University of Houston

UH Overview and Goals:

The University of Houston is part of the state-supported system of higher education in Texas , serving over 34,000 students and generating approximately $74 million in externally funded research expenditures annually. UH is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System and its principal doctoral degree-granting institution. As such, it has the traditional functions and obligations of a comprehensive research university:

The full range of undergraduate through post-doctoral academic programs,
Nationally recognized quality in its programs and faculty,
Extensive externally funded basic and applied research, and
Diverse cultural and public service programs of benefit to the community and the state.

In May and June of this year, at the conclusion of Dr. Renu Khator’s first 100 days as UH president, planning retreats were held with the UH System Board of Regents and executive leadership to discuss the future direction of the University of Houston. An important result of these sessions was the establishment of new goals for UH that seek to elevate the institution to a place among the nation’s finest research universities in the next five years. These goals include student access and success, national competitiveness, and community advancement, all of which further the state’s goals for higher education identified in “Closing the Gaps,” as well as the social and economic well-being of the Houston metropolitan area – UH’s primary service area.

Student Access and Success
The University of Houston is strongly committed to undergraduate education and moving students from admission to graduation while maintaining rigorous academic standards. As the demands and requirements of our population and economic/industrial base increase, a citizenry educated through the baccalaureate has become imperative for the future success of our state. Houston and the Upper Gulf Coast region are critical to this success, and as the region's largest provider of baccalaureate services, the University of Houston 's responsibility is significant. UH is working hard to ensure that students have the support they need to complete their degrees in a timely manner. Much progress has been made in this regard. Over the past 10 years, UH's six-year graduation rate has increased from 36.6% to 42.7%, and the number of baccalaureate degrees awarded has increased from 3,586 to 4,810 (34.1%). To build upon these accomplishments, the University of Houston is implementing several new student retention and graduation initiatives. These include increasing the number of academic advisors on campus and the availability of financial aid, as well as implementing a four-year graduation pledge and scholarship reward program for freshman who complete at least 30 credit hours per year. We have also guaranteed that the University of Houston will cover the tuition and fees of students whose families earn less than $30,000 per year through a new program – the Cougar Promise. It is also important to note that UH continues to be the most diverse research university in the nation, with no ethnic group constituting a majority of students.

National Competitiveness
In addition to its instructional goals, the University of Houston is committed to the discovery, dissemination, and application of knowledge. As we look to FY10 and FY11, becoming the state’s third tier-one research university will remain the University of Houston’s highest priority. Currently, research expenditures at UH are $74 million annually – the third highest among Texas public universities behind UT-Austin and Texas A&M. To become a tier-one university, UH must double these expenditures to $150 million. Our goal is to reach this mark in five years. To do so, we plan to hire clusters of science and engineering faculty in areas of research strength for the university that align with industry needs – including the health sciences, energy and complex systems. Our expectation is that these clusters will bring with them $10-20 million in research funding to the University of Houston. Only in this way will we increase our research expenditures to $150 million in five years. Our requests for exceptional item funding – identified among our legislative priorities below and described in our LAR – focus on the state resources needed to hire these clusters.

Community Advancement
Unlike most other Texas universities, UH is a metropolitan university, whose mission is focused on advancing the community in which it is located. In 2006, an economic impact study conducted by UH economist Dr. Barton Smith estimated that our impact on the Houston economy exceeded $3 billion for the years 2002-2004. However, given the size and quality of UH, our impact extends far beyond the Houston metropolitan area – our reach is truly world-wide. Apart from its direct economic impact, the University of Houston has a multitude of programs that enhance the quality of life in Houston and beyond. Among them are the Center for Public Policy, the Health Law and Policy Institute, and the Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation and Statistics (TIMES), which addresses one of Texas’s and the nation’s most important challenges – the English reading skills of elementary school students for whom English is not their primary language. The success of these programs has been based in part on special item funding from the state. Building upon our programs in education and community advancement is also central to the University of Houston’s tier-one goals. Therefore, an exceptional item request has been included in our LAR to support these activities.

