President's Regional Advisory Board
Meeting Minutes
December 3, 2019

Members Present: Bret Baldwin, Debra Baros, Lola Castro, Ben Galvan, Bob Glenn, Chance Glenn, Kathy Manning, Susannah Poor, Michael Rivet, Amy Gillis Schwartz, John Shutt, Debra Williams.

Absent: Sally Aman, Charlotte Baker, Art Calvo, Daniel Cano, Carry DeAtley, Evvy Gnabasik, Tina Herrington, David Hinds, Zach Hodges, Lane Keller, Lance LaCour, Betty McCrohan, Morgan Dunn O’Connor, Quintin Shepherd, Jack Swanson, Kay Kerr Walker, Roger Welder.

UHV Attendees: Matt Alexander, Paula Cobler, Jay Lambert, Jesse Pisors, Lauren Emerson, Joseph Tran, Kathy Walton, Ash Walyuchow.

• Welcome & Introductions—Mike Rivet

  Chair Rivet called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone.

• Organizational Business

  1. Approval of Minutes—Mike Rivet

     Susannah Porr moved and Debra Baros seconded to approve the minutes of September 3, 2019, as distributed.

     Motion Carried Unanimously

  2. PRAB Endowment Scholarship Report—Sally Aman

     In Ms. Aman’s absence, Chair Rivet shared the PRAB Endowment Scholarship update. The total number of scholarships and amount of each awarded from the PRAB Endowed Scholarship Fund is one. A $1,000 scholarship award was given to Mr. Jose Pinedo for the 2019-20 academic year. The current balance of the scholarship fund is $71,768.02, with a goal of $100,000. The total given or pledged so far this fiscal year for the PRAB Endowment Scholarship is $9,225. Total number of current PRAB members who have given since September 1, 2019 is six.

• Presentations

  • Capital Projects and Construction—Matt Alexander

    University Commons

    • Ribbon Cutting/Grand Opening—August
    • Follett (bookstore)—Open for Business
    • Food Service

    Food Court: Chick-fil-A and We Proudly Serve

    The third bay will be added as needed when our enrollment grows

    Smith Hall

    • Beds
      • Current number of beds 660
      • With Smith Hall’s addition 272
      • Total beds available 932
    • Completion by February/March 2020
    • Open to students August 2020

    STEMS

    • Completion April/May 2020
    • Open to students August 2020
    • Will have a VIZ Theater, 120 seat classroom, Organic Chemistry

     Northwest Campus

    • Kinesiology, SBDC, Library Storage, Temporary Athletics location
    • Working on asbestos abatement
    • Resume renovation in early spring 2020
    • Completion 2021

     Recreation and Wellness Center

    • Pre-design to begin by late December 2019
    • Request to BOR for approval May 21, 2020
    • Expected completion spring 2023

     Ben Wilson Temporary Pedestrian Crossing

    • A HAWK signal
      A HAWK is a traffic control device used to stop road traffic and allow pedestrians to cross safely.
    • Completion March 2020

    Ben Wilson Renovation

    • City of Victoria negotiating design fee
    • Completion summer 2022

  • Academic Affairs—Chance Glenn

    Academic Affairs has embarked upon the creation of a new academic strategic plan. In anticipation of an upcoming UHV Strategic Plan, initiated by a series of “Who are We?” discussions by the President, we are working to present a plan to the UHV leadership that will chart a course for us over the next five years. This involves a structure built for growth, the strengthening and enhancement of current programs, the creation of new programs, the forging of strategic academic partnerships and appropriate financial planning.

    Goals

    • Build and grow new, attractive majors (impactful to the surrounding community)
    • Strengthen and grow current majors (degree programs)
    • Establish stronger relationships with community colleges
    • Build academic support infrastructure for our specific student population
    • Build placement infrastructure (jobs and grad school)
    • Focus on building high impact educators
    • Strengthen relationships with area schools (VISD, HISD)
    • Leverage our growing physical infrastructure to attract students
    • Increase meaningful partnerships with external institutions
    • Tell the public what we are doing and why it is relevant to them

    This plan will be critical for the future approval at the Executive Committee, Provost’s Council, Board of Regents and The Higher Education Coordinating Board levels.

  • Student Life—Jay Lambert

    Dr. Lambert discuss UHV’s Cultural Climate survey.

