November
2006 e
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Where We Are,
Where We're Going On
the brink of Homecoming weekend, a large crowd of faculty, staff,
alumni, and students filled the University Center’s Houston
Room to hear President
Jay Gogue speak on the state of the university – and where
we might go from here. Gogue first praised students, the heart and soul of the university. He noted that 75 percent of UH students work while they’re in college. “They’re magnificent in what they do,” he said. “Think about balancing work, school, and family, then think that these students also gave one million hours in community service last year.” He reported on the university’s initiatives to recruit more top-performing students and to help students graduate on time. Applications for first-time freshman slots – and SAT scores of those applying – are both up from previous years, he said. He spotlighted outstanding faculty and programs, especially those that benefit the community, like the College of Optometry’s new eye care clinic within the Casa de Amigos Clinic on the city’s north side, the College of Education’s programs to fight obesity, and the College of Architecture’s Community Design Resource Center. And he spoke of the future, inviting the audience to look at the campus master plan model constructed by students from the College of Architecture. The proposed plan, which will take shape over the next 20 years, doubles the campus’ learning, research, and living space for students, all within the university’s current footprint. The campus will be a mix of academic spaces, student housing, arts and sports venues, and retail stores. The crowd was serenaded by the Spirit of Houston Cougar Marching Band as they entered, and a video outlining the university’s proposed master plan ended the speech. Learn more about UH's Master Plan. Classroom Innovators Two graduates of the UH College of Education have been named State and National Student Teachers of the Year. The latter honor is a first for a UH graduate. Fatyn Khawaja, a student teacher at Cobb sixth grade campus in Galena Park ISD, received the state honor from the Texas Directors of Field Experiences. Maria Carandas, a second grade math and science teacher at Kolter Elementary school in Houston ISD, received the national award from the Association of Teacher Educators and Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education. With a nationwide shortage of math and science teachers, the College of Education “is really being very creative and innovative as we look for ways to attract, train and support new math and science teachers for all grade levels,” said Juanita Copley, professor and chair of the UH Department of Curriculum and Instruction. The college’s efforts have resulted in more than $7 million in funding from prestigious sources like the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation. To begin the process, Khawaja and Carandas each submitted videos of themselves in the classroom. They were later judged live on preparation of lesson plans, knowledge of material, presentation of material, student interaction, and class management. Each will formally receive her award at a ceremony in the coming months. From the Ground Up Houston is now a key stop on the information superhighway, thanks to a partnership between the University of Houston and fiber optic provider AboveNet Communications Inc. The two organizations worked together to establish the Research and Education Network of Houston (RENoH), a metropolitan fiber optic network that allows UH, Rice University, the Texas Medical Center and other research and educational institutions to transfer massive amounts of data between them. Utilizing a $3.5 million dark fiber optical network provided by AboveNet to the UH Texas Learning and Computation Center (TLC2), the 22-mile underground grid can rapidly transfer up to one quadrillion bytes (or petabytes) of data. “This new fiber optic infrastructure fundamentally changes the ability of UH and its public and private research partners to collaborate, cooperate and compete, as well as create new economic development opportunities,” said UH President Jay Gogue. “The timing is perfect, as this echoes many of the details in the UH System’s impact study, which outlines the extent of our community outreach and partnerships, as well as analyzes the university system’s impact on the Houston economy and community.” Reporting the Spellings Report On October 31, Charles Miller, chairman of the U.S. Commission on the Future of Higher Education for Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, visited UH to present the report’s controversial findings and field questions. Michael A. Olivas, law professor and director of the UH Law Center’s Institute for Higher Education Law and Governance (IHELG), moderated the event. UH was an obvious choice for Miller’s only university appearance. He is a prominent Houston businessman, and Spellings herself is a UH alumna (’79). Miller relayed the commission’s call for a more efficient aid application process, increased funding of need-based aid, and a federal database for tracking student success five, ten, even twenty years beyond formal education. According to Miller, the federal database and other such outcome-based assessment tools are rooted in a movement toward accountability. But members of the UH Faculty Senate took issue. If employers aren’t hiring UH graduates, then the school’s reputation will decline; if the school’s reputation is in decline, fewer students will enroll. It’s a natural and more motivating accountability, rather than a detached, top-down accountability, they argued. Miller and Spellings will host a summit in early 2007 to discuss implementation of the commission’s plan. More UH News
For the latest news from UH, visit www.uh.edu/newsroom. |
