NSM Faculty/Staff Newsletter

Student Success Update

Office of First Year Program (OFYP) Updates

Faculty and Staff Volunteers Needed! The Office of First Year Programs (OFYP) invites you to connect with prospective and current students at upcoming recruitment and retention activities and events. There are two volunteer opportunities.

• NSM-ROVERs (NSM Recruitment, Outreach, and Visit Experiences Representatives): The OFYP is creating a team of faculty, staff, and graduate student volunteers to enhance the recruitment and outreach experiences for the College. NSM-ROVERs will volunteer to connect with prospective students and their supporters by facilitating activities, such as offering a brief department information session, providing a lab tour, hosting an information table, and/or mingling with prospective students during recruitment and outreach events.

  Volunteer Today

• The OFYP is recruiting “Coffee & Conversation” Volunteers: Faculty volunteers are needed to lead a series of events to foster a welcoming, supportive environment for students, build community within NSM and their specific departments, as well as to strengthen relationships with faculty and peers outside of the classroom. These informal events offer the opportunity for faculty/staff volunteers to interact with first-year and first-semester-transfer students over a cup of coffee. The purpose of these events is to offer one event per department. For more information or to sign-up, email kamolnar@cougarnet.uh.edu.

Recruitment

The OFYP, in partnership with the Office of Admissions, participated in numerous recruitment events.

• NSM Information Session on August 13
• Cy-Fair ISD’s College Night on August 28, where approximately 80-100 prospective students and guests attended
• Cougar Prowl, an off-campus recruitment event held at UH Sugar Land on September 7, where approximately 40 prospective students and guests attended
• Registered to participate in TACRAO College Fairs throughout the Fall semester

Retention

• The OFYP hosted its annual Fall kick-off celebration event, NSM Block Party, on August 18 to welcome incoming freshman and continuing students to campus. Over 415 students participated in the event and had the opportunity to speak with NSM student organizations, play games, and interact with faculty, staff, and their peers. A special thank you to the Texas National Guard and Canes for their support and to the faculty and staff who came out to volunteer for the event. It was a huge success!
• The OFYP participated in the Co-Curricular Programs Fair hosted by the Honors College on August 27 promoting the Student Leadership Team and the activities provided throughout the semester.
• The OFYP is facilitating a First-Year Seminar course designed to provide first-year and first-semester-transfer students support and resources during their first semester at UH.
• The OFYP hosted the Fall NSM Student Leadership Team (SLT) Retreat to engage the co-chairs and members in team-building and professional development activities and in position training in preparation for this year’s events. Guest speakers included NSM’s Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs and Student Success, CAPS (to conduct mental health and suicide prevention training), and UH Legal (to provide FERPA training). Training and professional development will occur throughout the Fall semester during general meetings.
• The NSM Peer Mentorship Program, led by SLT peer mentors, will serve 154 incoming first-year and first-semester-transfer students.
• NSM SLT members participated in Weeks of Welcome ServeTX Day of Service on August 30.
• The OFYP partnered with NSM’s Communication Office to create a webpage for OFYP, highlighting who we are, what we do, and outlining our signature events and programs. This is Phase I of the webpage build and more information will be added in future phases.

Scholar Enrichment Program: All-Time High

This semester, the Scholar Enrichment Program (SEP) is providing valuable support to 1,357 students enrolled in 17 different STEM courses, marking the highest enrollment in the program’s history. This assistance comes in the form of one-credit hour academic excellence workshops designed to enhance students’ understanding and performance in these challenging courses. The program offers a total of 45 workshops, the largest number offered in a single semester, each led by a team of two undergraduate peer facilitators. There are 90 peer facilitators involved this fall, who bring their own experiences and knowledge to help guide and support their fellow students in these workshops.

TC Energy Summer Scholars Academy Updates

Haliburton Scientist Speaks to Chemistry Class

On July 31, the TC Energy Summer Scholars Academy welcomed a Halliburton Senior Scientific Advisor and Chemist, Dr. Enrique Reyes, as a chemistry guest lecturer. He provided students with real world applications of chemistry in the oil and gas industry.

TC Energy Hosts Student Panel

TC Energy hosted a student panel on August 6. Previous TC Energy Summer Scholars were invited to give the current cohort advice, answer questions, and give them a better understanding of how to be successful in the program and what it takes to be a successful STEM major at UH.

