Welcome to the Faculty Senate

• For the latest COVID-19 updates at the University of Houston, please visit https://uh.edu/covid-19/

Beginning Aug. 10 – The third phase of campus reopening is scheduled to begin Monday, August 10. This involves preparations for the fall semester. In this phase, limits on percentage of personnel on campus are not intended to be put in place campus-wide, and individual colleges and units may provide further guidance regarding processes for monitoring building capacities. Further, personnel are encouraged to consider the nature of their work when deciding need for presence on campus. Flexibility and options to support healthy balance of personal and professional will continue during this phase. See Dr. Khator’s message from August 3 – “Reopening for the Fall Semester”.

Resources Available – The COOG Strong, Mask On social responsibility campaign has launched, aiming to unite the campus community with a shared mission to prevent the pandemic from disrupting our individual goals and our University’s academic and research pursuits. The campaign communicates expectations of mask wearing, social distancing, good hygiene practices, self-assessing health each day and staying home when COVID-19 symptoms are present, and reporting exposure, diagnosis, and symptoms to proper UH channels. Resources are available to faculty for download, including signs and floor decals in the Download Zone. Visit the Coog Strong, Mask On website for further information and to view an overview video featuring several familiar faces, including Faculty Senate President Cortina!

Released July 30 – The Human Resources department recently released guidelines that are responsive to the present pandemic and describe work alternatives for employees. Flexible arrangements should be approved and managed by supervisors, and the availability of flexible alternatives may vary from one department to another, depending on types of services provided, work schedules, business hours, and feasibility for completing work. Alternatives described in the guidelines include remote work locations, modified scheduling, temporary redistribution of responsibilities, Family Medical Leave (FML), professional development and training, and the work exchange program “Roll up your Sleeves UH.” The guidelines can be accessed at https://bit.ly/flexibility-guidelines. 

Beginning Aug. 17 – Two Factor Authentication (2FA) will be turned on for AccessUH beginning August 17. 2FA elevates security for account access by confirming identity via mobile application, text message, or phone call. It involves something you know (password) plus something you have with you (like your smartphone) to prevent someone from logging in with only your password. Members of the Staff Council, Faculty Senate, and University Information Technology (UIT) have been working to implement 2FA with minimal disruption. 2FA will be limited to just once on a particular browser each 30 days, and 2FA will be added to other services, such as UH-VPN, PeopleSoft, Blackboard, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom, after the semester gets underway. For more information about the 2FA process, visit the UIT 2FA website.

Now Available – Microsoft Teams has facilitated many campus collaborations and provided online instructional support during the remote teaching and learning of the pandemic. Microsoft Teams is available for free to use across multiple devices for faculty, staff, and students at UH. There are many resources for getting started and learning more about how to productively use Microsoft Teams for things like virtual meetings, communicating online, sharing files, and more. Visit UIT’s Microsoft Teams webpage and Instruction @UH’s Knowledge Base.