PRESIDENT’S ADVISORY COUNCIL

September 2, 2003

Official Minutes

 

Present:  Alcorn, Blackwell, Clapp, Davenport, Haynes, Hernandez, Jaso, Kvinta, McGuill, Moya, Murphy, O’Connor, Peace, Post, Reddell, Rivera, Ross, Russell, Saxon, Schaefer, Simons, Soto, Stafford, Walker, Ward.

 

Absent:  Brockman, Goodson, Hales, McCrohan, Smith.

 

I.  Organizational Business

 

A.  Introductions:  Members introduced themselves simultaneously beginning with Dr. Josie Rivera and Dr. Karen Haynes.

 

B.  Approval of minutes:  The minutes of the May 27, 2003 meeting were approved as written.

 

II.  President’s Report

 

            A.  UHV has continued a progressive growth cycle in enrollment as well as staff and faculty.

 

            B.  This year is the 30^th Anniversary of University of Houston-Victoria.  A 30^th Anniversary year logo has been designed and can be seen on billboards throughout Victoria. 

 

C.  Sponsors have been faithful in fulfilling promises.  Angel donors gave $10,000 each and Endowment Challenger donors gave $5,000 each. These funds are used to offer student scholarships, special initiative interests, and to fund new faculty positions.  In fiscal year 2003, UHV has added 8 new faculty for a total of 69 full time faculty members, 44 of whom teach primarily on the Victoria campus, 25 primarily on the Sugar Land campus.

 

D.  University of Houston System has a new Chancellor, Dr. Jay Gogue.  Today, he presented his first remarks to all four campuses via Interactive Television.  The speech has been video taped and will be available for viewing at Dr. Haynes’ home during the PAC Reception at 5:30 PM. 

 

E.  The addition to the University West Building is continuing to progress, with a completion date set for February 2004.  This addition will free-up classroom space in University West and offer more spacious office accommodations for several administrative departments.

 

F.  The Texas Legislature gave public universities permission to increase tuition rates beginning in Spring 2004.  UHV Cabinet voted to raise the tuition rates accordingly. In the last 5 years, UHV has had a 44%  increase in enrollment.   To date, 75% of UHV classes are still taught with full time, tenure track faculty.

 

III.  Document Imaging Project

 

            A.  Dr. Joe Dahlstrom, Director of Libraries and other Librarians gave a brief update and demonstration on the Laserfiche Document Imaging Project.  The goal of this project is to reduce the massive amounts of paper documents that are now stored and to retain these documents in an electronic form that can be accessed by faculty & administrators quickly and easily whether on campus or off.  The Library received a grant through the Texas State Libraries for the Victoria Crossroads of Immigration Project that included the preservation of multiple old photographs and documents.  Using the Laserfiche process, the Library has scanned some 4,200 photos and an undetermined amount of paper documents for historical preservation. 

            The Office of Admissions and Records reported that this process is used for scanning student records. Current student records are being processed first, 3,000 completed thus far. With 350-400 new students each semester, the completion date has not been set.  Thirty years of past student records are still stored in paper form, but will be scanned using Laserfiche as soon as the current student records are completed. 

Preserving important documents is a lengthy, labor-intensive process.  One student record can have as many as 38 pages or more of information that has to be scanned.  After scanning, an audit is done to ensure the legibility and quality of the scan.  The information is then stored on a compact disc as well as in a database.  Once stored, this document can be recalled and read for an undetermined number of years. 

The Office of Financial Aid and the School of Education also uses Laserfiche to store Financial Aid records and certification documents required by the state.

To ensure the security of all retained information, the UHV-Information Technology department makes a daily backup of the drives where these important documents are stored.  Eventually, every university department or school will make use of the Laserfiche process to retain and access important documents. 

 

IV.  Brief Updates

 

            1.  Enrollment Update – Richard Phillips, Associate Vice President for Student Services and Regional Outreach, gave a summary of the enrollment statistics for Fall 02 and Spring 03 semesters.  In Fall 02, enrollment reached 2,183 students.  Current enrollment figures were not available due to enrollment changing daily.  So far this semester, 2,530 students have enrolled.  He predicted that around 2,400-2,450 students will be enrolled by mid-semester.  Final enrollment figures will be disseminated to the President’s Advisory Council in December.

 

            2.  FOU Campaign – Kay Simons, Co-chair of the Friends of the University Fundraising Campaign, stressed the importance of financial donations to the university.  Given the drastic budget cuts due to the State’s budget shortfall, donations given this year are of the utmost importance.  She encouraged the President’s Advisory Council to give donations in any amount. The FOU Committee would like to see 100% participation by PAC members during this fiscal year.   She co-chairs this committee with fellow PAC members, Mona Davenport and Randy Smith.