UH 2009 Legislative Priorities

None of the accomplishments the University of Houston has made in the areas of student success, research, and community advancement would have been possible without strong support from the Texas Legislature, and as we look to the 81st session, we will again seek the investments from the state needed to build on the momentum achieved over the past several years. The University of Houston has identified six principal legislative priorities:

I. ADEQUATE AND FAIR FUNDING FOR STUDENTS

Base Formula Funding
As demands on our universities grow, it is imperative to provide adequate resources for basic educational services through the formulas. Without sufficient base formula funding universities will not be able to accommodate enrollment demand through course delivery; we will not be able to enhance program quality by recruiting and retaining exceptional faculty members; and we will not be able to enhance student success through academic support services. In short, we will not be able to achieve the goals of “Closing the Gaps.” The University of Houston makes the following specific recommendations with regard to formula funding:

To maintain the current level of services, adopt the Formula Advisory Committee’s recommendation of increasing base formula funding by $478 billion (which covers the costs of inflation and enrollment growth).
Keep base formula funding separate from incentive formula funding, in order to ensure that universities have the predictability and consistency needed (in terms of base resources) to plan for, budget and operate their institutions effectively.
Continue to calculate semester credit hours for base formula purposes on the basis of courses in which students enroll rather than courses they complete. Using the “courses completed” model would cause a major redistribution of resources away from institutions with the greatest need of financial support to enhance student success and timely graduation.

Financial Aid/TEXAS Grants
As demands on our universities grow, it is imperative to provide adequate resources for basic educational services through the formulas. Without sufficient base formula funding universities will not be able to accommodate enrollment demand through course delivery; we will not be able to enhance program quality by recruiting and retaining exceptional faculty members; and we will not be able to enhance student success through academic support services. In short, we will not be able to achieve the goals of “Closing the Gaps.” The University of Houston makes the following specific recommendations with regard to formula funding:

II. TIER-ONE INITIATIVES

Emerging Research University Matching Gift Program
Creating more tier-one universities in Texas will require a tremendous amount of resources (approximately $70 million in recurring funding per university). To help reach this goal, the Legislature should create a major matching gift program for the emerging research universities, through which the state would match private gifts to universities for research endeavors. This collaborative approach would facilitate the creation of stronger centers of research excellence at Texas universities, the development and commercialization of new technologies by industry, and the creation of new companies and jobs – all of which would enhance quality of life in Texas.
Funding for Special Items and Exceptional Items
Each year the Legislature funds numerous programs at the University of Houston that fall outside the scope of formula funding. These programs have a tremendous impact on our academic programs, research endeavors and the communities we serve. For FY10 and FY11, the University of Houston is requesting exceptional item funding for the following four initiatives that directly support the university’s goals of national competitiveness and community advancement (as described above):

Exceptional Items
Biennial Request

Tier-One Initiative – Health Sciences Research Cluster
$5.0 million

Tier-One Initiative – Energy Research Cluster
$5.0 million

Tier-One Initiative – Complex Systems Research Cluster
$5.0 million

Tier-One Initiative – Education and Community Advancement Research Cluster

$1.5 million

Research Development Fund and Texas Competitive Knowledge Fund
The Research Development Fund and the Texas Competitive Knowledge Fund are of critical importance to the continued growth of Texas’ economy and advancement in significant areas of research and industry. They are also the primary resources through which UH funds its national competitiveness/tier-one goals. The University of Houston recommends increased appropriations to both of these funds.

III. ADEQUATE FACILITIES

Tuition Revenue Bonds
Maintaining quality in our classrooms, laboratories, libraries and equipment is critical to achieving the University of Houston’s goals of academic and research excellence. And as the number of students and faculty on campus grows, so too does the need for expanded and better infrastructure. Tuition revenue bonds are vital for addressing these needs. As part of its FY10-11 LAR, the University of Houston has requested TRBs for a bio/life sciences research building, an energy and wind research building, and a multi-cultural studies and classroom complex. The first two of these projects will provide the facilities needed for the faculty clusters the university will hire in the areas of health sciences and energy research. The third will provide needed academic space and support services for our growing, culturally-diverse student population.

