Having worked in state government for legislators, the attorney general and the governor, Paige Cooper decided to make a switch to governmental relations for University of Texas Permian Basin.
Cooper, who grew up in Seguin, serves as assistant vice president, government and community affairs for UTPB, officed in Austin.
She earned a bachelor of science in advertising from UT Austin.
Cooper advocates — but doesn’t lobby — for UTPB with the state legislature.
It was through Stacey Napier, now vice chancellor for Governmental Relations at the University of Texas System, that Cooper became UTPB’s conduit to the legislature.
Napier suggested that UTPB needed someone in governmental relations and started talking to President Sandra Woodley about it.
Cooper said it took about a year and a half to work things out and she started in April 2020, right when everything shut down due to COVID-19.
“It was quite a while before I made it to campus,” Cooper said.
She had never worked in higher education before.
“… So that was a new challenge that I thought was interesting. I know lots of people that work for institutions and so just having talked with them over the years it seemed like an area that I would like and that would be engaging and interesting to work in,” Cooper said.
She added that she has enjoyed it so far.
“I think UTPB has a lot of really great faculty and staff. I’ve enjoyed the interactions that I’ve had with them. It has been a huge learning curve,” Cooper said.
She worked for State Rep. Edmund Kuempel for 12 years then left and did some independent lobbying. After that, she worked in the Attorney General’s Office for eight years in government relations and then for the governor for five years.
“So I … know the legislative process. I know the people, the staff, the members and how all that goes, so it was just a matter of learning a new subject area,” Cooper said.
Napier said Cooper is a tremendous asset to the university.
“I have known and worked with Paige Cooper for over 15 years in many capacities. She is a well known and respected fixture at the Texas Capitol. Her knowledge of the legislative process and her many contacts in the Texas Legislature make her a very effective advocate for UTPB,” Napier said in an email.
Woodley added that Cooper is a seasoned professional in governmental affairs.
“And her efforts on behalf of UTPB have been very beneficial. She serves to connect our work with state and federal agencies and officials, always keeping her finger on the pulse of the policy issues that are gaining traction in congress and the legislature. She also coordinates policy and budget initiatives with the UT system and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. By advocating for outcomes that benefit UT Permian Basin, she was an important part of our collective effort to secure $44.9 million in funding to completely renovate our aging Mesa Building.”
The world of higher education is always evolving, which means she’ll always be learning, Cooper said.
“I definitely don’t feel like I have a total understanding of everything in higher ed, even after almost two years in,” Cooper said.
The last legislative session was about trying to hang on to as much funding as possible because there was a huge deficit going in.
“It was more about educating people about UTPB, who we are, what we have to offer and hoping that there weren’t going to be more budget cuts than the initial 5 percent reduction that they were taking out of our base budget,” Cooper said.
“That was really the only goal going into last session was just to hang on to our funding and make sure that we didn’t receive additional cuts. Likely because of the federal funds that the state received, we actually came out of the legislative session better than we thought,” she added.
During the third called session, UTPB obtained $44 million in tuition revenue bonds that will be used to renovate the Mesa Building and campus transformation.
