NSM Faculty/Staff Newsletter

Student Success & Undergraduate Affairs Update

Enrollment Overview

The Fall 2025 semester will begin on August 25, and students, staff and faculty are gearing up for a great semester. To date, NSM undergraduate headcount and Semester credit hours (SCH) are up by ~4.0% compared to Fall 2024. This enrollment meets the college goal to increase undergraduate headcount and SCH by 2-3% annually which has been met for the past 3 years. A special thanks goes out to the staff in the Office of First Year Programs and the NSM Undergraduate Academic Advising Center who worked to recruit and get students oriented and enrolled for Fall 2025!

REMINDER: Fall 2025 Course Syllabus Information

All faculty are required to use SimpleSyllabus for undergraduate and graduate courses excluding independent study, thesis, dissertation, internships, field trips, practicums, seminars, rotations, etc. The SimpleSyllabus (1) replaces that requirement for you to upload syllabi to Peoplesoft, (2) uses a template which includes all University required syllabus language and (3) meets the state law requirements under HB2504. To create your SimpleSyllabus, use the icon located in Access UH. If you need assistance with getting started with creating a simple syllabus for your course see the list of resources below.

• General Training and Getting Started: Faculty are encouraged to participate in the FDIS Simple Syllabus weekly sessions, which will continue through September 2025. These sessions are very beneficial for getting everyone up to speed.
• Online Tutorials: Useful tutorials on using Simple Syllabus at UH.
• NSM-IT One-on-One Assistance: Faculty can reach out to NSM-IT staff, Andrea Arias-Rodriguez (aariasr2@central.uh.edu) or Ngozi Onwuama (nuonwuam@central.uh.edu) at any time via email, phone, Teams or schedule an appointment for personalized support.

Faculty Host Research Experiences for Middle School Science Teachers

Eighteen (18) middle school science teachers were hosted in 10 NSM labs for a weeklong research experience during the months of June and July as part of the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program which is a part of the NSF University of Houston’s Advancing Language Literacy with Relevant Investigations in Science Education (UH-ALL RISE) grant. The teachers engaged in research in biology/biochemistry, chemistry and earth and atmospheric sciences. A special thanks goes out to the faculty and their groups who hosted the teachers including Professors Naihao Chiang, Sanghyuk Chung, Brigitte Dauwalder, T. Randall Lee, Weiyi Peng, James Flynn, Jagos Radovic, Melissa Zastrow, Yingcai Zheng and Jokubas Ziburkus. The RET program was overseen by co-PI on the grant, Donna Stokes, who works with the College of Education team including PI, Sissy Wong and co-PIs, Laveria Hutchison and Jie Zhang. This is the 3rd year the RET program has been held allowing the teachers to build lasting relationships with faculty and their group members and to gain exposure to research that addresses real world challenges that they can share with their students through lessons and presentations.

SEP Workshop Enrollment Update

The Scholar Enrichment Program (SEP) is offering 48 workshops for the Fall 2025 semester, each designed to support students through a structured, collaborative learning environment that fosters both academic excellence and personal development. As of June, enrollment has reached 858 students, with two months remaining before the fall term begins. This number is expected to steadily rise throughout July and August as outreach efforts continue, and more students become aware of the benefits of the program. With increased visibility and strong word-of-mouth, the program anticipates at least 1,000 students enrolled by the beginning of August.

Office of First Year Programs

Recruitment, Transition and Retention

• The Office of First Year Programs, in partnership with the Office of Admissions, hosted students from Jackson State University’s Upward Bound Program for a campus visit on Monday, July 7. The visit included a college academic information session for approximately 100 students and guests.
• This fall, the Office of First Year Programs will offer two sections of the NSM First-Year Seminar course. Designed to help first-year students transition to UH, the course connects them with resources and support to promote academic success. Faculty and staff are encouraged to recommend the course to students who may benefit from additional guidance during their first year.

