QUESTIONS TO THE PRESIDENT

One of the goals of Texas State University is to encourage the free exchange of ideas and the free flow of communication. The hallmark of a successful administration is an openness to those ideas and clear, informed responses.

President Trauth is committed to fostering an atmosphere of interactive communication at Texas State. Two of the most successful programs for communicating with the president are the scheduled open door forums each semester and electronic communications such as this website.

This page is established to record answers to the most frequently asked questions to the president. Please review these questions to see if they cover your specific needs. Anyone with a question or concern is invited to submit questions to President Trauth. Please email the president at
president@txstate.edu or use the convenient form below to send your request.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is your vision for Texas State?

Texas State University is an extremely strong institution that has benefited from the long, consistent leadership of one president, and that’s frankly unusual in higher education today. That stability allows for steady implementation of a vision. There are also wonderful opportunities here that I would want to take advantage of, some already identified and some not. I want to listen to the faculty, staff, students, alumni, and craft a shared vision for Southwest Texas together.

Is the move to Carnegie’s ranks of Doctoral Research-Intensive (national ranking of colleges) on track?

Yes. It’s mainly a function of doctoral programs and graduates of those programs. What stands behind the numbers, though, is whether there is an environment in which doctoral education can flourish. That’s hard to quantify but important to have if you provide doctoral programs. In the same breath, however, I say that this doctoral environment does not have to take anything away from undergraduate education. In fact, they should reinforce each other.

What is your philosophy about the academics/athletics relationship?

Athletics is often a window for the institution, a window into the academic side of the house. It’s unlike any other window. Athletics can give you opportunities, such as fund raising, that nothing else gives you. Of course, there can never be an assumption that athletics are somehow the core of the institution. You can have the academy without athletics, but you can’t have athletics without the academy. There’s a great partnership that can exist, but it takes a desire for the partnership, which I think Texas State has. Like all partnerships, though, you can’t take it for granted and you never stop working on it. People on the academics side have to believe that somehow athletics is supporting them. I also think that on a residential campus like Texas State, athletics is an important part of student life. Students, even very good students, must be connected to an institution to succeed, and athletics is a powerful connector.

What are your thoughts on Division I-A football?

That decision has been deferred. I’d like to focus initially on rivalries, forming some positive rivalries to engage students and others. We can work on that while we wait for the fallout to occur over the NCAA’s decisions on who’s to be in Division I-A. Texas State is not the only institution that will be affected by the NCAA decisions, and the results could produce some good rivals for us.

How do you view the relationship between the university, city and neighborhoods?

It seems good to me, in my limited time here. I’m glad that we now have Kim Porterfield in the role of community liaison. She’s a visible access point for questions from the community about the university. I’ve often compared this relationship to a marriage: there are good times and rocky times, but we are committed to each other and rely on each other.

Do you favor a cap on student enrollment at Texas State?

We are a state school and cannot tell the legislature or the Coordinating Board that we are capping enrollment. When the state says we are going to add a half million students by 2015, we have to help accommodate them. That said, we are feeling the pinch of these enrollment increases. Texas State, at least in the main campus, cannot grow indefinitely. We are looking seriously at the PAS student enrollment (borderline failures on admissions standards) and will probably cut the number of students we enroll in that program. Much of our growth will come in the MITC numbers.

Can special events on campus, i.e., concerts, plays, etc, be made more available to the general public (parking and more publicity)?

I really think the parking is there, at least for evening events. It might not be quite as convenient as you’d like, but we have garages and lots close to Evans, the theatre, the Music Building, UPACC – where events are likely to be held. I think the prospect of looking for a spot is scarier than the reality. We’ve added the ‘Pit’ garage (across from Music) and a floor onto the Student Center lot. (For Fine Arts events, you can join Friends of the Fine Arts and get a parking hang tag for convenient parking.) As far as publicity goes, the Record publicizes our events well. We try to keep websites up to date. Sports calendars and fine arts calendars are readily available and are mailed to Bobcat Athletics Foundation and Friends of the Fine Arts members.

How can the community help support Texas State in its quest for excellence?

Come to campus for athletics events, concerts, plays, lectures and find out how good the university really is. If you haven’t taken a look in the last decade, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. We all get calloused to our hometown attractions – people in Austin don’t visit the Capitol, in San Antonio don’t see the Alamo. Come and see and then tell a friend.