Approach to 10 Percent Base Reduction
As requested, the University of Houston has developed a scenario through which 10 percent of base resources has been reduced from designated groups of funds. For UH this totaled $3.7 million, the loss of which would have a significant negative impact on the university’s ability to achieve its new goals, as well as those identified in “Closing the Gaps.” For UH, the choice was between absorbing the cuts in its special items, thereby impairing progress on the university’s national competitiveness and community advancement goals, or absorbing the cuts in fund groups used to support the general operations of the university, thereby compromising the advancement of all of the university’s goals. Ultimately, we decided to limit cuts to the latter (Excellence Formula Funding, Institutional Enhancement, Worker’s Compensation Insurance) to 5 percent, thus requiring a reduction to special items of 13.6 percent per program.

Finally, while we believe that increased funding for higher education and the University of Houston is important to the future of Texas, we also realize that universities must be good stewards of the dollars with which they are entrusted. The University of Houston is committed to this principle. Accomplishing our goals, we believe, is predicated on effective management of resources, which the University of Houston strives to achieve.

Texas Center for Superconductivity (Existing Item)

Description and Justification
TCSUH was created in June 1987 by the Texas Legislature to establish a world class center to conduct long-term multidisciplinary R&D, education and technology transfer programs in high temperature superconductivity (HTS) and related materials. Its charge was to advance and continue the momentum at UH created by the discovery of a new class of materials by Dr. Paul C. W. Chu and colleagues (patent received in 2006) that become superconducting above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. By building the critical mass of scientists, engineers, post-doctoral fellows, students, and technicians necessary to remain competitive worldwide, TCSUH is now the leading international multidisciplinary center for superconducting and other advanced materials research, and serves as an informational resource to the US government, industry, academia and K-12 education institutions.

TCSUH's education and industry programs enhance the capabilities of Texas and the US science and engineering community to meet industrial/government needs through utilization of HTS materials. TCSUH has developed materials and prototype applications based on these materials, leading to HTS wire development and driving future applications and products for HTS, positioning Texas for economic growth in this area. The Center is working to discover new superconductors and improve and develop current HTS materials for use in advanced devices for the medical, energy, transportation, and communication industries.

Factors Impacting Strategy
High Temperature Superconductivity (HTS) has been identified by the US Government as a critical technology, as one of the 30 most important technologies for the 21st century, and one of the most important engineering discoveries in the last 75 years (Sci. Amer., Sept. 1995; DOE Roadmap reports and US Energy Policy Act, 2005).

TCSUH is recognized as the most comprehensive, visible and productive HTS research and development center in the US for basic and applied research, evidenced by its selection as host of prestigious international conferences, e.g. 2002 M2S-HTS-V and 2002 Applied Superconductivity Conference (ASC) (3,500+ US/international scientists from industry, government and academia); the 2006 ASC Outreach Program; 2007 US-Taiwan-Air Force Workshop; and international 2007 Strongly Correlated Electron conference.

TCSUH has a comprehensive applied research and technology transfer program to move HTS science into the world market place. One focus area, HTS second generation wire, has become a national agenda to support next generation large current superconducting devices, ie., motors, generators, transformers, and transmission wires. The program promises economic development in Texas and increased efficiency and energy savings for the entire US. These efforts are enhanced by partnerships with DOE and DOD, NSF and industry, including UH spin-off companies Metal Oxide Technologies (commercialization of second generation HTS wire) and Endomagnetics (medical HTS devices), resulting in economic growth in Texas.

	Appropriated		Requested
	FY08	FY09	FY10	FY11
Base Dollar Funding	$ 3,607,624	$ 3,607,626	$ 3,607,625	$ 3,607,625
Exceptional Funding
Total	$ 3,607,624	$ 3,607,626	$ 3,607,625	$ 3,607,625

Description and Justification
The University of Houston Small Business Development Center was established in 1984 under a cooperative agreement with the US Small Business Administration. As one of the preeminent SBDCs in the country, and a flagship of small business assistance in Texas , the UH SBDC's central focus is providing quality assistance to the small business community by increasing growth and survivability. The UH SBDC accomplishes its mission by providing free one-on-one business counseling, low-cost business seminars, government procurement assistance, international trade, and technology development. The UH SBDC has had a very successful positive economic impact on Houston and the surrounding communities, particularly in the area of job creation. An annual independent impact study completed in 2007 showed that clients who received five or more hours of counseling from the SBDC generated over $228.4 million in new sales and approximately 3,178 new jobs. The same survey indicated that SBDC assistance helped clients obtain $143.35 million in start-up and expansion capital, and generate new tax revenues of $29.36 million.

