|
President's Periodic Messages 2007-2008
October 31, 2007
An Update from President Hudson:
In the middle of October, School of Business Administration Dean
Charles Bullock, Professor Jifu Wang and I traveled to China to sign a series of agreements
with Chinese institutions of higher learning. These agreements have now formally linked UHV
to five major universities in China and hold the promise of bringing significant numbers of
Chinese students to us and providing reciprocal opportunities for UHV students. In addition,
the potential for faculty exchanges and the expansion of these activities beyond the scope of
the School of Business Administration is woven into each framework accordingly.
The success of this trip was directly related to the efforts of the School faculty and Dean Bullock and
the background work they have done in selecting, vetting and negotiating with partners
in a highly competitive environment in the world's largest national educational market. The logistics
of this venture alone were rather mind boggling -- five agreements with attendant ceremonies,
introductions, speeches and banquets (I'll NOT get diverted here on the "cultural" side of our trip,
but suffice to say that in the name of good relations we dined on indescribable -- thank goodness in
some cases -- "delicacies" throughout the entire journey) in four cities in seven days. And it was
clear throughout, that the quality of UHV's response to the Chinese market through the programs the
school had developed had produced excellent results.
Additionally, we found ourselves in China at a time of breakneck speed development and significant change as
China continues along the path of opening up all its sectors to the world's markets and attending
to the overall prosperity of its expanding population. Later, you will hear much more about the
specifics of our trip and the new partnerships from the School of Business Administration -- but
I have no doubt that the diligence of our faculty's efforts will pay huge dividends for UHV.
Finally, I want to personally thank Professor Wang who served as our guide and mentor
on this trip and whose commitment to this important endeavor was evident; he was received with great
honor wherever we traveled and represented UHV and our faculty, staff and students with passion and
professionalism.
While we were in China, we learned, of course, that
the UH System had chosen Dr. Renu Khator (pronounced rah-NEW ka-TOOR) as the next chancellor.
Dr. Khator is currently the provost of the University of South Florida and has been instrumental in
the rise of that major urban research university to national prominence. I am confident that, being
a product of the very sort of international initiatives that UHV is leading for the entire system,
she will be a supporter of our efforts abroad. We look forward to her leadership and to welcoming
her to our venues when she arrives next year.
The day after returning from China, twelve hours late and totally jet-lagged after 36 hours of travel,
I was installed as the Secretary/Treasurer of the (Texas) Council of Public University Presidents and
Chancellors (CPUPC) an organization comprised of all public university CEOs in the state. At this
particular meeting we heard from various national and state leaders on the emerging "Voluntary System
of Accountability" which I have written about in earlier updates. When implemented, and in theory,
the VSA will allow potential students in the US to "compare" universities across a number of variables
including costs, demographic structure, and student satisfaction. I have been briefing the cabinet on
this matter and discussing it with faculty leadership regularly. Soon, all universities will opt in or
out of VSA -- if we opt in, it will require us to gather a bit of data that we do not presently gather
but for the most part we already report all of this information to some regulatory body. My guess is
that ALL CPUPC members eventually will participate.
The following morning, CPUPC members were invited to a conversation with Representative Dan Branch
who is chairing the Select House Committee on Higher and Public Education Finance. One of the areas
of jurisdiction for this committee is “reviewing and aligning formula and non-formula funded programs
with each other and with the educational goals of the state.” I want to thank Representative Branch
for his initiative in putting together what proved to be a candid, open dialogue on the way in which
higher education in Texas is funded.
There were no particular conclusions reached but a number of important issues were discussed
in full, including the pros and cons of graduation rates (are they the "be all and end all" some think);
formula funding (why have the funding formulas for some critical areas such as nursing been reduced);
success metrics (should the state fund inputs -- e.g. persistence rates, or outputs -- e.g. degrees
granted); closing the gaps (is the "gap" in enrollments or in overall funding since Texas still lags
behind other comparable states in per capita spending); and tier one competitiveness (why does Texas
lag behind in the number of nationally recognized research institutions?).
Again, as next year's legislative session dawns, we'll be revisiting these and many more issues. But
I wanted to let you know that UHV has a voice in these debates and I would be grateful for any insight
and input any of you would care to give regarding the thorny matter of state funding for our enterprise.
