No more 'business as usual' for UH

Board of Regents to make decision on System structure today

Cougar news services

A decision today by the University of Houston System Board of Regents will change the course of history for UH and the other three universities in the UH System.

The board's scheduled 8 a.m. announcement will determine whether the System will initiate a search for a permanent UH chancellor and a permanent UH president, or whether the search will be for a single person to fill a chancellor/president role, a job described by current UH System Chancellor William P. Hobby as a "chancident."

After more than two years of wrangling over the best way to eliminate duplication of services between the System and the four universities, the regents were left with just two options: the single chief executive officer model, combining the responsibilities of UH president and UH System chancellor, or a "modified and improved" version of the present System, with a chancellor and four university presidents.

Numerous rumors circulated at UH and the other three schools last week as the date of the board's announcement drew near.

Hobby previously cautioned members of the UH community about listening to rumors.

"Rumors are rampant; none of them are true. And tension is high for all the wrong reasons," he said.

Last week, UH System Board of Regents Chairwoman Beth Morian said that no matter what the board decides, "business as usual" for the UH System no longer exists.

"There are changes already under way in how we manage our organization," she said. "And there will be more changes over the next year to 18 months as we move forward with implementing our final structure and recruiting our leadership team."

After making its announcement, the board will answer questions from the press for about 30 minutes.

Then, at 10 a.m., with the Board of Regents meeting still in session, the regents will host an open forum for students, faculty and staff members of the UH community.

Around 11:30 a.m., the regents will go to UH-Downtown for a similar forum. They will visit UH-Clear Lake later in the afternoon for another open forum session.

Tuesday, the board will travel to Victoria to discuss the decision with members of the UH-Victoria community.

Finally, the regents will reconvene Wednesday at the University Hilton to discuss the implications of the decision with members of the UH System staff.