Faculty Guide: University System Centers
UH System at Sugar Land | George Building | Academic Information
Students Attending Classes at UHSSL | University System Centers
Definition and Role of a University System Center
"A center is an 'off-campus unit', of an existing general academic institution designated and supported by a university system with coordinating board approval. It is not a separate general academic institution and does not have independence regarding academic, administrative, or fiscal matters."
"The centers are intended to respond to the academic needs of local regions and provide greater access to students who are location-bound. The strength of a university system center is the quality of its teaching and its focus on student-learning outcomes."
"State funding for university centers shall be provided through the normal formula appropriation to the parent institution and other participating institutions."
"University system centers shall focus on teaching and emphasize a limited range of baccalaureate programs. Additional programs may be offered by other institutions within the university system."
Upon review and approval of the coordinating board, the parent university shall be authorized to offer high-demand degrees at the university system center. A limited range of master's programs in such areas will also be allowed. Additional criteria for courses and programs shall include the following:
- Programs offered by the university system center's own faculty should have average enrollments of at least seventy-five students.
- Programs no longer meeting adequate enrollment levels shall be continued long enough for a student to have a reasonable opportunity tograduate.
- The parent institution or the institution offering the degree shall award degrees.
- Additional baccalaureate and master's degree programs may be delivered by telecommunications or on-site by the parent institution and by other universities as arranged by the university system, which will provide support in the delivery of programs to meet local needs. Programs offered by this method must be recommended by the system and reviewed and approved by the Coordinating board in compliance with its rules.
"University centers shall take full advantage of technological advances that promise to improve quality of learning, access to programs, and efficient use of existing resources. Libraries shall be models of the effective use of technology in libraries and depend heavily on the TexShare electronic resource sharing efforts. The University System Center shall be headed by a dean or executive director as determined by the parent institution and the system."
University System Centers:
- Shall use locally provided facilities, located on or near community or technical college campuses whenever possible.
- Shall develop articulation agreements and partnerships with local community and technical colleges and other universities.
- Shall generate formula appropriations for semester credit hours taught. Appropriations shall be made to the parent university and to other universities that provide courses at the center.
- Shall develop flexible scheduling and course options, credit and noncredit course and program offerings, distance education opportunities, and support services for traditional and nontraditional students from diverse backgrounds.
- Shall meet the coordinating board's technology standards.
"The above referenced information comes from the Rules and Regulations of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Chapter 5, Program Development Sub-Chapter L, and Sections 5.242. and 5.246."
Academic Programs
"The challenge for UHS Universities is to provide quality programs for students within the limits of available resources. To achieve this goal, a collaborative strategy has been developed that allows the four universities to share responsibility for delivering courses and services to UH System Center students. By pooling their resources, the universities spread the risks and share in the benefits of expanding higher education access to residents in the Fort Bend County area." From the Proposal to Establish degrees in Fort Bend, approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in January 1996."
Collaborative Delivery Model
The key feature of the collaborative delivery model is the designation of a lead institution and one or more supporting institutions that cooperatively develop a multi-year course schedule for a given degree program. The lead institution awards the degree and is responsible for ensuring that the quality of the program offered at the System Center is equivalent to that provided on campus. Supporting institutions are responsible for teaching specific courses in accordance with the agreed curriculum and course schedule. All of the courses agreed to by the participating institutions will be applied to the respective degrees.
Revenue and Support
It is understood that the lead and supporting institutions will receive revenues from formula, tuition, and fees based on the semester credit hours they generate in the courses they offer in Sugar Land. For example, if UH-Victoria teaches a 3-hour course in support of the UH-Downtown's degree program in business, they would receive all the revenues (formula, tuition and fees) that would be generated by those semester credit hours. Further, it is understood that the cost of instruction will be covered by the institution delivering the instruction and that the cost of the multi-institution teaching center operation will be borne by each participating institution in proportion to the percentage of semester credit hours they generate at the UH System at Sugar Land.
UH System at Sugar Land | George Building | Academic Information
Students Attending Classes at UHSSL | University System Centers