Factors Impacting Strategy
The Small Business Development Center special line item funding is used as cash match to federal contracts. Wthout this funding from the State, nearly $2 million in Federal funds and approximately $1 million in other local community funds and program income would be lost annually. The loss of SBDC services would impact job creation and tax revenue in the Houston area and the surrounding communities served by our 11 network partners and who are funded by UH through our SBA cooperative agreement. Two recent impact studies suggest a cumulative loss of approximately $62 million in tax revenues as well as 7,714 new jobs over the biennium could be realized. The loss of SBDC services to Gulf Coast business communities would also have a dramatic impact on tens of thousands of start-up entrepreneurs and existing business owners who would be unable to access low-cost professional business services.

Exceptional Funding Request
The UH SBDC proposes two major initiatives to maximize job creation:

(1) Expand our program to assist new and emerging Houston area and University based technology firms at all stages, from the identification of product development opportunities, to commercialization and long-term business strategies. Senior level technology experts will provide consulting to pre-venture and early stage technology firms. Objectives include: (1) attracting potential corporate users of University created technology; (2) matching early stage technology companies with potential angel investors and venture capitalists; (3) assisting University and community based researchers to identify and apply for SBIR/STTR grants; and (4) mentoring University faculty and students in business and technology start-up companies.

(2) Create an export/import assessment and business development program to assist small and medium sized businesses to enter and succeed in international markets. Emphasis will be on training entrepreneurs to access international and trade financing, and assisting business owners with financing trade transactions. Consultants will provide southeast Texas business owners with fundamental strategies for building an exporting/importing company, identifying opportunities and fostering matching opportunities.

Description and Justification
The Houston Partnership for Space Exploration (HPSE) increases the intellectual and economic benefits of Texas aerospace organizations, particularly NASA-JSC, to UH, UHCL, Houston, and the State of Texas. HPSE works through the Institute for Space Systems Operations (ISSO) to achieve these primary goals:

Between 1992 and 2006, HPSE enabled grants and contracts exceeding $20,000,000. The UH/UHCL-JSC Post Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship (PDAF) program with NASA-JSC leverages State funds 20 to 1 through access to unique JSC resources (professionals, space operations, data, and Earth-based and on-orbit facilities).

The PDAF program provides Texas with a unique method of deriving benefits from its largest federal R&D installation, the NASA-Johnson Space Center. All HPSE/ISSO reports can be viewed at www.isso.uh.edu

Factors Impacting Strategy
Since the establishment of the NASA-Manned Space Center, NASA has expended approximately $100 billion in the Houston area and Texas. In FY 2005, NASA-JSC obligated $2.4 billion for Space Shuttle, $1.1 billion for International Space Station, $0.4 billion for Exploration, and $0.5 billion for overhead and other contracts. JSC expended ~$1.5 billion supporting 3,100 civil servants and 13,600 contractors in the Houston area. In 2003, NASA-JSC expended $550 million on research, development, and advanced engineering. These advanced R&D expenditures are increasing under the Presidential Vision for the United States space program. In FY2005 JSC obligated ~$42 million on grants, contracts, and agreements with Texas universities and non-profit organizations.* The HPSE/ISSO programs enable UH, UHCL, and other Texas universities, agencies, and industries to participate directly in the advanced research, development, and operations activities and make the disciplines key to these programs available to the citizens of the State of Texas.

Description and Justification
The Health Law & Policy Institute provides legislators with expertise on a range of health law and policy issues. During the 80th Legislature, the Institute completed over a dozen research projects for the legislature including health care access under Medicaid, patient privacy rights, electronic health records, consumer directed health care, transparency, prison nursery, and criminal competency. During the current biennium, the Institute is assisting Legislators with interim charges in areas such as mental health and substance abuse treatment, and long term care. The Institute also published "Control Measures and Public Health Emergencies: A Texas Bench Book" distributed to Texas judges, district and county attorneys, and local health authorities. The Institute publishes a monthly Update on Health specifically for the use of members of the Texas Legislature which summarizes recent developments in federal and state initiatives; analyzes relevant federal and state court opinions; monitors regulatory activity; and explores recent medical or health services research results of particular pertinence to state policy makers. The Institute also sponsors Health Law Perspectives, a web-based articles providing commentary on current health policy developments. The Institute received a five star rating for the excellence of its content.

