Welcome from the UHD President

Welcome to the University of Houston-Downtown! You are now among an amazing cohort of determined and dedicated professionals who make a difference daily in the lives of our Campus Community. Along with the support you can expect from your fellow colleagues, this Staff Handbook is your guide to success at UHD for now as a new hire and throughout your tenure at UHD.

Since joining UHD as its seventh president, I am humbled by the energy, talent, and commitmentof staff members who work diligently to fulfill the University’s mission and student success agenda. Please be assured that the UHD Administration is committed to helping you harvest your own energy, talent, and commitment for your long-term personal and professional success on this Campus. It is due to this administrative commitment that our University Community plays such a vital role in fostering excellence, creating new and exciting partnership opportunities, and celebrating the success of our students.

The way we achieve this is through our Institutional Compass’ Four Points of Excellence— Strengthening Justice, Empowering Student Success and Equity, Supporting Institutional Excellence and Infrastructure, and Growing As An Anchor Institution. These Points, along with our reimagined Mission and Vision Statements, sets forth a path of serving the needs of our Campus Community and the University’s role in addressing the needs of our city and the region.

The University of Houston-Downtown is a community of diverse faculty, staff, students, and regional partners dedicated to nurturing talent, generating knowledge, and driving socioeconomic mobility for a just and sustainable future.

The University of Houston-Downtown will be an inclusive university of choice for Houstonians seeking to contribute to the social, intellectual, and cultural lives of their communities.

Thank you for choosing the University of Houston-Downtown as your new career destination. Together, we will make UHD a higher education employer of choice. I look forward to working with you.

Loren J. Blanchard, Ph.D. UHD President