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Khator to focus on improved grad rates

An improved graduation rate among new students and continued research competitiveness are essential to UH’s continued growth, UH President Renu Khator said at Wednesday’s Faulty Senate meeting.

Khator said 86 percent first-time- in-college students at UH graduate in four to six years. Her goal is to bring the six-year graduation rate of FTIC students up to the national average of 54 percent.

She said the main factors leading to timely graduation are institutional fitness, classroom experience, campus experience and the financial situation of the student.

Khator said UH not only needs to maintain its designation as a flagship university, but improve its rankings in the Top American Research Universities report. The report is released annually by the Center for Measuring University Performance, and UH ranks in the top 50 in five categories.

Khator said UH can perform better in terms of the number of awards its faculty receives and the number of doctorates it awards.

Khator was in Austin again on Tuesday and said UH’s new designation as a flagship university is “very much visible.

“We are in a different category and people know it,” Khator said.

Vice Chancellor and Vice President for Administration and Finance Carl Carlucci said the Texas Legislature is considering cutting reserves held by many public schools and universities in the state, and UH is no exception.

UH has a reserve of about nine percent of its budget, or $57 million — enough to operate for about a month.

“Legislators are clearly looking for things they can grab a hold of that will help them balance their budget,” Carlucci said. “This is just the latest of those.”

Carlucci said lowering the reserves will affect the bond ratings and make interest more expensive for UH, something Texas legislators don’t seem to understand.

In recent months, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost John Antel has said UH needs to make a transition within the decade to become less of a state-funded university because he expects state funding to drop from 22 percent to 10 percent over the next decade.

Antel is now saying the University may have to make the transition faster than that.

“We may have to get there a lot faster than 10 years,” Antel said. “We could get there in 5.”

Antel said the transition to relying less on state funding is long-term changes to UH’s business model and innovations to improve operational efficiencies.

During the meeting, the Faculty Senate voted to reaffirm a 2009 resolution in opposition to proposed handgun legislation, which is expected to pass the Legislature just six months after a scare at the University of Texas in which a student brought an assault rifle to campus before committing suicide during a standoff with police.

Former Faculty Senate President Mark Clarke also read amendments proposed to the Faculty Senate Constitution, the biggest of which will be that the Senate will represent all ranked faculty.

If the amendments are passed, the number of senators will more than double from 52 to 107.

1 Comment

  • "Khator said 86 percent first-time- in-college students at UH graduate in four to six years. Her goal is to bring the six-year graduation rate of FTIC students up to the national average of 54 percent. "

    c'mon now. who edits this?

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