NSM Faculty/Staff Newsletter

From the Office of the Dean

Student Success Update

NSM Recruiting Update

The Office of First Year Programs has begun its recruiting for the Fall 2020 cohort. New recruiting materials, including a trifold booklet and department one pagers, outline the academic programs and research opportunities that NSM has to offer.

NSM student ambassadors will attend recruiting fairs, including Cougar Preview, Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (TACRAO) College Fairs and other local college fairs throughout Fall 2019. The Office of First Year Programs is increasing the visibility of NSM across the region and state by doubling the number of college fairs in Fall 2019 over those attended in Fall 2018. At the first Cougar Preview event on September 28, 262 students in attendance were interested in pursuing an NSM major.

With these increased recruiting opportunities, the Office of First Year Programs hopes to recruit higher achieving students to increase Fall 2020 FTIC enrollment from the current 1,006 Fall 2019 FTIC cohort. Any faculty members that are interested in helping with recruitment should contact Donna Stokes, dstokes@uh.edu, or Donna Pattison, dpattison@uh.edu.

NSM Research Portal

NSM has begun the planning and development of a Research Portal that will allow NSM faculty and students to connect for research experiences. The portal will allow faculty to post information about their research and available research positions in their lab so that students can identify projects of interest early in their academic careers.

Undergraduate research is shown to have the most benefit when undertaken by students during their first two years of college. This portal aims to maximize the opportunities for student training and intellectual development by providing access to available research positions across the College. This portal will augment existing UH research websites, i.e., the Honor’s College Research Positions at UH website. Dr. Tony Frankino in the Department of Biology & Biochemistry developed the initial design layout. NSM IT, NSM Communications, faculty and staff are working together to complete development and implementation of the portal with an anticipated launch in mid Spring 2020.