Remarks
Arthur K. Smith
Chancellor, University of Houston System, and
President, University of Houston
University of Houston System
Presentation to the
Legislative Budget Board
Governor’s Office of Budget & Planning
Houston Community College Town & Country Campus
September 20, 2000
8:30 a.m.

  • Thank you, Chairman Rosenthal. It is my pleasure to come to you today as Chancellor of the University of Houston System and President of the University of Houston.
  • Following my presentation on the University of Houston main campus will be presentations from the other University of Houston System campuses and their presidents: Dr. William Staples of the University of Houston Clear Lake; Dr. Max Castillo of the University of Houston Downtown; and Dr. Karen Haynes of the University of Houston Victoria.
  • I would also like to welcome the members of our Legislature who are with us today.
  • And, I would also like to thank Houston Community College and the Town and Country Campus for hosting today’s important hearings.

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

INTRODUCTION

Scope of the University of Houston

  • The University of Houston is the major public academic and research university for the upper Gulf Coast region of Texas, and the leading urban research university in the state.
  • We are the most ethnically diverse urban research university in the country. Our current enrollment of more than 32,000 students is made up of 41 percent White or Anglo, 18 percent Asian, 17 percent Hispanic, 13 percent African-American, and 8 percent from other ethnic groups. That leaves 3 percent who, for whatever reason, decline to tell us what they are.

FY 2000-FY 2001 BIENNIUM

  • State investments in the University of Houston during the current biennium have enabled us to improve support for students, enhance our academic and research programs, and make important contributions to the community and industry.

Support for Students

  • I mentioned earlier that the University of Houston is the most ethnically diverse urban research university in the country. Our diversity, however, includes not only ethnicity, but also other important factors.
    • Our students tend to be highly non-traditional.
    • They are older, with the average age being 25.
    • Many of our students are the first in their families to attend college.
    • Many have families of their own.
    • Most live off-campus and work at least part-time.
  • Because of these factors, we work to ensure our students have the academic and financial support they need to complete their education. Over the past two years, we have made several major investments in our students:
  • $1 million in new student scholarships
  • Among our responsibilities as a university is to ensure access to all qualified students, regardless of their cultural and ethnic backgrounds or their economic positions. These are factors that have served as roadblocks to participation in the higher education process. They will not be barriers to an education at the University of Houston.
  • For FY00 and FY01, we increased scholarships by $1 million, and created two scholarship programs:
    • The Valedictorian Scholarship Program and
    • The Automatic Scholarship Program.
  • Along with our new scholarship programs, we are assisting students through the Texas Grant Program. The University supports this vital state-funded program, and we encourage its continuation and expansion.
  • Investments in student retention programs (e.g., the Scholars’ Community)
  • Over the past two years, the University of Houston has invested more than $450,000 in The Scholars’ Community, which seeks to address many of the challenges faced by our urban student population.
  • The freshman retention rate within the Scholars’ Community is seven percent higher than the retention rate for the general freshman population — 83 percent as opposed to 76%.

Academic and Research Programs

  • Providing our students with high quality programs is the best way to ensure their academic and professional success. Therefore, the University of Houston’s top priority is to invest in its programs.
  • Important investments have been made during the current biennium, and significant achievements have been realized:
    • Thirty-eight faculty positions created
  • High-quality faculty are essential to high-quality academic and research programs. Through new state resources, the University of Houston has funded 38 new faculty positions. These positions are strategically allocated to areas of strength within the university — materials science, the computational sciences, and the biomedical sciences among others — which align with the major industries in the Houston area and Texas, such as energy, aerospace, health care, and telecommunications.
    • College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
  • We are consolidating the College of Humanities, Fine Arts & Communication and the College of Social Sciences into the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences — or CLASS.

 

  • This new college will serve as an intellectual center for the campus, one where new synergies among faculty and students are encouraged, including the development of multidisciplinary programs.

 

  • The University will also realize cost savings that result from a reduction in administrative positions, with funding to be invested into academic initiatives.

 

    • Investments in research programs and infrastructure
  • While high-quality faculty are a prerequisite for outstanding research programs, so, too, are state-of-the-art research facilities and support for research initiatives.
  • Over the course of the biennium, the University of Houston has invested approximately $14 million in developing research programs and infrastructure.
  • Investments have been made to renovate and equip research laboratories; provide matching funds for grant proposals; and seed new research centers.
  • For FY00, research awards for the University of Houston were approximately $50.1 million. That’s a 24.5 percent increase in sponsored research funding over the same period last year.

