Thursday, March 25, 2010

Mentoring Students in STEM--Key is Changing Organizational Culture

There is no doubt that America must dramatically increase the number of scientists, engineers, technicians, and mathematicians that we produce each year in order to remain competitive internationally. Yet, how do we proceed?

Several states have increased math and science requirements in high school. Unfortunately, most states are having difficulty finding enough qualified and credentialed teachers to cover the required courses. This is especially true in low income schools. There is also a problem in attracting science and math majors to pursue careers in teaching at the high school level.

Additionally, the talent pool is more diverse, with more women and minorities majoring in sciences and math. Even so, very few minorities and women enter the ranks of the academy as professors. A variety of institutional and cultural barriers still exist, sometimes discouraging women and minorities from obtaining tenure track appointments in their fields or for obtaining tenure and promotion.

The American Association of University Women recently issued a report that found women continue to face barriers in STEM fields from attitudes and practices that persist in education and industry. This limits the number of young women who seek careers in STEM fields, as well as those who advance in the ranks of science, industry, and the professoriate.

To promote the discussion, I am sharing the thoughts of a friend, Patty Lopez, who is an Hispanic woman engineer with several patents under her belt. She currently works as a Component Design Engineer for Intel. I met Patty Lopez almost ten years ago, while serving as Provost of New Mexico State University. At the time, Patty worked for HP and was an alum of NMSU. She serves on the Electrical Engineering Advisory Board and their Electrical and Computer Engineering Academy. Patty has consistently worked to recruit women and minorities into STEM fields. She has also mentored many students and engineering professionals.

The following is written by Dr. Patty Lopez:

I wanted your insight on what I believe is the key to changing organizational culture in technology, which starts with changing the culture of higher education. Through my many board roles (at NMSU and elsewhere) and mentorship, I have found that many engineering colleges are inhospitable to women and minorities.

To be truly competitive, our tech workforce needs to be diverse. There are three gatekeepers for under-represented minorities (URM’s) in STEM that exist in K-12, higher education, and professionally.

The first gatekeeper is pedigree, and by this I mean where you were educated. In K-12, the pedigree of your high school determines which colleges you will be accepted into, in higher education, the institution from which you received your BS, MS, or PhD determines where you can go next, and how much you will inevitably earn. ACT and SAT scores will cull those high school graduates without adequate preparation and success in math and science, but many who would succeed lack adequate financial resources to enter the better colleges and universities. Many departmental graduate school selection committees use pedigree as their first “cut” at culling the list of applicants.

The assumption is two-fold: having a pedigree is an accurate predictor of future success, and the lack of one is an accurate predictor future failure. We know from many successful entrepreneurs that this is not the case. Unfortunately, many times pedigree is used as a selection criterion without thought to the fact that it is selecting out some very talented candidates who may not have the mentorship and sponsorship to make their case. Yes, they can write a letter that details their accomplishments and their “distance traveled”, if they know enough to do so. But many unfortunately do not.

The second gatekeeper is organizational culture – the mechanisms at work that generate glass or concrete ceilings. We see it at work in technology, where it also affects women, not just URM’s. Where does this culture come from? Our K-12 teachers have mandatory multicultural education training in their degree programs that prepare them for how to avoid bias and prejudice in the classroom. Higher education does not have any such requirements.

The key to changing organizational culture in industry, government, and research institutions begins with multicultural education and micro-inequities awareness training at all levels of academia – and must be supported at the highest levels of administration. Once we have experienced our own biases and how we use them in our daily lives, we can start to see how they permeate everything we do, how we make judgments based upon them, and how we exclude. Graduates will hopefully take their new awareness with them to their employers, wherever that may be, and thus the organization culture within technology companies would change.

The third gatekeeper is environment – and by this, I mean the environment in our colleges and workplaces.
No doubt you have read the physorg.com article “Of Girls and Geeks: Environment may be why women don’t like computer science”. If you look inside most tech companies, you will see aisles and aisles of cubicles, and standard layouts for cubicle desks and equipment. If you walk down the halls of many engineering departments, many lack art of any kind, much less art that is culturally inclusive.