Factors Impacting Strategy
State government recognizes the critical impact of health policy decisions. The Health Law & Policy Institute is one of the nation's foremost interdisciplinary centers for the study of health law and policy, particularly with respect to issues of federalism. It has been ranked consistently as among the top three health law programs in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report for the past decade.

Description and Justification
The Center for Public Policy (CPP) provides scientific, non-biased data and analysis to public officials, business professionals, community leaders and others within the Houston region and the state of Texas . The CPP is interdisciplinary with emphasis on combining case-study, mathematical modeling and applied statistical/experimental methods to any research question. Institutes falling under the CPP umbrella include the Survey Research Institute (public opinion surveys) and the Institute for Regional Forecasting (economic and real estate analysis). The CPP's Concept Visualization Lab creates multi-dimensional visualizations and proto-types to display research findings in dynamic and inter-active graphics. In addition to research, the CPP is dedicated to mentoring, professional training, and community advancement. The CPP's biannual Government Internship Program places approximately 100 undergraduates in city, county, state and federal offices in the Houston area, and its Mickey Leland Congressional Internship Program sends University of Houston, UH-Downtown and Texas Southern University students to work as congressional aides in D.C. The CPP's affiliation with the state's Certified Public Manager program allows local professionals new growth opportunities while the CPP also assists private sector entities with business and academic training for visiting governmental officials and professionals. Other advancement endeavors include providing technical and academic expertise to community partners such as the League of Women Voters and the Greater Houston Partnership.

Factors Impacting Strategy
Without special item support, the Center for Public Policy could no longer provide the array of services to the public including undergraduate and graduate students, community and business leaders and local governmental organizations. The CPP would discontinue its policy research, economic symposia, internship programs, conferences and seminars. The lack of such support would also make obtaining federal grants and private funding much less likely.

Description and Justification
Special item funds appropriated through the Partnership to Support Public Schools are invested in UH programs dedicated to improving the quality of public education and enhancing student success. These include Consistency Management & Cooperative Discipline (CMCD), the Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics (TIMES), and the Institute of Urban Education (IUE).

CMCD is a comprehensive instructional/management reform model that combines responsibility for learning and classroom organization among teachers and students. External assessments have shown that CMCD significantly reduces discipline problems and office referrals (48% to 78% per school), improves teacher and student attendance, and increases teaching and learning time from 2.4 to 5.4 weeks.

Research conducted through TIMES enables the improvement of learning skills of students for whom English is not their first language. TIMES is currently carrying out experimental interventions in reading and language arts, social studies, and science in 20 elementary and middle schools in Austin and Brownsville. TIMES has also established the National Research and Development Center for English Language Learners through funding from the Department of Education.

The mission of the Institute for Urban Education is to strengthen the education of PK-16 students in urban settings through research and projectevaluations. IEU has recently completed a study of the effectiveness of student recruitment and retention initiatives in Houston-area community colleges.

Factors Impacting Strategy
The State of Texas has made providing quality public education a priority, as it is essential for students to succeed in college and become productive members of the workforce (which increasingly requires higher levels of education). Programs offered through the Partnership to Support Public Schools improve the quality of education provided to PK-12 students through the dissemination of quality instruction and research.

Description and Justification
The Center for Advanced Materials-CAM (previously the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center - SVEC) promotes basic and applied research, technology development, and the commercialization of advanced thin film materials developed terrestrially and in space. With a consortium of 39 industry, government and academia affiliates, CAM is advancing 12 separate technologies. Product developments underway are: (1) semiconductor thin film infrared lasers for defense and environmental monitoring; (2) high efficiency solar cells for space and terrestrial electric power; (3) on-chip sensors for environmental monitoring and medical applications; (4) thin film solid oxide fuel cells for distributed electric power; (5) a new resistive random access computer memory; and (6) thin film ceramic optical micro-detectors for restoration of sight in the retinally blind. CAM has licensed technologies and started five spin-off companies, three of which have established manufacturing facilities in Texas with nearly $40M of private investment, more than 200 high tech jobs and $150M of economic growth in the past four years. CAM has leveraged Special Item funds by more than 9:1 and generated over $400M of economic benefit to Texas in the past fifteen years. CAM has also partnered with Houston Community College to bring talented undergraduates into a research environment, molding them for future science and engineering vocations.

