The statement "His district includes Victoria and Sugar Land, and he has spoken in favor of moving the UHV-Sugar Land campus under the main UH umbrella" is incorrect. There is no such thing as UHV-Sugar Land campus. UHV offers programs in the facility owned by UH system.
4Advocate, Let me put your biases in perspective. 1. If Victoria Advocate polls 100+ people out of thousands, you report overwhelming majority; yet, more than 40% of UHV faculty voted (attendees), you claim a few independent contractors. Read about sampling theory. Where did you get your education from? 2. UHV faculty CANNOT comment on the discussions or reasons. UHV administrators could easily turn the table on us stating we are anti-UHV and hence, acted inappropriately against our employment policies. 3. When you guys support Hudson, you claim under his leadership the enrollment grew to over 4,200. Yet, you blame the UH system for not supporting UHV although UH system permitted us to offer programs in Sugar Land and Cinco Ranch. It is either one or another not both. Either UH system supported UHV to grow and not Hudson or Hudson grew. Do your math. 4. You claim that switch to A&M is good for UHV. Are the faculty leaving? No. One Dean is interviewing elsewhere, another Dean is always "missing" from Victoria on a US and World Tour, and a third Dean will be "retiring" at the end of the next year. These are the committed administrators to UHV. 5. You get back what you give others.
While it is true that about a third of the faculty participated and voted (94% against her), one should keep in mind that many are untenured faculty members on an annual contract. The administration can easily terminate them with a simple letter. If LaBrecque is surprised, she should be the one to blame. She distanced herself from the faculty, has no clue about academic environment, no respect for faculty members or their inputs, just to name a few. She must be surprised that it came later rather than sooner.
These numbers are not surprising at all. Both the graduation numbers and enrollment numbers clearly show that only 20% of the market (I doubt if these are also correct but the percentage should be even lesser) attend classes in Victoria or affiliated with Victoria. If University of Phoenix has 500 students from Victoria, can they claim economic benefits in Phoenix? What does Dale Fowler talk about educated workforce having a 2.5 billion dollar impact in Victoria? Is he hoping that Katy and Sugar Land students will live in Victoria to provide economic development? The whole thing stinks when Chamber of Commerce has people like Fowler not knowing what he is talking about. Let A&M take over Katy and Sugar Land locations and let us call it A&M Sugar Land and Victoria be a satellite campus. I would support it wholeheartedly.
This is a joke. The switch will cost tremendous expenditure just like any other acquisition. In addition to stationaries, there are branding issues involved, advertisement, blackboard and their compatibility, training costs, etc. Where did these politicians get their degrees from? Just printed on stationery? Also, all the alumni need to have their diplomas reprinted again. Taxpayers, beware.
It is rather unfortunate that more than 65% of the students and faculty are in cinco ranch and sugar land yet they were not consulted. A small group meeting consisting of a few people in Victoria (rooms filled, how many can the room accommodate?) in a sly and clandestine manner moved with the bill catching everyone by surprise. Now you're telling us that everyone was aware? Wake up. Politicians lie is an accepted axiom; victoria politicians lie to the core...The worst lie told ever...
Very strange. UH system supported our downward expansion. They have also agreed to the funding request of $71 million or so for the new building. This whole idea of Armstrong wanting to change system because of "projected growth" is at best comical. During the previous 37 years, UHV had been offering programs in Victoria. The two buildings that we have are empty most of the time! Why didn't as a community we show that these two buildings were not enough to fill classes in these 37 years? Even with the current 300 students, the buildings are still empty! If we have 10 classrooms, each with a capacity of 30 students, at any time 300 students can take classes. If you multiply that by 6 (starting the class at 8.30 AM and ending at 6 PM with a 15 minute break), in any given day 1,800 students can easily attend classes and get educated. Therefore, this whole idea is too prematured to commit to the type of investments required. Sorry...I see the whole thing as a shady and sly deal..
Realities should dictate the investment. Just because we had 300 students in fall 2010 in Victoria does not mean that the growth is going to be exponential. The growth will taper off since students will graduate and needs to be replaced. Do not count Sugar Land and Cinco Ranch in this equation and remove online students. Online students and Cinco and Sugar Land students are not going to travel to Victoria. They can go to UHD or UHCL or UH main campus. The new campus and the liabilities assumed with it needs to be repaid. So only count on the face to face classes in Victoria. If taxpayer money is spent and the projected revenues from Victoria does not come through, what happens? Citizens of Victoria, Beware!! If VC and UHV could not develop into a destination university in its 37 years, do not blame UH system. Accept that there is no demand for it. Why would anyone be in Victoria under A&M when they can go to Corpus Christi, a better and more vibrant town and study? Don't try to be fooled by false promises.
Is this politics at its nadir when UHV is looking for another President? Is the timing of the bill geared towards alienating prospective presidential candidates? I haven't seen anyone talk about quality of education but new programs? Give me a break. I would be supportive of UHV going anywhere with its corrupt leadership, manipulative behaviors. We want to be a diploma mill to show growth so that USM administrators go on a globe trot with total disregard for the community or the students or its stakeholders. God bless UHV!
