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President's Periodic Messages 2004-2005
May 25,
2005
Saludos UHV Community,
I had hoped to await word
from the Legislature regarding the final fate of our budget and special item
requests before sending out this communiqué. However, with so many events and
activities having taken place this spring, and with advice in hand from veterans
of the process that it can be unwise to wait for the Legislature to act on most
anything if one has a deadline in mind, I decided to proceed. I will send along
another note when we do hear from our officials in Austin.
The recent May
commencement ceremony and the reception that followed once again produced record
crowds as our students' families and friends continue to manifest their
commitment to the educational goals of loved ones. The students and their
supporters greatly appreciated the faculty and staff’s involvement, as it
certainly contributed to the success of both the ceremony and the reception. I
was humbled and thrilled to meet an entire family who had traveled from Thailand
for the event. UHV was fortunate and honored to have the chair of the Board of
Regents, the Honorable Morgan Dunn O'Connor, as its commencement speaker. You
can just imagine the demands on her time during commencement season, and her
willingness to serve as our speaker is indicative of her consistent support of
this institution over the years. Her inspirational message was well received --
I know this for a fact since, as the students passed by to shake my hand and
then Regent O'Connor's hand as a part of the ritual, I heard so many of them
tell her just that.
Also in May, UHV hosted the quarterly Board of
Regents meeting. As we have with all other events, we broke tradition somewhat
by having students give the greetings on behalf of our institution and
community. Due to the work of the staff and students, and the general
atmosphere that the Regents experienced while here, I received a great number of
compliments about UHV and its people. And a bit of sweet irony was embedded in
the meeting's agenda as two UHV programs, nursing and computer information
systems, were approved while the board met here in Victoria. These programs
were long in the making and were shepherded to the point of approval by various
faculty committees and academic leaders, including Dan Jaeckle.
Congratulations are in order for all who worked on this meeting and for
all who worked to position these programs for approval.
As BOR meeting hosts, we
also took advantage of an invitation to make a brief academic presentation in
which we highlighted our School of Business Administration (SoBA) and its recent
accreditation from the AACSB International, the most selective accrediting body
in the field of business. Official word on this singular achievement, one that
places the business program at UHV among the top 15
percent worldwide, had been received in late April at AACSB's annual
convention in San Francisco, where UHV was honored as a newly accredited
program. The team of reviewers—all deans—based their recommendation on the
extensive and stellar self study and application developed by Dean Charles
Bullock and SoBA faculty and staff. In his presentation to the Board of
Regents, Dean Bullock reiterated some of the commendations given to our program
by the reviewing team and generally laid out UHV's successful model and its
potential as a national leader in Web-based business education. From the
comments at the Board meeting and from the press that followed, it was clear
that our Regents were impressed with and excited
by what they heard. Indeed, achieving this accreditation is a significant
turning point for UHV and the School of Business Administration. It affirms the
great progress that the faculty has made in ensuring top-tier business education
to our students; it canonizes the business school's commitment to continuous
improvement; it sustains the culture of adaptability required to innovate; and
it sets the stage for truly global competitiveness in the high-demand market of
university-level business education. Kudos to all concerned!
While on the topic of things
global, I was please to read the very thoughtful report of the Provosts’
International Initiatives working group. Composed of faculty and staff, this
group has produced a document and strategy that will help us provide additional
opportunities for students and faculty, and in doing so they have taken
system-wide leadership in this important area. Many of you know that the UH
Board of Regents adopted an "internationalization" initiative as one of the key
elements of its newest strategic plan, and UHV is rapidly developing a
reputation for leadership and innovation in international education.
These initiatives include the report of
the Provosts’ International Initiatives group, my being asked to serve on a very
small committee to develop a system level strategy for internationalization,
many international activities such as joining the Texas International Education
Consortium (TIEC), hosting seminars on doing business with Cuba and Japan,
community events such as Fiesta Day, the expansion of study abroad programs, and
more.
Progress continues to be
made on our various projects in Sugar Land and Cinco Ranch. In early May we
announced a $4 million dollar gift from the George Foundation for the
construction of an additional academic facility in Sugar Land. This
inspirational gift will catalyze progress in our private fundraising effort for
that project where our goal is $15 million -- a sum which would match the $15
million we are requesting from the state. At the gift announcement press
conference held on the Sugar Land campus, we also officially introduced the
majority of a 20-person advancement committee which will be assisting us in our
efforts to raise additional private money. Chaired by Mike Piwetz, vice
president of Fluor Enterprises Inc., the committee comprises community leaders
committed to the development of higher education opportunities in that area.
Over the past year I have met with each one of these individuals privately to
tell the story of UHV in Fort Bend County. Their willingness to serve on this
volunteer committee is testimony to the fact that they share our vision for the
role of higher education in the long-term development of that region and I am
indebted to them. In addition, working through the Provosts' Council, UHV has
been given even broader administrative responsibilities for these MITCs,
something that we feel will enhance efficiency and help stimulate growth.
