The Health Related Institutions Formula Advisory Committee of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) reviewed an overview of formula funding drivers and agreed to form subcommittees to examine funding levels and formula weights, including consideration of graduate behavioral health, allied health and graduate nursing programs. The committee also elected Kristin Nace as chair and selected Tomas Guajardo as vice chair and Kemp Lewis as secretary.

Committee members heard a presentation from Melita Berger, THECB senior director for funding and resource planning, on how formula funding is calculated and used. Berger told the committee formula allocations are driven by measures such as weighted full-time student equivalents (FTSE), predicted square feet, research expenditures and counts of graduate medical education (GME) residents. She said institutions report data used by the board and the Education Data Center to generate the inputs appropriators use during the legislative appropriations process.

The committee's work is intended to produce recommendations the THECB will pass to the commissioner and ultimately to the governor and Legislative Budget Board for consideration before the next legislative session. Berger explained that instruction and operations (I&O) funding is based on FTSE or headcount (medical, dental and podiatry students are funded via headcount), infrastructure funding is based on projected square feet, research enhancement ties to an institution's research expenditures, and the GME formula is based on the number of residents as of Sept. 1 of the year before a legislative session. She noted podiatric residents were included in the GME formula beginning in the 2024'25 biennium and said staff will share the presentation slides with committee members.

Commissioner Rosser opened the meeting and framed the committee's work in the context of statewide workforce and access challenges. "I'll be brief. You have a lot of work to do," he said, and later added, "Texas is only going to become a more populous state," urging members to consider rural access and the full spectrum of credentialing from sub-baccalaureate certificates to research doctorates when recommending how formulas should resource institutions.

Members volunteered to serve on subcommittees to examine Charge 1 (appropriate funding levels for the I&O, infrastructure, research enhancement, GME and mission-specific formulas) and Charge 2 (appropriate formula weights and consideration of new specialty programs such as graduate behavioral health, graduate allied health and graduate nursing). Several members named themselves as volunteers during the meeting; others said they would participate after the meeting organizer shared subcommittee planning materials.

Committee leadership was established by voice votes. The THECB's committee moved that Doctor Jonathan McCullers participate as a nonvoting member until the THECB considers his nomination at its October meeting; that motion passed by voice vote. Tomas Guajardo nominated Kristin Nace for committee chair; the nomination was seconded and approved by voice vote. Penny Harkey nominated Tomas Guajardo for vice chair; the nomination was seconded and approved by voice vote. Michael Tremonti nominated Kemp Lewis for secretary; that nomination was seconded and approved by voice vote.

The committee tentatively scheduled in-person meetings with a virtual option for Oct. 1, Nov. 5 and Dec. 3 at 10 a.m., and the committee adjourned until the Oct. 1 meeting. No formal policy changes or funding levels were adopted at this meeting; the committee's next work will be the subcommittee reviews and any recommendations they forward to the full committee and the commissioner.