Research Special Items

  • In addition to research investments we make through formula funding and HEAF, the state also invests in these programs through special item funding. Continuation of these investments is critical if the University of Houston is to achieve its research goals and effectively serve the needs of the people and the industries in the region and the state.
  • The following are some of the achievements that have been realized through research special items:
    • Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston, TCSUH

 

  • In February, TCSUH was host to more than 1,500 scientists from 52 countries for the 6th International Conference on Materials and Mechanisms of Superconductivity, and High Temperatures Superconductors.

 

  • TCSUH has helped establish two start-up companies with UH-licensed technology.
    • Biomagnetic Imaging Ltd, works on non-invasive medical applications of Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices, or SQUIDS, now in clinical trials in a Texas Medical Center institution; and
    • MetOx, a start-up company established to commercialize coated conductor technology developed at TCSUH.

 

  • TCSUH also has created two national advanced materials research centers in the Composite Engineering and Applications Center for the petroleum industry, also known as CEAC, and the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center for Advanced Oxides, or MRSEC, which is a National Science Foundation center.

 

    • Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center, SVEC
  • The Space Vaccum Epitaxy Center, or SVEC, is a NASA Commercial Space Center. In May, a SVEC spin off company held groundbreaking ceremonies for its manufacturing and research facility in Sugarland. Applied Optoelectronics, Incorporated, or AOI, provides advanced semiconductor optoelectronic devices for emerging applications, including biomedical and chemical sensing, and defense.
  • We are asking for $835,424 in our Exceptional Item Request for SVEC.
    • Texas Learning and Computation Center, TLC2
  • The air quality in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria area has been a topic of special concern this summer. TLC2 has provided the seed funding for an Air Quality Modeling project that will model the chemical reactions occurring in the atmosphere that lead to the formation of ozone and other atmospheric pollutants.

 

  • TLC2 is a founding member of the Los Alamos Computer Science Institute, or LACSI. The Institute’s objective is to ensure the best available software and mathematical techniques are used in teaching, research, and the development of new technologies.

 

  • We are asking for $2 million in our Exceptional Item Request for TLC2.

 

Public Service Special Items

  • Community service is the third component of the University’s mission, along with teaching and research. In light of the importance of instruction and research, the resources that the University can devote to public service are never equal to existing needs. Special item funding is an important way for the State to help us address the needs of the communities we serve. Some recent accomplishments of these items are the following:
    • Partnership to Support Public Schools
  • This is collaboration between the MOVE-IT Math Initiative and Consistency Management significantly improves public education.
    • Consistency Management is reducing school discipline problems by as much as 78 percent in some schools, and in some instances has increased teaching time by up to 36 minutes per day. The program is used in 41 elementary and secondary schools in the Houston Independent School District.
    • We are asking for $1 million in our Exceptional Item request to expand this successful program to other school districts in Texas.

    • Health Law & Policy Institute
  • The Health Law & Policy Institute is one of the nation’s premier interdisciplinary centers for the study of health law and policy, and it was ranked the top Health Law Program in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. It has increased the knowledge base for decision making in the health law and policy field, and improved the education of legal and health professionals.

 

FY 2002-FY 2003 BIENNIUM

  • The current biennium for the University of Houston has been one of great progress, both in terms of what we accomplished as an institution, and in what our special item initiatives have accomplished individually.
  • It is accurate to say that much of what we have done would not have been possible without the new resources we received from the State.
  • In the next biennium we will require additional state investments if the University of Houston is to continue its essential contributions to the ever-increasing and constantly changing expectations of our students and all of our stakeholders.
  • Urban Development Center
  • Houston’s continued prosperity demands rebuilding its low-income neighborhoods and improving the quality of its urban infrastructure.
  • To meet our responsibility, the University will create the Urban Development Center, consisting of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture’s Community Development Resource Center and the Cullen College of Engineering’s Institute for Urban Infrastructure Systems.
  • We are asking for $2.6 million in our Exception Item Request for the Urban Development Center.
  • Partnership for Multicultural Participation
  • Houston is one of the most ethnically diverse and international cities in the nation, ranking third in the number of foreign consulates with 73. More than half of the international firms operating in Texas are located in Houston.
  • Achieving professional success in our society, though, is often more challenging for members of our minority and international communities because of differences in cultures and language, and economic barriers.
  • The Partnership for Multicultural Participation joins our African-American, Mexican-American, and Asian-American Studies programs in a collaborative project to enhance the social and economic success of this great city’s multi-ethnic and international communities and businesses.
  • We are asking for $600,000 in our Exceptional Item Request for this program.
  • University Eye Institute
  • The College of Optometry and the University Eye Institute have provided eye and vision care services to the people of the Greater Houston area for nearly 50 years. More than 60 percent of our annual patient base of 37,000 is medically indigent.
  • Today, the number of medically indigent patients cared for in the University Eye Institute and its community-based clinics has exceeded our available resources.
  • We are asking for $1,512,000 in our Exceptional Item Request for the University Eye Institute.

