NACOGDOCHES, Texas — A Texas House of Representatives committee approved a bill Monday to move forward in the process of adding Stephen F. Austin State University to the University of Texas System.
During a hearing, the House Committee on Higher Education approved House Bill 2639 with 10 lawmakers in favor, no one voting against the bill and one person being absent. Rep. Travis Clardy, R-Nacogdoches, authored the bill.
If fully approved by both the House and Senate and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, HB 2639 would allow SFA to be brought into the UT System.
The bill would "abolish" SFA as it is currently and then bring the school into the UT System while continuing to operate under the name SFA.
The next step will be presenting the bill before the full House of Representatives.
Approval from the Texas Legislature is a part of the process for a university to become affiliated with a system.
In November, the SFA Board of Regents voted 8-1 to join the University of Texas System.
SFA had previously considered the Texas A&M University System, the Texas State University System and the Texas Tech University System
In a presentation, officials said all of the university systems agreed to keeping SFA's name and mascot the same. The proposals also agreed to the importance of finding a president to lead SFA by May 31.
Steve Westbrook has served in an interim role since April 2022 after former President Scott Gordon stepped down.