Partnering with institutions across Texas to provide excellent, affordable higher education to Texans was the theme of remarks provided by Chancellor Carine M. Feyten in her testimony before the Senate Finance Committee in Austin last week.

Feyten was among several higher education leaders invited to offer testimony before the Senate committee as part of its biennial charge to consider funding for public higher education institutions in Texas. Her presentation was livestreamed.

“The evidence is clear. If we are going to succeed as a state in educating a majority of Texans beyond high school, we will need to rethink our systems,” Feyten said, adding: “In North Texas, TWU is working with Texas A&M Commerce and UNT Dallas, in partnership with Dallas Promise and Commit to build a learning community that values collaboration instead of competition — we can do both.”

The chancellor went on to note that the partnership was designed to “knock down barriers” and provide seamless pathways from primary and secondary schools all the way to college, and to be flexible enough to allow students to easily transfer within that system.

Additionally, Feyten touted TWU’s recent accomplishments, including a major grant award for a project to make student transcripts portable and being recognized as the fifth most diverse institution in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. She also praised the university’s acuity in making an abrupt pivot to online learning in the face of the escalating COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Feyten will offer similar testimony around 9:30 a.m., Thursday, March 4, when she is scheduled to appear before the House Appropriations subcommittee on education at the state Capitol. Her testimony will be livestreamed.