Undergraduate Catalog
2003-2005

University Profile

Office of the President	713-743-8820
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost	713-743-9101
Vice President for Research	713-743-9104
Vice President for Administration and Finance	713-743-5550
Vice President for University Advancement	713-743-0945
Vice President for Governmental Relations	512-499-8787
Vice President for Student Affairs	713-743-5390
Vice President for Information Technology	713-743-1600
Office of the General Counsel	713-743-9174

Founded 75 years ago, the University of Houston today is the premier urban research and teaching university in Texas and the most diverse research university in the nation.

Our campus serves more than 33,000 students in 12 academic colleges, the interdisciplinary Honors College, and a host of schools and programs offering 286 undergraduate, graduate and professional degreess.

A few of UH's more famous alumni include:

• astronauts Bonnie Dunbar (engineering)
  and Bernard Harris (biology)
• Motion Picture Association of America President Jack Valenti (business)
• award-winning poet Vassar Miller (English)
• former Harris County School Superintendent Shirley Rose (education)
• Olympian Carl Lewis (technology)
• attorney Richard "Racehorse" Haynes (law)
• U.S. Congressmen Tom DeLay (biology)
  and Gene Green (business and law)
• federal judge Vanessa Gilmore (law)
• founder of Compaq Computers Rod Canion (engineering)
• ABC News anchor Tom Jarriel (communications)
• CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz (communications)
• singer/songwriter Larry Gatlin (English)
• actors Dennis and Randy Quaid (drama).

UH offers an undergraduate curriculum that provides students with a broad base in the liberal arts complemented by in-depth studies in disciplines of their choice, affording students a foundation for lifelong learning. The university-wide core curriculum serves to strengthen the quality of our academic experience. The quality of our students is reflected in increasing average SAT scores of entering freshmen and growing enrollment in our Honors College. The average SAT score of current Honors College students is 1270. The UH Honors College draws on the talents of the finest UH faculty members to provide a wide range of special courses for more than a thousand of the most academically gifted students in the United States. Visit www.uh.edu/academics/hon for more Honors College information.

Graduate and professional education programs at UH enable students to develop a mastery of chosen disciplines or professions. We conduct basic research in each academic department and operate more than forty research centers and institutes.

Through these facilities we maintain more than three hundred creative partnerships with government and private industry, and the interdisciplinary research conducted here breaks new ground in such vital areas as superconductivity, space commercialization, biomedical engineering, economics, education, petroleum exploration, and virtual technology.

As is the role of a metropolitan university, outreach and partnerships reflect our commitment to the community. UH seeks to provide an ongoing and expanding research and public service base to meet the needs of Houston’s community.

An important new landmark is the LeRoy and Lucile Melcher Center for Public Broadcasting, providing an important advance for public television and radio in Houston. KUHT (Channel 8) provides entertaining and educational programming like Austin City Limits, Sesame Street, and the Nightly Business Report while KUHF (88.7 FM) broadcasts classical music, National Public Radio news and other interesting programs. Visit www.kuht.uh.edu and www.kuhf.org for programming and membership information.

Funding for sponsored projects during FY 2001 totaled $53.1 million. Federal grants represented $28.6 million. During the year, UH faculty submitted 847 proposals and received 456 awards. As a reflection of our commitment to excellence in education, research, and service, the university anticipates continued support and growth in the number of grants and awards.

A sampling of our academic and research accomplishments further demonstrates this commitment:

• The university's superconductivity lab drew international attention when researchers discovered a compound that achieves superconductivity at temperatures higher than previously thought possible. This breakthrough led to the establishment of the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH (TCSUH). In 2002, TCSUH joined forces with the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center (SVEC), whose Wake Shield Facility for the study of thin-film materials growth in the vacuum of space has been launched three times from the Space Shuttle, to form the Texas Center for Superconductivity and Advanced Materials (TCSAM). As components of TCSAM, these two prominent research centers work together to develop new technologies, foster commercial ventures, and advance UH’s research statuss. Visit www.uh.edu/tcsuh and www.uh.edu/svec for details.

• The Creative Writing Program is one of the most competitive programs in the country and one of only two offering a Ph.D. Only twenty new students gain admittance to the program each year. The program was ranked second in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Go to www.uh.edu/cwp for more information.

• UH ranked tenth in the nation in physical sciences (physics, chemistry, earth sciences, engineering, mathematics, and applied sciences) according to the science journal Nature based on how frequently the research of UH faculty members was cited by other scientists. Visit http://nsm.uh.edu/ for details.

• The Department of Anthropology offers more field-based research opportunities for undergraduate students than any similar program in the state. These include regional and international research excavation sites. Go to www.anthropology.uh.edu to see a map of current research sites.

