{"id":197834,"date":"2025-10-16T17:46:56","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T22:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/?p=197834"},"modified":"2025-10-16T19:04:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T00:04:00","slug":"gov-greg-abbott-names-head-of-new-office-to-investigate-higher-ed-complaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2025\/10\/16\/gov-greg-abbott-names-head-of-new-office-to-investigate-higher-ed-complaints\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Greg Abbott names head of new office to investigate higher ed complaints"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/newsletters\/the-brief\/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=trib-ads-owned&amp;utm_campaign=trib-marketing&amp;utm_term=inline-CTA-brief\">Sign up for The Brief<\/a>, The Texas Tribune\u2019s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\">\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-custom-everlit-iframe-embed\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_xPk5YCpdWXK?ui_cover_art=false&amp;ui_title_intro=Listen+to+this+article&amp;ui_title_icon=headphones&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=3.0.3\" width=\"100%\" height=\"130px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><style>.wp-block-custom-everlit-iframe-embed { margin: 0 !important; }<\/style><div class=\"everlit-disclaimer\" style=\"margin: 0;\"><div style=\"margin-top: -0.5rem;font-size: 0.7rem;color: #4a4a4a;font-family: Open Sans, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\">Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/about\/ethics\/#ai-policy\">AI policy<\/a>, and give us <a href=\"https:\/\/airtable.com\/appFeleeKVUN0Iytx\/pagPG40gbkU0EfjIr\/form\">feedback<\/a>.<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.texastribune.org\/greg-abbott\/\">Greg Abbott<\/a> on Thursday appointed Brandon L. Simmons as Texas\u2019 first higher education ombudsman, charging him to lead a newly created office to investigate complaints filed against the state\u2019s colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ombudsman\u2019s office was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2025\/06\/19\/texas-legislature-higher-ed-lege-recap\/\">created<\/a> as part of Senate Bill 37, which was passed by the Texas Legislature earlier this year and went into effect on Sept. 1. The office will have the power to investigate complaints claiming that universities and colleges aren\u2019t following the new law or the state\u2019s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, as well as recommend funding cuts for violators.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SB 37 gives governor-appointed regents new authority to approve or deny the hiring of top university administrators as well as courses that they consider do not align with the state\u2019s workforce demands. Traditionally, faculty have advised university administrators on such academic matters and hiring decisions, but SB 37 also limits professors\u2019 influence on campuses.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Supporters say the office will bring needed accountability to higher ed institutions, while the American Association of University Professors has contended that, without due process protections, it is ripe for abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Legislative Budget Board\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/capitol.texas.gov\/tlodocs\/89R\/fiscalnotes\/pdf\/SB00037F.pdf#navpanes=0\">fiscal analysis<\/a> of SB 37, the ombudsman\u2019s office will have five employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simmons, who served as chair of Texas Southern University\u2019s Board of Regents, said Thursday he will step down from the board. Regent James Benham will be taking over as chair.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simmons is a distinguished professor of business at Wiley University in Marshall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBrandon Simmons\u2019 achievements and dedication to educate our future leaders as an entrepreneur, professor, and university chairman will help ensure Texas\u2019 higher education institutions continue to set the national standard and prepare our students to thrive,\u201d Abbott said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/gov.texas.gov\/news\/post\/governor-abbott-appoints-simmons-as-director-of-institutional-policy-and-oversight\">press release<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simmons\u2019 appointment requires confirmation from the Texas Senate.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supporters say the office will bring needed accountability to Texas universities, while faculty groups have said that, without due process protections, it is ripe for abuse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1438,"featured_media":197836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-feature.php","format":"standard","meta":{"everlit_article_id":"artl_xPk5YCpdWXK","everlit_hide_embed":false,"everlit_embed_size":"large","everlit_generation_settings":{"embed_ui_cover_art":false,"embed_ui_title_intro":"Listen to this article","embed_ui_title_icon":"headphones","primary_voice":"281","guest_voice":"281","default_publication":"pblc_PVW312Hm3Ba","default_conversation_mode":false,"default_sonic_optimization":false,"default_read_alt_text":false,"default_read_urls":false,"default_skip_article_image":false,"intro_mixable":339,"outro_mixable":86,"intro_duration":15,"outro_duration":0,"intro_padding":3,"outro_padding":0,"disable_music":false},"_everlit_article_id":"","_everlit_hide_embed":false,"_everlit_embed_size":"","_everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_content_hash":"59fac6d579fedf9aff7698f3ebde72d5","_everlit_metadata_hash":"8f37c8dc27b0077b77af7689a35270c9","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-16T22:47:02Z","apple_news_api_id":"90ce2181-b400-44d0-9ae9-75186aeb20b4","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-10-17T00:07:40Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkM4hgbQARNCa6XUYausgtA","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"_photon_skip_featured_image":false,"_photon_quality_featured_image":0,"manual_modified_date":"2025-10-16 19:04:00","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":true,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[1781,1814],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"tt_series":[191],"coauthors":[1718],"class_list":["post-197834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-greg-abbott","tag-higher-education-coordinating-board","tt_series-fellows","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gov. Greg Abbott names new Texas higher ed ombudsman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Supporters say the office will bring needed accountability to Texas universities, while faculty groups have said that, without due process protections, it is ripe for abuse.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2025\/10\/16\/gov-greg-abbott-names-head-of-new-office-to-investigate-higher-ed-complaints\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gov. Greg Abbott names new Texas higher ed ombudsman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Supporters say the office will bring needed accountability to Texas universities, while faculty groups have said that, without due process protections, it is ripe for abuse.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2025\/10\/16\/gov-greg-abbott-names-head-of-new-office-to-investigate-higher-ed-complaints\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Texas Tribune\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-16T22:46:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-17T00:04:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texastribune.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Brandon-Simmons-TT-01-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&quality=100&ssl=1&w=1200&h=630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nicholas Gutteridge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@nico_gjc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nicholas Gutteridge\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/gov-greg-abbott-names-head-of-new-office-to-investigate-higher-ed-complaints\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/16\\\/gov-greg-abbott-names-head-of-new-office-to-investigate-higher-ed-complaints\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nicholas Gutteridge\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5402ecdeecce041f70a3c4e05b18d8af\"},\"headline\":\"Gov. 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Trusted by Texans.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Texas Tribune\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/TexasTribuneLogo_horizontal-color.png?fit=1362%2C153&quality=80&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/TexasTribuneLogo_horizontal-color.png?fit=1362%2C153&quality=80&ssl=1\",\"width\":1362,\"height\":153,\"caption\":\"The Texas Tribune\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5402ecdeecce041f70a3c4e05b18d8af\",\"name\":\"Nicholas Gutteridge\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/Nicholas_Gutteridge-1-96x96.jpegf0011d83017058fa0eaf611f480408ba\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/Nicholas_Gutteridge-1-96x96.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.texastribune.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/Nicholas_Gutteridge-1-96x96.jpeg\",\"caption\":\"Nicholas Gutteridge\"},\"description\":\"Nicholas Gutteridge was a reporting fellow based in College Station. 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