I took my 14-year-old daughter, 14-year-old nephew, and 18-year-old niece to UCSD last week to visit the engineering department there. Though the external campus was beautiful, we walked through the Jacobs School of Engineering and the majority of walls were bare, aside from some highly technical posters on various subjects. In the new Computer Science and Engineering building, again, very little art to entice shy, young, aspiring computer scientists and engineers into the building. We walked down the halls of the second floor, and while the interior offices might be highly personalized, the exterior halls were not, save for one post-doc with a cartoon on the door labeling himself “indentured servant”.

To the prospective student who has had mentors and sponsors in STEM, that experience alone would not deter them from entering. To the URM who has experienced many “closed doors”, it increases the sense of not belonging, not feeling welcomed, and that this is not a place where they can be successful. Never mind that they may be more resourceful, resilient, and just as talented as their pedigreed peers, but perhaps not as polished.

All three gatekeepers can be addressed through awareness. I have had the unique opportunity to experience all of them (in particular, barriers to academic positions upon receipt of my PhD), which is why I am so passionate on these issues. Perhaps you’ve had a chance to read Dr. Richard Tapia’s article on hiring and developing minority faculty at research universities (link is below).

Richard’s article strikes a chord when he shares the story of his talk "Why the Berkeley Math Department Would Never Hire Me." I could give several variants on that talk, from my own experiences. The irony is that I’m just the sort of person that industry and academia need – the sort of person who can be the diverse voice, the person who offers inclusiveness, sponsorship, and mentorship, the change agent that is needed to move women and minorities forward, if only the gatekeepers would let me pass through.

To implement a multicultural education program within a university, it must be supported at the highest levels, and training must happen at these levels on down the chain of command to the lowest level. How feasible is such a program? What are the advantages a university with such a program can demonstrate? How can they market themselves to compete for the best and brightest students? What if funding agencies would give priority to funding universities with this designation? What if accreditation organizations used this as a factor in accreditation decisions? I think this would certainly accelerate the adoption of such programs, leveling the playing field across the board.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Patty Lopez

Monday, March 15, 2010

Lessons from the Investiture

When I first came to the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD), several faculty and a couple of deans asked me if we would be having a 'big' celebration, what some termed an 'inauguration.' After all, UHD had never had an investiture. I explained that I wasn't fully comfortable with making such a decision and that it should be up to the campus. I was adamant that if we did organize an investiture, I wanted to be sure that we would keep costs low and use the event for fund raising, especially for student scholarships. I also felt we should use the investiture to further build the reputation of the university and its ties to the community.

Well, we certainly did that. With sponsorships throughout the week, in-kind contributions, pledges and actual cash donations, we are figure the campus raised a little more than $450,000, with about $350,000 going to scholarships! That's pretty exciting, especially since we put the scholarship dinner together in less than four months.

We learned a lot through the activities, which everyone enjoyed. So, here are some lessons:

1) Make Sure the Campus Leadership Buys Into the Decision. The Faculty Senate, Staff Council, and Student Government leadership all were directly involved in organizing our events. A vice president and a faculty member co-chaired the Investiture Committee and involved scores of faculty, staff and students in the committee and many more organizing the events.

2) Showcase the Work of Students, Staff, and Faculty. Musical and dance performances by students and faculty were interspersed throughout the week. We set up a permanent faculty publications display in the library and held several well-attended faculty panels. The cheer squad led chants at different events and we introduced the National Championship Powerlifting Team. Students and staff held auditions to see who would sing the Star-Spangled Banner at the event. Student scholastic work was showcased in poster session, alongside displays of faculty art work.

3) Link the Investiture to Existing Campus and Community Events. We were able to connect with the Buffalo Bayou Partnership's Bayou Regatta, a citywide canoe and kayak race that ends near the campus. Also, the Bayou Partnership provided boat ride tours of the Bayou on Friday during Investiture week, where docents explained the history of the Bayou and buildings along the Bayou, including the old Merchant and Mercantile building where UHD now sits.

