by Sally Logue Post
New Leadership from an Old Friend
Texas Tech University System Chancellor Robert Duncan brings legislative expertise and passion for his alma mater to the job.
Robert Duncan became a Texas State Senator in 1996 when his predecessor became chancellor of the Texas Tech University System. Now almost two decades later, the circle is complete. Duncan has left that same senate seat to become chancellor.
“As a state senator I have worked with every chancellor Texas Tech has had and each has played a role in Texas Tech’s development,” Duncan said. “Each chancellor has helped the system grow and helped Texas Tech become a nationally competitive research university.”
Duncan became the fourth chancellor of the Texas Tech University System in July 2014. He brings his passion for and in-depth knowledge of Texas higher education policy to a job he calls “a game changer” for his alma mater.
“I truly believe the creation of the Texas Tech University System made a huge difference for Texas Tech and the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center,” he said. “The creation of the system allowed a lot of things to begin to happen and allowed our universities to grow and compete on a national level.”
Robert Duncan became the fourth Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System on July 7, 2014.
A Different Time
Texas Tech is a very different university now than when Duncan began his freshman year in 1971. Enrollment was only 21,313. About 34,000 students enrolled this fall, setting a sixth consecutive enrollment record.
Duncan, who was born and raised in Vernon, Texas, about 180 miles east of Lubbock, earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and his law degree from the Texas Tech University School of Law. It was at Texas Tech that Duncan got his first taste of politics, winning elections as both a student senator and as student body president.
“When I started school, the law school was very young,” Duncan explained. “It had just moved out of a barracks and into its new building. The medical school had just opened, but it was in Drane Hall, and there was a huge hole in the ground where the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center Building is now. Things have changed a lot.”
Legislative Excellence
Duncan certainly could not have foreseen moving into the chancellor’s role when John T. Montford left the state Senate to become the system’s first chancellor. But his career in the Texas Legislature has given him a solid foundation in higher education issues and funding.
A highly successful lawmaker, Duncan is known as a smart, savvy leader who could find common ground on contentious issues and successfully work complicated bills through the legislative process. He served on three of the Senate’s most powerful committees–Finance, State Affairs and Budget Conference. He served as president pro tempore of the Texas Senate during the 81st Legislative Session and served as a member of the Senate Committee on Higher Education, the Education Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. He was widely recognized as a leader in the Texas Legislature. Texas Monthly magazine named Duncan to its ‘Ten Best List’ more times than any other member of the legislature. He is also known as a passionate advocate for higher education.
Duncan’s accomplishments in the state Senate are many, including coauthoring and passing major legislation focused on:
- Ensuring landowner rights to water underneath their property
- Creating a strong eminent domain bill to protect property owners
- Funding for public and higher education
- The effectiveness of the state’s judiciary system
- Ensuring the fiduciary integrity of the Teacher Retirement System
Perhaps one of the most important pieces of legislation, at least for Texas Tech, that Duncan coauthored while in the Senate was the creation of the National Research University Fund (NRUF) in 2009. NRUF repurposed unused state funding to provide extra research focused funding for eight designated emerging research universities, providing they met a set of challenging academic criteria. Texas Tech and the University of Houston are the only universities to achieve NRUF funding.
Duncan is both a graduate of Texas Tech University and the Texas Tech University School of Law.
Higher Education Funding
Education finance will continue to top Duncan’s agenda as chancellor. He hopes to work with other universities to make sure that the legislature continues to invest in higher education, particularly continuing to improve the funding formula that is critical to university operations and a university’s ability to pay competitive salaries to faculty and staff. Formula funding is the primary funding source for higher education and is based primarily on the number of student credit hours taught.
“Texas has always invested in higher education,” he said. “We had budget shortfalls in both 2009 and 2011, but last year we were able to restore some funding. It’s important we continue to work to increase formula funding. State funding is critical to our university’s operations, and to providing competitive faculty and staff salaries. It also allows us to hold the line of tuition increases. Most of the tuition hikes I’ve seen over the years have been to simply hold the line on costs when formula funding has been flat.”
He also points to the creation of three funds aimed at making Texas universities more competitive nationally. The Texas Research Incentive Program (TRIP) is a $50 million fund that provides mating monies to external funds raised by universities, a program that has greatly benefited Texas Tech. The Research Development and Competitive Knowledge funds provide dollars above the formula that allow universities to invest in research and academic excellence needed to compete nationally.
“There is a commitment to excellence here. I want people to know that we are growing and looking for talented students, faculty and staff.”
– Chancellor Robert Duncan
The Future
Duncan’s job as chancellor means continuing to raise money. He will remain active in Austin and Washington D.C., in order to build support for the university after the recent success of the system’s $1 billion fundraising campaign.
He is still formulating his plans to move the university forward and has one message he wants everyone to hear: “There is a commitment to excellence here. I want people to know that we are growing and looking for talented students, faculty and staff.”
Duncan has spent the first few weeks in office talking to the president of each of the four TTU System component institutions and each member of the Board of Regents.
“I need to understand the priorities of each university before I can start laying out a plan for the next three years,” he said. “The job of the chancellor is to support the presidents in achieving their goals. In Texas Tech’s case, that means making sure President Nellis has the resources he needs to achieve Tier One status.”
Several years ago the university set a goal to achieve membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) and has made strides toward meeting the high-level of academic and research characteristic requirements.
“The university has set a lofty goal,” Duncan said. “But the good news is that striving to look like an AAU university means higher quality faculty and students. If you aspire to a goal like that, then you are continually improving. That is a win-win situation.”
The best news for Duncan is that he’s inherited a system in excellent shape. “All of our components are growing,” he said. “We now have two, four-year medical schools. Texas Tech alone has doubled its research funding since 2003 from $76 million to about $137 million in 2013, and enrollment is up significantly over the last few years. I’ve inherited a very healthy ship.”
Texas Tech University System
Formally established in 1999, the Texas Tech University System has emerged as one of the top public university systems in Texas and is a dynamic force in higher education. The TTU System consists of four component institutions and operates at multiple campuses and academic sites across the state and globe.
Sally Logue Post is Director of Research and Academic Communications in the Office of Research & Innovation at Texas Tech University.
