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President's Periodic Messages 2007-2008
August 29, 2007
An Update from President Hudson:
As before I am sending this out after our most recent cabinet meeting. Please consult the posted minutes for more details.
Our AY ’07-’08 academic year has started and we have great news concerning enrollment. As of our cabinet meeting this past Wednesday, we had registered 2,731 students, our largest enrollment ever. We anticipate that number increasing before our final count for the fall. Last year, our fall headcount enrollment was 2,652. I appreciate each one of you because you all helped to reach this new milestone, one that supports our aggressive budget.
I am aware that this has been a particularly challenging semester for students, staff and faculty as far as enrolling students. Using a new registration system has its “moments” and I thank those of you who worked extra hours in order to make sure all students were registered. Plans are underway to streamline the registration, financial aid and payment process for our students. Discussions involve the idea of the “one stop shop,” the need for portals, and placing all student instructions for using PeopleSoft in one location on the web. Chari Norgard, who is now a member of the President’s Cabinet, will coordinate efforts in this arena.
Our Student Senate is moving forward with some exciting plans for the fall. Delores White reports the senate is hosting a “Meet the Leaders” forum on September 17, in which students will have opportunity to visit with UHV administrative leaders. The senate plans to participate in the Hispanic Heritage parade and is promoting student attendance at the ABR reading series. It is my hope that all students, staff and faculty whose schedules allow will attend the ABR series lectures, as these are outstanding opportunities to hear well-known authors.
The possibility of UHV becoming a 4-year school has generated much interest, news, and discussion. Student senate members report they have heard only positive thoughts about this issue. The senate is working on a student survey which asks for input on this topic. Along the same line, Dr. Ramamoorthy, the Faculty Senate president indicated the Faculty Senate Executive Council is excited about the prospect of a 4-year university. To help inform further our thinking on this matter you will already know that I have appointed an ad hoc working group with representatives from throughout UHV: Wayne Beran, Paul Carlson, Jeffrey Di Leo, Randy Faulk, Richard Phillips, Cindy Schnebly, and Delores White. These colleagues will be meeting soon so please let them hear from you on this important matter. I am sure they would welcome your emails or comments – or send them directly to me.
An important role that any university, including UHV, plays in society is the dissemination of knowledge. So, many of our faculty members make presentations throughout the year at various conferences, representing UHV all over the world. Some recent examples include Drs. Peggy Cloninger, Nagarajan Ramamoorthy, Ron Sardessai and Rajan Selvarajan who made a presentation at the Academy of Management meeting on “Taking Programs Online,” and Dr. Linda Hayes has been invited to present at the AACSB Assessment Seminar. I am sure there are others and I am reporting this here simply to draw attention to the fact that our engaged faculty promote the UHV name in many venues – we should all recognize and support this activity.
At its August meeting, the normal time for such decisions, the UH System Board of Regents elected new officers for 2007-2008:
Welcome W. Wilson will serve as chair; Calvin W. Stephens, vice chair; and, Jim P. Wise as secretary. We congratulate each of these individuals for this singular achievement and look forward to their leadership in the year ahead.
Athletics continues to generate enthusiasm and support. The press conference in which we unveiled our new Jaguar logo was truly inspirational. It was exciting to see our softball and baseball team members present and to finally get to meet our players. In addition, UHV was highlighted at the Astros vs. Nationals game on August 22. Approximately 200 UHV students, alumni, donors, faculty, staff , community supporters and UH System administrators were present to cheer when our new logo was shown on the “big screen” at Minute Maid Park and Coach Puhl threw out the first pitch. Ok – he did “bounce” it to Craig Biggio waiting behind home plate – and I only report this in case I have a chance to throw out a first pitch myself! I don’t want to hear any jeers when I sail it over the backstop! And as we like to remind folks, we have the only undefeated teams in the NAIA.
This year, after considerable discussion at cabinet, we have decided to complete staff performance evaluations this fall rather than in February. The change was instituted to give more time between performance evaluations, requests for reclassifications, etc., and the budget preparations. I hope the performance evaluation time is viewed as a time for open dialogue between employee and supervisor in which both seek ways to better accomplish our work together. Although the forms must be completed, they can serve as a springboard for healthy discussion.
The Texas Principals Excellence Program, a grant funded program designed through a partnership of UHV’s School of Business and School of Education and Human Development, along with the American Productivity and Quality Center, is off to a great start. Currently, over 300 principles are scheduled to attend the September kick-off programs in Houston and Dallas, followed by three sets of two day workshops around the state. Principals of schools that were rated as “Academically Unacceptable” are required to attend; however, there are approximately 100 principals that want to come voluntarily. This speaks volumes about the outstanding work that has been done to put together this pilot program that will eventually be offered online throughout the year.
I want all of you to know that I have taken a leadership role on behalf of UHV in the realm of environmental stewardship by being the first university president in Texas to sign a commitment known as the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. As you are well aware, environmental issues are of growing concern and will play an increasingly central role in the decisions we make in almost every area of life. Universities are in a position to influence our society to pursue climate neutrality through example and through teaching and research. To learn more about this commitment, check out
www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org . I look forward to working with all of you as we move toward the goals of this commitment.
I wish everyone well as we enter the fall semester and encourage you to let me know your ideas, suggestions for improvement, and any way I can help you be more effective in your work. Remember that our complete notes from President’s Cabinet meetings are posted on our website at
www.uhv.edu/president/cabinet.asp .
Tim Hudson
President
“One thing is clear: We do not have the option of turning away from the future.”
Bill Gates, 1995
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