Monday, January 14, 2012 // Issue 58, Volume 78
THE DAILY COUGAR
T H E
O F F I C I A L
S T U D E N T
N E W S PA P E R
O F
T H E
U N I V E R S I T Y
O F
H O U S T O N
S I N C E
1 9 3 4
ADMINISTRATION
EDITOR’S NOTE
Presidency tenure sets records
Welcome back everyone. It’s time to pack away the illegal Christmas lights you had in your dorm room and get back to work. A couple of things have changed while you were away. UH President Renu Khator renewed her contract, and John Antel Joshua Mann has returned to the teaching staff after almost four years as provost. You may also notice that Robertson Stadium is missing from the UH landscape, and the surrounding parking spaces have been closed off. You can read about all of these things and more in this nifty piece of paper you hold in your hands. That’s what we’re here for. The Daily Cougar is put together every day by students who, like you, want to keep track of the changes that occur every day at UH. We believe it’s important to stay informed, and we want to help you do that. The Daily Cougar is here as a resource for you, and I encourage you to keep an eye out for anything you want to see covered. If there’s something going on that we seem to be missing, send me an email at editor@thedailycougar.com. UH is an exciting campus for a student paper, and I think I speak for the entire newsroom when I say I’m thrilled to be able to cover it. If you want to get involved with The Daily Cougar as a writer, copy editor, artist or photographer, apply online at thedailycougar.com/apply. You won’t regret it.
Amanda Hilow Managing editor
The UH-System Board of Regents asked President and Chancellor Renu Khator to renew her contract as the only female chancellor in the state, giving her new term agreements that amount to $700,000 a year. “We have just hit the tip of the iceberg on what the University of Houston System and the University of Houston flagship can accomplish,” said UH-System Board of Regents chair Nelda Blair. “She has so many wonderful ideas and plans for this University. That’s why she wants to be here.” Khator was appointed as president and chancellor in 2008 and is the first foreign-born president and second female to hold the position. She planned for the University to reach Tier-One status in five to seven years, yet accomplished it in four.
KHATOR’S RAISE
TEXAS UNIVERSITY’S PRESIDENT SALARIES President
School
Annaul Salary
David id Leebron L b
Ri University Rice U i i
$1 517 854 $1,517,854
Renu Khator
UH
$ 700,000
William C C. Powers
UT Austin
$613,612 $613 612
Richard Loftin
A&M
$424,999
Denise Trauth
Texas State
$354,486
All information from the Texas Tribune (www.texastribune.org) // Graphic by Andres Garcia When her next term concludes in 2015, she will have held the office of president and chancellor for seven years — the longest dual leadership in UH history. No president has held the position for as long since Philip Guthrie Hoffman was president for
16 years from 1961 to 1977, and no chancellor has ever remained in office for more than six years. Blair said the Board of Regents hopes to keep Khator around for much longer. “The state of Texas only allows us
to bind her for three years at a time, but we would probably do 30 if we could,” Blair said. “(Khator is) going to lead this University system into the next decade, no doubt about it. KHATOR continues on page 19
TRANSPORTATION
Cougar Line cuts back with students in mind Kathleen Murrill Staff writer
With a route revamp and a switch in shuttle service providers, UH will save $1 million, which will go to repair streets and parking lots and reduce future permit rates. Parking and Transportation Services will now run a three-
route Cougar Line consisting of the Campus Loop, the Eastwood/ Energy Research Park route and a new Outer Loop. director of Parking and Transportation Services Robert Browand said this change will save students and faculty money. “Operating costs for the shuttle have increased dramatically. The burden of the increased cost has
been placed on faculty, staff and students in the form of higher parking rates,” Browand said. In 2012, it cost $2.4 million to maintain and operate the five-route Cougar Line, according to a Dec. 17 press release. All routes were funded by the sale of parking permits. The growing operation cost, doubling since 2004, has caused
a diversion of money away from parking lot maintenance and other parking projects, according to the press release. Seeing the need for a change, the Transportation and Parking Advisory Committee, came up with a solution to reduce the overall cost BUSES continues on page 17
editor@thedailycougar.com
ADMINISTRATION
Senior vice chancellor returns to faculty position Amanda Hilow Managing editor
The Office of Academic Affairs is in the process of transitioning between leaderships, and the official role of chief academic officer of the University is vacant. President Renu Khator announced in an email to faculty that Senior Vice Chancellor of the
John Antel
UH-System and Provost of UH John Antel will not hold another year in office and will instead return to the teaching faculty. “I am grateful to have had him as a team member, as my provost and as a thought leader on higher education economics,” Khator said. “John is a respected economist, and his ideas on new models for higher education hold great promise for the future of higher education.” “Please join me in thanking John for his tremendous contributions as senior vice chancellor, as provost and prior to that, as dean of the largest college in at the University of Houston.” Antel served as dean of the College of
Liberal Arts and Social Sciences from 2002 to 2009 and was appointed as senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs in February 2009. As provost, he was the chief advocate for student success and ran the academic side of the university including undergraduate, graduate and professional education and the hiring or promoting of faculty. Dan Wells, chair of the Department of Biology and Biochemistry and former Faculty Senate president, said that although some conflicts existed between the faculty and Academic Affairs, Antel was generally well-liked. “Antel routinely attended Faculty Senate meetings and was always willing to discuss
faculty concerns,” Wells said. “I will always remember him for his support in establishing the Center for Teaching Excellence.” According to the CTE website, the center was established in June 2010 is a facultydriven initiative geared toward improving the effectiveness of teaching at UH and enhancing student success. It offers resources for teaching assistants and faculty and operated for the first year under the direction of the Faculty Senate. “A lot of universities have this and we didn’t have it yet,” said Wells, who helped implement the center. ANTEL continues on page 19