Sec. 79.02. ESTABLISHMENT; SCOPE. (a) The university is a general academic teaching institution under the governance, management, and control of the board of regents of The University of Texas System.

(b) As necessary to achieve the maximum operating efficiency of the university, the board shall provide for the organization, administration, location, and name of the university and of the colleges, schools, and other institutions and entities of the university, which must include:

(1) an academic campus and other academic operations in Cameron County;

(2) an academic campus and other academic operations in Hidalgo County;

(3) the medical school and other programs authorized for The University of Texas Health Science Center--South Texas under Subchapter N, Chapter 74, subject to the provisions of that subchapter regarding the location of certain facilities and programs of the health science center;

(4) the facilities and operations of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Academic Health Center established under Subchapter L, Chapter 74; and

(5) an academic center in Starr County.

(c) The board shall equitably allocate the primary facilities and operations of the university among Cameron, Hidalgo, and Starr Counties.

(d) The board shall ensure that the medical and research programs of the medical school component of the university are conducted across the region and have a substantial presence in Hidalgo County and Cameron County. The board shall also ensure the provision of interdisciplinary education across health professions within the university.

(e) The authority of the board under this section to achieve the maximum operating efficiency of the university and to provide for the organization, administration, and location of colleges, schools, and other institutions and entities of the university prevails over other law, including Section 74.611.

(f) The board has all the powers and duties provided by prior law, as that law existed at the time the applicable university or other entity was abolished, in regard to:

(1) The University of Texas at Brownsville, The University of Texas--Pan American, and any other institution, college, school, or entity abolished under the Act authorizing creation of the university; and

(2) any facility, operation, or program that is transferred to the university under that Act.

(g) The board may impose and collect any fee authorized by prior law, as that law existed at the time the applicable university was abolished, for The University of Texas at Brownsville or The University of Texas--Pan American, as determined by the board and subject to the limitations provided by the prior law authorizing the fee. The abolition of The University of Texas at Brownsville and The University of Texas--Pan American does not affect any pledge of revenue from a fee made by or on behalf of either of those universities to pay obligations issued in connection with facilities for which the fee was imposed and the obligations were issued.

Added by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 726 (S.B. 24), Sec. 1, eff. June 14, 2013.