 

            3.  Annual Report – Angela Collins, outgoing Community Relations Coordinator, introduced her replacement, Brittany Hollas.  Angela reminded the Council that they would be receiving an invitation in the mail to the President’s Annual Report to the Community on October 2, 2003, at 7:00 AM in the Victoria College Student Center.  Admission is $12 per person or $150 per corporate table of ten.

 

            4.  PAC Outreach Events – Dr. Karen Haynes announced that UHV would like to help coordinate three PAC Outreach events this year to facilitate communication between the university and the communities that it serves.  These events provide visibility for the university and provide opportunities to meet, greet, and discuss community initiatives with constituents in a relaxed, informal atmosphere.  Outreach Events are hosted by PAC members in their homes or in a location in their respective communities.  With the assistance of the President’s staff, the host/hostess will identify a list of community constituents to invite.  The President’s staff will assist with the coordination of the events.  If any Council member would like to host an Outreach Event, please contact Dr. Haynes or Carole Oliphant, Executive Director of University Advancement.

 

V.  New 48 Semester Hour MBA Program

 

Dean Charles Bullock, School of Business, gave a report on the new 48 Semester Credit Hour Masters in Business Administration degree program that is offered through face-to-face classes at the Victoria, Sugar Land, and Cinco Ranch campuses as well as completely online. It is a redesign of the entire program that incorporates AACSB International curriculum standards, UHV MBA mission and objectives, contemporary management theory and practice, more computer usage, more communications courses, curriculum mapping, benchmarking with other colleges’ MBA programs and better communication skill building using real-life situations and simulations.  Contemporary theory and practices such as interpersonal skills, cognitive skills, strategy, leadership, organizational change, environments of businesses, and business ethics have been introduced into the program to enhance the effectiveness of MBA degree holders in real-life business situations. The program calls for 39 semester credit hours (13 classes) in required core curriculum, 3 hours (1 class) in designated electives from economics and finance, and 6 hours (2 classes in undesignated electives.  By integrating these courses the new MBA degree is well rounded and more effective in a professional setting.

            In Spring 2003, the School of Business successfully completed a “mock accreditation review” through the AACSB International.  The review committee was very impressed with the new MBA program.  Redesigning the MBA program gives the School of Business a competitive advantage in successfully meeting the AACSB International requirements for accreditation.  In essence, the new MBA program is a quality program, using quality facilities, delivered with a personal touch.

 

VI.  Advice, Discussion

 

- Dr. Karen Haynes reported on the UHV President’s Cabinet Retreat held August 27.  There, the Cabinet identified challenges for the university and strategic plans for the new academic year. 

 

            - A question was posed concerning the flat enrollment trends at Victoria Independent School District and how that would eventually affect the university.  A discussion ensued where it was speculated that even though enrollment in VISD seems to have leveled out for the time being, Victoria stands to increase in population from overflows from Houston and Sugar Land citizens, fleeing the busy city life.  Considering the eventual completion of Interstate Highway 59 and the easier access that should provide, Victoria should stand to increase in population. 

 

            - Some concern was voiced regarding the lack of TIF funds stalling technological growth at the university.  Dr. Haynes reassured the Council that safeguards have been implemented to offset this lack of funding.  For instance, the computer replacement cycle has been increased from every 3 years to every 4 years and the student fees have changed.  Before, only students who were taking online classes were paying a technology fee.  Now, every student pays a technology fee of $20 per semester credit hour.  This fee is fairer to all students and allows the upgrading of technology in the computer labs to continue even without TIF funding.

 

            -Dr. Haynes gave a report on the SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) accreditation process that was successfully completed by the university this past spring.  Accreditation reviews are held every ten years.  This review netted only 17 recommendations from the committee, a few of which did not apply to UHV.  The final SACS decision will be delivered in December 2003.  A report should be available at the next PAC meeting, Dec. 2. 

 

            -A suggestion was made concerning the university’s regional outreach making contact with parents through Parent Teacher Organizations and meetings.  Involving parents should increase the desire of getting a higher education in the students.  Richard Phillips interjected that reaching counselors and student administrators can get students involved in making decisions concerning higher education.  The university’s Letting Education Achieve Dreams (LEAD) program hosts approximately 3,000 elementary, junior high, and high school students on campus each semester to instill the desire to attend college, emphasize the importance of higher education, and enlighten students on the affordability of a quality education.  Reaching the students, first, then the parents, has proven to be more effective.  Dr. Haynes explained that PAC Outreach Events provide opportunities to motivate parents to encourage and assist students in obtaining degrees of higher learning.

 

The Council was invited to attend the President’s Advisory Council Reception being held in Dr. Haynes’ home at 5:30 PM that evening.

 

The meeting was adjourned.