College and University System; and the issuance of certificates, diplomas and degrees to qualified students on the recommendation of the Partnership faculty.” The following are the candidates for the Place 1 and Place 2 trustee seats in the May 10 TSC trustee election. Early voting starts today and ends May 6. Staff Writer Hugo E. Rodriguez recently interviewed the candidates for both positions.
Place 1 Candidates
Age: 49 Hometown: Brownsville Occupation: Owner of U.S. Herr Industrial Metals Co. Inc. Family: Wife; two children Education: Graduate, James Pace High School; Attended Texas Southmost College; bachelor of arts degree in microbiology, University of Texas at Austin Why are you running for trustee? “I sit on several boards, but in every board that I sit on, I like to feel like I bring something to the table. Now that I’ve been involved with the Texas Southmost College board of trustees for about four months, I know that I am the right person for the job. … I also want to make sure that the students are taken care of, as far as making sure that they have what they need to make sure that they get a quality education.” Experience: “I’ve been involved with youths … Little Leagues, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts. … I’ve also been involved with community organizations … American Red Cross, Chamber of Commerce, Valley Regional Medical Center, Brownsville Economic Development Council, Greater Brownsville Incentives Corp.” What are your goals if elected? “Making sure that our students that initiate here as freshmen have everything they need to go ahead and complete the four-year degree and maybe go on to a master’s and maybe even higher. I know there are certain issues that we need to address to make it more accessible for the students. … Also … nightlife for the students … Austin has Sixth Street, San Antonio’s got the River Walk … something for students to relieve their stress.” What are the challenges facing TSC and the university? “We’ll start with something as simple as parking. I realize that there’s issues with that. … We need to address housing for students, we need to make sure that the professors are obviously very well-qualified, so the [students] can receive the top-quality education which at this point I feel that they are. And then … one of the most critical situations is making sure that the students can afford to come to Texas Southmost College. [It] doesn’t do any good that they don’t have to leave our hometown to go get an education if the education they try to get here is also unobtainable because of the tuition costs.” How would you overcome those challenges? “Well, on tuition, it’s one of the most difficult things because everything, all costs [are] going up, but just like there was a fund that was established by the board of trustees, I think we need to find ways of increasing that fund, so that we can have more money available, and either be able to expand that to more students or increase the amount of money that is given to every individual student. As a business owner, I deal with these kinds of issues on a daily basis. I have to find ways of making ends meet … and this university, or actually, Texas Southmost College, should be thought of as a business. We’re in the business of educating students; our clients are precisely the students.” Where do you see the university in 10 years? “I envision this campus, or this institution [at] 40- or 30- or 50,000 strong, but … the trick is how do we get there, how do we get there in a cost-effective manner and not neglecting any area--the facilities, the professors, and more importantly, the students … athletes, our local athletes. We need to be able to offer all the different sports for all our different athletes. … We need to have good, sound housing for them also, so I would hope that in 10 years, this would be the preferred institution in the whole Valley and would be attracting people from outside, not just our Valley, but minimum that our Valley high school graduates would consider this as a primary choice of school vs. going somewhere else.” In what ways have you contributed to TSC or the university in the past? “Mostly, [it] has been in support of the things that are being done … working through the Brownsville Economic Development and GBIC. I was on the board, and I’m not saying I was the only one, there’s a lot of board members, but we were instrumental in approving some of the funds that were initially granted for Texas Southmost College from our tax base. … The other thing is simply working with some of the professors and some of the people that are in charge of developing curriculums. We work with them to let them know specifically, ‘Look, there’s no need of you training or offering certain courses if there’s no demand or if there’s an overabundance of demand. … You need to focus on these kinds of skills that are required.’” Why should voters pick you over the other candidates? “I know a lot about what is required in our community, so that we can have skilled labor available for jobs that we are trying to attract. I’m also involved with the medical profession, so I know all the different jobs that are also out there that we require personnel to fill. … I do have something to offer to this board and to the institution. It’s not just sitting up there.”
