President’s Cabinet
August 11, 2021
University South, Virtual Theater Room 101

Members Present: Amano, Beran, Cobler, Colwell, Faulk, Field, Lambert, Locher, Martinez, Pisors, Tomek and Walyuchow

Absent: Blodgett, Cantu, Figueroa, Lake and Smith

Representatives: Billy Lagal, Director, Enrollment Strategies/Marketing and Sandy Venneman, Faculty Senate Vice President

Guest: Danny White, Arts & Sciences Assistant Professor

I. Organizational Business

A. President—Bob Glenn

President Glenn welcomed everyone to the meeting. In order to allow for additional room, the meeting was held in the new University South, Virtual Theater Room 101. President Glenn introduced Mr. Danny White who had prepared a demonstration so the seven high-definition screens in the “Viz Theater” could be seen in action. He thanked Mr. White for the very impressive demonstration.

Enrollment is down by 15% of the fall semester which will have a financial impact on the institution. The budget had been based on continued steady enrollment and did not consider the decreases in enrollment or the 5% rollback decrease in state funding.

President Glenn announced he would be sending out weekly updates to share information.

Currently, plans are still in place to return to normal classes for this fall. Obviously, this could change due to the virus. The university will not jeopardize anyone’s safety and noted that we will protect our people. He stressed that everyone needs to be patient, transparent and keep lines of communication open. He also strongly recommended everyone wear a mask. Your responsibility is your decision to keep yourself safe as well as others.

President Glenn noted that only recruitment will be reimbursed for travel without prior approval, all others are still under austerity measures and so travel must be authorized by the vice president before it is taken.

B. Mandatory Annual Training—Stuart Sherman

Stuart Sherman, Director, Emergency Management, provided an annual training session on emergencies. He said for the university to respond to and recover from emergencies affecting operations is dependent upon the proficiency and well-being of its employees and the clarity of the university’s leadership. The administrators and key staff are required to be trained in preparedness of such emergencies. After a hurricane, administrators will return to campus, but all other personnel need to be invited back once it is safe to return. Mr. Sherman reminded everyone to sign up for emergency notifications from UHV. He said there is an app for computers and telephones that give accurate real time rainfall data called “Mr. Radar.” There are mandatory course trainings for those whose roles dictate leadership in times of emergency. Mr. Sherman said it is important that everyone understands their role and responsibility during times of emergency and that communication is critical. Course training can be signed up through FEMA.

C. Approval of the Minutes

II. Business

A. Academic Affairs Updates— Chance Glenn

Provost Glenn said the university must invest in their future and our people are our future. He noted that it is important to prioritize compensation issues and what is important is reflected in an institution’s budget. He plans to review the university current programs and see if UHV is meeting the needs of the community workforce. His plan is to prepare a Strategic Plan presentation so people outside the university understands what UHV is doing. 

Provost Glenn welcomed the new School of Arts & Sciences dean, Dr. Kyoko Amano to Cabinet. He said she is doing a great job but has a tough job ahead of her.

UHV is embarking on a search for a dean of Education, Health Professions & Human Development. More information will be forthcoming.

President Glenn added, another search will be underway shortly for UHV’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Wayne Beran. He stated that Mr. Beran has been with the university for 32 years and he is the best chief financial officer he has worked with. This will be a nation-wide search with the Anthem Executive firm.

Provost Glenn complimented the last commencement, saying six ceremonies in two weeks and everything went off smoothly. He stated a decision will be made on whether to continue with three ceremonies.

He announced that Dr. Joann Olson will be the Associate Provost for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies.

He noted we can encourage students to be vaccinated and wear masks.  

B. Facilities & Finance Updates—Wayne Beran

Mr. Beran said back in 1990, the state contributed 85% of the university’s budget, yet today in 2021 it only contributes 33%. Funding is even less for tier one schools. He said UHV along with other universities across the nation are seeing the same trend UHV is seeing, freshmen are not showing up.

He said the Ben Wilson Project design is 90% complete. Construction will not begin until the first of 2022.

Per Mr. Beran, bonds, not operating funds, will be used in the building of the Health & Wellness Center.

The fall dorms are only at 30-45% full, federal money is being used to keep services ongoing there. Mr. Beran anticipates by 2024 everything will be back to normal.

C. Enrollment Management Updates—Jose Cantu

In Dr. Cantu’s absence, Billy Lagal presented the updates. He reiterated points previously made by President Glenn and Mr. Beran regarding meager enrollment numbers. As of the morning of this meeting, the number of enrollment-eligible undergraduates (263 transfer; 909 first-time in college) presents a pool of students to help close the enrollment gap; however, the biggest challenge is being able to get students enrolled promptly. For newly applied students, admissions policies temporarily accommodate applicants who do not have class ranks or SAT/ACT scores.