We also linked with the citywide FotoFest which launched Friday night, which held its opening reception next to the UHD College of Business building. We began the week with the citywide annual Fulbright Arts Festival, which was held at UHD that first Saturday and ended with the Regatta and the 51st Science and Engineering Fair of Houston, which is organized and sponsored in part by UHD. And, we moved a lecture by former Lt. Governor Bill Hobby to Investiture Week, who gave a wonderful lecture, 'A Political Atlas of Texas.' All of this was done without extra cost.

4. Raise Money! When we first began organizing the investiture there was considerable skepticism about our ability to raise any funds during a recession. But, we used the opportunity to meet with alumni, past donors, advisory boards, and several local companies, some of which do business with the university. Everyone was happy to give whatever they could. Sometimes it was a pledge, other times, it was a steep reduction in price, or a donation to the events. Keep track of every penny raised and thank every donor!

5. Keep Perspective: The Investiture is About the University, Not the President. We used the opportunity to strengthen relations with our alumni, our donors, our regents, with the system, with elected officials, and with the community-at-large. Several presidents and delegates came from Texas and from colleges and universities in other states, and from Mexico. Rather than renting a hotel, we held the Scholarship Dinner on campus at our University Events Center. And, we held the Investiture Ceremony at the city-owned Wortham Center. Throughout the week, we used the ceremonies and week-long activities to raise the public profile of the campus. We received wonderful coverage in the press and had good attendance for most of the events.

6. Have Fun. Everyone enjoyed themselves and we ended the Friday events with a staff roundup and Chili Cook-Off. The event was organized by the UHD Staff Council We had live music and lots of booths. Everyone had a great time.

I did my best to attend as many Investiture events as possible. Some I spoke at, some I simply attended and enjoyed. And, I found time to spend with family and friends, many of whom came to Houston for the celebration. Family and friends came from California, New Mexico, Texas and other states. I incorporated them into the activities, but also found time to spend only with family.

All-in-all the UHD Investiture Week was a great success! The campus is much closer now. There is a wonderful spirit among the faculty, staff, and students. As a university, we are moving forward. Yes, at UHD we truly are 'Making a Name for Ourselves.' And, we are 'Changing Lives, Building Futures!'

The Investiture speech can be viewed here.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Changing Lives, Building Futures

The following is the text of my Investiture Speech (or view the video here):

Chancellor Renu Khator, Regent Welcome Wilson, President Jay Gogue and the many other presidents, including the UHD past presidents, and delegates, elected officials, faculty and alumni, friends and those of you who traveled far, I want to thank each of you for joining us today.

I am very pleased to have several family members here with me today and I would like to introduce, my wife, Celina; my father, Bill, who I am named after; my brother, Glenn; and my wife’s mother, Emma. Unfortunately, my Mother is no longer with us, but I am certain she is looking down from heaven and smiling with pride.

This is truly a very special day and occasion that brings new history to the University Of Houston-Downtown, UHD. I am deeply moved by all of the contributions we have received to fully fund this investiture and to create or expand several endowed scholarships for our students. I especially thank our sponsors and our donors. We are extremely grateful for your generosity and commitment to UHD! Your support truly is “Changing Lives, Building Futures.”

I also want to thank the regents, the past presidents, the faculty and staff of UHD, and the legislators. Your vision in establishing the University Of Houston-Downtown has given Houston an amazing university. UHD sits in the heart of the city, connected by freeway, rail and bayou. You had the foresight to build the university downtown and we receive students from every corner of Houston. Thank you.

As I stand here today, looking at my father, who has always been an inspiration to me, I cannot help but think of the theme of the investiture, “Changing Lives, Building Futures,” which resonates with my own life.

Education provided me with an immense opportunity for a very different life than I would have had without a college degree. After all, I never dreamt of being a university president.

In fact, growing up I didn’t think about going to college, at least not in the beginning. I was the only one in my family, including many cousins, to go to college and earn a degree directly out of high school.

