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The graduate program in Studies of the Futurewas established in 1974 when the University of Houston Clear-Lake was founded by the Dean of the School of Human Sciences and Humanities, Calvin Cannon, and the Chancellor of UH-Clear Lake, Alfred Neumann. The mid-1970s was a high point of Futures Studies with the founding of the World Future Society, the World Futures Studies Federation, and the publication of futures best-sellers, such as Future Shock and The Limits to Growth. Dr. Cannon thought that futures should be a regular part of the curriculum, as a complement to the study of history.

The University hired two faculty members to staff the program—Jib Fowles, the first chair of the program, and Chris Dede. Fowles received his degree in communications and sociology from New York University. Dede graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in education and with a strong emphasis in futures studies and instructional technology. Faculty from other programs in the university also taught courses in the futures program – notably, Jim Bowman and Fred Kierstead from education and Jim Coomer from public administration.

The program was assigned to the Human Sciences component of HSH, but it was treated in the early years as more of a humanities program, in which the big issues of the day were studied and debated. One of the biggest debates was whether Houston should continue its meteoric growth of the 1970s or whether steps should be taken to control that growth. Most feeling was on the side of managing the growth. Ever the contrarian, however, Fowles became quite well-known as the advocate for the pro-growth/no-regulation side of the debate.

It became obvious, however, that a purely academic program was not going to be sustainable as enrollments began to dip at the end of the decade. As a result, the faculty recruited Oliver Markley from the Stanford Research Institute where he had done a number of futures studies under contract to the US Department of Education among others. Markley had an undergraduate degree in engineering and graduate degrees in experimental psychology from the University of Chicago. His task was to create a more professionally-oriented program that would still retain the diversity and interest of the original program.

Peter Bishop also joined the faculty in the early 1980s. Bishop had come to UH-Clear Lake in 1976 to teach research methods and statistics in Behavioral Sciences. His background, however, included graduate degrees in sociology from Michigan State University with concentrations in social change, social problems, social movements, and organizational and political sociology. Bishop became the convener of the program almost from the outset as Fowles moved over to establish a new program in Media Studies.

The University became more disciplinary in the 1980s so most of the courses fell to Dede, Markley, Kierstead and Bishop. Dede left in 1990 to join the faculty at George Mason University, and Kierstead withdrew shortly thereafter. Markley took a leave of absence around that time, and Jennifer Jarratt, a graduate of the program and a principal at Coates & Jarratt, a Washington DC futures research firm, took his place for a year. Ms. Jarratt began the first Futures Forum, on the future of the Southwest, an annual event on different topics over the next five or six years.

Early in the 1990s, the faculty, some alumni and students also created the Institute for Futures Research (IFR), an umbrella organization that allowed faculty, alumni and students to work on futures projects together. The first study in 1991 was a look into the future of world issues commissioned by the Vice-Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Other notable clients were the NASA Johnson Space Center, General Motors, Lockheed, the Waitt Family Foundation and the Education Foundation of Harris County.

Other staff changes in the 1990s allowed Wendy Schultz to join the faculty for four years. Schultz studied under Jim Dator at the University of Hawaii where she received her degree in political science with a strong concentration in futures studies. Schultz’s dissertation was a review of facilitation techniques used in futures studies so she brought that and a wealth of research and consulting experience to the program.

The faculty instituted the Intensive Summer Program in 1995. As the only free-standing degree in futures studies in the U.S., many people wanted to pursue the degree although they could not relocate to Houston. In fact, many wanted the program to go online immediately, but the faculty judged that online resources, both in the market and at the university, were not mature enough to support an entire online degree. Instead, they invited students to Houston for six weeks in the summer. Those who participated found it a rich learning experience although completing the assignments during the rest of the year was definitely a challenge.

Markley retired in the late 1990s, and Schultz returned to her home in Oxford, England around that time. Christopher Jones then joined the faculty for three years. Jones studied with Dr. Schultz in Hawaii and taught political science at Eastern Oregon University before coming to UH-Clear Lake. During his first year, Jones was elected Secretary-General of the World Futures Studies Federation, making UH-Clear Lake the WFSF headquarters for the two years.