Student Leadership Team (SLT) Program

The NSM Student Leadership Program has welcomed more than 30 new student leaders for the 2025–2026 academic year. The Student Leadership Team will support first-time-in-college and new transfer students through a variety of programs, including a mentorship program, academic skills workshops, and Chemistry I and Calculus I Study Nights. Faculty are encouraged to remind students to take advantage of these resources to boost academic success and first-year retention.

teachHOUSTON Updates

Faculty Attend International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching Conference

Drs. Paige Evans, Karen Graham McIntush, and Karla Adelina Garza attended the biennial International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (ISATT) Conference, held at the University of Glasgow. They delivered two presentations titled: Urban STEM Mentor and Mentee Development: Exploring Self-Efficacy through Storied Experiences in Mentoring and Induction and Enhancing the quality of STEM education to make it ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially just. During the symposium, the teachHOUSTON team proudly represented the North American continent.

High School Teacher Professional Development

Throughout the summer, the SF STEM-Lead program hosted a series of professional development sessions for its 15 Master Teacher Fellows (MTFs). For example, during the week of July 15–18, Dr. Roxanne Moore from Georgia Tech University provided in-depth training on the Engineering Design Process. Dr. Jerrod Johnson, Co-Principal Investigator of the STEM-Lead grant, also participated as the MTFs engaged in translating engineering design principles into classroom instruction.

teachHOUSTON Recruiting

The teachHOUSTON team has actively recruited students at the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics New Student Orientation sessions this summer. These efforts have yielded strong results: for the first time in several years, three sections of the introduction to STEM teaching course are being offered with over 100 students enrolled.

UH STEM Center Updates

Mars Rover Explorers Summer Camp

The University of Houston STEM Center proudly hosted the Mars Rover Explorers Summer Camp from July 14–18, 2025, at the Roy Cullen Building on the UH campus. This dynamic, week-long camp provided an immersive STEM experience for 64 students in grades 3–8 and was supported by 8 UH undergraduate and graduate mentors. To increase access and opportunity, 11 full scholarships were awarded, and 6 designated students from Prison Fellowship programs participated as part of the Center’s commitment to breaking the cycle of incarceration through education and STEM exposure.

Campers came from a broad range of 15 Houston-area school districts, 5 charter schools and one school from France. The student group was 64% male and 36% female, with a demographic composition of 34.7% Hispanic/Latino, 25% African American/Black, 20.8% Asian, 8.3% White/Caucasian, and 11.1% identifying as Other. Students ranged across all eligible grade levels, with the largest portion being 6th graders at 25%.

The UH STEM Center partnered with the Texas Center for Superconductivity and Dr. Karoline Mueller, who helped launch the camp with an engaging day of interactive STEM stations. Students observed lunar regolith under a scanning electron microscope (SEM), learned about magnetism and lasers, and explored superconductivity and its potential applications in space exploration, particularly in studying Mars. Throughout the week, the camp’s revamped curriculum emphasized the engineering design process, guiding students through iterative steps of defining a problem, imagining solutions, planning, creating, testing, and improving their designs.

Hands-on activities were structured around this process, as students tackled challenges such as designing and testing lunar landers, building Mars rover models, and constructing blueprints for Martian habitats. These activities required teams to brainstorm collaboratively, troubleshoot failures, and refine their projects, mirroring the real-world process used by engineers and scientists in aerospace fields. The week concluded with the anticipated Mars Rover race challenge, where students put their designs to the test in a friendly competition.

A major highlight of the week was the field trip to Space Center Houston, where campers explored hands-on exhibits and took a tram tour of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The experience deepened students’ understanding of space exploration and inspired a sense of possibility for their future STEM journeys. The camp wrapped up with an award ceremony, where students proudly presented their Mars Rovers to families and guests, showcasing both their creativity and their mastery of the engineering design process.

By placing inquiry-based learning and engineering thinking at the forefront, the 2025 Mars Rover Explorers Camp not only fueled curiosity about space but also equipped students with essential STEM skills. Through authentic challenges and inspiring environments, the program continues to prepare and empower the next generation of innovators, engineers, and explorers.