At its Aug. 7 and 8 meetings, the Texas State University System (TSUS) Board of Regents temporarily dissolved faculty senates in compliance with Senate Bill (SB) 37 and approved the design for two new residence halls. 

SB 37 passed in the Texas Legislature on June 1 and will go into effect starting Sept. 1. SB 37 gives the state government more control over public universities in aspects such as oversight on course curriculum, the hiring of faculty, cutting minor programs and easier paths to fire tenured faculty. 

Traditionally, faculty senates would elect their own representatives, but now university presidents get to select faculty senate officers and up to half of the members. Additionally, now faculty senates cannot have more than 60 members, appointees can only serve one-year terms for up to six years and elected members of faculty senates serve a two-year term and must step down after. 

Each college must have a minimum of two faculty senate representatives: one appointed by the president and one elected by faculty in the college, according to the Texas State Faculty Senate webpage. 

The TSUS Board of Regents updated its rules and now gave university presidents the ability to develop new faculty advisory groups, but no existing senates were authorized, meaning the faculty senate at Texas State and other TSUS universities – at least for right now – will be abolished starting Sept. 1 in order to comply with SB 37. 

According to the Texas State Faculty Senate webpage, the university is currently holding elections in each college to decide the new faculty advisory group. They expect to develop new Faculty Senate bylaws and update policies that comply with SB 37 by Jan. 1, 2026. After getting official approval from the Board of Regents, they will become the new Faculty Senate. But for now, faculty at Texas State will not have a formal voice in decision-making. The earliest Board of Regents regularly scheduled meeting is Nov. 20-21, but the board can call Special Called Meetings before then. 

Also at the meeting, the Board of Regents approved the design of Hilltop Phase II. 

The project will replace Arnold and Smith halls at the intersection of Student Center Drive and Matthews Street. There will be two, ten-story buildings (East and West) with two wings each, housing 1,504 beds with double-occupancy rooms and single occupancy Resident Assistant rooms. There will be both private and community-style bathrooms. The first floor of the West building will have a 563-seat dining hall, which is an “all you care to eat” facility. According to the board materials, the buildings will each be 121 feet tall. 

Jayme Blaschke, assistant director of media relations, told The Star that construction can begin as early as later in the fall semester, but there is no official groundbreaking date yet. If ground is broken by October 2025, the goal date for completion would be August 2027, but the date is subject to change. 

The funding source is TSUS Bonds, which will be repaid from housing revenues. The total estimated construction cost is $229,143,092. The estimated total project cost is $280,267,144. 

The board materials state that the justification for the project is that the university has a goal of housing 95% of first-time college students and also providing housing options to returning students who want on-campus housing. 

The next Board of Regents meeting will be Nov. 20-21 at Sam Houston State University. 

This is a developing story. The University Star will provide updates as they become available.