Factors Impacting Strategy
CAM has established itself as a technology development partner for industry, and promises to form additional partnerships with industry in the development of new advanced materials products in the areas of energy, microelectronics, nanotechnology, sensors and biotechnology. CAM is recognized as one of the foremost developers of new technologies for space and terrestrial applications. The center's Wake Shield Facility (WSF) program has garnered the respect and admiration of space technologists, materials scientists, and industrialists. As a result of the successful thin film materials and device development, a program on the fabrication of thin film solar cells on the surface of the moon has resulted, as well as a joint CAM - Russian Academy of Sciences program on advanced thin film materials development on the International Space Station. Both of these programs respond to NASA's need for new technologies for space exploration and utilization. The application of CAM nanotechnology to materials in the energy sector has resulted in improved solar cells, unique materials for conversion of heat to electricity, and high performance fuel cells. Internally, CAM has worked to disseminate basic and applied knowledge to Texas and national industrial sectors. This has been supported by an interdisciplinary program incorporating students and faculty from science, engineering, business and law into joint technology and product development groups that guide technology advancement.

Description and Justification
In 1999, UH built an environment for the design and delivery of cutting-edge, technology-based research and learning tools—the Texas Learning and Computation Center (TLC2). During FY 05-06, TLC2 established and brought on line the Research and Education Network of Houston (RENoH), a data communications network connecting the University of Houston , the Texas Medical Center and Rice University at state-of-the art levels to the Internet2 and the NLR. The establishment of this 10G fiber network has enhanced and encouraged partnerships with the Texas Medical Center . The increased bandwidth will enable research in the region to be on par at the national level.

Seed monies granted in several departments throughout four colleges of UH have generated federal funding. With the support of a major federal grant, TLC2 has successfully created a pipeline of students to address the nationwide shortage of qualified science, engineering, and math students and has hosted a number of opportunities for middle and high school students and teachers to become involved with the center. This investment of time and effort as part of its educational mission benefits the state of Texas in the production of a trained workforce in segments of the economy that exhibit strong growth, such as the health care, energy, computer and communications sectors. Additionally, the State benefits from researchers receiving federal funds for significant parts of necessary infrastructure, student assistantships, and professional staff for operation of laboratories.

Factors Impacting Strategy
Houston is the center of the world's energy industry, and the computer, communications, and biotechnology industries are a growing segment of the local economy. In 2007, Houston 's gross area product was $416.6 billion— slightly larger than Sweden 's GDP. Only 28 nations other than the US have a GDP exceeding Houston 's GDP. It is clear that the economic future of Texas and the US is inextricably tied to that of Houston .

Houston is home to 10 universities, 10 community colleges and over 60 independent school districts, including the Houston ISD, which enrolls over 200,000 students. These institutions are struggling to meet the educational needs of their students. TLC2 works with public schools to address these needs. Through centers such as the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, TLC2 is engaging the members of diverse communities to encourage, nurture and graduate first generation college bound students.

The establishment of the RENoH network was the first step in helping to bring not only the University of Houston’s researchers to both the national/international research community but to leverage the intellectual capital of the region. Most recently, TLC2 researchers have become leaders in research efforts concentrated on the explosion of microbial communities due to global warming. TLC2's director, together with one of the center's Principal Investigators, are the recipients of the global Itanium Solutions Humanitarian Impact Award for Innovation in bioinformatics. Thus placing UH and the Center at the forefront of climate change research.

