Archived Suggestions :: August 2007

Suggestion:       994

Subject:            LEAD Web Page

Forwarded to:    LEAD Department Manager

LEAD webpage is woefully outdated

Response:         Thank you for your comment. We appreciate your interest in LEAD and are happy you chose to visit our webpage. We are  aware that our webpage is a powerful communication tool as well as a tremendous informational resource; therefore, we  will be working on updating the LEAD webpage very soon.

We have recently experienced some new and exciting changes within the LEAD program. We hope you will return to our  webpage soon to find out more about LEAD and how we’re working to help students, the university and our community.

Suggestion:       995

Subjection:        Communication

Forwarded to:    President

Communicate to faculty and staff the goals and long-term plans for the university.  Look at how many faculty and staff UHV employs who could serve as stewards of UHV, getting messages to the community.  Yet, we are left in the dark and put in a position of being in the position of having to guess when questioned by community members about UHV becoming a 4-year institution. Just another of the many examples of the non-existence of internal communication from administration.  Let's start showing respect and support for our employees and communicate UHV vision and goals to those who are ultimately responsible for UHV's success.

Response:         I think this is a good suggestion -- we need to do more to communicate with everyone.  Recently, I attended a national conference for university presidents and "communication" was cited as the number one challenge for all university administrations.

Earlier this summer, I asked key people on the cabinet to assess our entire range of communication efforts, to consult with professionals on the matter and to make recommendations for improvement.  With these in hand we discussed this issue at length at a recent cabinet meeting and decided on some near term changes that will be implemented at the beginning of the academic year to supplement our existing efforts such as the UHV News Wire, our annual report, convocations, etc.  These include:

-- circulating a summary of the cabinet minutes to "all UHV" along with annotations and comments from me.  This will allow everyone to "keep up" with what is being discussed by their representatives on the cabinet and perhaps encourage dialogue among faculty and staff and various cabinet members about current issues.  While the minutes are always posted, I think this additional distribution will be helpful.

-- asking each cabinet member to develop a consistent system of communication for their areas and to report to me on what that system is and how it will function.

-- sending out periodic updates/messages (about monthly depending on events) on key strategic issues.

Regarding UHV's "expanding downward" I would have to say that that issue has been discussed on and off over the years. It certainly was discussed at our two most recent cabinet retreats and by Faculty Senate rather extensively over the past couple of years.  Last fall when University of Houston economist Barton Smith gave a public presentation ("The Prepared Mind"), co-sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank, I think it sort of kicked off a "community conversation" on the matter since Smith clearly outlined the financial and human development benefits of higher education for a community like Victoria.  The timing of the Advocate article that reported on this "conversation", as you might imagine, was completely up to the paper.  I think the open and inclusive discussion of this idea, and perhaps even an analysis by an outside consultant as has been suggested, could be helpful for us as we do contemplate our plans for the future. 

Finally, let me encourage you and others to be a part of all of this dialogue.  Ask your cabinet members to share information with you, send me an email with a comment or question or drop by to share your thoughts.  UHV is in the midst of a great run of growth and development thanks to the hard work of our faculty and staff and we do want to do a better job of sharing that message with everyone.   

Suggestion:       996

Subject:            Communication

Forwarded to:    President

Start communicating with faculty and staff so that we can start responding to community questions and not have to say "All I know is what was in the Advocate."  What a lousy message to have going out into the community from UHV.

Response:         Please see above response.

Suggestion:       997

Subject:            Communication

Forwarded to:    President

Why are employees having to read about UHV future plans (4-year institution) in the paper instead of getting information from administration?

Response:         Please see above response.

Suggestion:       998

Subject:            Student Relations

Forwarded to:    Dean, School of Education and Human Development

My daughter was looking forward to attending UHV. But, after all the problems she had finding classes in Victoria and no day classes at all, she is not so sure about her choice of college. We had always heard UHV was an excellent college for the teacher program. As it is now for this semester she will have 2 night classes and an online class. She wants to be a full time student just like her friends at San Marcos and College Station. She could had attended at either one of these but chose Victoria College and then UHV. UHV needs to reconsider who they want to cater to, the young people who do decide to stay locally or the older ones wanting to  return to college. Remember UHV has a softball and baseball program going on now. That is your younger student attending. Please have more day classes next semester offered in Victoria. I hope the nightmare we went through during this past week won't occur next semester. May I also suggest the faculty be a little more friendlier to the young people. Everyone at UHV should take lessons from the faculty and staff at Victoria College. If they would had been a 4 year institution we would had stayed there.