ConocoPhillips Luncheon

ConocoPhillips hosted a lunch and learn session on August 8. The event included an overview of ConocoPhillips as a producer of crude oil and their commitment to the environment and safety.

End of Program Celebration

The TC Energy Summer Scholars Academy ended August 9 with 55 students completing the program. Two goals of the program were to offer participants the opportunity to earn credit for Calculus I and to have their major changed to their first choice NSM or Engineering major. Thirty-four students (61%) earned credit for Calculus 1 and were eligible to enroll in Calculus 2 for Fall 2024. In addition, these students had their major changed to their first choice in NSM or Engineering. Eleven students (20%) placed into Calculus 1 in the fall. The remaining participants placed into precalculus.

On the last day, students and their families attended an awards ceremony to celebrate the scholars’ accomplishments. Scholars received words of encouragement from administrators, instructors, and TC Energy representatives Trevence Mitchell, Manager of Social Impact, and Eric Miller, Director of Marketing West — U.S. Pipelines and NSM Dean’s Advisory Board member.

Students received certificates of completion, superlative awards, and academic awards. To commemorate the five-year partnership with NSM, TC Energy provided four $5,000 scholarships to students who went above and beyond during the summer including the Highest Performing Calculus Student, Highest Performing Chemistry Student, TC Energy: Energy Problem Solver, and an Unmatched Dedication Scholarship.

STEM RISE and RESET in STEM Summer Programs

This summer, the NSF-supported STEM RISE and RESET in STEM programs continued their mission to empower underrepresented students through hands-on research experiences and professional development.

Building on the success of the past three years of STEM RISE, the 2024 program marked the inaugural year of RESET in STEM, an initiative that further extends efforts to dismantle systemic barriers in STEM education for economically and socially disadvantaged students. The programs provided nearly $100K in summer support to 21 undergraduate students and over $30K to 13 high school students from Houston’s Third Ward and surrounding neighborhoods.

The STEM RISE X RESET in STEM Research Symposium, held at the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine, was the culmination of the summer’s intensive research activities. Throughout the summer, students engaged in rigorous research projects across seven labs, under the mentorship of faculty from various disciplines, including Dr. Tameka Clemons and Dr. David Raskin from the College of Medicine, Dr. Heather Dial from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Dr. Molly Albecker, Dr. Chin-Yo Lin, and Dr. Preethi Gunaratne from the Department of Biology and Biochemistry, and Dr. Mim Rahimi from Cullen College of Engineering. The symposium provided a platform for these students to present their research findings, celebrating their hard work and the collective efforts of the program.

The event brought together nearly 100 attendees, including family members, community leaders, and university faculty, who gathered to recognize the achievements of the students and the program’s success in fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement.

The program is led by a dedicated team, including Drs. Mariam Manuel (PI-NSM, teachHOUSTON), Jacqueline Ekeoba (NSM, teachHOUSTON), Michelle Carroll Turpin (TJFFCOM), Donna Stokes (NSM), Jerrod Henderson (Cullen College of Engineering), and April Hawkins (College of Education), with strong support from community partners such as 8 Million Stories and Project Row Houses. The symposium was a fitting conclusion to the summer program, highlighting the transformative impact of the STEM RISE and RESET in STEM initiatives on the participants and reinforcing their readiness to pursue careers in STEM fields.

teachHOUSTON Updates

teachHOUSTON Hosts New Teacher Academy for In-Service STEM teachers

The teachHOUSTON program hosted the New Teacher Academy, an induction event, for 50 secondary STEM teachers to provide support and build community for teachers early in their careers. The event, a component of the work for a General Motors grant and the National Math and Science Initiative, was led by teachHOUSTON faculty, Amanda Campos and Paige Evans. Early career teachers, teachHOUSTON faculty, and Master Teacher Fellows from the teachHOUSTON NSF LEAD Houston grant attended the event held at the River House Houston.

teachHOUSTON Collaboration with University of Hawaii at Manoa

In August, teachHOUSTON co-director Paige Evans met with faculty from the Manoa Innovation Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and teachers from the Halau Ku Mana Public Charter School to learn more about how they connect their curriculum to the community and culture. Culturally responsive teaching is central to the teachHOUSTON curriculum and sharing best practices and ideas are critical for advancing knowledge about how to best teach diverse students.