Further discussion also continues on off-campus program delivery for the entire UH System. How
and under what circumstances we collectively meet the higher education needs of Houston's burgeoning
suburbs may well be one the most critical strategic issues the system now faces. Last year, due to
the work of our Schools, UHV was given additional programmatic and management responsibilities in Fort
Bend County and I want to thank all those involved for their work in delivering on this opportunity.
However, much remains to be done in greater Houston and UHV will, again, no doubt be involved.
I am pleased to let you know that U.S. Senator John Cornyn has accepted our invitation to be our
December commencement speaker. We look forward to having this distinguished and respected senator
with us as we celebrate the accomplishments of our graduates.
At our October 24 cabinet meeting, we had special guests D’An Caskey, Eunice Mesa, Laura Baker,
Zoeann Byerly, and Marci Wallace, who updated us on UHVconnect, our online site for keeping students
and alumni connected with each other and UHV. A new feature, Career Connection, has been added to this
site. You may want to check out the features of this link which include, among other items job openings
and resume posting. Currently, there are 423 jobs posted, with more companies being contacted about
participation. A future goal of UHVconnect is to make it a “one stop shopping” place for all UHV
merchandise; kudos to all who are developing the potential of this online tool.
Our Austin Community College (ACC) partnership is gathering strength with April Wenske (Bagwell)
doing on-site recruiting there.
The School of Education and Human Development is developing an Adult and Higher Education graduate
level certificate which we hope to pilot with ACC faculty. With the rapidly growing population in the
Austin-Round Rock area, our partnership with ACC should prove rewarding in student growth, faculty
partnerships and innovative models for community college-four year transfer partnerships. In a letter
to me last week, ACC President Stephen Kinslow has indicated his full support for our developing
relationship and our participation in Austin.
Speaking of community college transfer, another role I have with CPUPC is serving on a special
Community College Transfer Issues committee
established by this year's CPUPC president, Chancellor Mark Yudoff. If you have knowledge of best
practices, particularly those of UHV, that you feel is pertinent to the transfer issue, please feel
free to apprise me of it as one charge for this committee is to survey the current state of affairs
in this area.
The School of Education and Human Development is continuing the process of becoming accredited
by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC), with faculty members Jane Fry, Tim Berkey
and Carol Klages attending a workshop that will focus on preparing the “inquiry brief,” a detailed
document required for TEAC accreditation. Following the submission and review of this document, an
audit team will visit the campus. We wish them the best as they move through this process that will
add an additional recognition of quality to their programs.
The American Book Review has had an outstanding month. In addition to hosting author/lecturer,
R.M. Berry, they have launched the ABR website and produced, through Ad Graphics, the first issue
that has been published in Victoria. Have you noticed the newsprint deliveries rolling into University West?
Provost LaBrecque recently represented ABR at a reception at the Romanian Embassy in New York .
The event was in recognition of the recent ABR issue that highlighted Romanian authors. The attendees
were treated to readings by Romanian authors and many positive comments were made about UHV and ABR.
Chari Norgard is continuing to look at best practices and study the
implementation of a “one stop shop” for student services in which students would be able to
access everything they need for enrollment in one location. Many universities have moved to this approach
to better meet the needs of their students.
Dick Phillips notes that the annual fundraising campaign was kicked off with 100% participation from
cabinet members and already more than 100 employees have pledged support. This is an outstanding
response and carries immense influence when we seek funding from external donors. I thank all of you who
have pledged your support. Remember, every gift is important, no matter what the size. It would be wonderful
to be able to say we had support from 100% of our faculty and staff.
Do remember the UH homecoming football game that is coming up on November 17. We will have a great time at
the tailgate and game.
For full cabinet minutes, look at
www.uhv.edu/president/cabinet.asp .
Finally, those of you who read these updates regularly will know that the length of this one is NOT
typical, and for that I apologize -- blame it on the brutal travel schedule of the past month and the
accelerating pace of the work of our colleagues which is producing so many exciting initiatives. Nonetheless,
it'll be shorter next time.
Sincerely,
Tim Hudson, Ph.D.
President
“A gentleman who is not a greedy eater, nor a lover of ease at home, who is earnest in deed and careful of speech,
who seeks the righteous and profits by them, may be called fond of learning.” – Confucius
“When you say something, say what you know. When you don’t know something, say you don’t know. That is knowledge.” - Confucius
“In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their
own minds and then believe them to be true.” – Buddha
| 
