State

Gov. Rick Perry has named A.W. Riter of Tyler to a new panel that will help decide how to allocate higher education incentive money.

The Task Force on Higher Education Incentive Funding will recommend guidelines for implementing programs based on achievement.

The governor said an incentive-based system is essential.

“We must change the paradigm from funding institutions solely based on students enrolled to funding based more on the quality of students produced,” Perry said in a prepared statement.

Riter is president of Riter Management Co. and A.W. Riter Jr. Family Foundation. He is on numerous higher education boards including the University of Texas at Tyler's Development Board and Health Center Development Board, UT Tyler Foundation, College for all Texans Foundation, and Select Commission on Higher Education and Global Competitiveness, advisory council.

He is also a member of Tyler Health Facilities Development Corp. Board and Mercy Ships International Executive Committee.

He has bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University and a master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

The task force is made up of the commissioner of education, presiding officer of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and appointees. Besides Riter, the governor announced Monday that his appointees are:

Kern Wildenthal of Dallas, president of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Bernie Francis of Carrollton, owner and CEO of Business Control Systems; Woody L. Hunt of El Paso, is chairman and CEO of Hunt Building Corp.; and Roberto Zárate of San Antonio, who is retired from Northside Independent School District after a career in education.

The task force must submit its report by July 15.