This past year we asked noted economist Barton Smith, director of the UH Institute for Regional Forecasting, to assess the economic and community impact of the University of Houston System and each of our institutions. A quick look at our direct economic impact reveals that the entire UH System contributes $3.1 billion to the Houston-area economy every year and generates 24,000 local jobs. More important is the fact that our universities produce 12,500 graduates each year who enter the workforce in Houston and Texas. In fact, we produce three times as many college graduates as all other colleges in Houston combined. This equates to almost 200,000 UH graduates since our founding, with 75 percent of them remaining in the Houston area at least ten years and contributing to its success.

Our impact includes 600 partnerships with community organizations; and our students contribute nearly

one million hours of volunteer and internship service to organizations in Houston every year. Our universities’ impact is greater than that of a major corporation like Compaq Computer during its greatest productivity. And our impact is directly tied to the success of Houston and the Gulf Coast region.

Along with the impact study, we also commissioned Cooper Robertson & Partners, a renowned urban planning group, to develop a broad Master Plan to serve as our blueprint for growth over the next twenty years. You will find specific details of the plan in this report. The Master Plan not only provides a physical framework for our growth, but it also will help us realize many of our goals, including increasing the number of undergraduate students living on campus and providing a focus for our arts and professional programs.

This annual report offers a brief look at some of the accomplishments of our faculty and students in 2005-2006.

I hope that it provides you with a sense of where the University of Houston has been. Even more, I hope that it gives you a glimpse of the University of Houston in the future and our commitment to forging stronger links to our community; to growing and enhancing our academic programs; and to strengthening our research, graduate, and professional programs.

Jay Gogue
Chancellor, University of Houston System
President, University of Houston