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President's Cabinet

PRESIDENT’S CABINET
9:30 A.M., February 8, 2017
President’s Conference Room
Meeting Minutes

Members Present:  Akins, Beran,Cobler, Cockrum, Dahlstrom, Di Leo, Faulk, Ferguson, Hatmaker, Higgins, Huerta, Lambert, Litton, Morgan, Niroomand, Pisors, Smith, Thomas, Tomek, and Walyuchow

Guest:  Rebecca Lake

I.  Organization Business

A. President’s Updates—Dr. Vic Morgan

Dr. Morgan stated

  • introduced and welcomed UHV’s new Title IX Coordinator, Rebecca Lake
  • Senate Finance Committee Hearing
    • February 1 was spent in Austin testifying,
    • Senate Bill 1 eliminates all Special Item funding, which means to UHV a little over 30% of our total budget and the reduction in staff is 40%,
    • comparable reduction for Texas A&M University is $247 M,
    • the Senate Finance Committee assured all that they would be putting some funds back,
    • the most critical losses are Institutional Enhancement at $1.99 M per year, downward expansion at $21 M a year and SBDC, Nursing and Recruitment at $755,000 per year,  
    • UHV is asking for an additional $900,000 per year for equity in downward expansion funds,
    • that instructions from the Senate were to refile our LAR with these items prioritized, and
    • generally, no new requests so eliminated the Special Item for Rural Economic Development funds.
  • Legislative Items of Interest
    • the House will release Committee lists on February 9,
    • HB1 included all Special Items but everything was reduced by 1.5%,
    • the Senate bill will be the State Finance Bill so we hope the House will hold onto their bill in the Conference Committee, and
    • we’ll follow the bills and deal with them as best we can.
  • President’s Executive Order
    • no new news on court immigration decisions,
    • lots of students and others have entered the US during the court ordered ban,
    • requirements were relaxed some to allow green card holders and folks with dual citizenship in if entering on US Passport, and
    • it is rumored that no other countries are to be added.
  • Governor’s Hiring Freeze
    • only State Appropriated funds are effected,
    • the System will likely not apply for exceptions,
    • is concerned that the governor may want the savings returned to the state or will reduce appropriations by the savings amount,
    • all positions, new or refill, will require Executive Committee approval and the committee will get weekly reports from HR on vacancies,
    • it may be necessary to shift funds and/or positions around to accommodate needs, and
    • we may be able to continue to advertise faculty positions since start date will be fall 2017 but again, need some care and guidance before proceeding so as not to overextend the new budget.
  • Board of Regents Meeting
    • UHV has three items on the upcoming agenda
      • Ben Wilson (new plan hopefully with the same result),
      • Trailer park acquisition, and
      • Mission Statement.
  • Technology Plan Correction
    • Marketing & Communications will have responsibility for general web content as will individual schools and departments for their content,
    • the Technology staff will continue to report to the Technology area, and
    • plans are to have the new webpages rolled out this spring, likely near end of the semester.
  • Dr. Higgins asked Dr. Morgan if the university will continue to rely on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s 60x30TX higher education plan.  Dr. Morgan indicated we will continue to use the CB 60x30TX plan.
  • Dr. Morgan welcomed Dr. Bev Tomek back to Cabinet as the new Associate Provost for University College Implementation.  

B.  Minutes

Dr. Lambert moved and Mr. Pisors seconded to approve the January 11, 2017, minutes as distributed.  Motion carried unanimously.

