It is the Texas legislature [Ref 1] & [Ref 2] that has the ultimate legal authority for determining TSTC's mission. The legislature exercises its control through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the agency that is responsible for overseeing all state funded institutions of higher education in Texas. TSTC's legislated purpose or mission is described in Vernon's Texas Education Code Section 135.01: [Ref 3] "Texas State Technical College System is a co-educational two-year institution of higher education offering courses of study in technical-vocational education for which there is a demand within the state of Texas."
"Texas State Technical System shall contribute to the educational and economic development of the State of Texas by offering occupationally-oriented programs with supporting academic course work, emphasizing highly specialized advanced and emerging technical and vocational areas for certificates or associate degrees. The Texas State Technical College System is authorized to serve the State of Texas through excellence in instruction, public service, faculty and manpower research, and economic development. The business and industry include exemplary centers of excellence in technical program clusters on the system's campuses and support of educational research commercialization initiatives. Through close collaboration with business, industry, government agencies, and communities, including public and private secondary and postsecondary institutions, the system shall facilitate and deliver an articulated and responsive technical education system.
In developing and offering highly specialized technical programs with related supportive coursework, primary consideration shall be placed on industrial and technological manpower needs of the state. The emphasis of each Texas State Technical System campus shall be on advanced or emerging technical programs not commonly offered by public junior colleges."
The primary internal authority for the mission statement lies with the TSTC Board of Regents [Ref 4], and each college is charged with reviewing and modifying its Expanded Statement of Purpose. [Ref 5] The policy on TSTC Harlingen's Expanded Statement of Purpose [Ref 6] details the process for review and approval.