D. Student Affairs Updates—Jay Lambert

Dr. Lambert said on August 7, the university had 58 students and their families on campus. It was a great framework for a one-day orientation.

Family weekend is set for October 9. UHV is still making plans but taking a wait and see approach before making the final decision.

Dr. Lambert said a thank you is due the Student Government Association (SGA); they used their funds to outfit the University Commons Game Room.

Dr. Lambert said housing numbers are still low with only 351 signed up, whereas last year there were 480 and 659 in 2019.

To assist with social distancing, student move-in will start on August 19 with staggered timings.

E. University Advancement Updates—Jesse Pisors

Mr. Pisors said the overall fundraising update for FY 21 is about $2.8 million from over 1,100 unique donors. This amount is significantly more than our FY 21 annual fundraising goal of $2.5 million. This is almost twice the total raised in FY 20.

The Kay Walker Memory Garden Project will have commissioned UHS public art to be included in the space. “Kay’s Grove” is the official name. Groundbreaking is scheduled for September 30. The project is expected to be completed and a dedication ceremony to take place in February 2022.

Kelsey Norgard is now on-board as the new Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Giving.

One For All, All For One celebration and the kick-off luncheon is schedule for September 8 for Katy and September 9 for the Victoria campus. 

Mr. Pisors announced the university has received four-$100,000 donation commitments from four donors to help UHV School of Business Administration bring Innovation Collective to Victoria: Victoria Sales Tax Development Corporation, City of Victoria, Frost Bank and David and Tammy Murphy.

F. Other Items

Dean Colwell said the recent weeks news of the Innovation Collective have been very gratifying and exciting. He said the school has experienced some dips in graduates. To assist with the enrollment numbers, the school has purchased the premium package on Niche and 26,000 post cards have been sent out in the Katy area.

Interim Dean Martinez is working with Victoria College on the RN to BSN program with a target date of next fall to have Texas Board of Nursing (BON) approval. The school is using virtual marketing, word of mouth marketing and face-to-face meetings to boost enrollment.

Dean Amano announced that the Arts & Sciences’ School Psychology program has been accredited by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). She said a celebration is being held at the Katy campus. An advisory board is being planned to generate more interest in the program. She also said that Computer Science is having a virtual accreditation visit by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).

Associate Provost Tomek said that today is the last day of the Summer Bridge Program. She had 75 students in the program. In the Summer Bridge Program, Summer One was for commuters and Summer Two was for students living in the dorm.  Associate Provost Tomek said that Bev Hoerig is retiring at the end of August.

Dr. Venneman sitting in for Faculty Senate President Blodgett, said members of the Executive Committee will be invited to Faculty Council meetings to give updates. She said the Faculty Council representative will be attending a COVID Task Force later today to present the results of a faculty survey.

Ms. Fields said the Staff Council is hoping to be able to have a “Welcome Back to Campus” appreciation event for staff. She said they are looking forward to the new year.

Mr. Walyuchow said a lot of the same rules are in place this year that were in place last year. Soccer players are getting ready for their physicals and COVID testing. Practice will start the following week. UHV is the only school in the conference that did not have to cancel events due to COVID last year. Games were streamed online via Facebook with no fans present. This year fans will be in the stands, but safety is a priority. In order to allow the university to be able to stream games, there is a charge for viewing online. IT has solved the internet issues at the soccer field.  Mr. Walyuchow said that Athletics is well aware of the COVID limitation for athletes and is looking forward to a little more normal year

Ms. Locher reported the library is pleased and grateful to the University Diversity Task Force for the additional funds to purchase e-books related to diversity. Ms. Brittany Rodriguez has completed her requirements to become a Certified Archivist under the Academy of Certified Archivists. Brittany is the manager of the jointly owned UHV/VC Victoria Regional History Center.

President Glenn said even though Ms. Cobler has moved to Arlington, she is still working for UHV for the foreseeable future.

Ms. Cobler said her department has been busy working on the 2020-2021 President’s Annual Report & Excellence Awards event and website. The theme is “Up to the Challenge.” Her group also has been working on projects for other departments for the start of the fall semester and updating the COVID-19 website.

Mr. Faulk said IT is still looking for student workers and requested if anyone knew of someone that might be interested in the position to send them their way. Mr. Faulk said a new virus protection has been selected and will be installed on the computers before the end of the semester called “Endpoint Protection.” IT will be upgrading the Kyocera copier fleet in October-November. Departments will be hearing more about this upgrade soon. He said hybrid classrooms are ready to go for streaming. streaming capabilities.

President Glenn said in order to spread out, the next meeting of the President’s Cabinet will be in the Northwest Building. He closed by saying, be patient and kind, work hard, overcome the situation and work with one another.

Meeting Closed at 11:20 a.m.

Submitted by Kathy Walton