Age: 55 Hometown: Ciudad Anahuac, Nuevo León, Mexico; resides in Olmito Occupation: Retired account executive for Wasatch Education Systems Corp. Family: Married; four children. Education: Graduate, Nixon High School in Laredo; attended Texas Southmost College; bachelor of arts in management and Spanish, University of Texas-Pan American. Why are you running for trustee? “I am running for trustee because that’s something that I wanted to do. Now that I’m retired, I have time to do it. My daughter came back and is attending TSC, and I thought it was a good time. One, because I did not want to run against somebody that had already been seated, and I felt this was a good time because Mr. Herrera was appointed, and we would be running at the same time. We’ll both be new. … I think we’re all qualified, I think we all would make good board members.” What kind of experience do you feel you bring to the position? “I’ve been on different boards, with Los Fresnos School District. … I also served on the Tropical Texas MHMR board, I’ve served on water district boards. I’ve served on International Education Services board, Healthy Communities [of Brownsville], to name a few.” What are your goals if elected? “I would really like to see enrollment grow, tuition be affordable to all kids, qualified professors that our students can understand and equal employment to all individuals, equal opportunity employment to all individuals.” What are the challenges facing TSC and the university? “I think the economy, and I think our students are struggling to pay their tuition. As the economy suffers, parents don’t bring that kind of money; so therefore, students are having a hard time paying for tuition. And just the mere growth.” How would you overcome those challenges? “I think it has to take consensus. I think you have to work with everybody on the board. They’ve been there longer than I would have been, so I really need to build a team, and we all need to work together at this.” Where do you see the university in 10 years? “I would like to see it bustling with kids … and providing higher degrees. I know we have a doctorate, I’d like to see the nursing program grow, the two-year program grow.” In what ways have you contributed to TSC or the university in the past? “I pay my taxes. I’m an [alumna], and I’m there to help if I’m called.” Why should voters pick you over the other candidates? “I think the three of us are qualified, very qualified. And, I think we all want the same thing. We want to better the university, but I have the time. I’ve got the experience because I’ve been on boards. I’ve got the time because I’m retired, and people of the district can call me with concerns. I don’t believe in micromanagement, but I think people would identify with me and call me with their concerns. And I think that will strengthen the university. People need to be heard, and I will be their voice.”
Age: 50 Hometown: San Luis Potosí, México; resides in Brownsville. Occupation: Cardiologist
Family: Married, two children. Why are you running for trustee? “I feel that you have to give your community some of your time to try to help this institution. I have a lot of experience. I have a lot of education. … I always enjoy being around the students and teaching, and trying to help them to grow and to achieve their dreams.” What kind of experience do you bring to the position? “Being a professor of medicine in Mexico, being an instructor in the [physician assistant] program at Pan Am, [and working with the] Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio … and also having contacts with the biology students here.” What are your goals if elected? “To work together with the other members of this board, together with the deans, working with Dr. [Juliet V.] García, and continue with the growth of this university that I think we need. … We need to continue growing into a more [prestigious university] and to have better professors, to have more education [available] to the students and … continue to be accessible to the community.” What are the challenges facing TSC and the university? “I think, eventually, the requirements and the demands from the university to its students are going to grow. I’m not complaining that it’s an open university, because we need an open university, have access to people that otherwise would not have access in other places. The other challenge is tuition; tuition has gone up. But I think ... I’m not taking [the] position that it’s right or it’s wrong, because I have no evidence of what’s going on into the books of the university. Obviously, I think they do it for a reason, to grow … to have more programs available in this university, to have more health-related careers … because there is a high demand [for] nurses, not just in the Valley, but in the whole country.” How would you overcome those challenges? “I think you have to have an open mind, you have to try to implement your ideas, and try to work with other people to open their eyes.” Where do you see the university in 10 years? “I see this school, under the direction of Dr. García, growing. I think we’re very lucky to have a person like her run this university, and I think she will take it to a higher level.” In what ways have you contributed to TSC or the university in the past? “I contribute working with Dr. Shanta [Goswami, director of the Office of Pre-Medical Education Programs]. I have students come and spend a month with me in my office or with my P.A. to try to do rotations. I have students from other schools, the health careers from the programs for medical assistants. … I think I have a broad spectrum on the students from the Valley, and I think that’s what makes me a unique and more appealing candidate for this position.” Why should voters pick you over the other candidates? “The current [board member] is Mr. Jose Herrera. He is a fine person. I think his intentions are good—to help, and that’s the reason he is running, but I think people have to make a choice: Who is more well-prepared for this position, and who will help the university more--the person with good intentions, like him, or as much experience in education that I have? So, I think that my credentials speak [for themselves], that I’m [the] better candidate for this position.”
Place 2 Candidates
Age: 54 Hometown: Brownsville Occupation: Retired educator Family: Divorced; three daughters and one granddaughter.
