UHV Small Business Development Center Reorganizes in School of Business Administration
In an effort to strengthen the University of Houston-Victoria’s economic development outreach and support endeavors, the UHV Small Business Development Center (SBDC) will be housed within the School of Business Administration as of January 1, 2006.
The realignment will also serve to provide synergies in conjunction with a proposed master’s degree program in economic development and entrepreneurship, pending approval by the Faculty Senate, UH System administration and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
“This reorganization will allow for expanded collaborations between the faculty and staff of our recently internationally accredited School of Business Administration and the efficient staff of the SBDC,” said UHV President Tim Hudson.
Carole Parks, who has served as director of the SBDC since 1993, will assume full-time teaching duties as a faculty member in the School of Business Administration during the spring and summer and plans teach part-time after retiring in August 2006. Keith Mudd, currently the associate director, will serve as interim director and report to Charles Bullock, dean of the School of Business Administration.
Bullock stated, “The knowledge base Carole has developed through her experience in directing the SBDC will provide a rich source of learning for business students at UHV.”
Following a strategic analysis to identify value-added opportunities for future collaboration between the School of Business Administration and the SBDC, a search for a permanent director will get under way and is expected to be concluded within a few months.
University provost Don Smith noted, “I am certainly grateful to Carole for the many years of dedicated and effective work that she has given to the SBDC and its effort to serve Victoria and communities throughout the 11-county region.”
During Parks’ tenure, the SBDC has provided roughly 48,000 hours of management assistance to over 6,100 business owners and nascent entrepreneurs, as well as 26,000 hours of workshop training. Under her leadership, the center has helped clients create or retain over 500 businesses and 1700 jobs. Additionally, the center has helped clients obtain over $49 million in new capital.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
