If the funding issues have actually been resolved, then it would be great but that hasnt been announced yet. However, I read something in the news recently that points toward a possible funding solution (read below).
I was very impressed with the facility during my interview and I hope it works out so we can start this fall. Its really a shame that such an expensive facility has been basically wasted for a whole year due to politics.
Well, I currently live in Houston and I'll wait till I hear from the school before I start making relocation plans.
Here's what I read on caller.com:
Letter offers idea for Rangel college
Proposal suggests having a switch of management
By Adriana Garza Caller-Times
March 9, 2006
A letter sent Wednesday from a state representative from Waxahachie to the chancellor of the Texas A&M University System offered a possible solution to the funding crisis of the Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy.
In the letter, state Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, said funding resources would be available to the pharmacy school if management of the school were to be switched from Texas A&M University-Kingsville to the A&M Health Science Center, which has campuses across the state.
Chris Cutrone, spokesman for House Speaker Tom Craddick, a Republican, said that the Health Science Center received more than $10 million from the $75 million the Legislature appropriated in general revenue funding for the A&M System during the last legislative session.
The letter also applauds an effort to "transfer the management of the Irma Rangel School of Pharmacy to the Health Science Center."
According to the letter, state Reps. Vilma Luna, D-Corpus Christi, and Gene Seaman, R-Corpus Christi, have been engaged in discussions with officials from Texas A&M University-Kingsville, the A&M System and the Texas A&M Health Science Center to determine funding solutions.
A&M System spokeswoman Terri Parker said the system has involved the leadership of the Health Science Center in discussion about funding the school. She said officials would have to study the letter before commenting further.
The letter asks A&M System officials to outline the details of the proposal along with a timeline for implementation by Friday.
The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center is composed of five campuses including, Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas; the College of Medicine in College Station and Temple; the Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences; the Institute of Biosciences and Technology in Houston; and the School of Rural Public Health in College Station and McAllen.
Also included in the Health Sciences Center are the Coastal Bend Health Education Center located in Corpus Christi, which serves about 19 counties, and the South Texas Center in McAllen.
There are several benefits to the change, Luna said.
Under the umbrella of the Health Science Center, the pharmacy school would be able to take advantage of money already appropriated to the A&M health system.
It will also be easier for the pharmacy school to generate formula funding from the Legislature in the future, Luna said.
"Once formula funding kicks in, the pharmacy school would be self-sustaining in a few years," Luna said.
The pharmacy school would also be able to take advantage of the center's resources, including faculty.
"I think it's a very good option, a very viable option," Luna said. "It keeps things moving forward so we can get students enrolled in the fall."
Seaman said that though the management would switch in name, it wouldn't have much of an impact on how the school is run.
"This doesn't take anything away from TAMUK," Seaman said. "It's about who will have fiscal responsibility."
Switching management from A&M-Kingsville to the Health Science Center isn't necessary to transfer the funds, but it may make securing funding for the pharmacy school easier, Cutrone said. It is the A&M System's only pharmacy school.
Coastal Bend Pharmacy Association President Ron Garza said that while he had concerns about how the issue of funding the school has played out, he was glad to hear a solution may be in sight.
"I would be dismayed if the pharmacy school was used as a political pawn in a very unfair chess game," Garza said. "But at the end of the day, what matters is that the pharmacy school get funded."
Officials for the League of Latin American Citizens Council No. 1, which has been critical of the way the state and A&M System has handled the funding process for the pharmacy, could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.
Contact Adriana Garza at 886-3618 or HYPERLINK mailto:
[email protected] [email protected]
