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Good afternoon. Welcome to a new year at UHD, your home away from home -- the place where we literally have a chance to help shape the future. If there is a more challenging profession than ours, I have not come across it yet. There is no doubt that higher education at UHD specifically transforms individuals. You may recall the wonderful national traveling exhibit on the transforming power of education that was shown at the Willow Street Pump Station last year. Among those highlighted in this exhibit were some of our own faculty and staff who improved their lives through higher education and are now making a difference in the lives of others. TRANSFORMING LIVES Make no mistake -- we are in the business of transforming lives and nothing speaks more directly to how well we are doing our job than the alumni we send out into the world. Like 39-year-old Jeffrey Korcz, now a successful psychiatrist in Seattle, who continues to praise UHD. Failure, not success, is what Korcz appeared headed for as a teenager. Turmoil at home left him with a bad attitude and no motivation to go to college. He dropped out of high school. A dead-end job in sales convinced him he had to at least get a GED if he ever wanted to make more than minimum wage. He decided to give college a try. It was not long before science courses at UHD were inspiring him. "I didn't feel lost in a crowd," Korcz said. "Professors worked closely with me. They made me realize I had a good mind." Bryan Williams, a UHD grad who recently got his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Mississippi, echoes Korcz. It was the close contact he had from professors that got him off the path to failure. Just as grateful for UHD are brothers John and Victor Treviño, two of nine children who grew up in a one-bedroom house. John is now an assistant chief with HPD and Victor is the Precinct 6 Constable. They say that, without the UHD family pushing them, there is no way they would have become successful. Emily Chong, a recent College of Business graduate now on the fast track at JP Morgan Chase, says her professors gave her the confidence to take on the business world. Trazanna Moreno, a grad student in our professional writing program, credits the program's impressive faculty with contributing to her award-winning success as Director of Communications for the YMCA. BUILDING ON A RICH TRADITION When the university opened its doors more than 30 years ago, its mission -- to provide educational access and success to those who have not had access in the past -- resonated with Houstonians who believed that all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talent. UHD's steady growth in enrollment is evidence that it has been faithful to that mission. Between Fall 2000 and Fall 2005, our enrollment grew by 28 percent. Although we only experienced a slight increase in enrollment this fall, we are confident of continued strong growth in the future. No other university in the region is better positioned to serve the types of students who will be seeking higher education in the years ahead. With a student body that is 38 percent Hispanic, 26 percent African-American, 24 percent White, and 10 percent Asian, UHD remains the most ethnically diverse university in the state. The 1,719 undergraduates who earned a degree from UHD in 2004-2005 represented a 32 percent increase over the number who graduated in 2001-2002. Minority graduates have increased at an even higher rate -- about 62 percent for the same time frame. Our total alumni now numbers 20,854.
The knowledge that we are making a difference in the lives of our students is what gives our work meaning and energizes us to build on our successes. There is much to celebrate as we start off this new academic year. One of the more visible signs of our institutional progress is the new Shea Street Building, which will house UHD's College of Business. The building will be ready for service in time for the Fall 2007 semester. The really good news regarding this building is that we are going to get some help paying for it. When the legislature initially failed to approve tuition revenue bonds for this project, we went ahead anyway with a plan to finance it ourselves. Fortunately, when the legislature reconvened in special session this past spring and through the advocacy of our local legislators, we were authorized $31.6 million of tuition revenue bonds for the building's construction. We can also look forward to some improvements in the university's One Main building. We will be creating new office space on the 7th floor for the IT division, which continues to grow because of the incredible advances in technology. But the most significant improvement in the near future will be to the Library. Relocation of the College of Business to the Shea Street Building, along with Higher Education Assistance Funds for 07/08 will allow us to transition the Library from the hidden jewel on the 5th floor to a space that more closely resembles the Information Commons concept, the kind of 21st century resource center that students expect from an academic library. This will present us with an interesting architectural challenge. But, that challenge when met will result in more technological resources, study space, presentation practice rooms, carrels for graduate students -- an aesthetically pleasing place that serves the needs of all library users -- students and faculty. More welcome news for many of you is the improvements to our elevator service. To take some of the load off the West Tower Elevators that serve the Faculty and Staff parking garage, we are extending Elevators 8A and 8B. Those are the elevators on the north side of the building coming in from the north deck that currently stop in front of the O'Kane Theater. After renovation, these elevators will go all the way down to the first floor by the student drop-off area. Our facilities management staff is currently building out the new elevator lobby that