Texas higher ed board recommending UH med school approval

HUGE!!!

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is scheduled to take up the recommendation at its quarterly meeting Thursday and Friday. The recommendation includes the condition that UH pursue scholarships and loan repayment programs to achieve its goal of having 50 percent of students come from minority populations.

“We’re pretty confident that Coordinating Board approval will happen,” said Dr. Stephen Spann, founding dean of the proposed UH college. “Such approval will be a major milestone in our progress.”

Khator said she will bring to UH regents in November a report of whether to build the school on campus or in the Texas Medical Center. A UH committee has not finished analyzing the options — it has narrowed the possibilities from four sites to two — but Khator said it has identified strong advantages to putting the school on campus. She said she has not decided yet whether she will recommend one location or just relay the strengths and weaknesses of both options.

https://twitter.com/RepWalle/status/1055592747179106304

https://twitter.com/UHpres/status/1055543104802091010

I would expand the campus from Elgin to 45 and build the facility as close to 45 as possible, eventually building a larger complex to house all the health programs. Having “University of Houston College of Medicine” at the top of a 7 or 8 story building would be great advertisement to hundreds of thousands who travel 45 every day and elevate the perception of UH for those who don’t know.

After that, I would convert the existing health buildings into needed housing since it’s already on housing row. Believe me, architecturally it can be done.

2 Likes

The building should be on campus, imo.

1 Like

Yes I know but if UH buy up property north of Elgin to 45 the UHCM will be on campus.

Not to be a Debbie Downer but what does race have to do with anything. That bothers me. I want the best. I don’t care what color they are.

I often scratch my head when reading similar comments. Race is being used analytically - there is no inference that race means some people are more important than others. Quite the contrary, as the powers that be in our country’s long history MADE race everything and that’s precisely why race lingers today in issues such as health disparities. This is about addressing groups more PROBABLE to live in poverty in urban settings (i.e., UH) and thus have much worse health outcomes.

I’m not quite sure why for some it’s important to ignore analytical realities. These types of programs helps everyone in the long run. Everyone benefits, not just the target populations.

I think the TMC is the best location. Then their physical presence as a co-educational partner in the TMC is visible and undeniable. The proximity also allows them to take advantage of all the other nearby TMC resources including the new TMC 3 which is going to be a huge and important addition for future investment opportunities.

I think if our long-term goal is to achieve AAU status, then it has to be on campus. Otherwise, the research dollars brought by the medical school could not be counted as part of the research funding metric of the entire institution. In this regard, we need to remember what happened to the University of Nebraska.

1 Like

Albeit this is for the NIH, good point but that may be a foregone conclusion:

TT’s main campus & Health Science Ctr are next door to each other and they’re counted separately.

https://report.nih.gov/award/index.cfm

1 Like

https://twitter.com/BillBishopKHOU/status/1063092693264326656

https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicItemDownload.aspx?ik=43499082

1 Like

Great options…don’t see how we could go wrong with any of them.

I would like to see the med school at the UH location. The UH med school needs to be thought of under the Coog family. I feel like if the college is off campus it will be isolated from the culture of UH. Also by being on campus, it will allow for corroboration with the other colleges more easier. Not to mention the UH location would be at a light rail stop. The Magregor location also allows room for growth of the facilities as needed.

2 Likes

I think they approved the Magregor location for the Med school.

1 Like

https://twitter.com/UHpres/status/1063163150181183488

2 Likes

A great decision for the long-term goals of the University of Houston. Thank you for your wisdom.

1 Like

My top choice would’ve been the med center, but at $142 million it probably wasn’t worth it. Hopefully UH can manage to get some space on the upcoming TMC3 campus to expand its presence in the TMC.

The good news about the McGregor location is that it’ll leave a lot of room for expansion down the line.

3 Likes

Dr. Stephen Spann, founding dean of the College of Medicine, said building on campus in close proximity to some of the surrounding communities “is ideal because it aligns with our mission.” Spann added that the chosen location will enable “meaningful collaboration with other health programs throughout the University.”