Issue date: 6/5/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Priscilla West Texas A&M President Elsa Murano speaks about her first five months as executive of the University. [Click to enlarge]

During their freshmen year, Aggies experience a variety of things from which they draw life lessons. Time management, the freshman 15, and how to get more money from their parents are a few examples of the freshmen experience.

For Texas A&M's President Elsa Murano, the "freshman" experience was in many ways the same. Murano said she has learned much about managing her time in the new position, and that she plans to ask the Texas Legislature for more funding when the new legislature convenes. No freshman 15 however, she jogs around her new residence at night, perhaps a lesson learned when she first attended college.

"It's been busy, very very busy," Murano said. "Trying to get acquanted with a new job… is like drinking out of a fire hydrant. A lot of info coming at you at once."

The first thing Murano did when she took office was meet with faculty, staff and students, and hold discussions with them to learn what they felt were the most important issues facing A&M. One of Murano's first tasks to emerge from these discussions is a topic that affects all students, the price of tuition.

"We had to make a decision on what do to regarding tuition," Murano said. "Should we raise it and by how much. How do we justify it?"

Murano held an open forum with Texas A&M students to discuss the necessary rise in tuition and she was happy to say that her efforts resulted in an increase in tuition that were smaller than her best expectations.

"The initial [tuition hike] was going to be $20 for each semester hour, and I said no no no we aren't going to do that, it's going to be between 10 and 13 [dollars.] When it was all said and done, [the increase] was $7.25, less than a 5 percent increase, which is the lowest increase we've had in many years. It's typically 10 percent or more."

Continued...

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