Why was this the case? I am convinced it was because of my family. I grew up with parents committed to education. When I was in the third grade, my Dad went back to school. He had left high school to fight in World War II. He took classes at night while working full time. He would study at breakfast and dinner. And, sometimes I studied with him and with my Mom. I learned to love reading and to value education.

I remember when we got our first encyclopedia, buying a volume every week at the local store for 49 cents when we bought a bag of groceries. We traveled that summer for vacation and we missed one of the volumes, the letter “S.” It always seemed I needed something from that missing volume. Later, my Mom bought a complete set of the world book encyclopedia. I remember sitting down, grabbing each volume with excitement, looking at the pictures, and reading the articles.

My Mother often said, “Books open up the world. You can see places you could never visit and read about things you will never experience.”

Like many young boys, I thought I would be a firefighter or maybe a jet pilot. Most of my family had been in the armed forces or worked in aerospace. My Dad worked for the Department of Defense, my Mom had worked on airplanes during World War II, painting the dials on the control panels of the planes. Several aunts and cousins worked in the defense plants. In high school, I worked one summer as a machinist, grinding and polishing ailerons for the wings of the C5A transport carrier.

When I was in elementary school, my Dad took the family to the natural history museum in San Diego’s Balboa Park and I was awed by a display of dinosaurs. I wanted to dig up dinosaur bones. So, I got a little claw hammer and started digging up the backyard with our dog digging alongside me. We didn’t find any bones, but that didn’t stop me. I think we did some serious damage to a fruit tree. Later, I longed to be an astronaut and walk on the moon. When I started college, I wanted to be a doctor and save lives.

Now, I am a president and don’t do any of those things. Even so, college opened the door of opportunity and created pathways for my future. A college education meant that I could have more than just a job. It has allowed me several exciting careers. I’ve run a health center, worked in non-profits and for private industry. Later, I earned a doctoral degree and taught at various universities. And, of course, it led me here to Houston and onto this stage for this celebratory occasion.

And, I’m proud to be UHD’S President. Why? UHD is the thirteenth largest public university in Texas. It is also one of the most ethnically diverse universities in the country. We have truly great faculty and staff who are committed to this institution, to its mission, and to our students.

UHD opens the doors of opportunity for our students, who are often the first generation in their family to attend college. Most work at least 30 hours per week while attending classes and many of our students work full time.

At the same time, we understand higher education must be affordable and of the highest quality. UHD remains committed to opportunity, access and affordability. And, we are committed to excellence.

UHD is truly an opportunity university in Houston--the City of Opportunity. It is where working students and professionals can earn their degrees. And as you walk through the halls, you will see, UHD looks like Houston, just as Houston looks like the future of America!

Universities play a special role in society. But, there is always tension around change. Universities bridge yesterday with tomorrow. Universities are relics of time and thresholds to the future. They are bulwarks of tradition and engines of innovation. We wear these fancy robes and funny hats that go all the way back to the middle ages. An investiture was when the pope invested a bishop, or a king invested a lord with land and title. Of course, presidents don't have the power or authority of kings or lords. But, we oversee great universities, which study the past and make discoveries that can open up new and exciting worlds, and provide understanding of the past and present.

As Albert Einstein said, “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.” That is what we help students do, to understand the present, to think critically, and to build bright futures.

We cannot linger in the past, lest we fail to grasp the future. Henry Kissinger once said, “It is far easier to change the course of history, than to change a history course.”

After all, it takes a professor years of research to earn a Ph.D. and, it can take even longer for disciplines to accept new ideas or new ways of doing things. But universities must change to better serve our students. The world is changing rapidly and we must change with it.

There is an old Hebrew proverb: “Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.”

That was never more true than today. After all, as faculty, many of us were trained decades ago, in what is now a previous century. We are completing the first decade of not only a new century, but, indeed, a new millennium.

Today, students confront a turbulent, global economy with rising powers, such as China and India. In fact, this morning’s news had a story on the richest person in the world. It is no longer Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. It is communications giant Carlos Slim from Mexico. In fact, India, Brazil and Mexico accounted for four of the ten richest people in the world. So the world is changing. And, as we saw with the worldwide recession, every country’s economy is interdependent. We cannot predict what the future will bring. Yet, we must prepare our students for this very complex and changing world.

