Archived Suggestions :: October 2008

Suggestion — 1143

Subject — UHS Sugar Land Newspaper

Forwarded to — Interim Director, UHS Sugar Land

Suggestion / Comment

It will be nice to have a newsletter for the sugar land campus. Something students can use to get information about the campus and also enter in information like poetry, jobs e.t.c I do not mind being a team member for a UHSSL newspaper

Response

It would be nice to have a student newspaper for the UH System at Sugar Land campus!
We hope to someday have the funding and the staff to pursue this.
Let us know if you hear of a class or student group that might want to sponsor this.

Suggestion — 1144

Subject — On Hold Music

Forwarded to — Telecommunications Specialist

Suggestion / Comment

It would be great if we could choose and use some "hold" music. Some companies use KITE 93.3 we have had classical at one time, maybe marketing could also come up with some UHV news, or dates of interest message. Anything is better than silence.

Response

Thank you for the suggestion. In the past, UHV was using ‘on hold’ music for our telephone system. The only royalty/copyright free music that was available was from the University of Houston.
Regretfully, the response was so negative that we decided to forgo the ‘on hold’ music altogether.
In regards to the suggestion of using a radio station for a source for UHV’s ‘on hold’ music. As a state university, federal law prevents us from using the radio as a source of ‘on hold’ music due to royalty and copyright laws.
For more information about Copyrights, Royalties and Licensing, please use the following link for reference: http://www.onholdnetwork.com/onhold/about/legalities.aspx 

Suggestion — 1145

Subject — Gender Bias

Forwarded to — UHV President

Suggestion / Comment

I suggest that the president analyze the developing,widespread gender bias at UHV and take clear, public steps to rid the university of the resulting inequities. Past administrations were diligent in supporting equity in the university. The Human Resource Director who should monitor these matters is thought of as an advocate for the President/Deans and other administrators. Therefore, changes would have to begin at the presidential level. Questions of equity have been raised informally by staff and faculty and include but are not limited to the following: Are there major salary and title discrepancies by gender? Are females excluded from casual, informal decision making meetings and events? Are the female voices in the faculty and staff taken seriously? Is the School with the highest number of female faculty members thought of as the "weakest" school? Are faculty and administrative search committees selected with attention to diversity, both by gender and ethnicity? Are people selected for positions prior to the start of the formal search process? (The process is supposed to guard against bias.) What is the percentage of female faculty in the School of Business? What is the percentage of female chairs in the schools? What message do we send to our female students, the majority of our students when there is gender bias in the institution? Current Example: The recent public posting of the Business Services director has a starting salary far above any currently employed female in a position requiring a Bachelor's degree. Can we assume the intent is to fill that position with a man? Gender bias in UHV is an extremely serious matter and must be addressed.

Response

The possibility of gender bias at UHV is something I take very seriously. It is not something that I condone in any form or manifestation.  A consultation with our Affirmative Action Plan adviser indicated "no issues" in this regard. In addition, the specific position mentioned in the suggestion is classified as Exempt Pay Grade 6.  Currently, of the 6 positions so classified, three are held by females.  Also, for new faculty hired for 2008 the break down is as follows: Arts and Sciences (3 female/4 male); Business (1 female/1 male); Education (2 female/0 male); Nursing (3 female/0 male plus new dean is female).  Finally, while thoughtful and important, the suggestion does contain some unfortunate allegations, preconceived conclusions and false premises. For example: as far as I am concerned there is no "weak school" at UHV; input is taken seriously regardless of its source; the Human Resource Director is a professional held in high regard by an overwhelming majority of her colleagues at UHV and within the UH System; and any assumption regarding open positions or predetermined searches is just that -- an assumption. I am committed to addressing this issue in an open minded fashion with as few presumptions and as little bias as possible.

Tim Hudson
UHV President

Suggestion — 1146

Subject — Course Announcements

Forwarded to — A&S Sr. Recruitment Coord.

