PRESIDENT’S ADVISORY COUNCIL
May 27, 2003
Approved Minutes

Members Present: Alvarez, Blackwell, Elder, Flournoy, Haynes, McGuill, Moya, Murphy, O’Connor, Peace, Rivera, Ross, Saxon, Simons, Smith, Soto, Walker.

Members Absent: Alcorn, Bauer, Brockman, Davenport, Goodson, Hanna, Hernandez, Kvinta, McCrohan, Reddell, Reed, Stafford, Warzecha, Welder.

Organizational Business

A. Approval of minutes. The minutes of the March 4, 2003 meeting were approved as distributed.

B. Recommendation of Nominating Committee. Committee Chair Emett Alvarez presented the names and biographical information for each of the nine nominees. The council approved all of the recommendations as follows: Mr. Sam Diebel and Ms. Linda Ward (Calhoun County); Ms. Sara Post (DeWitt County); Mr. William "Bill" Schaefer and Mr. Hernan Jaso (Goliad County); Mr. Booker T. Holbert and Mr. Gary Hales (Matagorda County); Mr. Randy Clapp and Ms. Beverly Sledge Russell (Wharton County). Each will serve a three-year term, 2003-2006.

Dr. Josie Rivera will again serve as Chair and Mr. Michael Saxon will serve as Co-Chair of the President’s Advisory Council for 2003-2006.

C. FOU Campaign Co-Chairs. Dr. Haynes announced that tremendous growth has prompted the need for additional co-chairs for the FOU Campaign. She announced that Randy Smith, Mona Davenport and Kay Simons will now share responsibilities as co-chairs. Dr. Josie Rivera will serve as back-up co-chair.

President’s Report. Dr. Karen Haynes spoke about some of the university’s recent progress and achievements.

Teacher Quality Grants–UHV received five grants totaling $400,000. Only one university in all the state of Texas received more grants.

Student enrollment continues to grow at UHV. We are facing another record-breaking enrollment for this coming summer session.

Speaking of record-breaking enrollment, UHV’s School of Business is now the 7^th largest in the state of Texas. The Association for Accreditation in the Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) mock peer review accreditation visit (April 16-18) went very well. Professor Bullock’s department is busily preparing for the formal visit scheduled for fall, 2004.

Construction of the UHV West Addition remains on schedule with a completion date set for spring, 2003.

In partnership with the Victoria Chamber of Commerce and the Victoria Independent School District, UHV is sponsoring the community’s first-ever youth leadership camp in June.

30^th anniversary events honoring UHV are getting into full swing with at least fourteen sponsors for billboard advertisements publicizing the milestone. The 30^th anniversary endowment challenge is off to a healthy start with a goal to establish six new endowments in honor of the landmark year. Dr. Haynes reported making a number of "angel visits" over the past couple of weeks, and that she expected the university to have several "angel" commitments of $10, 000 each by the end of June. Dr. Haynes added that the university would soon be inviting "angel challengers" to contribute $5,000 gifts in order to leverage the initial donors’ gifts.

The Friends of the University fund-raising campaign has never looked better. The goal was $130, 000. Current dollars pledged exceed $156, 000.

Marketing Research Project. Communications & Marketing Director Jennifer Price presented the findings of the department’s Marketing Research Project. The data affirmed communications and marketing efforts for the past few years; and, for the most part, suggestions coincided with current intentions for future marketing plans. Emett Alvarez suggested that our communications and marketing team promote the fact that the School of Business now ranks the 7^th largest in the state of Texas. It was also suggested that marketing efforts publicize the fact that you can earn an MBA entirely online at UHV.

Brief Updates.

A. Budget & Legislature. Mr. Wayne Beran provided a legislative overview for the FY 2004 & 2005 Biennium, as it especially pertains to institutions of higher education. He pointed out that SB 1542 would allow universities to increase tuition rate by a flat $8 a semester hour each of the next two years. Meanwhile, HB 3015 would let colleges charge an additional $23 per hour each of the next two years with university governing boards having full control in the fall, 2005. Mr. Beran also explained that the Senate appropriation bill would spend $460 million more on higher education than the House version. Furthermore, per the House version, UHV would see a -.3% change from the proposed appropriation for FY2004-2005, while under the Senate version, the change would amount to +5.3%. According to the data presented, UHV will likely fare better than many other public universities, however the conference committee decides.

B. SACS Update. Dr. Don Smith reported that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) identified only 17 recommendations for UHV, most of which had already been identified in the university’s self-study. UHV administrators had already begun working toward compliance. Although the formal report had not yet arrived, Dr. Smith said that UHV administrators were already working on a comprehensive response to the recommendations.

Career & Planning Services. Dr. Margaret Rice and Career Services Coordinator Rachel Trevino-Garcia demonstrated how to utilize a new UHV website link (developed in collaboration with UH) especially implemented for Fort Bend area students/prospective employees and employers. The employment-finding tool is free of charge to students for one semester following graduation. Employers are charged $20 (payable to UH) to post an ad for 30 days. The website can be located at www.career.uh.edu. Additionally, the local UHV employment website www.uhv.edu (Alumni and Friends/Career Planning/Employment Center) will be maintained until further examination of its use and value.

VI. Discussion. Dr. Haynes thanked those members of the President’s Advisory Council whose terms of office have expired. Certificates of appreciation were presented to Emett Alvarez, Patrick Elder, and Ron Flournoy. Absentee outgoing members include William "Bill" Bauer, Homer Hanna, Tom Reed, Newton Warzecha, and Roger Welder.