will open up toward Girard Street. The lobby will have an inviting glass front entry and clear signage. We anticipate completion early this semester. And, speaking of signage, we will be adding a sign with the UHD logo that will be mounted on the outside perimeter wall of our south deck. The sign will be visible to traffic heading north on Travis Street. And, of course, you have seen the daily advertising for UH-Downtown that appears on the light rail trains that pass in front of our doors. We can attribute this to a relationship established with Metro many years ago. This relationship will continue as the light rail is extended north of campus, requiring some trade-offs of land and Metro's construction of additional parking facilities. To serve the broad range of academic needs of our growing student body, we continue to develop new programs as well as expand physical facilities. This fall the Department of Engineering Technology will be implementing a new type of degree for UHD -- a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) with a major in Safety Management. This innovative degree was developed in response to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's goal of "Closing the Gaps." We anticipate that this degree program will add significantly to the pool of baccalaureate degree graduates. This degree is linked with Associate of Applied Sciences degree programs through articulation plans with every community college in the area. I would like to comment on some recent questions raised about the status of the University of Houston's proposed branch campus in the Northwest Corridor. Following three meetings in Austin with the Coordinating Board, Prairie View A&M University, Sam Houston State University, Texas Southern University, and Stephen F. Austin University have claimed an academic interest in that area and have opposed the concept. At this point a UH branch campus probably will not be approved as a stand-alone institution. Instead, the university may be asked to make up to 20,000 square feet of the E&G space available to both Prairie View and Sam Houston for program offerings. We anticipate that UHD will be part of that initiative. SACS ACCREDITATION There is one very significant accomplishment that we can all celebrate, and that is the completion of our reaffirmation of accreditation process. Earlier this week, the university submitted its responses to the recommendations made by the Southern Association Visiting Committee. We will not know until December if SACS will require any additional follow-up reports, but the Committee's findings were generally quite positive. The Visiting Committee's final report on UHD noted: "In so many ways, everyone on the committee has been impressed with the dedication and commitment to the students who are served at UHD." Committee members also found that "the university's educational programs were well aligned with the institution's student population and its mission." Of the seven recommendations received by the university, four were directed at the university Quality Enhancement Plan, known as the "QEP." The committee members found that "the institution's Quality Enhancement Plan reflects a university community with a shared vision and a great deal of enthusiasm in accomplishing the institution's mission." But, they expressed concern that that our plan was too ambitious. We have now made the kinds of changes in the QEP that the committee asked us to make, and the revamped plan will have a significant impact on promoting student success in the years ahead.
I want to give special emphasis to one of the recommendations in particular -- that we be especially vigilant to ensure that all components of the university be included in the plan's continued development and implementation. For our QEP to be truly an inclusive effort, we must always remember to listen carefully to what our students are telling us, being mindful that the student perspective can be the most valuable one of all -- and that is part of student engagement! MEASURING SUCCESS TO ENSURE ACCOUNTABILITY We will see more and more efforts to measure success by how effectively institutions of higher education are serving the public good. We see evidence of this trend in many of the recommendations contained in the draft report just issued by the Commission on the Future of Higher Education (often referred to as the "Miller Commission" for Chairman Charles Miller). This Commission was convened by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings in September of last year to develop "a comprehensive national strategy for postsecondary education." While the report has provoked a fair amount of negative comment for being too critical and too prescriptive, there was little in the report that I saw as particularly threatening to UH-Downtown.
As I reviewed the major recommendations of the report, I was struck by the extent to which we have already launched major initiatives in the six major areas highlighted in the report. The Commission, for example, calls for "greater coordination between K-12 education and postsecondary institutions to improve college preparation." UHD has a strong tradition in working with area schools. We continue to build upon those longstanding relationships by adding other school districts to our partnership list. Additionally HB1, passed by the legislature during this spring's special session on public school reform, requires that higher education work closely with our public schools to align the high school curriculum and clearly define college readiness. The Commission report expressed many concerns about the increased cost of higher education. Its second recommendation called on universities to address cost and affordability issues. Even though we had to raise tuition and fees this past year, as did every other public university in Texas, UHD still has one of the lowest tuition and fee structures in the state. Unfortunately, we rank lowest in the state in appropriated dollars per FTE student.
