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I didn't go to UH, I'm an outsider but I know lots of UH alumni and they pretty much sum up the place being somewhere you can a good education for a good price. It was sort of a bare bones experience for them, even those who did the frat thing.

That certainly sums up my experience. And I knew from the first hour or so at my freshman orientation that there was an imbalance. They asked for a show of hands of incoming students that were from Houston, and that was a little over half. Then they asked for people from outside of Houston and still in the U.S, and that was about a quarter of the audience; then they randomly called on a bunch of those people to ask where they're from, and most of those folks were naming surburban communities of Houston. There were probably only a few dozen U.S. citizens coming in from outside of the Houston area. All the rest of the crowd were international. ...actually, I guess I should've figured it out from before then. Few people in my graduating high school class in McAllen had ever even heard of UH, nobody else went there (most that left the Valley went to UT-Austin, TAMU, Southwest Texas, or UTSA), and the counselors didn't know the difference between UH and UH-Downtown.

UH touts its diversity as an asset, but I think it hurts the experience. All those different cultures can get pretty cliquish. Add to that the Cougar High crowd all retain strong local social networks and never have to leave their comfort zone, and for a somewhat introverted guy like myself it was just very difficult to form friendships that weren't superficial. And at the graduate level (at least for the economics department), the "diversity" was overwhelming. Their roster of grad students reads more like what you'd expect from a joint program between China and Romania than any program based in the U.S. A few upper-middle class white kids would've helped bring balance to the program and provded a more culturally-rich experience for all the foreign students.

But my experience, I think, highlights the importance of my earlier argumet. If UH can shift the Cougar High population over to UH-D, offsetting that popuation by appealling to a more geographically-diverse pool of students, then that aids in providing a more traditional college experience and lifestyle. And for the record, I don't think that dorms are the best way to generate interest. Who picks a college because they just built new dorms (particularly when those dorms are overpriced)? Focus on anything that communicates positive messages to graduating high schoolers. UT has a good sports program, a motivated alumni base that encourages their own kids to go there, highly-visible landmarks either on campus or very close by, including "the Drag", and a well-reputed nightlife scene; it has plenty of dorms, but it also has plenty of off-campus housing in nice neighborhoods nearby. TAMU is positioned very similarly, but with a different feel and a lower cost of living. UH, meanwhile, is bordered by some pretty crappy neighborhoods chock full of poor black people (and yes, for the sake of marketing it matters that they're poor and black) that contribute to a perceived crime problem (although I took a lot of night courses and never even knew of anybody that had any problems), offers mostly fast food as a retail component, and is not within walking distance of a business district or a nightlife or a music scene. And whereas Austin or College Station are small enough that their alumni tend to exhibit school pride and get scattered to the wind, UH's alumni have a tendency not to talk about their school unless asked and to remain locals. (One of my parents is a UT alum, the other is a UH alum, but although I'd been to plenty of UT football games by the time I graduated high school, I didn't even know that UH existed until I started researching colleges.) Part of this last problem is related to economic geography, and UH can't change that, but they desperately need to foster some semblance of pride and tradition among their graduates in order to enhance brand loyalty. And by trying to accept a more geographically-diverse student body, perhaps over the long term they will be more able to enhance their brand awareness.

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I have not read this topic so can some one answer this question for me? Is UH developing its campus just to upgrade on what it already has or devloping to really compete for students from around the state with UT and A&M? I don't think many students looking for college know that UH is the third largest university in Texas, I don't think many students in the Houston area know that.

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But my experience, I think, highlights the importance of my earlier argumet. If UH can shift the Cougar High population over to UH-D, offsetting that popuation by appealling to a more geographically-diverse pool of students, then that aids in providing a more traditional college experience and lifestyle. And for the record, I don't think that dorms are the best way to generate interest. Who picks a college because they just built new dorms (particularly when those dorms are overpriced)? Focus on anything that communicates positive messages to graduating high schoolers. UT has a good sports program, a motivated alumni base that encourages their own kids to go there, highly-visible landmarks either on campus or very close by, including "the Drag", and a well-reputed nightlife scene; it has plenty of dorms, but it also has plenty of off-campus housing in nice neighborhoods nearby.

