Wish granted. The University of Texas at El Paso has been named to a special team of Texas higher-education institutions eligible to compete for elite national status as a research institution.
Attainment for such is a long way off, and many in El Paso realize that. And what may be regular hurdles to some other institutions seem like walls for UTEP. Even state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, who pushed hard for UTEP, figures it may be a decade or more away.
That's because attaining elite status calls for a lot of things: Raising millions of research dollars every year. Small professor-to-student ratios. Selective admission standards. And those profs had better be darn good at what they do.
But attainment of what's termed "tier-one" means El Paso stands to benefit in an economic way. Big money migrates to tier-ones. California has nine. Texas has UT Austin, Texas A&M and private school Rice.
Research industries set up around major research institutions. And they bring in good and high-paying jobs to bolster the economy.
So it's good that UTEP is gung-ho to being in the tally-ho race with others on the team, as per the OK from the Texas Legislature.
The others are: Texas Tech University, the University of Houston, North Texas University and UTEP's fellow UTs, Arlington, Dallas and San Antonio.
UTEP says it's now raising some $50 million a year in research money.
Normally a university must raise twice that to be considered tier-one. But the good news, in the form of a challenge, is that Texas will put aside money to help match research money schools may secure in the future.
And as both Shapleigh and state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, say, perhaps there can be some tweaking done on tier-one criteria at the next regular legislative session in 2011.
Because of our unique location on the border, UTEP is ideal for studying border issues such as health care, health research and national security.
In many ways, UTEP is at the epicenter of these important national endeavors.
Right now the hurdles are walls. But it's certainly worth the effort UTEP says it will put forth in attaining tier-one status.