FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2007

Contact: Eric Gerber
713.743.8189 (office)
281.627.2065 (cell)
egerber@uh.edu

HOUSTON, June 11, 2007 – City of Houston employees can now receive credit at Houston Community College for a number of professional development courses taken through the city's E.B. Cape Center, paving the way for an associate degree and enrollment in the University of Houston System.

“It's a great partnership between the two schools and the city. This gives us a valuable tool to help employees succeed in an economy that increasingly depends on information and education,” said Mayor Bill White. He was joined by HCC Chancellor Mary Spangler and UH System Chancellor Jay Gogue at a recent signing ceremony at City Hall.

This new partnership allows municipal employees to acquire HCC credit for classes completed at the city's Cape Center, where various courses in computer applications, leadership and management, project management, organizational effectiveness and business communication are offered.

These transferred credits can be applied toward fulfilling a degree plan at HCC. Degreed employees may then continue their higher education by enrolling at a UH System school, where programs have been specifically customized to coordinate with this partnership and better align with the educational needs of the city of Houston.

“HCC is excited to be part of an alliance that focuses on opportunities for higher education and provides a means for receiving a degree,” Chancellor Spangler said.

The partnership, which begins this fall, has been in the planning stages for two years. “A lot of hard work, foresight and good intentions went into creating this agreement,” said Chancellor Gogue. “Everyone in our community will benefit from it.”

For information about the E.B. Cape Center, please see http://www.uh.edu/ebcapecenter/

For information about Houston Community College, please www.hccs.cc.tx.us.

PHOTO: http://www.uh.edu/admin/media/nr/2007/05may/higheredoppsph.html

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM
The University of Houston System is the state’s only metropolitan higher education system, encompassing four universities and two multi-institution teaching centers. The universities are the University of Houston, a nationally recognized doctoral degree-granting, comprehensive research university; the University of Houston-Downtown, a four-year undergraduate university beginning limited expansion into graduate programs; and the University of Houston-Clear Lake and the University of Houston-Victoria, both upper division and master’s-level institutions. The centers are the UH System at Sugar Land in Fort Bend and the UH System at Cinco Ranch. In addition, the UH System includes KUHF-FM, Houston’s National Public Radio and classical radio station, and KUHT-TV, the nation’s first educational television station.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.