II. Business 

A.  Academic Affairs Updates—Dr. David Cockrum

Dr. Cockrum shared handout that showed Face-to-Face classes vs. Internet

Course Offerings-

Spring 2016:

Face-to-Face classes:  279 or 47.6% of the classes

Internet classes:  307 or 52.4% of the classes

Spring 2017:

Face-to-Face classes:  323 or 53% of the classes

Internet classes:  286 or 47% of the classes

Mean Enrollments, Spring 2017

For All Courses:

Face-to-Face classes: 16.8

Internet classes:  24

Ratio:  1.4

For Only Courses >2 enrollment:

Face-to-Face classes: 17.8

Internet classes:  26.5

Ratio:  1.5

Dr. Cockrum asked if there was any negative feedback concerning the new MWF classes that are starting at 8:00 a.m.  No complaints were registered and Mr. Walyuchow said he had nothing but positive feedback from the athletes.

B.  Facilities & Finance Updates—Wayne Beran

Mr. Beran stated

  • the Katy Business Plan Task Force group is moving along and will be completed by April.  The task forces charge is to develop a Business Plan for our Katy operations.  The group is made up of Amy Barnhill, Ron Salazar, Sandy Venneman, Karla DeCuir, Jay Lambert and chairing the committee is Wayne Beran.
  • there is one more issue to address before closing on the Town Plaza Mall; and we should own the facility in the next 45-60 days,
  • three contractors are interested in the new sophomore housing project and a decision should be made in the next couple of weeks
    • he hopes the architect will finish in June or July and once the contractor receives a green light the facility will be finished in a year,
    • ground breaking is currently scheduled for April, and
  • an architect has been selected and is in contract negotiations for the STEM building.

C.  Student Affairs Updates—Dr. Jay Lambert

Dr. Lambert stated

  • Rebecca Lake, our new Title IX Coordinator, will be sending out a letter to students on sexual misconduct training this coming week,
  • the next Jag Day is scheduled for February 25, 2017, 8:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m.  
    • the lunches provided for that day are so workers can interact with students during their lunch time, not just pick up a lunch and leave,
  • the new literacy software, Read&Write, is now available to UHV students and it will help readers and writers, including those with disabilities,
  • the students “zapped” on Monday midnight will not count toward funding, (class-4 graduates, 42 undergraduates and 1 athlete) (schedule-70 graduates, 82 undergraduates and 6 athletes) and
  • a campus-wide email will be sent to students announcing the PeopleSoft upgrade to version 9.2 that is scheduled to go live by March 6; the newer version should be easier for students.  The only downfall is that faculty and staff members that use multiple PeopleSoft modules will have to log into each application rather than one central login.  Shawn Brett is working with IT to use Jagspace as a single sign on spot for all modules. 

Dr. Thomas stated

  • Fall 2017:
    • Freshman applications: 49% admitted, up by 5% over one year ago
    • Transfer Undergrad applications: 37.5% admitted, up by 6.5% over one year ago

Over last year:

    • Freshman applications are up 10.8%
    • Freshman admitted are up 22.3%
    • Transfer applications are up 25.4%
    • Transfer admitted are up 50%
  • currently there are 299 people who signed up to visit UHV for the February 25 Jag Day, 112 students (plus family members), with 45 of those from Corpus Christi (bus group),
  • CRM (Constituent Relationship Management) system update--Phase 2-Events Design, PeopleSoft integrations was successful,
    • there is a need for degree plan updates requested for the Request For Information (RFI)  form to go through to the Provost’s office,
  • Eric Camarillo, Manager of the Testing and Tutoring Student Success Center, has done a lot to update the effects of the tutoring on certain CORE classes.  Mr. Camarillo prepared a report showing the Student Success Center looked at sections of English and Mathematics and in all classes where at least 30% of the students attended tutoring, those students earned more As, Bs and Cs than students who didn’t attend tutoring at all.  There was also a higher percentage of these grades for students who attended tutoring compared to the class as a whole.  In many cases, 80% of students who attended SI or tutoring sessions earned As, Bs and Cs.  The most dramatic numbers appear when looking at failure rates.  In half the classes analyzed, 100% of students who failed did not come to tutoring at all. 