Description and Justification
In 2007, the University of Houston succeeded in bringing one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) large turbine testing facilities to the Texas Gulf Coast. UH received $2 million from the DOE to design, construct and operate the National Wind Energy Center, a research facility capable of testing offshore wind blades up to 330 feet in length. In addition to state and federal resources, the land on which the facility is to be located was donated by British Petroleum, and turbine manufacturers have committed $2.5 million annually for testing activities. Blade testing is required to meet wind turbine design standards, reduce machine cost and reduce the technical and financial risk of deploying mass-produced wind turbine models.

Factors impacting Strategy
According to the American Wind Energy Association, Texas is firmly established as the leader in wind power development, with more than 2,700 megawatts installed at the end of 2006 and some 1,000 megawatts currently under construction. Rapid growth in wind turbine size over the past two decades has outgrown the existing capabilities of the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which operates the only blade testing facility in North America capable of performing full-scale testing of megawatt-scale wind turbine blades. The National Wind Energy Center at UH, built through an innovative public-private partnership, organized through NREL as part of this initiative, is expected to be fully funded through private wind turbine and blade manufacturers within five years of its construction.

Description and Justification
This request is for a continuation of the current special item which provides for retirement of the tuition bonds as authorized in prior legislative sessions.

Exceptional Funding Request
Debt Service Request for the new Tuition Revenue Bond including the following three projects:

Factors Impacting Strategy
The obligation for existing tuition revenue bonds has been incurred and the UH System is legally responsible for the payment.

To move forward, UH is building energy research clusters, which include teams of nationally renowned scientists, promising junior faculty, top graduate students, and core research facilities. These teams are expected to bring to UH – and the state – $10M-20M in research funding. If appropriated, exceptional item funding would be used to fund the development of these clusters, the goals of which are to achieve the highest levels of research productivity and move UH closer to becoming a tier-one university.

Factors Impacting Strategy
Tier-one universities are a critical part of a state's economic infrastructure, yet Texas has relatively few of these institutions. The CB defines a “research university” as one with $150M in research expenditures and 100 doctoral degrees awarded per year. In Texas only UT-Austin and Texas A&M meet these criteria. Meanwhile California has nine such universities and New York has eight. With more tier-one universities, Texas would draw more top students, scientists and scholars to the state; improve the quality of its workforce, particularly in the sciences and engineering; and facilitate research partnerships with industry that lead to economic development.

Today, 64% of Texas’ population and 77% of its economy lie in its four largest urban areas. Therefore, it makes sense for the state to create more tier-one universities in its major cities. UH should be one of these institutions. UH is the largest university in Texas’ largest city. It is also the third largest university in the state (behind UT and A&M) in terms of both enrollment and research productivity. Among the state’s emerging research universities, UH is the closest to achieving tier-one status, the impact of which would have a significant effect on the Houston economy. (In fact, UH’s impact on the Houston economy is already significant. From FY02-04, the university’s contribution in terms of GDP was estimated at $3B+.) Given UH’s strength in energy research and its partnerships with the energy industry, funding this exceptional item request would enable UH to achieve tier-one status as quickly as possible.

To move forward, UH is building complex systems research clusters, which include teams of nationally renowned scientists, promising junior faculty, top graduate students, and core research facilities. These teams are expected to bring to UH – and the state – $10M-20M in research funding. If appropriated, exceptional item funding would be used to fund the development of these clusters, the goals of which are to achieve the highest levels of research productivity and move UH closer to becoming a tier-one university.

Today, 64% of Texas ' population and 77% of its economy lie in its four largest urban areas. Therefore, it makes sense for the state to create more tier-one universities in its major cities. UH should be one of these institutions. UH is the largest university in Texas ' largest city. It is also the third largest university in the state (behind UT and A&M) in terms of both enrollment and research productivity. Among the state's emerging research universities, UH is the closest to achieving tier-one status, the impact of which would have a significant effect on the Houston economy. (In fact, UH's impact on the Houston economy is already significant. From FY02-04, the university's contribution in terms of GDP was estimated at $3B+.) Given UH's strength in complex systems research, funding this exceptional item request would enable UH to achieve tier-one status as quickly as possible.