Suggestion / Comment

Please choose graphics more carefully. the picture in the recent announcment coming out of Arts and Sciences regarding the 8 week classes is awful. The woman does not present a positive image.....she looks like a "nit wit."

Response

Thank you for your constructive feedback. Our main goal was to let students know about the opportunity to take one of our eight week classes. The graphic was intended to tie in to the “It’s No Secret” heading. Again, thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Suggestion — 1147

Subject — Biology Courses

Forwarded to — Dean, School of Arts & Sciences

Suggestion / Comment

To whom it concerns; I was just wondering of why we aren't offered a lab here in Victoria Campus to go with the Genetics class lecture. It would be so helpful if we would have a Genetics lab or one of the Professor was thinking of offering a Cell Molecular Lab which kind of goes hand in hand with the class lecture. I was just hoping that it would be offered this semester because I don't want to take the class and then having to wait for a semester or two for the lab. It just doesn't sound fair or right.. when we have all the materials and when it's all fresh in the brain. I would really like it if it's offered here this semester. I am taking 16 hours right now co enrolled at VC and at UHV but on top of it I am willing to add more hours just because I want to understadn the material better in the class room. I hope you understand. Thank You.

Response

Each fall and spring semester one lab course is offered in Sugar Land and one in Victoria. Topics and instructors for the labs each semester at each location vary. However, each semester as you note there are a number of lecture courses offered on each location that do not offer a matching lab course. We currently do not have enough students to support two or more different lab courses at each location--though with downward expansion in Fall 2010, this situation should change.

Suggestion — 1148

Subject — UH Homecoming Trip

Forwarded to — Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations

Suggestion / Comment

I think its very sad there won't be a UH Homecoming Game trip this year. It was starting to be such a tradition. I've heard it's because of a return time of 2 a.m., but why don't you at least try it before you just decide "no"? As an alumn there just aren't very many things I can participate in at UHV.

Response

Dear Concerned Alum,

This year for the first time the UH home coming game will be televised. The original game time was 2:00 pm, but because it is now being televised the new game time is 7:00. The University of Houston – Victoria was also looking forward to attending the home coming game this year, but because the new start time would put us returning to Victoria after midnight, we decided to cancel the trip.

The university is in the process of establishing an Alumni Association and I encourage you to go to www.uhvconnect.org  to let us know of any ideas that you may have. Please call me if you have any questions, concerns, or would like tickets to the UH game.

Suggestion — 1149

Subject — Comment Box Size

Forwarded to — Web Services Manager

Suggestion / Comment

Provide more than 200 characters in a comment box on an evaluation form if you are really interested in what people have to say. We were doing good if we could get two sentences in the box.

Response

Thank you for your concern. The suggestion box has been updated.

Suggestion — 1150

Subject — WebCT Vista Training

Forwarded to — Executive Assistant to the Provost

Suggestion / Comment

I understand there was one-day training and development for the new version of Vista. I hear none of our longer term online support technicians were at this training. How can faculty get the kind of support they need if these key staff don't attend training? We'd better not see mandatory training for faculty if support staff don't have to attend training.

Response

The one-day training to which you are referring is the first in a series of training sessions that the Online Support Technicians will be attending between now and when WebCT Vista-Version 8 will be implemented in Summer 2009.

The Online Support Technicians are professional staff, and they are dedicated to making the transition to Vista 8 go smoothly for both faculty and students alike. While it would have been ideal to have all involved staff attend this training, it is not always possible for everyone to be in the same place at the same time. Some of the staff had previous commitments supporting other University-related events on that day, many of which had been scheduled since the beginning of the semester.

I have been meeting with this group on a regular basis, and we already have plans in place to address the training needs of those individuals who were unable to attend that day. In addition, we will be customizing the training materials to ensure that they will meet the needs of UHV faculty. I have every confidence that this team will work together to ensure that everyone will be prepared to conduct faculty training in spring.

If you have any other concerns, please feel free to contact me directly.

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