Welcome to the Faculty Senate

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

Ongoing – With the 2020 hurricane season underway, it is important for all faculty to be signed up to receive the UH ALERT Emergency Notification System messages via cellphone. As the sign up for UH ALERT does not happen automatically, faculty should be sure to manually sign up and maintain their emergency contact information in PASS. For information on how to sign up and update emergency contact information, visit the UH ALERT information page (https://alerts.uh.edu/update-contact-information/employee-contact-updates/). Also, for more information about hurricane preparedness, visit the UH Office of Emergency Management (https://uh.edu/emergency-management/planning-and-response/building-department-preparedness/hurricane-preparedness/).

Fridays, 12-12:30pm – The UH Division of Research will continue to host their weekly VPR Virtual Office Hours during the duration of the COVID-19 emergency. These 30-minute sessions are held in Zoom and cover research reopening activity, developments in the reopening UH taskforce, and open Q&A. The sessions are led by Vice President for Research Amr Elnashai and the DOR leadership team. Attend a session by accepting the Zoom meeting invitation within the VPR Virtual Office Hours channel on the UH Research & Innovation Teams site. 

Ongoing – Formed in Fall 2019 within the Moores School of Music at the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts, the Mariachi Pumas (meaning “cougars”) is UH’s very own mariachi ensemble. Directed by Jose Longoria, the ensemble has performed at many special University events on campus and across Houston this past year. All UH students are invited to join the ensemble, which consists of an advanced competitive group and a noncompetitive group for beginners. To learn more about the Mariachi Pumas, read “¡Viva, Coogs! Mad for Mariachi Pumas” (https://stories.uh.edu/viva-coogs/), and visit the program website (https://uh.edu/kgmca/music/caa/mariachi/index.php).

Sessions in June, July, August – Instructional designers from Faculty and Departmental Instructional Support (FDIS) are offering virtual sessions throughout the summer on how to make the transition to online/hybrid course delivery and will discuss a variety of instructional strategies and tools, including Microsoft Teams and Stream. The sessions are each an hour and half and held via Zoom. Sessions are filling fast, so check out the FIDS Calendar for upcoming dates and to register (https://eitapps.uh.edu/calendar).

Expanding in Fall 2020 – The Cougar Promise program started in 2008, providing coverage of tuition and mandatory fees for eligible low and middle-income families. The income ranges are expanding in Fall 2020 to provide support for eligible first-time freshmen with family incomes up to $125,000. The program uses a combination of grants and other resources and is renewable for up to four years (or five years for the Bachelor of Architecture 160 credit degree plan). For more information about the program, visit Cougar Promise (https://uh.edu/financial/undergraduate/types-aid/incentives/cougar-promise/).