NSM Faculty/Staff Newsletter

Student Success Update

Summer Enrichment Program Scholars Bring Idea to Life

Two Scholar Enrichment Program (SEP) students are bringing their idea to the UH community. Halis Yuksel and Simrat Clair participated in Ideathon24 hosted by UH Go, the official mobile app for the University of Houston. The Ideathon 24 event invited student teams to submit ideas for new features in the UH Go mobile app. Fifty-two student teams responded to the invitation. Six teams moved forward to the three-day Ideathon 24 event where the teams refined their ideas, developed prototypes, and pitched their ideas to a panel of judges.

The winning proposal, submitted by team “CoogDevs” and judged by faculty, staff, and student representatives, highlights the need for a module in UH Go to help students easily find tutoring services across campus through a consolidated tutor scheduling app. University Information Technology (UIT) invited SEP students Yuksel and Clair, two members of the CoogDevs team, to be UIT interns on the UH Go team to explore the concept further, pitch it to the various tutoring organizations on campus, and make it a reality to the extent possible. The launch date is set for December. Congratulations to CoogDevs!

TC Energy Summer Scholars Academy Fall Social

The TC Energy Summer Scholars Academy (SSA) hosted its annual fall social for SSA alumni. Forty students from the 2019-2024 SSA cohorts attended the two-hour event at the UH Game Room to bowl and play pool and table tennis.

The event, held on Sept 20, allowed the students some time to de-stress before midterms and socialize with fellow scholars.

Office of First Year Program (OFYP) Updates

Recruitment, Transition, Retention

• OFYP is partnering with the Office of Enrollment Services Communication & Marketing to develop a general inquiry form for the College to be used to collect recruitment leads and streamline the follow-up process for prospective students, parents/guardians, and high school counselors. The first drafts have been reviewed by NSM’s Communications Office. They hope to use the form for the upcoming TACRAO College Fairs.
• OFYP participated in Cougar Prowl, a recruitment event at UH Sugar Land, where approximately 40 prospective students and guests attended. OFYP also registered to participate in 12 TACRAO College Fairs over the Fall semester and reached out to feeder schools and/or new schools based on admissions data to host tabling/presentations.
• OFYP visited Shadow Creek High School and gave presentations during various class periods, reaching approximately 220 students.
• OFYP hosted a campus visit for Alief Early College High School, providing an information session to 45 perspective students.
• OFYP met with the Office of International Admissions to discuss college review processes as well as areas of improvement and potential for improving the selection process for admitting international students.
• OFYP hosted its first Tailgate on Sept 14 designed for first year and first-semester transfer students to build community and a sense of belonging in the College. The Student Leadership Team members assisted with the event which included community-building activities with their mentees.
• OFYP continues to offer the First-Year Seminar course to support the success of first year and first-semester-transfer students. Students are introduced to various campus resources and are currently focusing on self-reflective exercises (meaning/purposes, goal setting, learning styles/skills, career assessments). The students will be exposed to resources, such as NSM and University Career Services, LAUNCH, CAPS, UH Wellness, and the UAC, which are available to support them on their personal, professional, and academic journeys.

Student Leadership Team (SLT) Program

• SLT members participated in a training session to prepare for TACRAO College Fairs and for serving as tour guides to prospective students/guests at upcoming Cougar Preview events.
• In September, SLT hosted their first Study Nights for Fundamental in Chemistry I 19 (65 attendees) and Calculus I (20 students).

NSM Career Center (NSMCC) Updates

Events

• NSM and Computer Science Career Fair & Graduate Expo: NSM’s Second Annual Career Fair, Sept 10, doubled in size with the support of its corporate sponsors, TC Energy and NOV. Recruiters from 66 companies and organizations met with 1,135 students to discuss internship and employment opportunities. Job/internship opportunities were available for all six NSM departments. Students used color-coded booth signage and an event map to strategically plan their routes and maximize their ability to meet employers. The event ran smoothly with the assistance of 61 NSM/teachHOUSTON students, faculty, and staff volunteers. Special thanks to the Department of Computer Science who co-hosted the fair.
• Employer Information Sessions/Pop-Ups/Workshops: Students engaged with recruiters and representatives from International Association of Black Actuaries, Electronic Arts, EOG Resources, Dell Tech XPS, Google, and Army MEDD during campus visits in September. Students also had the opportunity to attend a virtual Super Saturday Information Session promoted by UTMB.

Workshops

• NSM Employer Resume Review: On Sept 3, representatives from 10 companies, including NOV, Google, and Credera, and NSM faculty/staff volunteers provided expert resume guidance to 266 students. This event enabled students to confidently share their resume with recruiters at the Career Fair.
• Prepare4theFair Workshop: The day before the Career Fair 234 students attended a training session led by Dawnelle Prince, NSMCC Director. Students were given a candid look at best practices, tips, and tricks on professional dress and body language, researching companies, and communicating with recruiters. Attendees were given a Fast Pass to gain early access to employers at the Career Fair.
• Army MEDD Workshop: On Sept 19, Army MEDD, in conjunction with The Princeton Review, offered interactive demonstrations teaching essential techniques to control bleeding before professional help arrives, helping students gain confidence in handling real-life situations. Approximately 30 students attended and were entered into an MCAT Prep Course Giveaway.

Career Counseling

• In August and September, Associate Director Lee Ann Lawrence completed 762 resume and cover letter reviews and met with 56 students in 1:1 virtual counseling appointments. Additional documents and videos on topics such as cover letters, interviewing, and communicating with recruiters, were added into the HireNSM Document Library, which provides students with a searchable and growing database of career resources.

teachHOUSTON Update

Teacher Interest Group Meeting

teachHOUSTON hosted a Teacher Interest Group (TIG) on Sept 20 for preservice secondary STEM teachers as part of the UH-Advancing Cultural and Computational Engagement in STEM Scholars (UH-ACCESS) NSF grant program. The TIG’s purpose is to offer support and provide opportunities to help preservice teachers, who serve underrepresented student populations, connect to their communities. Dr. Karla Garza, a teachHOUSTON postdoctoral fellow, presented “Breaking Language Barriers: Preparing for emergent bilinguals in your classrooms.” The UH-ACCESS $1.2 million grant program is in year 4 and is led by Drs. Paige Evans, Donna Stokes, Jaspal Subhlok, and Weihang Zhu.