We also have entered a digital, interactive, connected and convergent world. The high school graduating class of 2020 enters the third grade next fall. They were born in the 21st century. They are growing up in a digital world—-where, for them, cell phones have always taken photographs, where their brothers and sisters have always sent each other text messages, and where the first place they go when they have a question is to Google or Wikipedia.

These students of the new millennium will need a very different education than what we received. It is our responsibility to provide it to them. We must to build a university that meets the needs of the 21st century.

Since I arrived, I have engaged the university in a broad and inclusive planning process. We are thinking about how teaching and learning must change to better prepare our students. In the next few years, you will see profound changes at UHD. I am excited by the enthusiasm and the willingness of our faculty and staff to try new things and to re-envision and remake the university. In fact, many UHD faculty are leaders in applying technology to their research and their teaching.

Universities are America’s best source of innovation, imagination, discovery, invention and creativity. Our students will become tomorrow’s teachers, social workers, doctors, entrepreneurs, artists and scientists. They will build tomorrow’s world and we must give them the tools today to make their world a better place. Who knows? One day one of our students may discover a cure for cancer—or at least, perhaps, the common cold.

Great universities are essential to America’s future. To maintain its leadership position internationally, more Americans must receive a college education. And they must be prepared for this world of growing complexity and rapid technological change.

We are working on plans to ensure that every student receives a deep and memorable experience at UHD, be it internships, undergraduate research, civic engagement or capstone projects. We will improve student success at UHD; we will increase the number of students who graduate each year.

At UHD, we care about Houston and Texas and we want to help create a city of the future, just as we are working to build a university of the future. We address social problems confronting Houston and urge our students to address these problems through research and community service. Over the next few years, we will develop new undergraduate and graduate degrees and will add more online courses and degrees to meet the needs of Houston’s and America’s changing global economy. And, we will build a strong, leading metropolitan comprehensive university, one that will make Houston proud. And, we will work hard to become a leader nationally in educating first generation students, especially Hispanics and African Americans.

A great city is more than skyscrapers. It is more than steel, concrete and highways. A great city such as Houston must have a spirit that transcends the present and captivates the imagination. Universities help create that spirit and raise the aspirations and imaginations of the citizenry.

Houston must have an educated citizenry and UHD helps do just that. But, we do more than simply train, educate and provide degrees. We elevate aspirations and thinking. We help our students achieve their dreams. We change lives and build futures.

In 1914, philosopher John Dewey who believed that education is life itself, wrote, “Universities are public, not just because they receive public funds, but because they serve the public good and prepare citizens for the good of society.” That’s what we do.

UHD provides students with opportunities for life-long learning. Of course, students work hard to earn degrees, but we also provide them with the tools to build a future: critical thinking skills, the ability to communicate, the ability to relate to others and work in teams, an appreciation for right and wrong, for ethics, diversity and the ability to work with individuals from all cultures and walks of life.

Our students gain lessons in leadership and the ability to look beyond themselves. They will have the skills to address the problems our country will face and make discoveries that our society will need as the world changes. We prepare students to be engaged citizens in today’s global society, which, in turn, strengthens the fabric of our democracy.

I am reminded of Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1930s. The country had just come out of a terrible depression and war loomed on the horizon. Yet, she was hopeful. For her America could not wait for tomorrow to construct a new world today. She said, “It is today we must create the world of the future.”

Yes! Today! We must create the future!

And, as the fifth President of the University of Houston-Downtown, I am very proud to be here and together we change lives and build futures.

And like that Black Eyed Peas’ song, "Let’s Get It Started!"

Thank you.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The Balancing Act Between Cuts and Quality

A friend of mine, who has been a president for a long time once told me, "It's easy to be a president when you have lots of money to give out."

Obviously, that's not the case for most university presidents today, especially presidents of public universities. States have sharply reduced appropriations. Endowments plummeted. And, tax revenues are still falling. The next biennium will make things worse, as states that shored up budgets with stimulus dollars will see those monies disappear, leaving a huge hole in base appropriations. Higher education will be hit hard in most states.