The problem with UH is the off campus housing in the dicey neighborhoods. I wish the dorms were more affordable but that's the way on campus housing is going based on my experience living the new dorms (2006) were at Texas State and my cousin at UT.

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I totally agree with the Niche. UH has done more with less for decades. However, the times have changed and UH shouldn't just be for the first generation college students or kids who can't afford to go away to school or even worse, kids who fail out and come back home only to claim the place they failed out of as their "school". We now have UH Downtown, HCC, San Jac, Lone Star and a ton of others to serve that population. This City needs UH to become more like UCLA, Pitt, UCSD, Georgia Tech, Washington, etc... (large urban universities with excellent reputations). For years, individual and graduate programs have stood out (Hilton, Law Center, Pharmacy, Optometry, Bauer, GSSW) but it is high time for the undergrad experience to gain a better reputation as well.

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  • 2 months later...

Plans for the new "UC" (University Center) are on track:

“The consideration for approval is set for August,” UC 2010 Initiative Co-Chair Nicole Sopko said. “With support from the administration, we look forward (with) hopes of approval in August.”

Once plans are approved, professional design and construction teams will be solicited. During this step, Sopko expects to lock down an architect and design team who will carry them through the rest of the planning.

Students are anticipating the new modifications for the project they voted on.

“When students voted in the process that took place in Fall 2008, they voted for a fully transformed UC,” Sopko said. “The plan is to create an addition and enable that to be used as swing space. It will also allow for a more ADA-friendly UC Satellite.”

Both the directors and the design team will work together to give the UC its new look.

The grand opening of the UC addition is scheduled for a March 2012 unveiling. The renovated UC, which will be named the New University Center Complex, is scheduled for completion May 2015.

(from: http://thedailycougar.com/2010/06/23/plans-for-new-uc-on-track/ )

The total cost of the project should be ~$100 million (in 2011 dollars).

This is according to the cost model, found at: http://www.uh.edu/uc2010/pages/costmodel.php

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Some of the language in the article and also the cost model implies that it's mostly a renovation project. But when Sopko says, "'Our current facility was built 43 years ago, for the needs of approximately 17,000 students,' ... 'Students deserve a building that suits (everyone) attending our first-class institution (and) meets each and every aspect of their educational and individual needs.'", and the project is going to be called the New University Center Complex...it makes it sound like it'll be bigger in addition to being better.

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From this latest article I deduced that there would be an addition, to be opened in 2012, and a brand new building, to be opened 3 years later. This was news to me, as I did not know how they would go about it.

My guess is they will build the addition next to the existing UC and then demolish the existing UC and build a new one in its place. So if that is the case then it is just construction in two parts, set up so that at least part of a UC space is usable at all times.

Anyway from the UC 2010 initiative web site it looks like it will cost ~$100 million and will be ~250,000 square feet.

Compare this to the Tate Student Center Renovation at U. Georgia, which added 100,000 square feet of new additional space, which "effectively doubles" total available student space (for 200,000 square feet of space overall). The total cost for this project is ~$60 million.

http://schooldesigns.com/Project-Details.aspx?Project_ID=3695

In addition the U. Georgia built a new Student Learning Center with another 204,000 square feet of space for an additional ~$33 million.

http://schooldesigns.com/Project-Details.aspx?Project_ID=2026

So the end result is ~400,000 total square feet at UGA v. ~250,000 square feet at UH...for the same price.

I'm hoping this isn't part of a larger trend of things at UH costing more than they should. (For example, a stadium holding 40,000 people costing $120 million v. the Univ. Akron stadium holding 30,000 people which cost $61.6 million.)

But you never know what's included in the price until they tell you, and I'm just hoping that this new student center will, for that amount of money, be the be-all-end-all of student facilities, setting the standard for years to come for all such endeavors for universities and colleges around the country/world.

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  • 2 weeks later...

From seeing the actual plans on the desk of the president of student government my final year of school, the UC is basically going to be completely gutted and reorganized with student activities moved from the basement addition at the back, to a more prominent position upstairs in the main building, while all the meeting rooms and the DOS offices will be moved to the basement. An expanded bookstore/theatre addition will be built next to the UC on the faculty visitor lots at a later date.

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  • 2 months later...