 

  • Texas Medical Center Drug Information Center
  • The Texas Medical Center Drug Information Center is crucial to the healthcare of Houston’s citizens, and will provide an avenue for the University to make institutional resources accessible to the people of the Houston metropolitan area.
  • The fifth leading cause of death in this country is adverse reaction to medication. And the economic impact on the failure of drug therapies to achieve their best outcomes exceeds $115 Billion a year.
  • The Texas Medical Center Drug Information Center would help reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with therapeutic misadventures in Southeast Texas, and would help reduce the economic impact through improved drug therapy outcomes.
  • We are asking for $756,346 in our Exceptional Item Request for the Center.

Tuition Revenue Bond Projects

  • The University of Houston is proposing three Tuition Revenue Bond projects.
  • Science & Engineering Building
  • We urgently need to construct a Science & Engineering building. Our science facilities are outdated and in critical need of replacement with modern labs and classrooms, especially in light of our significant space shortage.
  • We are asking for $80 million for this building that will be constructed in two phases. Delay in construction will severely inhibit the University’s ability to provide essential instructional and laboratory space.
  • Mexican-American Center / Student Services Building
  • We would like to construct a center dedicated to serving Latin American cultures and students and the University of Houston. The Center will include the highly successful Mexican-American Studies Program and, possibly, Arte Publico Press, the largest publisher of Latin American texts in the United States.
  • Adjacent facilities would house the offices of Admissions, Registration, Academic Records, Financial Aid, and the Bursar.
  • Consolidation of these units will enhance the quality of services to our students, especially our Hispanic students who will also benefit from the Hispanic cultural programs in the same building.
  • Our TRB proposal for this project is $20 million.
  • Texas Medical Center Building
  • We are asking for $50 million for the Texas Medical Center Building. This will be a 165,000 gsf located at the Texas Medical Center. It will house the College of Pharmacy and programs delivered by Social Sciences, Engineering, Natural Sciences & Mathematics, Technology, Communications Disorders, and Optometry.
  • This facility will serve our students who want to work in a medical environment by allowing them to attend classes and earn a degree while working in a large medical center.

 

Texas Tier I Research Excellence Fund Initiative

  • The chancellors of Texas public university systems started an initiative during the last legislative session to expand the number of top tier research universities in the state through the establishment of the Texas Tier I Research Excellence Fund.
  • This proposed new category of funding would complement both the PUF and the HEAF by addressing particularly the higher education and economic growth needs of the major cities in Texas.
  • The Texas Tier I Research Excellence Funding initiative will be the University of Houston’s highest institutional priority during the 77th Legislature that convenes in January.
  • Recent data from the National Science Foundation — the NSF -- show Texas is sixth among the states in federal funding for science and engineering research and development as of 1998, with $730 million. California led all states with more than $2 billion in funding. New York was second with more than $1.1 billion.
  • The NSF report lists seven Texas public universities among the nation’s top 100 public and private universities. The University of Texas at Austin was the highest ranked, coming in at number 39.
  • Here is why Texas trails five other states in receiving vital federal research funding. Of the ten largest cities in the country, Texas has three –Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. And, of the ten largest cities in the country, only three do not have Tier I flagship research universities. That’s right — Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas.
  • Texas has three Tier II research universities–the University of Houston, Rice, and Texas Tech–but the entire state has only two universities in the top tier: UT-Austin and Texas A&M-College Station.
  • There is a reason for this, and there is a solution.

  • Two special funding sources are important to the Tier I solution. These funds, established in the Texas Constitution, are the Permanent University Fund, the PUF, and the Higher Education Assistance Fund, the HEAF.
  • As you know, the PUF and the HEAF are essentially the same in that both provide funds to Texas universities for capital expenditures and library acquisitions.
  • The very important difference between them comes in the PUF Excellence Funding enjoyed by UT-Austin and Texas A&M-College Station, and to a lesser extent, by Prairie View A&M University. This excellence funding is in addition to the capital expenditure support provided by the PUF.
  • The PUF excellence funding has furnished the vital margin of excellence for many decades to UT-Austin and Texas A&M College Station.
    • It is used as salary support to attract and retain leading faculty;
    • For financial aid to help attract high-ability undergraduate and graduate students; and
    • For investments in state-of-the-art facilities and equipment.
  • Over a five-year period, Texas Tier I Research Excellence Funding would be used to fill 250 new faculty positions and 100 new support positions, and to expand and enhance the University’s educational and research infrastructure.
  • Let me conclude by saying the University of Houston is committed to providing a highly skilled and well-educated workforce for Houston, and to being a key partner in the research, development, and delivery of new knowledge and new technologies.
  • Our major challenge, though, is to find the resources that will enable us to conduct the teaching and research that will keep the University of Houston competitive in the marketplace of ideas, and will keep the Houston area and the state of Texas competitive in the demanding economies and shifting cultures of the 21st Century.
  • The Texas Tier I Research Excellence Fund is a major step in that direction.
  • That concludes by presentation for the University of Houston. I will be happy to answer your questions.