Response:         I appreciate your bringing this to our attention, and I am sorry to learn that your daughter was not able to register for as many classes as she would have liked.  However, if there are classes she wanted to take that are presently full, we will do what we can to help her find alternatives.  She can contact her faculty advisor or the certification office at (361) 570-4264.

As you have seen, our schedule includes some daytime face-to face classes, with many more of these are scheduled in the evening, and a sizeable number of on-line classes as well.  The schedule reflects the diverse needs of the student body that we serve, and in Victoria, the need for evening classes has been greater than that for daytime classes.  The demand for on line classes, which save students the cost of travel to and from campus and offer the time flexibility that many need, has also been high. 

We are also aware, though, that our student body changes over time, and that the demand for classes at different times and in different formats changes as well.  We do our best to stay abreast of these changes, and we will certainly examine the demand for face to face daytime classes in Victoria.  Our goal is to serve all our students well, and our class schedule will reflect the best information we have about the best times and formats for our classes to be offered.  Thank you again for sharing this information with us.

Suggestion:       999

Subject:            Student Relations

Forwarded to:    Provost

I have had many problems with UHV and class has not even started yet. For one thing the people working there never really answered any questions I may of had. They would always tell me they needed to learn the system. The counselors never really helped me either. UHV needs to offer more day time classes. A lot needs to be worked on before UHV decides to be a four-school, and right now I would not recommend anybody to attend UHV. UHV needs to be more like Victoria College. They were knowledgable and very well organized. UHV needs to get their act together. I know someone told me they just started a new system, but I think they should of already figured it out before we enrolled in classes.

Response:         No response given.

Suggestion:       1000

Subject:            Username/Password

Forwarded to:    Registrar

How about having ONE username and password for the whole site?!!!  Is that too much to ask?

Response:         No, it's not too much to ask, and we agree with you, which is why we've been investigating solutions to this ongoing problem for some time now.  There have been a few impediments to solving this problem, such as implementation of the new PeopleSoft Student Administration System and regulatory changes in username formats.  However, now that we're seeing the light of day past those issues, we're hopeful that a single sign-on application can be implemented later this academic year. 

Suggestion:       1001

Subject:            Online Classes

Forwarded to:    Provost

I feel that as a paying student that accomadations should be made for all students. I am one of many students who feel that online classes make it a little difficult to really grasp the material. I have heard that online classes accomadate students that are not able to attend in class courses. The problem is the students that need the in class environment to excell in his/her studies are being deprived of that luxury. Something needs to be done about this. 

Response:         UHV is committed to serving all students. In the past few years online course enrollments have been significantly larger than face-to-face course enrollments. In an attempt to make academic programs available to more students, online course offerings increased. The Deans are aware that face-to-face courses are preferred by some students and better meet their learning styles. As UHV continues to grow students will have more choices about their course schedules.

Suggestion:       1002

Subject:            Suggested Reply to Comment 990 July

Forwarded to:    Vice-President for Finance

I'd like to suggest proper ways to respond to suggestions in the suggestion box. Too many of the more recent responses have been very defensive, leading me to wonder if the responder resented the suggestion because they didn’t like the subject matter that was brought up, they didn’t agree with it, or they just plain didn’t care. Please use the following rewrites as examples:

Suggestion: 990

Provided Response: I thought that Staff Council was both exempt and non-exempt and therefore made up of both managers/supervisors and other staff. If so then why did some supervisors choose not to attend this general information meeting and thus not be informed? To my knowledge we have never conducted a managers/supervisors meeting separate from the general meeting with staff. Why does it seem to be needed now? If clarity is needed once salary worksheets are sent, then managers/supervisors are instructed to see either Laura Smith or Darlene Pullin.

Very defensive response. Clearly written by someone who does not attend Staff Council on a regular basis. This could have been handled far better.

