UTB layoff letters sent - JACQUELINE ARMENDARIZ, The Brownsville Herald

A University of Texas System official confirmed that 30 faculty members were notified Friday that their positions would be terminated in May 2013. The layoffs are connected to the end of the partnership between the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. All affected faculty are master technical instructors, a position unique to the partnership. Master technical instructors are individuals without terminal degrees, meaning they may not have the highest degree offered in their field or their field may not have an advanced degree. UT System spokesman Anthony de Bruyn explained that in November the UT System Board of Regents amended rules about faculty technical titles and tenure.