President

Make progress on UHV Progress Card measures.

Made progress in all Progress Card measures, including being a nationally competitive university; student enrollment and retention; community advancement; access and outreach; athletics competitiveness; and resources.

Develop and implement a successful plan for celebrating UHV’s 50 years of service.

UHV’s 50th Anniversary Steering Committee was appointed by the president and will run from January 2022-May 2024.

• The committee’s charge and purpose is to provide high-level leadership and coordination for the many events, activities and programs that UHV will conduct to celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2023. In general, the 2023/2024 academic year will be the “year of celebration.”

The UHV Marketing and Communications team is working on 50th anniversary window decals for the University Commons building.

• The location on a building that is well trafficked by campus and community members and visible from the road will provide a special opportunity to promote the milestone celebration during the anniversary academic year.

Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 graduates will have the opportunity to showcase special Commencement stoles with the 50th anniversary logo.

Josh Vega and the Free Art Project in Victoria will be creating two murals on campus.

• These artworks are intended to begin in fall 2023 and will add color and life to campus and to those passing by who will see and enjoy the art. They also will contribute to the overall 50th anniversary portfolio. The two locations identified for the murals are on the side of the South building chiller yard wall that faces Red River Street and on the Center building next to the picnic area.

9-16 Transfer pathways

• We have developed seamless pathways with HCC Katy and the Katy Independent School District for students who wish to remain in the Katy area. The teaching pathway allows Katy ISD to create a “build your own” program by helping students enroll in dual-credit classes in high school, beginning in the 9th grade, that will directly apply to the requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree in education at UHV. We are creating a similar pathway for students interested in business administration, computer science and cyber security. The pathways are only awaiting school board approval of dual credit courses through HCC.

Promotion

• We have co-sponsored several marketing opportunities to promote the Start in Katy, Finish in Katy partnership. The focus of the promotional material is to communicate to students, parents and transfer students the opportunity to complete all their lower-division credit requirements at HCC and transfer to UHV Katy to complete the last two years (upper-division credits) while saving time and money. We have co-sponsored billboards in the Katy area, full-page ads on the Community Impact Higher Education edition newspaper, Katy Times magazine ads, school district and chamber events, and social media campaigns, as well as developed the katy.uhv.edu webpage to provide additional information.

• The start of FY2023 saw team transition in OUA. A new Vice President of Advancement and External Relations, Amber Countis, started in October 2022 after a seven-month interim period. Additionally, there was a transition in the Coordinator of Advancement Services and Stewardship role. We are currently working to fill the role of Senior Director of Development this summer. Finalizing the key players of the team in concert with the completion of the university’s new strategic plan and FY24 business planning will position us well as we move into the 50th anniversary academic year. As UH System rolled out a new donor database in the fall, our office has participated in opportunities onsite or in Victoria to learn and train on the new system and processes.
• One of our best opportunities to engage our campus and community is through Giving Tuesday each November. This year we focused on a  participation goal of 300 and were able to exceed that with a total of 446 donors participating in raising $48,225.32 on Nov. 29, 2022. We are grateful for the generosity of KMH Wealth Management LLC and Keller & Associates CPAs PLLC who again offered a $10,000 challenge gift to double the impact of donors’ gifts and encourage others to participate. Fifty-three different university designations received funding and the top nine received an extra $1,000 for their efforts.

• In September 2022, we celebrated our faculty and staff giving with our One For All, All For One luncheon. Most gifts are matched 1:1 by the university, making a UHV employee’s gift have twice the impact. During FY2022, the One For All, All for One Program had 204 employee donors and raised $62,321.22. Forty-two percent of UHV employees gave back. Additionally, we celebrate the President’s Circle donors who give 1 percent or more of their gross salary during the fiscal year. For FY22, there were 30 President’s Circle members.
• In March 2023, Advancement partnered with Student Affairs to organize the UHV Day at the Capitol, when a group of student leaders and administrators traveled to Austin to visit Texas legislators to talk about the benefits of UHV and see the Senate resolution recognizing UHV’s 50 years of service. We also engaged with the Victoria Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative Day and met the UH System student regent and representatives from UH-Clear Lake.

• We assisted with the promotion, engagement and socializing of the proposed new aviation program through contributing to prospect lists, scheduling and participating in conversations with alumni, donors, city, county and state government representatives to garner support and buy-in for the UHV aviation proposal.
• We worked with alumni donors Diana and Ben Galvan to increase their generous philanthropic commitment by$75,000 for a Jaguar statue on campus that will be located in front of University Commons and eventually become another meaningful tradition for our students and alumni to visit as well as complement the Ben Wilson construction project.

Review and establish structures to stabilize and increase student access and student success.

• UHV began offering a test-optional admissions route for new freshman students during summer 2022. This admissions option expanded access to higher education for minority and first-generation students who are often intimidated by the test scores requirement for admissions. A permanent admissions option for test optional was introduced to the Board of Regents because data indicated that the majority of applicants at UHV who selected this option were Hispanic students.
• Access is enhanced by our UNIV 1302 and 1303 courses, in which we’re able to enroll students who are TSI incomplete in Math or English.

• The Disability Services office helps ensure that all students have equal access to the programs and activities that are offered at UHV. We believe that all students who attend UHV should have the same opportunities to be successful in higher education.
• The International Programs office promotes and increases cross-cultural learning, global engagement, and global competency, which helps to empower UHV students to become 21st-century citizens in an increasingly complex world.
• The Title IX & Equal Opportunity office ensures equal opportunities in all its educational programs and activities, and all terms and conditions of employment without regard to any legally protected status, except where such a distinction is required by law.