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President's Periodic Messages 2007-2008
October 03, 2007
An Update from President Hudson:
Our most recent cabinet meeting started in a most “dangerous” way – there
were VERY few agenda items – meaning of course, that the meeting would be a long one!
And so it was as we went “around the table” to hear reports from all our colleagues.
A great deal of the discussion that ensued centered around the nascent “Voluntary System of Accountability”
that is being promulgated nationally in order to provide potential students, their parents, and others with
comparisons of one university to another across agreed upon characteristics and variables (faculty and student
demographics, costs, etc). The movement to create such a system comes in the wake of last year’s Spellings
commission report which noted the difficulty higher education consumers have in making choices and the need to
go beyond the widely used magazine “rankings” of universities which are often based on reputation alone.
The two largest organizations of public universities in America have been collaborating in the development of a
prototype that seems to be gaining consensus – you might imagine how difficult it has been to agree on WHAT
variables to include since every institution will want to present itself in the best light possible.
Moreover, there is some discussion regarding the utility of such a system since “accountability” measures
are already commonplace in many states, including Texas. The system is referred to as “voluntary” since
each university will be asked to agree to be a part of the process – and it seems increasingly clear that
practically all will do so. One interesting aspect of the current proposal is that all universities which
ascribe to the system will be required to gather student satisfaction data routinely, information which
could certainly be of use to us as we plan for the future. Like many good discussions, there was no particular “conclusion” reached.
As this process continues to unfold, I will do my best to keep everyone informed regarding the implications for UHV.
Convocation luncheons in Victoria and Sugar Land were well attended this year, giving us opportunity to meet our
new employees and to greet each other as we focus on the coming year.
Welcoming our new employees reminds us of the
healthy growth we are experiencing, reaching an all time high enrollment near 2,800. I’ve said it before, but let me
say it again: I appreciate all of you working together to reach this mark. It shows that together we can accomplish
much and help more students achieve their dreams.
Our Hispanic Heritage events this month have been outstanding. The partnership between the
Hispanic Initiatives Committee and the ABR Reading Series, highlighting Dagoberto Gilb, during
Hispanic Heritage Month received rave reviews. Many people of all ages took advantage of the noon
and evening events that featured this award-winning author. If you have not been to see the display
of Hispanic art work in University Center “rotunda gallery”, be sure to take some time to do so in
the next couple of weeks. I want to thank the Hispanic Initiatives Committee, Vic Padelford,
Danny Ochoa and everyone who worked on these and other Hispanic Heritage events – they help us reach
out to a critical community in our area.
The African American Chamber of Commerce of Victoria (AACCV) will be holding an Awards Gala
on November 6 which promises to be a night to remember for entertainment and recognition of some outstanding
community leaders. Gloria Espitia, our own UHV employee, will receive the Education award for her leadership
in education, particularly the Latina Forum. Congratulations, Gloria. UHV holds memberships in the Greater
Victoria Chamber of Commerce and the AACCV, and it was a great privilege for me to be able to welcome AACCV
leadership to the campus for their kickoff press conference. Both of these groups are our partners in education,
working to help young people understand the value of higher education.
Speaking of partners, I have been asked by UT Chancellor Mark Yudoff to serve on a four president committee that will examine all aspects of the
community college transfer process. The goal is to make sure we work together with our community college partners to help close
the gaps in Texas – to get more people in higher education at all levels.
UHVconnect continues to grow, with membership growing to over 1,000 current and former students. At this time,
membership in UHVconnect is for current and former students only. However, everyone can visit the online store,
check the calendar, and register for events such as Off the Clock. So, be sure to check out
www.uhvconnect.org.
Eunice Mesa, our Career Services Coordinator, and D’An Caskey, Alumni Coordinator, are
working together to add a career services component to UHVconnect.
An old saying is that you can never have too much money – but Joe Ferguson has convinced us all that you
can also never have too much bandwidth. With our latest bandwidth upgrade project, we have increased
our connection to the internet and to our administrative applications in Houston by over 100 times our
previous speed. We are planning a “lighting ceremony” (the appropriate ceremony for lighting up a fiber
optic cable – but you knew that, didn’t you?) toward the end of October.
Just a reminder: Invite a friend to join us for Off the Clock at Tejas Café and Bar on Thursday evening.
This is the first one of the new year and is a great way to help those outside the UHV family get involved
with us, to get to know us, to get to see us “up close” and personal, to learn of our unique characteristics
and talents – well, it sounded like a good idea! Invite someone anyway and join in the fun.
Finally, let me thank Karen, Laura, Melody and all of those who participated in this year’s corporate cup
competition. The results are in and I can safely say that UHV has once again reached a new level and that
our athletic achievements are raising eyebrows throughout the community (!). Remember, it is the spirit of
competition and camaraderie that counts most – and as they say in Boston – wait until next year!
In closing, let me remind you that full cabinet minutes are at
www.uhv.edu/president/cabinet.asp.
I appreciate you and hope you will let me or your cabinet representative hear your ideas and dreams for UHV.
Sincerely,
Tim Hudson, Ph.D.
President
“Mar tranquilo hace mal marino”
Spanish dicho
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