Description and Justification
UH has established a goal of becoming the State’s third tier-one public research university. To do so, we must increase total research expenditures from $74M to $150M, as well as achieve other indicators of tier-one performance. To reach this level of productivity, UH must invest in its education and community advancement programs. As Texas’ premier metropolitan research university, UH has developed research and outreach programs that address the major challenges facing our cities and state. Specific areas of expertise include economic development; social issues such as substance abuse, aging, immigration, child welfare, health services and homelessness; and all levels of education [currently, 13% ($5M) of UH’s federal research expenditures are from the Department of Education]. Signature programs include the Health Law and Policy Institute, Center for Public Policy, and Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation and Statistics (TIMES), which focuses on the evaluation and improvement of the English reading skills of elementary school students for whom English is not their first language (in FY07, TIMES generated $19M in research funding). If exceptional item funding is appropriated, UH will invest these resources in the nationally renowned scholars, promising junior faculty, and top graduate students needed to build education and community advancement programs that achieve the highest levels of research productivity, that have a significant impact on the community, and that move UH closer to becoming a tier-one university.

Factors Impacting Strategy
Tier-one universities are a critical part of a state’s economic infrastructure, yet Texas has relatively few of these institutions. The CB defines a “research university” as one with $150M in research expenditures and 100 doctoral degrees awarded per year. In Texas only UT-Austin and Texas A&M meet these criteria. Meanwhile California has nine such universities and New York has eight. With more tier-one universities, Texas would draw more top students, scientists and scholars to the state; improve the quality of its workforce, particularly in the sciences and engineering; and facilitate research partnerships with industry that lead to economic development.

Today, 64% of Texas’ population and 77% of its economy lie in its four largest urban areas. Therefore, it makes sense for the state to create more tier-one universities in its major cities. UH should be one of these institutions. UH is the largest university in Texas’ largest city. It is also the third largest university in the state (behind UT and A&M) in terms of both enrollment and research productivity. Among the state’s emerging research universities, UH is the closest to achieving tier-one status, the impact of which would have a significant effect on the Houston economy. (In fact, UH’s impact on the Houston economy is already significant. From FY02-04, the university’s contribution in terms of GDP was estimated at $3B+.) Given UH’s strength in education and community advancement, funding this exceptional item request would enable UH to achieve tier-one status as quickly as possible.

Description and Justification
UH has established a goal of becoming the State’s third tier-one public research university. To do so, we must increase total research expenditures from $74M to $150M. To reach this level of productivity, UH must invest in its energy research programs. Located in the center of the world’s energy industry, UH has built partnerships with international energy companies and developed research programs that focus not only on oil and gas but on electricity, alternative energy sources, conservation and air quality. Wind is a major focus area. Recently, UH launched the National Wind Energy Center through a $2 million appropriation from the federal government and a partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. To move forward, UH is building research clusters, which include teams of nationally renowned scientists, promising junior faculty and top graduate students. The Energy and Wind Research Building will serve as the facilities these clusters need to conduct their research.

Description and Justification
UH has established a goal of becoming the State's third tier-one research university. To do so, we must increase total research expenditures from $74M to $150M. To reach this level of productivity, UH must invest in its health sciences research programs. The health sciences constitute one of UH's strongest research areas. Over the years UH has developed strong research partnerships with Texas Medical Center institutions, and currently 43% ($17M) of UH's federal research expenditures come from the National Institutes of Health, the federal government's primary funding source for health sciences research. To move forward, UH is building health sciences research clusters, which include teams of nationally renowned scientists, promising junior faculty and top graduate students. The Bio-Life Sciences Research Building will serve as the facilities these clusters need to conduct their research.

TRB Project Request Multi-Cultural Studies and Classroom Complex (New Item)

Description and Justification
Expanding access to higher education and enhancing student success – particularly for student groups historically underrepresented in higher education – are two of the state's goals for higher education as identified in “Closing the Gaps.” Key to doing so are expanding course delivery and enhancing the quality of student support services (e.g., academic advising). The Multi-Cultural Studies and Classroom Complex will address both these needs. To pay special attention to UH's large number of African-American, Asian and Hispanic students (who represent over 50% of UH's total enrollment), the African-American Studies, Asian-American Studies and Mexican-American Studies programs will also be located in the facility in order to better serve students. The enrollment and graduation of these students from college is essential to the future economic prosperity of Houston and the state.