“It was just my sense it was time for some new blood. I enjoy this job very much. I wouldn’t have stayed here this long if I hadn’t,” Paredes said as he explained how he timed his resignation so that he could give input during the current Texas Legislative session. “I didn’t want to leave the coordinating board hanging without a commissioner when the legislative session started, and I knew that after the legislation session ends at the end of May, there is always follow up work to do because of new laws, new policies and so forth. So, I said I would stick around for that.”
Paredes said it is too soon to tell what the outcome will be. But he is hoping public and higher education in Texas will be funded at adequate levels.
“We asked for $100 million dollars more in funding for all of our primary grant and financial aid programs. I want to fight for that,” he said. “We asked for some money to spend in graduate medical education so we could create more residencies and keep more of our medical school graduates in the state.”
Paredes said the main question is will state legislators fund enrollment growth and will they fund inflation?
“I don’t think we are going to see any increase in base funding. I would be very happy if they funded enrollment growth, the Texas Grad Program and inflation,” he said. “If those three things are covered, I would be satisfied with the overall state budget.”
Dr. Raymund A. Paredes
