As of Fall 2023[update], UHD enrolled 14,105 students in 4 academic colleges and offers 57 degree programs—45 bachelor's and 12 master's.[6] Awarding more than 2,700 degrees annually, the university has more than 67,000 alumni.[3]
History
The University of Houston–Downtown College was established when the University of Houston acquired the assets of South Texas Junior College at One Main Street on August 6, 1974.[7][8] On April 26, 1983, Senate Bill 235 (SB 235) changed name of the institution to the University of Houston–Downtown.[9][10]
The University of Houston–Downtown's expansion and physical growth continued in the late 1990s. The Willow Street Pump Station was renovated, and the Commerce Street Building opened, providing a new home for the College of Public Service. In the early 2000s, the Shea Street Building opened as the new home for the College of Business.
UHD celebrated a milestone when it enrolled the first class of MBA students in the College of Business.[when?] In 2016, a 26,000-square-foot Welcome Center opened its doors, and the O'Kane Gallery landed a new home featuring exhibitions for student, faculty, and local and national artists. Dedicated to the health and wellness of the Campus Community, the Wellness & Success Center opens its doors in January 2023.[11]
The UHD campus consists of eight buildings at the north end of Downtown Houston and the south end of Northside,[12][13] next to the crossing of Interstate 10 and Main Street. The university is located near the site where Houston was founded, Allen's Landing.[14] Two of the university's buildings—One Main Building (formerly the Merchants and Manufacturers Building) and the Willow Street Pump Station—are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. UHD also offers classes online at three campuses: UHD-Northwest, Lone Star College Kingwood, and Lone Star College CyFair.[15]
In 2020, UHD opened the College of Sciences and Technology building. The new Wellness & Success Center opened its doors on January 17, 2023.
The university is home to the Harry W. O'Kane Gallery (commonly known as the O'Kane Gallery, which was established in 1970 by gifts from Harry W. O'Kane, Mary W. Bingman, and the Humphreys Foundation. The O'Kane Gallery presents five to six exhibitions that meet the diverse interests of UHD students, faculty, staff, alumni, and campus visitors. Exhibitions in all media provide educational support to various university courses and to nearby schools. The Gallery also functions as a site for university forums, meetings, and receptions. Exhibitions are free and open to the public.
The university once maintained a student dormitory in the former Continental Houston Hotel, located south of the Buffalo Bayou, from 1982 to August 1991; the facility began its use as a hotel in 1961. The students were forced to leave the dormitory the month it closed, and the facility was demolished in 1993. UHD decided to raze the building because the university deemed it more cost effective to do so instead of renovating the facility. The demolition expenses totaled $700,000 while the renovation would have been $8,000,000. Initially the area was to be used for parking cars while a student center was to be later established there.[16]
The University of Houston–Downtown is one of four institutions in the University of Houston System. The institution is separately accredited, offers its own academic programs and confers its own degrees, and has its own administration. The organization and control of the University of Houston–Downtown is vested in the Board of Regents of the University of Houston System. The board has all the rights, powers, and duties that it has with respect to the organization and control of other institutions in the system; however, UHD is maintained as a separate and distinct institution.
Administration
The president is the chief executive officer of the University of Houston–Downtown, and the position reports to the chancellor of the University of Houston System. The president is appointed by the UHS chancellor and confirmed by the Board of Regents of the University of Houston System. Since March 2021, the president of the university is Loren J. Blanchard. The UHD administration is located on the ninth floor in the One Main Building.
The University of Houston–Downtown was the final state university in Texas that had not yet abolished open admissions.[20] The University of Houston System Board of Regents unanimously approved new admissions standards in February 2012, with closed admissions for UHD in the fall of 2013.[21]
Student life
Although UHD does not have an intercollegiate varsity athletics program, it does offer its students a number of club sports and intramural sports in addition to numerous fitness programs. UHD's club sports teams are known as the Gators. The UHD mascot is known as Ed-U-Gator.[22]
The university and its community offer additional activities for students such as clubs, organizations, fraternities, and sororities. Their student newspaper is The Dateline Downtown.
^"Bombaywala, Ghulam Bombaywala transcript, 2 of 2" (Oral Histories from the Houston History Project) (Archive). University of Houston Libraries. (Interview of Ghulam Mohammed Bombaywala, HHA #00570, July 19, 2007, Interviewer: Uzma Quraishi, Transcribed by Suzanne Mascola) p. 1. "I started out going to school - University of Houston downtown campus. It used to be South Texas Junior College."
^"Bombaywala, Ghulam Bombaywala transcript, 2 of 2" (Oral Histories from the Houston History Project) (Archive). University of Houston Libraries. (Interview of Ghulam Mohammed Bombaywala, HHA #00570, July 19, 2007, Interviewer: Uzma Quraishi, Transcribed by Suzanne Mascola) p. 3. "GB: Karachi. I went to school there. Unique English School. Then, from there, you know, in Karachi, of course, called CMS. Then, the college was National College. I did my Inter [as in, intermediate school diploma] from there and then came here. Then got my associate degree from the University of Houston."
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