Education: Graduate, Villa Maria High School; bachelor of
science in education, Pan American University at Brownsville. What kind of experience do you feel you bring to the position? “I’ve worked with people, from my students to co-workers and their parents, community leaders. I feel that that in itself brings together people, if you have a positive attitude.” What are your goals if elected? “I want to make sure that all the kids get motivated to find what it is that they really want to do and I hope I can be an ambassador to that, to help them come to college, and even if it’s two years, four years, six years, whatever they want to do, they can become. And, getting them … to stay here and be a part of our community’s leaders and hopefully we know that with that, they will [improve] our economy, will even prosper because of it. I want to be a part of that, I want to see our community prosper and I want to see our kids be successful and stay in town, stay here, homegrown leaders.” What are the challenges facing TSC and the university? “We know of a lot of issues that concern a lot of the citizens here. … Some of those issues are again, tuition, again, book fees, parking. … People want to know how their money is being spent, the bond projects. Maybe there is not enough communication out to the public. … I know that they also want to separate the two. I do not believe that UTB and TSC should be two separate entities. There have been so many people involved in the past … to bring TSC where it was when UTB joined in. We have created a gem; we have a jewel here in Lower Cameron County, for people to not just come to TSC but to continue on to UTB and obtaining a master’s and in some fields, even a [doctoral] degree. Here in our very own backyard, we have the finest institution. UTB and TSC have meshed together, they have come together, and there is no way that we could become independent.” How would you overcome those challenges? “Definitely do it in a positive way, working collaboratively. I want to look at numbers … to see where we have property … maybe possibly create a little more parking for our kids. … I don’t know if a shuttle might be considered. I thought maybe if the parking [lots] are really going to be far and if we could afford to get a driver and a small bus to create a continuous shuttle for kids instead of walking. … That would be a consideration.” Where do you see the university in 10 years? “I see the university not only attracting our local kids and [in-state]. They have already attracted national attention and international attention. Maybe we’re not making our community aware of that, but the diversity that a university should bring, will definitely be here in 10 years.” In what ways have you contributed to TSC or the university in the past? “In the past, I have not. It’s hard to explain, but maybe a mother can understand this, maybe an educator. … I know I’ve touched the lives of my students, and I have helped them see the big picture, so that when they leave my classroom in fifth grade and move on to middle school and high school, that that’s not all there was, that the big picture Ms. Tamez was talking about was the college, and I hope that a lot of my students did come.” Why should voters pick you over the other candidates? “Because I’m a positive force, and because positive becomes positive. … You need to place someone on the board that is going to create a friendly atmosphere with the rest of the board. I intend to reach out to our board members in a way that I can be persistent without being pushy or bossy or negative.”
Age: 61 Hometown: Brownsville Occupation: Retired assistant professor at UTB/TSC.
Family: Married; two daughters and two grandsons. Why are you running for trustee? “When I first saw the makeup of the board, I saw two lawyers, a doctor, businessman, a former nurse and a port director, and it struck me odd that I didn’t see an educator on the board. An institution of higher learning, I think, should have an educator on the board, and I want to be that educator on the board.” What kind of experience do you bring to the position? “I started as a public schoolteacher in 1969; that was in Port Isabel, as a permanent substitute. And then I started teaching with BISD in 1971. From ’71 to ’79, I was teaching here in Brownsville public schools. From ’79 to 2004, I was an assistant professor here at the university. My main responsibility at the university was supervision of student teachers. Many of the [student] teachers that I supervised are in the schools today as teachers, principals and counselors.” What are your goals if elected? “We have to look at support services for this institution, and what I mean by that is that, if a student is paying $132 for computer fees, then we have to give the student more. For instance, Los Fresnos High School and Porter High School have a program that provides laptops for students that they can check out and take home. I think that one of the things that I would look at is having some similar type of program here at the university, where a student can come to the library, check out a laptop and, hopefully, that will help them be more successful.” What are the challenges facing TSC and the university? “The loss of enrollment. I have here the numbers from Spring of 2008, and [the] total number of students that I see here … is 13,030 students, and that’s a drop from 17,215 from the Fall of 2007. My concern is that we’re losing students, and one of the reasons that we’re losing students is because the university recently implemented the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy, which means that the first year that it was implemented, over 600 students were placed on suspension, and there were 2,000 on probation. I feel, as a board member, I would be very concerned that we lose even more students because of this policy, which is a policy that should have been in place a long time ago. My concern is that we’re losing students. … Secondly, I’m concerned about the Dual Enrollment programs. The Dual Enrollment programs have been growing considerably, but the numbers that I see for have gone from 5,839 in the fall to 2,522. That’s a significant drop.” How would you overcome those challenges? “In order to help the student that is in the bubble, is on suspension or probation, you’ve got to provide the support services. You’ve got to provide the advising. You have to provide not only the advising, but you have to make sure that you follow up on that first visit with the counselor or the adviser. The other thing that’s happening today … at Texas Southmost College, the tuition has increased considerably. I mean a simple comparison between South Texas College in McAllen [and] Texas Southmost College: As far as tuition is concerned, the students in McAllen are paying little over $900 for 12 [credit] hours. Students here in Texas Southmost College are paying $1,900 for the same 12 hours.” Where do you see the university in 10 years? “I see the university growing. One of the areas that I want it to grow, especially, is the nursing program. That is probably one of the most important programs that we have here on campus. … We also need to be looking at providing more teachers to the school district, especially in bilingual education. We should be leading the country in producing more bilingual teachers.” In what ways have you contributed to TSC or the university in the past? “I think my contributions to the community have been well-documented. I served on the South Texas ISD board of directors in Mercedes. While I was there I was recognized as a star achiever. Pan American University also recognized me as a notable Valley Hispanic. The Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame also recognized me and inducted me. … I have over 25 years of community service that I can say that I’m very proud of.” Why should voters pick you over the other candidates? “Because of my experience, of 33 years in education and secondly, because I have the commitment and I have the time. And I also feel that I’m very strong in research, and I’m … also not afraid to ask the hard questions. And when you vote for me, you’re going to vote for a person that’s going to be committed to this institution.”
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Name:
Adela G. Garza
Name:
Jaime Silva
Name:
Petrita Esparza Tamez
Name:
Rene Torres
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and Texas Southmost College