Most public universities, including the University of Houston-Downtown, have instituted some form of hiring freeze. Many have instituted furloughs and have reduced or eliminated non-essential travel. Others are undergoing drastic cuts, eliminating programs or even departments. Some state universities have already been forced to layoff staff and adjuncts. Now, some are laying off tenured faculty.

At UHD we are still going through our budget process. Believe it or not, this past month we actually made a very tough decision, but one that I think will strengthen the university. We will be hiring additional tenure track faculty because of our rapid growth. But, we also decided to reduce the faculty teaching load during a time of budget reductions. In doing so, we are investing in our future.

Two years ago the Academic Senate voted to reduce the teaching load from 4-4 to 4-3, with the desire to eventually move to a 3-3 teaching load, as we grow graduate programs and research. A 4/4 teaching load means that faculty teach 4 courses in the fall semester and four courses in the spring semester. A 4/3 means that in one semester the faculty member teaches 4 courses, in the next he or she teaches 3. Most of UHD's peer institutions in the region are already on a 3/3 or 4/3 teaching load.

When I arrived as president, I was surprised to learn of the new policy and its pending implementation. A few people urged me to postpone the move for an additional year or, at least, to consider phasing it in. Instead, we decided to authorize faculty hires to prepare for the transition to 4/3. We were making plans to fully implement the policy when the Governor notified us of a 5% rescission for this current fiscal year and for next.

After meeting with the Faculty Senate and talking with faculty, I realized that the policy was very important to them. Workload is not the same thing as teaching load. Faculty may teach 4 classes, each of which meets 3 hours per week, but that doesn't mean that they only work 12 hours per week. In fact, according to several workload studies, faculty throughout the country tend to work between 60 and 70 hours per week.

Faculty advise students on their major, career paths, and graduate school. They serve on committees (such as budget, personnel, curriculum, and assessment). They conduct research, develop service-learning and civic engagements projects, develop new courses and new degrees, apply for grants (which are complicated, cumbersome, and often rejected despite all the work), publish articles and books, attend professional conferences where they present their research, and, of course, prepare and update their courses. New technologies also pose challenges, as faculty must learn new software or tools.

By moving from a 4-4 teaching load to a 4-3 teaching load, we affirmed that our faculty need to have time to pursue their research and other professional activities. Moreover, we recognize that faculty do not fit in one mold. Some, because of their disciplines or professional interests, are involved in creative activities, such as developing a jazz or dance performance or writing a play. Others are interested in exploring new applications of their research. Still others are working with schools or nonprofits, applying their research to help improve student achievement in K-12 or to address social problems within Houston.

So, despite a 5% reduction for this year and next, we are moving forward with a reduction in teaching load. Even so, faculty are making adjustments. We will hire new faculty, but probably not as many full-time tenure track positions as we would like. We are reducing the number of low-enrolled courses, increasing class sizes (where appropriate and consistent with learning outcomes), and faculty will be asked to teach more online courses and to develop online and graduate degrees.

As I explained in a previous post, I have appointed an Efficiencies and Budget Reduction Task Force to review our budget and procedures. The Task Force will make recommendations on cost savings and revenue generation. As an institution, UHD will make additional adjustments in the next few years to find efficiencies and to reduce base budget costs, while freeing up monies for strategic initiatives.

We will also move forward to implement programs that will better recruit, retain, and graduate our students. So, we will hire new staff, particularly advisers, recruiters, and other staff working in programs dedicated to student success. We will invest in areas that grow resources, such as research and development. We will expand distance education with a new learning center and with online courses and degrees.

As we further develop our vision and strategic plan with our planning process, we will invest in key areas that will bring distinction to the university. I am confident that even tough times, together we will make smart decisions--decisions that will make us stronger, more efficient, and better at our prime mission, helping students to succeed. As the budget process continues, I will describe our decisions. I believe we are on the right path and will grow stronger through the process.