• The UH Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management is the only school of its kind in Texas and ranks third nationally. More than 95 percent of Hilton College graduates are placed in careerlevel positions upon graduation. More information about this college is available at www.hrm.uh.edu/

• The UH Law Center, ranked in the second tier nationally, recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. The UH Health Law and Policy Institute is ranked number one of its kind in the nation while the Intellectual Property Law Program is fifth, according to U.S. News & World Report. Complete information about all Law Center programs is available at www.law.uh.edu/

• The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences doctoral psychology program ranks second in Texas, with the psychology and the clinical neuropsychology program among the top five in the nation, according to the National Research Council. In addition, students in the Moores School of Music, home of the 800-seat Moores Opera House, consistently receive first-place ranking in regional and national competitions. Eighty percent of Moores School of Music graduates remain in the Houston area, infusing churches, schools, and professional performance organizations with superbly trained musicians. To find out more about the many quality programs offered by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, go to www.hfac.uh.edu/

• The American Educational Research Association ranks our College of Education among the top schools of education in the country in research productivity. Many students who graduate with teaching certificates remain in the Houston/Galveston area, helping to ensure well-trained educators for area schools. Further information regarding the College of Education is available at www.coe.uh.edu/

• Students of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture frequently earn top honors in regional and national competitions and also contribute their time and talents to Habitat for Humanity projects in the Houston area. Learn more about architecture programs at www.arch.uh.edu/

Outstanding faculty and facilities draw students from across the country and around the world. As a result, the University of Houston is characterized by a rich mix of cultural backgrounds in a student body that is approximately 41 percent white, 18 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, 17 percent Hispanic, 13 percent African American, 7 percent International, 0.4 percent Native American, and 2 percent unspecified. The International Student and Scholar Services Office is a vital resource for students needing special services related to their status as non-citizens of the United States. These services are described in detail at www.uh.edu/intservices/

The UH student body is 74 percent undergraduate and 26 percent postbaccalaureate, graduate, and professional. More than 89.9 percent of UH students are Texas residents with 45 percent being male and 55 percent female.

In an effort to make high-quality education available to all students, UH offers a full range of financial assistance programs including scholarships, grants and loans. Enrollment and financial aid information can be found at www.uh.edu/enroll/sfa/

Libraries at UH provide abundant resources for research, with total collective holdings of more than two million volumes, 3.8 million microform units, 15,000 research journal subscriptions, and various other research materials. The library is technologically sophisticated with more than 140 networked workstations accessing approximately one hundred electronic databases, as well as providing Internet access for a world of Web-based research resources. The library’s own growing web site at http://info.lib.uh.edu supports research and provides information about services and collections.

The online computer library catalog at http://library.uh.edu provides information about the holdings of the UH Libraries (M.D. Anderson, architecture/art, music, optometry, pharmacy, and law) as well as those of the UH-Downtown and the UH-Clear Lake libraries.

In spring 2002, ground was broken for a new library wing at UH. The new facility represents a long-term solution to the University of Houston’s critical spatial needs for the M.D. Anderson Library and the Honors College. Both the expanded facility and the digitized information systems of the new Library will have a powerful impact on the way students learn in the twenty-first century. In addition, the renovations will provide a new home for the Honors College, which serves 1,200 students.

Our computer-intensive environment enhances both teaching and research. A computer network links more than 10,000 workstations across campus. Through the Internet and Internet 2, UH is connected to universities, research institutions and corporations around the globe, giving our students, faculty, and staff access to a world of information and ideas.

UH Distance Education provides educational opportunities to students in outlying parts of the Houston area and beyond. Off-campus institutes—UH System at Cinco Ranch, the North Houston Institute, UH System at Fort Bend, Sugar Land, and The University Center at The Woodlands—serve students at the upper-division and graduate levels and are responsive to the needs of their surrounding communities. These facilities, as well as the main campus, also offer continuing education programs to meet almost any need. The University of Houston has delivered UH credit courses by distance education since 1984 and is now the largest university distance education program in Texas with over 10,800 enrollments in the 2002 academic year within a dozen degree programs. UH’s Instructional Television and OnLine programs provide degree opportunities to students at home, at work, or in their neighborhood. For more information on these programs, please visit www.uh.edu/academics/dce/

The Athletics Department at UH is truly world-class, with over forty Olympians, including 17 medallists and 28 individual and team Olympic medals since 1956. UH’s 15-sport intercollegiate program is a member of Conference USA, an association of 14 universities that spans 13 states nationwide. The Cougars won nine C-USA championships in 1999–2001, having now captured 25 total titles in C-USA in just five years. This continues a history of success that includes 16 national titles in men’s golf, five NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four appearances, and 11 consecutive trips to postseason competition in women’s volleyball. Renowned athletes like Carl Lewis, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Elvin Hayes, Fred Couples, and Heisman Trophy winner André Ware competed for UH under legendary coaches like Guy V. Lewis, Bill Yeoman, Dave Williams, and Tom Tellez.

U.S. Olympian and alumnus Leroy Burrell returned as the men’s track and field head coach and has already produced seven conference championships in only three years. For information and schedules for all athletic events, click to www.uhcougars.com/

An oasis close to the heart of the nation’s fourth largest city, the 550-acre UH campus abounds with parks, fountains, plazas, sculptures, trees, and recreational fields.

UH public service and community activities, such as cultural offerings, clinical services, policy studies, and small-business initiatives, serve a diverse metropolitan population. In turn, the resources of the Gulf Coast region complement and enrich the university’s academic programs, providing students with professional expertise, practical experience, and career opportunities.

In fact, more than 84 percent of our students secure career-level jobs within three months after graduation. We have awarded more than 180,000 degrees, and roughly 75 percent of our alumni remain in the Houston metropolitan area.

UH campus activities include more than 250 registered student organizations, film series, concerts, theatrical productions, art exhibits and NCAA sports representation. Moreover, Houston offers an excellent blend of cultural and entertainment activities, including a number of acclaimed museums, concert halls and theaters, restaurants of all kinds, jazz and blues clubs, rodeos, and professional sports.