New UH Athletic Director, the search goes on

[TucsonCoog (Robert Swearengin)]

I predict this will be a Home Run hire.

Patience Grasshopper.

[UHTaz]

University of Houston Athletics Director Search Moving at Very Deliberate Pace

Update via @HRReview

[dailycoog (Gregg)]

He is right but they do have candidates and some early favs.

[PiKappCoog (Dr. Rob)]

No interviews at all? This is head scratching

[EndlessPurple]

@TucsonCoog

I predict this will be a Home Run hire.

Well that would rule me out.

[aldineblue (Monte P Gilliam)]

Great post Guardian, thanks! and i like Big Ray as our interim, too.

[TOP25]

I wish one of the goals would be to become a more traditional campus with more dorms/ housing along with more establishments around UH.

Or this could have been part of goal 1.

Everything sounds good in that list and more kids on campus makes a lot of the other goals easier to reach.

Pez was replaced mainly bc of the new NIL and having to pay players so we need an AD to help find sources of revenue or fill the football stadium for revenue. They have to stop raising the cost on existing fans and find ways to fill all seats and Pez failed. Excuses were conf affiliation which is very true but now as big12 that stadium should be mostly full and if not Khator needs to implement what I said about a more traditional campus to help build longterm. We can still keep a certain amount of commuters as needed to keep enrollment up but no reason we can’t get to a solid 25% residential or shoot for 30% and still have commuters for the other 75 or 70 %.

Off topic a little but goals were brought up and residential should be 1.

[coachv (Chris Vaughan)]

@PiKappCoog

No interviews at all? This is head scratching

Some interviews have taken place.

[eljohn (EJ)]

Great post!!
This is the kind of written researched journalism that gets awards for journalists. To bad that none of the sports writers spent enough time to dig out this story.

You killed it Guardian.

[Moncoog]

@CougarGuardian

Over the last 5-7 years the rest of UH really has become completely aligned. Every other vice president and cabinet member has been hitting home run after home run, delivering results while athletics drifted further from the Chancellor’s vision (which I encourage everyone to read HERE )

All those goals are general so I wonder how moving part of engineering off campus can possibly help the university

I’m thinking it’s still a power play to prevent another attempted revolution like at UHV but it doesn’t help the students nor help the university.

[Cogarus (Ben)]

Are you talking about the technology programs? Because those were always separate from engineering. Or the petroleum engineering at ERP, because I think that’s a positive for that program.

[Moncoog]

@Cogarus

Are you talking about the technology programs?

Yes, technology. Why merge the schools and then relegate technology to a satellite campus? Especially when the programs within that school are creating so much value at other engineering universities.

From central campus the technology companies that can use students are manageable drives.

Just like with petroleum and the erp, with the exception of Exxon, central campus is just a few minutes from major petroleum headquarters. And only a bit farther to get to Exxon.

[Cougaren (Glenn)]

IMHO as an Cullen College Graduate (twice), I see the addition of Technology Students to Engineering as a way to boost our Engineering head count. It is probably an AAU qualification thing. The Administration does not show their hand until whatever they are up to pans out. Madam Khator never does anything without a well thought out reason .
Go Coogs !

[Moncoog]

@Cougaren

I see the addition of Technology Students to Engineering as a way to boost our Engineering head count.

Something that should have been done decades ago.

But then moving the programs in technology off the central campus is a detriment to the students and the school.

She hasn’t explained why and in the meantime it’s still a negative to the program and the students.

Hence why the reason I think it was done is to appease the campus where the program was sent to so they don’t try to secede from the UH system.

[Moncoog]

@Cougaren

It is probably an AAU qualification thing.

That wouldn’t be it otherwise they would’ve kept all of engineering on the central campus. Moving it out of Central campus reduces the chances of getting AAU because they don’t count towards Central campuses qualifications to gain that status.

[Cogarus (Ben)]

I thought it was because they wanted to tear down the tech building (overdue) to put up a new grad school. Some of the Tech programs will be at main campus and some will be moved off site. It makes sense to move programs like MET, as the main campus already offers ME. Opportunity to spread out their offerings.

[Coog2010]

Do you think it has anything to do with the population of students who live in Houston, attend UH and have interest in that track?

Honest question, if we are largely a commuter school still, why not take the school to the students since they are likely living at home anyway? Could give the system an opportunity to capture more students for this track instead of them going outside of the city.

Really, I have no idea. Just curious since there has not been a formal explanation.

[Moncoog]

@Cogarus

I thought it was because they wanted to tear down the tech building (overdue) to put up a new grad school.

Sacrificing undergrads to benefit grad students would be a help to achieve AAU status but still be a detriment to the student and programs that could benefit the university being relegated away from the center of business.

@Cogarus

It makes sense to move programs like MET, as the main campus already offers ME.

In this case wouldn’t it be better to simply get rid of the “T” and make met simply part of ME? Like some schools have industrial engineering and UH has/had industrial technology. Just call it engineering since it’s now in the engineering school.

@Coog2010

if we are largely a commuter school still, why not take the school to the students since they are likely living at home anyway?

I see your point and I can see that being a reason but see a few negatives/follow up questions

1. Would the satélite campus have all the prerequisite classes or would they still need to go to central campus for the first year ?
2. What about the growing population of students who are living in central campus?
3. Downtown Houston still has the headquarters of companies that engineering students can commute to from central campus for internships or simply site visits. Or, for companies in the woodlands or Katy or Sugarland, central campus is still “central”
4. What about students who live in the woodlands or Baytown who want to take those technology classes?
5. It still takes power away from central campus in a field that is gaining even more momentum.

I have no skin in the game but it would be nice to hear what the real reason for relegating part of technology to a satélite campus was.

[OldtimeCoog]

@Moncoog

I have no skin in the game but it would be nice to hear what the real reason for relegating part of technology to a satélite campus was.

Sugar Land and Victoria were feeling neglected to the point that they both began to explore moving to the A&M system. Is that what you want?

[Moncoog]

@OldtimeCoog

Is that what you want?

If that’s the actual reason, sure. But I heard nothing about that before now, it was simply my guess. With UHV there was public grumbling for at least a year before the UH system came down on them. UHV was doing everything it could to get out of the system.

It still sucks for the students who choose the programs now at that campus.