A key recommendation of the Commission emphasized the need for continuous innovation in math and science education. The UHD Scholars Academy and other STEM programs demonstrate the university's long history of achievement. And one in which we continue to become even more innovative and involved. In the appropriations request I just submitted to Austin, we are seeking $800,000 in special item funding to help Texas meet its Closing the Gaps goals for more graduates in these critical areas. This funding will provide unique learning experiences for its biotechnology majors. The programs supported by this funding will serve as the model for other institutions in the state. On September the 18th I will be presenting our LAR to the staff of the governor's office and the legislative budget board in preparation for the 80 th legislative session which convenes in January. Let me briefly mention the other main components of our Legislative Appropriations Request for the upcoming biennium. We are seeking greater overall support for higher education through the formula system. We are asking for restoration of the 10% cut in current funding that was mandated by the LBB/Governor's Office in LAR instructions and funding to cover the debt service on all the tuition revenue bonds it has been authorized to issue. We are also asking for full debt-service funding for the TRB bonds that will help pay for the new business building. How we will fare in the upcoming legislative session is hard to predict at this point. The trend in public support for higher education, not just in Texas but nationwide, has not been encouraging. Over the past several decades, we have gone from being a state-supported university to a state-assisted one. In 1981, two-thirds of our funding came from the state. NEW WAYS OF ASSESSING HIGHER EDUCATION The new reality we confront today and into the future is that higher education is "no longer perceived as a public good," but rather a private benefit, making the students consumers. This is a result of the significant and escalating disinvestment in our colleges and universities and in financial aid for the college-going population, particularly at the federal level. Despite the widespread acknowledgement that universally accessible and affordable public higher education is an economic and social necessity, the investment is not there. This means that as an urban university serving a very diverse population, UHD must be committed to the public good. We cannot forget that public universities exist to serve public needs. UHD has sustained that commitment better than many universities have. We cannot afford to become too insular, serving ourselves rather than the needs of our public. Let me share an example of what I mean. Recently, the Washington Monthly published a very comprehensive piece on college rankings, based on a different set of assumptions about excellence and effectiveness. This is very different from the better-known rankings published by U.S. News and World Report . In the Was hington Monthly college guide, institutions are ranked according to how much they benefit the country. The first criterion is, how well does an institution serve as an engine of social mobility, meaning that universities that help low income and first generation individuals to become financially stable are performing a greater public service than those that help the very rich to get very, very rich. Another measure used in the Washington Monthly rankings is how well universities promote an ethic of public service -- of producing graduates who leave with a sense of responsibility to the larger community with which they are a part. Not surprisingly, a university's rank according to these criteria was often quite different from its U.S. News and World Report ranking, a ranking that relies far more heavily on traditional academic input measures such as entering SAT scores. An example is how Texas A&M was ranked. Washington Monthly ranked A&M number five among large universities while U.S. News had ranked A&M 60 th in the nation. In contrast, Princeton University which had been first on the U.S. News ranking fell to 43rd on the Washington Monthly ranking. UH-Downtown was not included in the Washington Monthly rankings so it is impossible to know for sure how we would have fared. I think we would have done quite well because we do take our public mission seriously and we do have plenty of evidence that we are serving critical educational needs in our community. While I am pleased to see that new methods for ranking universities and new national reform agendas are paying more attention to the values that have always guided this university, I want to be clear that we should always resist letting others define our mission for us. We must always value our uniqueness as an institution. Earlier this month I met with the University Planning Council to discuss the best way to begin work on a campus-based, long-range plan. What I emphasized to the members of the Planning Council was that any discussion of long-range planning must begin with an understanding of and an appreciation for UHD's unique position in the region. We are not bound, for instance, by dreams of becoming a tier-one research institution nor legislative restrictions to teach only upper-level courses. We are not limited by an ethnic or religious affiliation and we are not a community college. This means that we have the luxury of viewing ourselves as "free agents," to a certain extent, as we pursue our vision of where we want to be in the next five to ten years and beyond. Our vision should address several broad components: · Globalization The need to build into our academic programs a means of exposing our students to a global environment -- this has been underscored through a recent statement by Ben Bernanke, the new Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and former Princeton economics professor, who emphasized the current trend toward globalization as faster, broader, and deeper than at any other time in history. · Outreach In some ways the equivalent to globalization on a local level, there is a need for UHD to lose some insularity in geography, attitude and service, and continue to reach into other locations within the greater Houston area, as we are already doing; and in some instances it is mandated. · Connectivity The need to continue to forge partnerships with the community, particularly with K-12 schools and community colleges · Interdisciplinary programming UHD's programs must complement and assist each another in developing well-rounded graduates and in making learning available through a variety of delivery mechanisms I also emphasized to the Planning Council that our planning should look at expanding the ways we can serve societal needs and enhance our public support. These realities will require us to continue building strategic alliances outside the academic community with local, state and federal agencies, corporations, foundations, and other public higher education institutions in our region. UH-Downtown is not a traditional university and does not aspire to become one. We are part of a new generation of universities that came into existence in the 1970s to serve a very different set of needs than more traditional universities were established to serve. If anything, the sea change in the demography of our student population imposes upon us a more critical responsibility to be part of that equation. We will offer more access and demonstrate more success in higher education than ever before. UHD working to successfully shape the future of our students and community -- is there any challenge more noble? Thank you for all you do. 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UHD Undergoes Reaffirmation of Accreditation New Building to Open 2007 Campus Activities and Events |