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The statement "His district includes Victoria and Sugar Land, and he has spoken in favor of moving the UHV-Sugar Land campus under the main UH umbrella" is incorrect. There is no such thing as UHV-Sugar Land campus. UHV offers programs in the facility owned by UH system.
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4Advocate, Let me put your biases in perspective. 1. If Victoria Advocate polls 100+ people out of thousands, you report overwhelming majority; yet, more than 40% of UHV faculty voted (attendees), you claim a few independent contractors. Read about sampling theory. Where did you get your education from? 2. UHV faculty CANNOT comment on the discussions or reasons. UHV administrators could easily turn the table on us stating we are anti-UHV and hence, acted inappropriately against our employment policies. 3. When you guys support Hudson, you claim under his leadership the enrollment grew to over 4,200. Yet, you blame the UH system for not supporting UHV although UH system permitted us to offer programs in Sugar Land and Cinco Ranch. It is either one or another not both. Either UH system supported UHV to grow and not Hudson or Hudson grew. Do your math. 4. You claim that switch to A&M is good for UHV. Are the faculty leaving? No. One Dean is interviewing elsewhere, another Dean is always "missing" from Victoria on a US and World Tour, and a third Dean will be "retiring" at the end of the next year. These are the committed administrators to UHV. 5. You get back what you give others.
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While it is true that about a third of the faculty participated and voted (94% against her), one should keep in mind that many are untenured faculty members on an annual contract. The administration can easily terminate them with a simple letter. If LaBrecque is surprised, she should be the one to blame. She distanced herself from the faculty, has no clue about academic environment, no respect for faculty members or their inputs, just to name a few. She must be surprised that it came later rather than sooner.
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Gabe
These numbers are not surprising at all. Both the graduation numbers and enrollment numbers clearly show that only 20% of the market (I doubt if these are also correct but the percentage should be even lesser) attend classes in Victoria or affiliated with Victoria. If University of Phoenix has 500 students from Victoria, can they claim economic benefits in Phoenix? What does Dale Fowler talk about educated workforce having a 2.5 billion dollar impact in Victoria? Is he hoping that Katy and Sugar Land students will live in Victoria to provide economic development? The whole thing stinks when Chamber of Commerce has people like Fowler not knowing what he is talking about. Let A&M take over Katy and Sugar Land locations and let us call it A&M Sugar Land and Victoria be a satellite campus. I would support it wholeheartedly.
Flag this comment
This is a joke. The switch will cost tremendous expenditure just like any other acquisition. In addition to stationaries, there are branding issues involved, advertisement, blackboard and their compatibility, training costs, etc. Where did these politicians get their degrees from? Just printed on stationery? Also, all the alumni need to have their diplomas reprinted again. Taxpayers, beware.
Flag this comment
It is rather unfortunate that more than 65% of the students and faculty are in cinco ranch and sugar land yet they were not consulted. A small group meeting consisting of a few people in Victoria (rooms filled, how many can the room accommodate?) in a sly and clandestine manner moved with the bill catching everyone by surprise. Now you're telling us that everyone was aware? Wake up. Politicians lie is an accepted axiom; victoria politicians lie to the core...The worst lie told ever...
Flag this comment
Very strange. UH system supported our downward expansion. They have also agreed to the funding request of $71 million or so for the new building. This whole idea of Armstrong wanting to change system because of "projected growth" is at best comical. During the previous 37 years, UHV had been offering programs in Victoria. The two buildings that we have are empty most of the time! Why didn't as a community we show that these two buildings were not enough to fill classes in these 37 years? Even with the current 300 students, the buildings are still empty! If we have 10 classrooms, each with a capacity of 30 students, at any time 300 students can take classes. If you multiply that by 6 (starting the class at 8.30 AM and ending at 6 PM with a 15 minute break), in any given day 1,800 students can easily attend classes and get educated. Therefore, this whole idea is too prematured to commit to the type of investments required. Sorry...I see the whole thing as a shady and sly deal..
Flag this comment
Realities should dictate the investment. Just because we had 300 students in fall 2010 in Victoria does not mean that the growth is going to be exponential. The growth will taper off since students will graduate and needs to be replaced. Do not count Sugar Land and Cinco Ranch in this equation and remove online students. Online students and Cinco and Sugar Land students are not going to travel to Victoria. They can go to UHD or UHCL or UH main campus. The new campus and the liabilities assumed with it needs to be repaid. So only count on the face to face classes in Victoria. If taxpayer money is spent and the projected revenues from Victoria does not come through, what happens? Citizens of Victoria, Beware!! If VC and UHV could not develop into a destination university in its 37 years, do not blame UH system. Accept that there is no demand for it. Why would anyone be in Victoria under A&M when they can go to Corpus Christi, a better and more vibrant town and study? Don't try to be fooled by false promises.
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Is this politics at its nadir when UHV is looking for another President? Is the timing of the bill geared towards alienating prospective presidential candidates? I haven't seen anyone talk about quality of education but new programs? Give me a break. I would be supportive of UHV going anywhere with its corrupt leadership, manipulative behaviors. We want to be a diploma mill to show growth so that USM administrators go on a globe trot with total disregard for the community or the students or its stakeholders. God bless UHV!
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