From May to November 1998, he served as Associate Vice President for Research and Sponsored Projects at the University of Texas at El Paso, following three years as Director of the Center for Environmental Resource Management.

[4] After leaving the USGS, he returned to the University of Texas at Austin to direct the Energy and Earth Resources Graduate Program and the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy In July 2008, the University of Texas at Austin named him interim dean of the Jackson School of Geosciences.

“There is no better laboratory in the world than what we have right here,” says Charles “Chip” Groat, “We see this as an opportunity to form new engineering and science capabilities and advance the work in the field.

"[6][7] The study narrowly defined hydraulic fracturing as only referring to the injection of fluid under pressure to create pathways.

[8] In July 2012, the objectivity of the study was called into question by the Public Accountability Initiative after they discovered that Groat received compensation as a director of Plains Exploration & Production, an oil and gas producing company, and that he held 40,000 shares of their stock.

The statement also announced Groat's departure from the University of Texas and the immediate resignation of Raymond L. Orbach from his post as Director of the Energy Institute.