    Six Survey Content Areas

    • Mattering and Affirmation—UHV score, 2 ribbons out of 4

      • Percent of students who believed professors of color never or only once in a while showed concern for their feelings or experiences.
        • 14% white students
        • 16% students of color

    • Cross-Racial Engagement—UHV score, 3 ribbons out of 4

      • Percent of students who feel open or mostly open about being engaged in conversations about race with white students.
        • 55% white students
        • 73% students of color

    • Racial Learning and Literacy—UHV score, 2 ribbons out of 4

      • Percent of students who believed their college or university was not preparing them at all or only slightly preparing them to interact with individuals of different races.
        • 12% white students
        • 27% students of color

    • Encounters with Racial Stress—UHV score, 3 ribbons out of 4

      • Percent of students who ever experienced feelings of loneliness, not belonging and/or isolation as a result of their campus racial climate.
        • 83% white students
        • 64% students of color

    • Appraisals of Institutional Commitment—UHV score, 3 ribbons out of 4

      • Percent of students who believed their college or university was not committed at all or only slightly committed to hiring faculty of color.
        • 91% white students
        • 74% students of color

    • Impact of External Environments

      • Percent of students who indicated experiencing racism from local police in the city/town surrounding their campus.
        • 32% white students
        • 51% students of color
    • Dr. Lambert said the survey was shared with 1,936 students in Victoria and received 251 replies.

  • University Advancement—Jessie Pisors

    Mr. Pisors said FY 2019 was another record-setting year at UHV.

    • Fundraising Totals
      • 2018 = $1,995,108
      • 2019 = $3,245,449
    • Number of Donors
      • 2018 = 1,127
      • 2019 = 1,303
    • Number of Alumni Donors
      • 2018 = 580
      • 2019 = 602
    • Number of Non-Alumni Individual Donors
      • 2018 = 390
      • 2019 = 675
    • Number of Organizational Donors
      • 2018 = 147
      • 2019 = 133
    • Number of UHV Employee Donors
      • 2018 = 203
      • 2019 = 215
    • Number of Gifts Received
      • 2018 = 1,516
      • 2019 =1,575

    • Mr. Pisors said UHV will host two ring ceremonies for the spring semester due to growth in the number of attendees.

      The inaugural Alumni Networking Luncheon with David and Tammy Murphy on October 30 in the University Commons Multi-Purpose Room was well attended.

  • Athletics—Ash Walyuchow

    Mr. Walyuchow said that thirteen years ago Athletics started at UHV.

    First teams were softball and baseball and play began in spring 2008 with 45 student athletes representing UHV
    • Men’s and women’s soccer and men’s and women’s golf were added for the 2010-11 season and the Athletic program grew to involve 120 student athletes
    • 2019 men’s and women’s soccer teams qualified for conference tournament
    • 2019 men’s soccer team won the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Championship and advanced to National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Championship
    • 30% of student athletes earned UHV Dean’s list or better
    • Recent gift of land to develop an Athletics complex
    • Gift commitment of $300,000 from Crossroads Bank
    • 8,600 fans attend 49 UHV home events in 2018-19
    • 140 student athletes involved in Athletics programs
    • 11 Conference Championships
    • 15 NAIA National Championship Appearances
    • 246 RRAC Scholar Athletes
    • 20 NAIA All-Americans
    • 47 Daktronic Scholar Athletes
    • 5 CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-Americans

  In our Athletics program, we have twenty-five different countries represented, international representatives in all programs except softball. Mr. Walyuchow said in order to add basketball to our Athletic program a gym is needed, so he is working with VISD on a $600,000 construction cost for locker rooms, score board, back boards etc. With the donation of sixty-five acres by the Wood Family, UHV is starting to work on a design for a UHV sports complex.

• President’s Remarks & Board Discussion

  President Glenn shared the following with the PRAB members

  • A “Conversation” meeting is being planned with all UHV faculty and   staff for January about the future of UHV. It will be an opportunity to explore who we are and who we intend to be as an institution. This will provide a forum where thoughts can be verbalized and help to determine UHV’s future for many years to come.
  • A consultant has been hired and a UHV Parking & Transportation Committee has been formed to discuss the projected parking demand at UHV.
  • As UHV strives to grow enrollment and better serve the greater Victoria region, UHV is bringing in a nationally recognized expert on small city revitalization, Mr. Ed McMahon. Mr. McMahon is a Senior Fellow for Urban Land Institute out of Washington, DC. His visit will bring significant value to our students and will show our commitment to building our city and community.
  • President Glenn is serving on the Presidential Search Committee for Dr. Hinds’ replacement at Victoria College.

The meeting closed with holiday wishes from President Glenn and a reminder to pick up a gift bag before they leave.

Meeting adjourned at 4:25 p.m.

Submitted by: Kathy Walton