D.  University Advancement Updates—Jesse Pissors 

Mr. Pisors stated that about 120 endowment reports have been sent to donors, with many of UHV’s 92 endowed funds having multiple donor contacts to whom annual reports are provided.  The UH System closed their year with approximately $573 M in endowment market value.  For those with monthly payroll deductions, the 2016 calendar year giving receipt was a one-time statement mailed out toward the end of January.  Individual gift receipts are mailed throughout the year in response to individual (non-recurring) donations.  Mr. Pisors said the January 29 UHV Alumni Road Trip to the Spurs game, coordinated by Kira Mudd, was an overwhelming success with a sold-out charter bus.  The alumni paid $65 per person, which represented the majority but not all of the per-person expenses involved.  He expressed his appreciation to Courtney Middleton-Sides for her assistance in supporting our Athletics program through seeking and securing sponsorships for the Claud Jacobs Golf Tournament.  UHV received a $25,000 grant from the Gulf Coast Medical Foundation for Nursing scholarships this morning.

E.  Other Items

Mr. Walyuchow stated that so far $36,000 has been raised for the Claud Jacob Collegiate Invitational tournament, scheduled for February 19, 2017.   Part of the pre-tournament is the annual golf banquet; this year’s event will be on February 18, with featured speaker Hall of Famer Eddie Payton.  Coach Payton recently retired after a 30-year career at Jackson State University as the head golf coach.  The Jaguar baseball team opens the season against Arlington Baptist on January 27, followed by nearly a month off prior to playing St. Mary’s on February 21.  The UHV softball opens their season in Fort Worth at the Cowtown Classic.  The UHV women’s golf team took fourth place at the Jack Brown Memorial Golf Tournament. 

Ms. Cobler said there will be a February 28 reception featuring Claud Jacobs and Sonny Long, authors of “Bluebonnet Youth Ranch:  A History of Caring,” at 5:30-7:00 p.m., at the UHV Center for the Arts, Downtown Victoria along with a video by Mike Sizemore.  The authors will read from the book and will sign books that will be available for sale.  Proceeds from the book benefit Bluebonnet and UHV Athletics.

Mr. Faulk discussed new phone and new emergency notification.  He said Tech Services is beginning a major push this summer to upgrade the remaining users of Siemens phones to Shoretel phones.  The new phones have the following features:

  • scroll through the phone listings on the phone, no need for paper lists
  • ability to use your phone from anywhere
  • call queuing
  • software on the phone allows you to email a message by voice
  • allows for ring groups/or only ring on idle phone
  • whispers, allows you to listen in and coach the caller
  • ability to answer phone from your computer
  • The new emergency notification system is scheduled for February 28.  The 4,500 confirmed bridge tests were received and successful. 

Dean Di Leo stated he felt UHV should publicly acknowledge in some way the mosque tragedy.  He said we have faculty, students and PRAB members that worship and utilize the burned mosque. 

Dean Litton said the School of Education, Health Professions, and Human Development will host on Friday a Discussion, Question and Answer session on Promotion and Tenure, Annual Evaluation Process, and faculty reappointments for all new and non-tenured faculty members.

Dean Niroomand stated he was pleased to hear there is still a possibility to hire faculty.  He said he had a faculty candidate scheduled but cancelled and will now reschedule.  Announced Karla DeCuir, Wayne Beran and himself are hosting a table at the luncheon arranged by the West Houston Chamber of Commerce to be sure that the University of Houston-Victoria Katy Campus is represented. 

Dr. Morgan stated that hiring faculty for summer employment will be considered continued employment if you have an adjunct that has been teaching—no new adjunct hires are allowed for the summer but will be okay for the fall. 

Ms. Smith announced that at the next Cabinet meeting Karen Pantel and Lauree Tomas from the HR office, will share a presentation on the new applicant tracking system, Taleo.  The launch of Taleo is scheduled to go live March 1, 2017. 

           

Meeting was adjourned at 11:00 a.m.

Submitted by:  Kathy Walton