The University of Houston has declined to help decide what to do with 300 acres in southwest Houston that the University of Texas hopes to turn into an "intellectual hub," a UT spokeswoman said Tuesday.

UH officials and supporters have opposed UT's planned Houston expansion, saying the flagship is acting without consulting the city's existing schools.

The UT spokeswoman said UH was offered, but declined, a spot on the 18-member panel that will develop a plan for the site. UH would neither confirm nor deny having received an invitation.

The group, announced Tuesday, will consult other experts and community leaders for guidance over the next year. It includes representatives from Texas Southern University and Rice University. UH alumni are on the task force.

"It's all about collaboration," UT Chancellor William McRaven said in a statement. "Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration."

McRaven has made this statement repeatedly after triggering some alarms by announcing UT would buy 300 acres in Houston before discussing the plans with university leaders here, state lawmakers or the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

The announcement sparked cries of "invasion" from UH officials and boosters, who long have felt UT is unfairly funded by the state and wants to keep Houston's rising research school in its place. UH officials and state lawmakers have asked UT to slow the expansion, worrying that the flagship might siphon faculty, students and research funding from UH.

McRaven has said UT does not plan to open a traditional campus, though he has offered few details about the endeavor. The chancellor promised to gather a task force of Houstonians to form a plan for the "blank canvas." That group includes university regents, business leaders, attorneys and others with ties to schools across the state.

In a statement, UT said the task force has been told not to recommend any academic programs or centers that duplicate what other Houston schools offer unless more capacity in those programs is needed.

Instead, the group has been asked to seek opportunities for UT to partner with Houston universities, medical organizations and businesses to elevate Houston's intellectual stature and competitiveness.

The group must make its recommendations to McRaven by the end of the year. The chancellor then will seek approval and input from the UT regents, the coordinating board and the Legislature before moving forward, the statement said.

Paul Hobby, a UT graduate and former chairman of the Greater Houston Partnership and the Houston branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and Carin Barth, a former Texas Tech regent and formerHouston Forum chairwoman, will co-chair the group. Also on the task force are representatives from the mayor's office, the Texas Medical Center and the port authority.

"Houston is a great city, and great cities can never have too much knowledge infrastructure in the economy of the future," Hobby said in a statement. "The Port, the Texas Medical Center, the global energy hub, the Johnson Space Center, The Woodlands and the establishment of our fine universities all started with a big idea. I believe this new cluster of excellence will also seem obvious in hindsight."

Other members include Houston attorney Gene Locke, recently named to a vacant post on Harris County commissioners court; Larry Faulkner, president emeritus of UT Austin and former president of the Houston Endowment; Janiece Longoria, chairwoman of the Houston Port Authority; John Nau, a beer distributorship executive who chairs the Texas Historical Commission; and Robert Robbins, president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center.

Y. Ping Sun, a member of the Asian Chamber of Commerce Advisory Board, will represent Rice University. Gerald Smith, chairman of the Texas Southern University Foundation board, will represent TSU.