New Horizons, UHD’S at the Student Life Center
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FALL 2002 ew Horizons NNewUniversity Horizons of Houston-Downtown Growing...UHD: top by UHD’s campus at Street Bridge. It’s a One Main Street between significant location: Sclasses, and you’ll find the Houston’s birthplace, hallways are packed with stu- Allen’s Landing, is just dents. With enrollment now past across the street on the 10,000 mark and climbing, the banks of Buffalo UHD is in need of more space. Bayou. A solution is literally just around The building will the corner. Beginning in January, include 25 class- construction will begin on a new rooms and computer instruction 90,000-square-foot classroom labs, in addition to space for aca- and the Master of Arts in downtown that features building. demic departments and faculty Teaching. landscaping, fountains, lighting The new building will sit at the offices. Gensler Architecture designed the and renovated sidewalks. corner of Commerce and Main, In order to better serve the grow- structure to blend with the Among public universities in on the south side of the Main ing student population, UH- Cotswold project, a beautification Texas, UH-Downtown ranks fourth Downtown faculty need effort at the historic north end of Continued on page 8 offices so they can meet Planning Red Rose Ball 2003 with students and prepare for classes. UHD has High-perfoming, motivated students with compelling life Crowded Hallways = been squeezing in office stories. Good company. A delicious meal. Energizing enter- tainment. That’s what you’ll find at UHD’s Red Rose Ball, space within the existing More Knowledge-Seekers scheduled for March 28, 2003. structure, so the new build- ing will be especially wel- Enrollment is up, way up at UH- who have returned after “stop- The ball is an annual high point that recognizes the accom- plishments of 25 Red Rose Scholarship recipients while come. Downtown. A record 10,500 ping out,” or leaving for a period honoring UHD partners in forwarding higher education. The project is financed students enrolled for fall ‘02. of time after completing a semes- That’s a nine percent increase ter or more. Honorees for the evening are Foley’s chairman Mark Weikel with $18.2 million in and wife Lynn. Foley’s has an outstanding record in partner- tuition revenue bonds over fall ‘01. For the first time, fulltime students ing with UH-Downtown and other higher education institu- authorized by the 77th Contributing to the growth are equal part-time students. UHD is tions and community Legislature. It should open UHD’s new graduate programs in friendly for either group by mak- organizations to in time for classes in the criminal justice and teaching, ing classes available in the improve the quality fall semester of 2004. which grew by 62.5 percent in evenings, on weekends, at dis- of life in Houston. Two academic depart- one year. tance locations or via the internet. Co-chairs for the ball ments will be housed in Another notable growth area is the Nineteen new faculty and nine are Tommy Harper number of continuing and return- new staff positions have been (on left), chairman of the new building — the the Procurement Department of Criminal ing students. There are 6,158 added to help keep up with Centre, and Don J. Justice and the Department continuing students and 1,427 UHD’s phenomenal growth. Wang, chairman and of Urban Education, which CEO of MetroBank, prepares teachers for the N.A. The two assembled an enthusiastic committee of vol- challenges of the urban There’s more unteers comprising a powerhouse of community leadership. classroom. The depart- good news inside! UH-Downtown The Red Rose Scholarship recipients are UHD students with ments are the home of • The State of the University .............................. p .2 high grade point averages and a record of community UHD’s two master’s pro- Houston’s • Success Builders............................................. p. 2 involvement. They each receive $3,000, which covers the grams — the Master of Downtown • Alumni Society News ................................ pp. 4-5 costs of an academic year at UH-Downtown. Science in Criminal Justice Alumni in white coats University • Educaton. Go get it. ...................................... p. 6 UHD Success Builder: Gail Brekke Gifts and here’s a lot of cracking of text- walked into her classroom, I knew In the classroom, Niccollette says books in the Matthews house- I’d have a good experience.” Brekke captured and held her Grants from T hold. That’s because Monica Like other UHD faculty, Brekke interest. “She was always upbeat Matthews and her two daughters, gives students individual attention and could make you laugh and Niccollette and Kristiana, all attend to help them conquer course work. remember stuff.” UHD Friends UH-Downtown. She says, “If you don’t spend Gail Brekke is just one example of Kristiana wants to eventually go to one-on-one time, I don’t think