Interview with UHD President Loren J. Blanchard

University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) President Loren Blanchard has moved back and forth between a campus and a system. Now as a University President he finds it takes “strong policies that need to be in place that can augment and give support to the work we are trying to get achieved to make sure that ultimately our students are going to graduate with knowledge, skills, and dispositions that empower them with readiness for either graduate school, the work force, or further self-exploration.”

Unique role a campus plays in a broader portfolio of a system

Doug asked how UHD fits into the system and how having been in a system helps President Blanchard understand and appreciate its place in the larger system.  To give context, President Blanchard compared California State University, which has twenty-three universities in their system and the University of Houston, which has four universities. “Where I really see the difference between University Houston Downtown and University Houston Main Campus” is that the main campus’ goal is to be in the top 15 research universities. The Downtown campus is working toward each student earning their degree in essential services like nurses, teachers, and police officers that “inspires” generations that come after that one person.

Transitioning in the midst of COVID

Bridget was intrigued by President Blanchard's successful transition during COVID.  President Blanchard said, “When I was at California State University, the role I played at the system level was really helping create policies that could best understand what should be the ways in which we are going to have a viable educational enterprise while shifting to the virtual modality.” He went on to explain there is a “big difference between the policy level and the practice level” like the difference in policies from California to Texas. “My biggest discovery was understanding how important it is to have ongoing professional development support for faculty, staff, and students.” By having regular training that gives checklists and addresses how to handle events that could happen like wildfires, hurricanes, pandemics, etc. such as who to contact and how to keep moving forward help bring stability in the midst of change.

The core of our work transcends politics

President Blanchard shared, “Moving young people from one level of economic or social mobility to the next… the empowering factor is education… It transcends politics.”

Advice

“Results matter most. Talk becomes cheap.” President Blanchard shared putting together a new strategic plan as an example. In California, he showed evidence annually of an increase in graduation rates, progress in eliminating equity gaps, and meeting workforce goals.