College officials said UHV President Bob Glenn announced the campus closure in November as an effort to prioritize Victoria as a destination campus amid enrollment and retention drop in years prior. Community Impact confirmed the closure with officials Feb. 10.
“While UHV has made significant progress over the last decade toward becoming a destination campus, UHV is now approaching the time when the transition to a single-campus model in Victoria needs to be implemented,” Shawn Lindsey, senior associate vice chancellor for strategic communications, said in an emailed statement..
The details
Approximately 500 UHV students take in-person classes at the Katy instructional site, Lindsey said. The Katy instruction has been a site since fall 2019 when UHV moved into the University of Houston at Katy building, per the district’s website.
The ongoing spring semester will resume as planned. However, for the 2025-26 school year, UHV students will complete their degree plans through two options, Joann Olson, UHV interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, said in an email.
At that point, Olson said students can either:
- Continue taking UHV courses, whether in-person in Victoria or 100% virtual
- Work alongside an advisor to transfer in courses from either the UH at Katy or other institutions
While some faculty will transition from UHV to UH employment, others will either transition to Victoria or as support for online courses, Lindsey said.
What’s happening?
Glenn first announced the college would reduce the budget’s operational costs to make up for multiple years of budget shortfalls in a news release last March.
The college faced a $3.7 million shortfall in 2023-24 and a $5.7 million to $7.2 million gap in the 2024-25 budget, according to the release.
“Much like other universities in the nation, UHV’s budget is enrollment driven, and a multi-year decline in enrollment has forced the university to face some difficult decisions,” Glenn said in the release.“The university’s leadership has worked tirelessly over the past year to find solutions to reduce the impact on our employees. But when faced with the size of the budget shortfall, we are left without another option.”
The transition to a central Victoria campus would not only cut operational costs but could increase student engagement and improve retention rates, Glenn said in the release. For the 2022-23 school year, UHV had an enrollment of 4,063 students—278 less from the previous year, according to UHV reports. Additionally, student retention has only improved 3.1% to 57.1% since the 2007-08 school year.
“Research clearly indicates that the greatest impact on a student choosing to persist comes from contact with faculty outside the classroom, along with student engagement in classes,” Glenn said in the release.
According to the release, UHV implemented the following measures to reduce operating costs since last March:
- Faculty were assigned to at least three courses per semester, unless externally funded
- Construction projects without contractual obligations were paused, including those with legislature-approved funding
- The college’s vice president and president had salaries reduced 5%-10%, respectively, until the 2024-25 school year
- Consultants provided an 18-month notice for academic programs identified for elimination
Affected students should contact Katy Transition Advisors, who will provide individualized support in coordination with the International Programs Office and Financial Aid Office, according to the UHV website.