UHD’s dedicated faculty and staff Scholars Academy law school. Both Monica and you’re teaching.” who are committed to making the Thanks to a significant grant from Niccollette are aiming for medical academic success of students their the U.S. Department of Education, school. They should all graduate number one priority. science, mathematics, computer within a year or so of one another. science and technology While in pursuit of their degrees, the students in UH-Downtown’s university journey is taking the Scholars Academy will continue Matthewses through a number of to receive full scholarships if required courses that are part of the accepted to the competitive core curriculum. The professors who teach core courses such as English honors program. and math play a significant role in The $194,000 grant provides the academic success of students by $73,666 a year until September encouraging them to continue on in 2003. pursuit of their ultimate educational Scholars Academy students have goals. opportunities that are unique for Niccollette and Kristiana both benefit- undergraduates. They are encour- ed from the early positive influence of aged to apply for research posi- Gail Brekke, a lecturer in the English tions normally reserved for gradu- Department. Brekke enjoys helping ate and post-graduate studies. students build and maintain academic This past year, academy students momentum: “It’s incredibly wonderful served internships at facilities like to see someone you taught graduate. My own diplomas don’t mean as Oak Ridge National Labs, NASA much to me as my students’.” A trio of Matthewses consider English lecturer Gail Brekke and Baylor College of Medicine. (left) their Success Builder: mom Monica (right) and “Her personality shows that she daughters Niccollette (standing) and Kristiana. cares,” says Kristiana. “When I Learners Community Understanding and addressing the unique needs of freshmen. That’s the purpose of a $150,000 gift President’s Report 2002 from the Cullen Foundation for UHD’s Learners Community. The funds will be received over three years for use in enhancing knowl- Architects of Success edge and teaching techniques for friends, donors and celebration of the university’s Downtown has added 13 degree faculty in the program. UHDsupporters gathered accomplishments during the past programs, including two master’s The Learners Community uses a again this year for the annual decade. degrees, expanded access to edu- variety of strategies to promote President’s Report to the Community, “The foundation for all of our cation through the addition of the academic success for first-year an opportunity to hear about the efforts is the value we place on weekend college, online courses students. “state of the university” from UHD the academic success of those and distance education offerings. President Max Castillo. individuals who seek to realize Enrollment has grown by 20%. M.A. in Teaching This year marks Dr. Castillo’s tenth their educational dreams at UH- More impressive is the university’s Recognizing the value of creating anniversary as head of the institu- Downtown,” said Dr. Castillo. success in helping people earn more masterful teachers, The tion, and his address included a their degrees. The number of During the last decade, UH- Powell Foundation is giving graduates increased by 139% $25,000 to UHD’s Master of Arts over the past 10 years. in Teaching program. Another achievement for the univer- Building on the success of UH- Trading Textbooks for Paintbrushes sity: over the last ten years the Downtown’s urban teacher educa- Scraping...digging...sanding...raking...painting...sweating. number of African-American gradu- tion effort, the M.A. in Teaching For 145 UH-Downtown students, these are a routine ates increased by 161% and seeks to help socially and eco- part of Community Outreach Day, a beloved Hispanic graduates by 245%. nomically disadvantaged children tradition that reinforces UHD’s mission of UH System Board of Regents Vice connecting to the community. struggling to succeed in the urban Chair Morgan Dunn O’Connor Through UHD’s Volunteer Center, the environment. presented Dr. Castillo with an students helped paint and landscape the homes of four seniors living in Houston’s award in recognition of his ten Library Fifth Ward. The homes were identified years of leadership. Noted Regent The W.I. Dykes Library received through Julia C. Hester House, a nonprofit O’Connor, “There are many rea- facility that provides human services in sons for these successes. We can a $23,000 gift from the Rockwell the community. cite a devoted staff, an excellent Foundation to purchase books, Sponsors who supplied materials and funds faculty, a core of eager and hard- journals and audiovisual materials. included Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Dulux Paint working students, and a supportive The materials will support the Centers, Coca-Cola, Shipley’s, Krispy Kreme and Keep Houston Beautiful.