Recommended Response: Given the importance of this meeting, we did hope everyone would be present, but we understand that due to the late notification of the subject matter, many had other obligations or meetings and were unable to attend. In the future, we’ll try to plan important events like this better, and provide advanced notice to those who might be affected, such as top and mid-level supervisors.

Of course, this suggestion assumes that HR and/or VP of administration and finance really did believe everyone who could attend, would.

I look forward to far more customer- friendly responses in the future.

No Reponse Required

Suggestion:       1003

Subject:            Suggested Reply to Comment 989 July

Forwarded to:    HR Director

I'd like to suggest proper ways to respond to suggestions in the suggestion box. Too many of the more recent responses have been very defensive, leading me to wonder if the responder resented the suggestion because they didn’t like the subject matter that was brought up, they didn’t agree with it, or they just plain didn’t care. Please use the following rewrites as examples:

Suggestion: 989

Provided Response:

Please refer to archived suggestion box response #982 and #977. Also, please note that our new university pay plan for FY08 has been increased 3%.

Ick. Why should I have to reread a response which probably prompted the suggestion in the first place? And when the amount of the President's salary and those not in the pay plan is so much higher than those of us in the pay plan, 3% just doesn't do it for us, especially as so many who've left did so because they are walking into far better paying jobs.

Recommended Response:

Your suggestion is one we are very aware of and working hard on resolving. Turnover is something that of course we want to reduce. Our first step towards that has been a new University pay play for FY08 which includes an overall 3% increase. Please work with us as we strive to create an environment that reduces turnover , particularly loss of competent staff to other employers.

Of course, this suggestion assumes that you are working hard on resolving the equity issues and do recognize that there is more turnover than there should be at UHV.

No response Required

Suggestion:       1004

Subject:            Financial Aid

Forwarded to:    Financial Aid Director

If the funds are credited to my account on a Tuesday, shouldnt the check be cut and mailed out by Thursday, and be in my mail box on Friday. When that doesnt happen someone needs to be accountable for it. I mean it is my money, and you dont mess with someones money!

Response:         The Office of Financial Aid apologizes for the delay in some student's delivery of aid. With new programs, one can expect glitches in the system or unexpected results. Unfortunately, this did occur. Remember, loan funds can only be disbursed once the loans have been guaranteed by the student and then when the University receives the funds from the lender. The university does not hold on to the funds, nor does it earn interest. The office staff has stayed late during the weeknights and worked on weekends to resolve the student file discrepancies and process new paperwork arriving during this peak processing time. Thank you for your input. We have taken note of the areas where we encountered issues and will be meeting with our consultant on Sept. 6, 2007. We will be looking forward to a smooth Spring disbursement process.

Suggestion:       1005

Subject:            Financial Aid

Forwarded to:    Financial Aid Director

If the financial aid department does not send out the checks on time, their own paychecks should be delayed as well. Maybe that stipulation will speed up the process.

Response:         See response to Suggestion 1004.

Suggestion:       1006

Subject:            Financial Aid

Forwarded to:    Financial Aid Director

I do not like to be negative, but this new "People Soft" system is just plain awful. Financial aid was set to be sent out on Mon, Aug. 20, and it is now the 24th and still nothing.  I keep checking my account (which is very hard to access) and there has been very little activity taking place and needless to say, I have yet to receive a check. Next, my grades from the summer are not on there.  It is like that semester did not even exsist.  I did find them on the old system so I know I have the credit. I know I am not the only one, and it is my sincere hope that this get easier, but I am having my doubts.

Response:         See response to Suggestion 1004.

Suggestion:       1007

Subject:            Financial Aid

Forwarded to:    Financial Aid Director

GET RID OF THIS USELESS PEOPLESOFT SYSTEM!!  IT HAS BEEN HORRIBLE AND NERVE RACKING TRYING TO GET ANY INFO!!  THE WHOLE REASONS STUDENTS GET FINAID IS TO PAY FOR BOOKS AND ITEMS THEY CAN'T AFFORD OTHERWISE!  THIS IS ALREADY PUTTING MY BEHIND IN CLASSES, BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE BOOKS!

Response:         See response to Suggestion 1004.

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