The Board met in retreat in
April at a conference designed to explore some larger strategic issues—not the
least of which is finances (no surprise). Nationally and in Texas, state
support for higher education is declining at a time when costs are rising. This
scenario clearly puts pressure on all "other" sources of revenues, such as
tuition, grants and contracts, and private fundraising. In regards to the
latter, the yet-to-be-solidified capital campaign was discussed at length.
While it would be difficult to summarize the many wide-ranging perspectives on
this topic, I can say that there is general agreement with at least two
overarching "principles": Institution-wide engagement in the fundraising process
must become more of a norm—something that represents a bit of a culture change
in academia—and we will need the guidance and assistance of our professionals in
this arena as we move forward. The work now is to hone the message of what we
would want to do with additional private resources if they were available and to
receive feedback on how well that message resonates with those individuals and
organizations that share our values and can support our cause of enhancing the
transformational opportunities we provide for our students. Many of you,
including members of the UHV Advancement Council, have been actively engaged in
this process and I appreciate your continued support.
So many community events
occurred over the past few months that it is difficult to know where to begin to
discuss them. Our students, staff and faculty continue to play important,
leading roles in sustaining our essential community connections and in making
UHV a vital member of the overall development of our region. Since UHV faculty
and others were instrumental in originating what has evolved into the annual
Victoria Bach Festival, it was only appropriate that UHV hosted the festival's
kickoff and 30th-anniversary celebration. The multipurpose room was
packed with Bach Festival supporters and civic leaders and we were all treated
to short performances by two artists who will be a part of this summer's
entourage and who set a standard for our modest venue that will be difficult to
top. (Some of you will recall that a grand piano had been stationed in the
atrium for this occasion and it came as relief to all that I had no intention of
playing it and imposing my "talent" on the crowd, contrary to a worrisome rumor
that had circulated!)
Early in the legislative
session, our students and staff took the lead in UHV's participation in UH
System Day in Austin. An impressive busload of our folks made the trip and
spent an afternoon visiting various legislative offices in order to spread the
message about the importance of higher education for UH and for the future of
the state of Texas. Many of these same people helped organize an outing to
Houston where another enthusiastic Victoria crowd toured the state-of-the- art
wellness center on the main campus and finished the day by cheering on the
Cougars men's basketball team. And, from all accounts, our Fiesta Day was a
roaring success with our students and staff once again helping organize an event
that brought more than 700 visitors to our campus for a day of fun and focus on
our Hispanic raizes y comunidad. One of the social highlights of the spring had
to be the UHV family day Cajun Crawfish Boil where hundreds of us turned out
with children and other family members in tow. The band was authentic Cajun and
the food was wonderfully spicy. This event will no doubt become a regular as we
continue to search for ways to reinforce the sense of community that is such a
strength of UHV.
For me, among the more
memorable and moving events of the spring was our involvement in many aspects of
Black History Month. My family and I got to ride in the parade in a
convertible. This made a big impression on the children, although the twins
couldn’t quite figure out where the parade was since they were in it
instead of watching it! Throughout the month, the University Center was covered
with posters prepared by local schoolchildren. These depicted the life stories
of a number of Civil Rights-era heroes, including one of my personal favorites,
Fanny Lou Hammer, who famously said: "I'm sick and tired of being sick and
tired." The highlight of the month was the announcement of the poster contest
winners here on our campus and the rousing African dance entertainment and music
that accompanied the ceremony. The entire experience made me realize the wealth
of talent that exists in this community and how lucky we are to have committed
teachers to nurture it and to ensure that today's students have a clear
understanding of the pioneers of freedom who preceded them. I was proud of
UHV's role in this month-long celebration and congratulate all of our staff and
faculty who worked so effectively on this project.
It has been a busy few
months indeed and I could go on. However, now I want to close this note by
formally thanking my wife, Dee Dee—ok, Dr. Deidra Hudson in this case—not only
for all of the community and friend-raising activities she constantly undertakes
on behalf of UHV but for also agreeing to speak at both the Girls' Academy and
the inaugural Boys' Academy which we hosted this spring and the Region III Head
Start Recognition Banquet. In a couple of instances she was called on to
pinch-hit for me owing to my sojourns to Austin, and apparently she did such a
good job that I have lost my place on the circuit! This doesn’t surprise me as
she is a passionate supporter of these causes; however, I was puzzled by
comments that indicated that her jokes were funnier than mine -- surely not!
Nonetheless, I am grateful for her involvement and for the work that so many of
you do so constantly in promoting UHV and the opportunities that are available
here for our students and all of our stakeholders.
Finally, I want to wish
Andrea Blumberg a speedy recovery from her unfortunate fall. We miss her here
in the office, for what she does for us and for the wonderful attitude she
brings to work every day. Get well soon, Andrea.
Tim Hudson
President
"Ignorant people in preppy
clothes are more dangerous to America than oil embargoes."
V.S. Naipul
“Hold fast to dreams, for if
dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”
Langston Hughes
“There is only one thing
worse than an old fogy, and that’s a young fogy.”
Terrel Bell |
