June 5, 2013

A few months ago, we launched the search for the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, UH System, and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, University of Houston. The Search Committee forwarded three candidates for the position. We interviewed two (the third one accepted another job before coming to Houston for an interview). After carefully reviewing the feedback on both candidates, meeting with them, and doing my due diligence independently, I have reached the conclusion that while both candidates are very talented, neither of them are the right fit for our needs at this time. Interestingly, during the search process, the System and University community started to rally behind Dr. Paula Myrick Short, who has been serving in an interim capacity. This week, I went back to presidents, vice presidents, deans, the UH Faculty Senate and the UH Student Government Association for another voice, and they are unanimously and strongly in favor of appointing Dr. Short. In my opinion, she has done a stellar job and is a great fit as we build that division.  During this brief period of four months, she has:

1. Reorganized the Division of Academic Affairs by making difficult personnel decisions
2. Brought together an outstanding group of faculty leaders to head the new organizational structure
3. Implemented an outcome-based funding model for colleges
4. Successfully headed our effort to get the UH System on a MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) platform
5. Built academic consensus on two new building projects
6. Supervised leadership changes in two colleges, and
7. Testified in Austin and visited our UH System universities with very positive feedback

Given this record of performance and support for the continuation of her role, I have decided to appoint Dr. Paula Short as the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, UH System, and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, University of Houston. I will submit her name at an upcoming Board of Regents meeting for confirmation. Please click here to view her CV. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Short to the office. I urge you to offer her your full support and make her successful in providing leadership during this time of transformation for the University of Houston System.

I thank the Search Committee for doing an outstanding job. Committee members gave their valuable time and expertise selflessly and ran an extremely professional search.

With Warm Regards,

Renu Khator
Chancellor/President
University of Houston