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION

  • I will now conclude our presentation today with the Chancellor’s report on the University of Houston System Administration.

Introduction: The Need for Continued UHSA Funding

  • In 1996, the UH System Board of Regents decided to combine the positions of Chancellor of the UH System and President of the University of Houston. When I came to the UH System in April 1997, I began to streamline the administration further by assembling a senior executive team that possesses both UH System and University of Houston responsibilities.
  • This consolidation has been a success. Even though the universities have more autonomy, the System Administration still plays a vital role in coordinating initiatives that require a system-wide approach, and we provide some centralized services that are best administered at the system level.
  • Continued funding for the UH System Administration is critical if our universities are to serve our constituencies effectively.

System-Wide Initiatives

PeopleSoft

  • In FY99, the UH System purchased the student, financial, and human resources information systems from PeopleSoft. Once implemented, these systems will enable the universities to achieve a higher level of reporting accuracy and timeliness of information critical to the efficiency of the UH System.
  • We are in the process of implementing the core financial system at all four institutions and the student financial system at UH Clear Lake. The implementation of these systems is scheduled for completion in FY02.
  • In FY01, all four universities will begin implementation of the human resources system.

Joint Contracts

  • Over the past two years the System Administration has negotiated joint contracts on behalf of the universities for services that will benefit students and be cost-efficient for the universities.
  • Among these are contracts for bookstore services, food services, and pouring rights.

Academic Initiatives: UHS at Sugar Land and Cinco Ranch

  • One of our finest achievements has been the UH System at Sugar Land in Fort Bend County where our four universities collaborate in the delivery of 32 bachelors and masters degree programs.
  • A Classroom / Office Building at Sugar Land is the System’s TRB request. This request for $18 million anticipates the need for continued expansion brought on by increasing enrollments forecast in Fort Bend County.
  • Encouraged by our success at Fort Bend, the UH System Administration has submitted a proposal to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to convert the University of Houston West Houston Institute at Cinco Ranch into a university system center–the UH System at Cinco Ranch.

UH System Administration Special Items

UH System Center Support

  • Implementing off-campus operations such as Fort Bend and Cinco Ranch enables the UH System to serve our constituencies in cost-efficient ways. The expansion of operations into high-demand communities, however, requires an investment of significant resources for program development, infrastructure development and operations, and administration.

Texas Aerospace Scholars’ Program

Technology Outreach Program

  • The UH System Administration also receives special item funding for two programs for the benefit of NASA, and which are implemented by the Johnson Space Center. These are the Texas Aerospace Scholars’ Program and the Technology Outreach Program.
  • While the UH System is happy to support and facilitate these initiatives–because they align with our own teaching and research goals–they are not our programs. We are simply the conduit through which NASA receives funding.

State-Wide Initiatives

  • Finally, I would like to discuss state-wide higher education issues the UH System supports, many of which I have worked on as part of the Texas Higher Education Coalition, which is comprised of the chancellors of the state’s six university systems.
  • These issues include:
  • Increased formula funding for the state’s universities.
      • Formula funding is the life’s blood of our institutions, and yet Texas universities are not funded as generously as many others in the nation.
  • Increased financial aid.
      • This is critical to opening the doors of our colleges and universities to provide access to all qualified students, regardless of their cultural and ethnic backgrounds or their economic positions, and to ensure the success of these students once they are enrolled.
      • As I mentioned in my presentation as President of the University of Houston, we strongly support the Texas Grant Program, and we encourage the continuation and expansion of this vital financial aid resource.
  • Retention of 100 percent of indirect cost recovery.
      • Universities can use these vital funds to enhance their research capabilities.
  • Treatment of higher education faculty and staff as other state employees in terms of salary increases.
  • Tuition ($2/10 yr)
      • We support renewing the gradual and predictable increases in tuition.
  • PK-16 Initiative
      • We support the PK-16 Initiative put forth by the Coordinating Board, and we strongly agree with the recommendation that the college preparatory curriculum be the required curriculum in Texas public schools.
  • Identification of more Tier I research universities in the state’s largest metropolitan areas.
      • As I said earlier, Texas must have additional Tier I research universities to support the new high-tech, knowledge-based economy, both in terms of a highly educated workforce and a research base.
      • Great consideration should be given to establishing these Texas Tier I Research Universities in the state’s largest metropolitan areas, which have been the engines of our economic growth over the past fifty years.
  • That concludes my presentation on the University of Houston System Administration. I will be happy to answer your questions.