During that time, Bishop and Jones began offering futures courses online. The plan was to introduce one new online course each semester until Fall 2004. Jones left shortly after that, however, so the plan had to be extended to Fall 2005. As a result students have graduated with Master’s degrees from Austin TX, Knoxville TN, Wilmington DE, Phoenix AZ and other places.

The program hosted its first alumni reunion/retreat in May 2001 to celebrate its 25th anniversary and to involve alumni in preparing the program for the next 25 years. Jennifer Jarratt conducted an open space discussion about program issues over the two-day period. One of the groups discussed the possibility of establishing a real professional association for practicing futurists, an idea that had been discussed for some time. Many of the graduates then actually acted on the discussion and helped form the Association of Professional Futurists, an organization of over 200 professional futurists, provisional members and students from around the world.

The State of Texas suffered a major funding crisis in 2002-03 because of the decline in the U.S. economy. As a result, the university could not immediately replace Dr. Jones who left the university that year. As a result, Bishop picked up all the courses with help from adjunct faculty. In the end, Dean Bruce Palmer chose not to replace Jones at all. He preferred to use his faculty positions to teach in the larger and more lucrative programs of psychology and criminal justice, forcing Dr. Bishop to close the program since a program with only one faculty member would not be viable.

Fortunately, however, Dean William Fitzgibbon of the College of Technology at the University of Houston and Dr. Shirley Ezell from the Department of Human Development and Consumer Science approached Dr. Bishop with the idea of re-establishing the program at the University of Houston. He and the program alumni were thrilled with the idea, and the program began its transition to the central campus of the University of Houston immediately.

In preparation for full-scale operations, the Department hired Andy Hines, a program graduate with futures experience at Coates & Jarratt, the Kellogg Company and Dow Chemical, in January 2005, and Bishop moved his appointment to UH in the Fall of that year. He and Hines began admitting students (on a provisional basis) and started teaching courses together in Fall 2005.

The Department submitted the paperwork to have the degree moved from the Clear Lake to the Central Campus. The administration determined, however, that this constituted a new degree, not just a move, which meant it had to go through the full faculty and administrative review. The Programs Subcommittee of the Graduate Professional and Services Committee reviewed the proposal in Spring 2006 and turned it down by a vote of 3-2. The Department revised and re-submitted the proposal the following Fall. It was later approved by the Committee in Spring 2007, and by the Texas Coordinating Board for Higher Education in October 2007.

The program had undergone some changes in order to be approved—notably the addition of a statistics course and required domain electives. The core of the program remained, however, and it is admitting students under the new curriculum since Fall 2008.

The Futures Studies program at the University of Houston offers education and training in futures thinking and methodologies in a variety of formats that are customized for different learners with different needs.

University of Houston's Futures Studies program is offering Masters Degree in Futures Studies. The program is consist of 36 credit-hour Masters of Science degree for those who want the full experience of futures studies. The degree prepares graduates for professional work in the futures field, though many graduates also apply the thinking and tools in their current positions. Classes are offered simultaneously on campus and online. The course sequence is set up so that the degree can be completed in two years for those taking courses full-time and longer for those who are employed.

In addition to the regular master's degree program, it also provides a week-long certitifcate program for those who want an overview of futures studies without taking classes for credit, and for middle-school students at University of Houston in the summer.

A week-long face-to-face certificate program is an intensive immersion that covers the full futures landscape at an introductory level. Public versions of the course are held in Houston in January and May and customized versions can be held for particular client groups at their site. The Certificate course draws mid-career professionals from a wide range of industries, backgrounds and countries. Futures Summer Camp of futures studies for middle-school students is held at the University over five mornings (three hours) for one week. It provides a light introduction to futures thinking for these students in a fun and engaging way.

The current curriculum is designed with the following attributes: •Comprehensive – covering the full range of theories and methods that futurists in the world today. •Practical – focusing on developing the skills that futurists use; knowledge is essential, but the use of that knowledge is always the focus. •Product-oriented – demonstrating those skills by producing portfolios of professional products (forecast, plans, etc.) in every course. •Interactive – engaging in mutual learning among teachers and all students. •Networked – linking topics and students with the institutions and the professionals that are practicing futures studies today.