HOUSTON (Sept. 26, 2023) – University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) President Loren J. Blanchard today delivered the 2023 State of the University address, a speech highlighted by such strategic and ambitious goals as increasing the number of undergraduate and graduate degree programs by 2028, boosting the university’s graduation and alumni participation rates, developing more community partnerships, and securing additional research opportunities through federal and state grants.
Blanchard’s address also described the many accomplishments of the University over the past year, which included providing direct aid to students in need, improving student behavioral health services, restructuring the student affairs department and receiving millions of dollars in grants through which UHD faculty are continuing important work in high-tech fields, bilingual education and cancer prevention.
“This past year, implementation of our strategic plan, a New Paradigm, was in full swing. Our primary goal has student success at its center,” said Blanchard. “Enhancing student success requires more than faculty excellence. It even requires more than robust academic advising and built-in career services. Through the restructuring of our student affairs department as the Student Success and Student Life Division, we can now more holistically address student needs.” He cited the following accomplishments:
- The opening of the Basic Needs Center, which granted emergency funds to 276 students at a value of $88.5K over the past six months, an increase of 350% in monetary value over the previous five months when the Center was only online.
- Major strides in student mental health care with more than 100 faculty and staff plus 50 UHD police officers trained in Mental Health First Aid and an increase in the number of counselors on staff to 6.5 licensed clinicians and five master’s level counseling trainees. (The University offered 3,406 counseling sessions in 2022-23, more than double the number of sessions the year before.)
- The restructuring of student advising, an enhanced Academic Recovery Program for students on academic probation, increased scheduling of bottleneck courses, and the addition of evenng tutorial services. Degree plans and journey maps for each academic discipline were also created.
He also applauded funding secured by faculty to further the mission of the University, including:
- A $259,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Dr. Vassilios Tzouanas and his team in the College of Sciences and Technology are leading undergraduate students through intensive research in such areas as cybersecurity, machine learning and process automation.
- A $2.5 million grant to expand the College of Public Service/Department of Urban Education’s focus on educating bilingual students and another $2.8 million to support a bilingual e-library project, led by Dr. Irene Chen and Dr. Maria Bhattacharjee.
- $990,000 from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, secured by Dr. Angelica Roncancio of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences to support primary prevention efforts to reduce HPV-related cancer disparities in underserved communities.
- $2.6 million in scholarships provided by the Ted Bauer Foundation over the last five years for undergraduates in the Marilyn Davies College of Business.
Looking ahead, Blanchard said, “We will continue to increase partnerships and service-learning opportunities, and we will engage more broadly in undergraduate student research. We will also increase credit-bearing internships, fellowships, and practica for undergraduate and graduate students. And in 2024, we will successfully renew our Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement.”
“That’s a big deal, but here’s an even bigger deal,” stated Blanchard. “We aspire to develop new degree programs, moving from 46 to 50 undergraduate programs and from 12 to 20 graduate programs by 2028. Through more programs that meet industry standards, we will increase UHD’s economic development.”
Other goals include:
- Setting the target six-year graduation rate for 2024 to 36% for first-time in colleges students—a 6% increase from the spring 2022 cohort rate.
- Expanding the early alert system for all students, not just freshmen, to provide services before students fall too far behind.
- Increasing alumni connections over the next academic year by 80%.
Blanchard also noted cause for celebration: “This year marks a very special year in the life of our university. You see, in 1974, the University of Houston acquired the assets of South Texas Junior College and opened the doors of what was then the University of Houston-Downtown College (UHDC) at One Main Street. UHDC, which is now our beloved UHD, was from its inception in 1974 a four-year institution. And that means we are on the cusp of the 50th anniversary of the University of Houston-Downtown.”
Univision President and General Manager Glenn Coleman emceed the event, which took place in the Wilhelmina Cullen Robertson Auditorium on the UHD campus and included University of Houston System Chancellor Renu Khator in the audience. Houston Grand Opera Butler Studio artists soprano Renée Richardson and pianist Marco Rizzello performed “Ebben? Ne andrò lontana” from Catalani’s opera “La Wally” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” echoing the President’s optimism for a bright future for the students and graduates of UHD.
For more information about UHD, visit uhd.edu.