UHComm_picnik.jpg

This what the

Jack J. Valenti School of Communication at UH will look like come next year.

A $3.6 million expansion and renovation starting this month will include a two-story video production studio, the building's first formal entrance and renovated faculty offices and classrooms.

The project was funded in part by a $1.5 million, 2-to-1 matching contribution from Lance Funston, a 1967 graduate and chairman and CEO of media aggregator

Telamerica Media.

Construction is scheduled to be completed by fall 2011.

The project will comprise 4,363 square feet of new construction and 15,500 square feet of renovated existing space.

UH is on a construction roll.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

and the UH development keeps rolling... (discovered via A&M's RECON email)

HOUSTON (Houston Business Journal) –The University of Houston is expanding its current facilities with a 167,000-sf, six-story Health and Biomedical Science Center.

Groundbreaking ceremonies were held Wednesday on the project, which will consolidate researchers from different departments and colleges under one roof.

The project will further develop the College of Optometry with a new ambulatory surgery center, the first of its kind in an optometry school, according to the university. Spaces for outpatient ophthalmic procedures such as cataract surgery and LASIK are also included in the property design.

The project is slated to be completed in mid-2012.

http://www.bizjourna...biomedical.html

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It's sad that I go to UH, and I have no clue where these projects are going up. I blame the fact that I am a hostage in the architecture building 24/7...lol

Any of my fellow students care to fill me in?

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Well, I've been going to UH for two years now and I walk around campus almost everyday and I still have no clue where this biomedical building is being built. The article doesn't give much detail... awesome. Would this happen to be the building on Cullen next to the stadium or is that some other building that's already been mentioned before?

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Well, I've been going to UH for two years now and I walk around campus almost everyday and I still have no clue where this biomedical building is being built. The article doesn't give much detail... awesome. Would this happen to be the building on Cullen next to the stadium or is that some other building that's already been mentioned before?

I think the one to which you're referring (and has a similar-looking design) is a science and engineering research/office building. This appears to be something different and would likely go in a spot in proximity of the rec center/current optometry building (that is, unless it goes in TMC). This is all purely speculation on my part, though.

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  • 2 weeks later...

uhhealthctr.jpg

The U of H is building a 167k sf, six-story Health and Biomedical Science Center. The facility will consolidate researchers from different departments and colleges under one roof and will develop the College of Optometry with a new ambulatory surgery center, which UH says is the first of its kind in an optometry school. Spaces for outpatient ophthalmic procedures and LASIK are also included in the property design. The project broke ground last week and is slated to be completed mid-2012.

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Any information on exactly where this is located? Is it by the existing optometry building, somewhere else on campus, or in the TMC?

Yea, we were discussing this in the UH thread. The article(s) posted so far have yet to say where the location of this building is. I honestly don't think the campus has enough room for this large of a building. Could be wrong, but I see this perhaps being in the TMC.

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Heard from a pretty good source that UH has been working behind the scenes so that if Baylor Med goes into default and needs state funding to help it along, that there will be a HUGE push from all Houston area legislators to make sure that the funding would only come if the medical school allowed itself to be absorbed into the UH System.

I think this is the only positive outcome left for Baylor since the talks with Rice fell apart. This would be a huge boost to UH's tier one efforts. Additionally, with the old Baylor Board (egos) removed from the equation, it's likely that fences could be mended with Methodist to ensure that one of the world's finest hospitals becomes a teaching hospital again.

Meanwhile, in the interim, Baylor Med's reputation continues to spiral downward...

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Heard from a pretty good source that UH has been working behind the scenes so that if Baylor Med goes into default and needs state funding to help it along, that there will be a HUGE push from all Houston area legislators to make sure that the funding would only come if the medical school allowed itself to be absorbed into the UH System.

I think this is the only positive outcome left for Baylor since the talks with Rice fell apart. This would be a huge boost to UH's tier one efforts. Additionally, with the old Baylor Board (egos) removed from the equation, it's likely that fences could be mended with Methodist to ensure that one of the world's finest hospitals becomes a teaching hospital again.

Meanwhile, in the interim, Baylor Med's reputation continues to spiral downward...

I wonder if it would then retain the Baylor name (which continues to have strong recognition) or if it would instead become something like the 'UH Medical College'?

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