The quarterly Board of Regent chancellor’s report highlighted accomplishments of UH campuses for the 2021 fiscal year. | Christopher Charleston/The Cougar
UH System Chancellor Renu Khator recognized notable milestones of the University system in her quarterly report.
Funding and donations as well as creating opportunities for students and surrounding communities were a few of the many achievements listed in the report for each campus.
Here are the highlights:
UH System
Over $339 million was allocated to UH System schools by the Texas Legislature to be used for facilities construction and renovation for the four universities.
Another $50 million was allocated to UH main campus for “institutional enhancements.”
University of Houston Main Campus
Khator noted the WOLFF Center for Entrepreneurship being named as the top undergraduate entrepreneurship program in the country for the third year in a row by the Princeton Review.
UH was one of 10 universities awarded the National Institute of Health Prize for improvement in gender diversity for faculty, according to the report.
Khator recognized the achievements of the athletics program as well, mentioning the simultaneous ranking of the UH football and men’s basketball teams for the first time since 1973.
Khator also praised the UH women’s volleyball team, mentioning the 25-7 season record as the best since 1994.
UH’s College of Nursing and College of Medicine were aiming to make healthcare more accessible to the Houston community through clinics.
The College of Nursing serves the homeless population at the Abraham Center of St.Paul’s United Methodist Church. The College of Medicine helps community members receive primary care out of their clinic at Memorial Hermann Southwest for a $60 monthly membership fee.
Endowed biomolecular engineering professor Mario Ignacio Romero-Ortega received $2.8 million in National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke funding for his research in the betterment of robot prosthetics.
Khator noted the $10 million in funding for faculty endowments and included $5 million for endowed scholarships for entrepreneurship and real estate students.
UH Clear Lake
The Aspen-AASCU Intensive accepted UH Clear Lake along with 29 other universities for transfer student success and equity.
This accepting will have UH Clear Lake and San Jacinto College aim to increase overall student success with that of transfer students as well.
Updated learning spaces were created in UH Clear Lakes’s Neumann Library after renovations. Additions include a presentation area, a flexible learning lab and an active learning classroom.
The Clear Lake campus also hosted the biannual joint meeting of the American Physical Society, American Association of Physics Students Texas chapters and the Society of physics students, representing essentially all physics teachers and physicists in Texas as well as surrounding states.
UH Downtown
The Educational Credit Management Corporation Foundation awarded UH downtown $75,000 for their current events lecture series on justice, equity and inclusion.
The downtown campus also received $150,000 from Houston Endowment for a masters program that will prepare students for educational leadership roles around Texas.
UHD’s mariachi band was also recognized from the Day of the Dead performance at Miller Outdoor Theater and during the locally broadcasted Dia de los Muertos Parade in front of thousands of Houston citizens.
Khator noted the partnership between the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Sustainability as well as UHD for Houston Climate Week.
The event featured virtual panels with UHD professors and leaders essential to climate management in Houston.
UH Victoria
Donations to the Victoria campus are increasing, as it raised $2.9 million in donations this year, according to Khator.
This notes the donation as the second largest amount recorded in its history.
These donations are allocated not only to the construction of a health and wellness center, but also supported 97 scholarships, programs, funds and initiatives of the campus.
The Victoria campus also opened an academic building, University South, this semester for face-to-face classes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs.
Khator mentioned the ground breaking of what will be a memorial garden on the Victoria campus. It will be in honor of former UH System Board of Regents vice chair Kay Kerr Walker.
