Meeting Notes

After brief introductions, facilitator Judy Korb provided an overview of the process of creating our strategic plan, which included the scope of our plan, the desired outcomes, the structure of the plan, data collection and a timeline.

Richard Phillips mentioned that there is an expectation from the Chancellor that UH will have 4,000 students at the Katy location (UHV would have 4,000 as well, though no time frame was provided).

Professor Rao said the Cullen College of Engineering has a presidential directive to double enrollment by 2025. Dean Tart says the College of Nursing expects 240 students in Katy in the next three to five years.

Bill Callegari also sparked discussion regarding the facility housing UH-Victoria. He said there already is a lot of confusion in the community and among stakeholders about UH and UHV sharing the building. How do they relate to each other and how will students negotiate both sets of programs (and will those programs compete with each other). Jay Neal offered that students with questions would receive information and guidance from the individual institution. The answer may be that the student first pursue coursework at the UH main campus. Bill noted the critical need to explain the difference between the two entities and to decide what to call the campus.

The group decided the strategic plan will cover three years. Judy said more and more entities are choosing to plan for three years as opposed to five or more.

Scope of the plan will include:

• That this is an initiative for Katy
• Katy will contribute to the overall notion of UH (and allow UH to continue to grow)
• Other programs (other than nursing/engineering) to grow enrollment
• Community Engagement
• Awareness
• Working with the ISDs and Community Colleges
• Fundraising/Friendraising (and the competitive nature of funding in Austin)
• New building
• Transportation
• Living arrangements for students?

How will we use the strategic plan:

• To shield us from some decisions that do not fit our needs
• To guide us through the next 3-5 years
• To serve as a blueprint

What will the plan look like:

• It will include goals, initiatives and action steps
• It will include the UH mission and a DEFINING STATEMENT about the Katy location
• It will list our key priorities that will come from town hall meetings, community gatherings, focus groups and SWOT analyses

How will we measure the success of our efforts:

• We will have a completed plan with measurable goals
• We will have outreach to the community
• We will have recruitment/retention success

The group discussed primary stakeholders for the Katy location:

• Students (future, current and their families)
• Faculty/staff
• Community (chambers of commerce, EDC, West Houston Association)
• Industry
• Deans
• Alumni
• Advisory boards
• Employers in the Katy area
• UH administration
• National boards (accrediting, for example)
• High Schools
• Donors
• Government leaders
• Katy Task Force

Judy told the group that our efforts will be grounded in data. She asked what kind of data would serve our purposes:

• SWOT analyses
• Katy study from 2015
• Existing strategic plans from College of Nursing and the Cullen College of Engineering
• Demographic studies
• ISD studies (Katy ISD)
• West Houston Association/Katy EDC data
• Review report from Dr. John Antel/UH Hobby School
• Research from Susan Moreno/UH Office of Institutional Research

Timeline and Next Steps:

• Determine how to gather the data and when/how to review it
• Determine which stakeholders to gather for SWOT analyses/Focus groups (suggested to start these group discussions by April. All should be held in Katy)
  • Students/families
  • Faculty/staff
  • Deans
  • Advisory Boards
  • Employers
  • High Schools
  • Gov’t leaders
  • Katy Task Force
• Write a defining statement
• Meet with steering committee (probably in June) to review data and begin pulling facts that will guide future discussions
• Determine the goals for our plan in July
• Determine initiatives for our plan in August
• Complete the Katy Strategic Plan by January 2020

The meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m. We did not immediately set a date for another meeting.