Archived Suggestions :: August 2009

Suggestion — 1211

Subject — Marketing Mailouts

Forwarded to — Director, Marketing

Suggestion / Comment

A couple of weeks ago I got in the mail a postcard from UHV. I assume it came out of the marketing office as it was an invitation for me to enroll at UHV and get my degree. I received another one a few days ago. I am a faculty member at UHV with a PhD. I doubt I am the only one on faculty who received this. It cannot be argued by the marketing department that it could be passed along to a college age family member. I have no family living with me in the household nor do I have family who have yet to get their bachelors and beyond. And, I doubt that I am the only recipient this mail out was inappropriate for. I suggest that the marketing department do a better job in buying or developing their mail lists. What a ridculous waste.

Response

Thank you for your positive suggestion.

I can assure you that we attempt to be as efficient as possible when sending out our direct mail. We use specific criteria to help insure that the message is delivered to those consumers that are in our target. No system is perfect, and I would expect a small percentage would be delivered to consumers outside the target.

It would be helpful to know who you are so that I can share your name with the vendor that supplies our lists. I’ m curious how your name slipped through the system. Your level of education should have kept you from appearing on our list.

Suggestion — 1212

Subject — Professional Development

Forwarded to — Coordinator, Training & Continuing Education

Suggestion / Comment

There are other people that can and do teach effective PPT presentations other than IT folks so contact those individuals as well before you line up an audio/webinar that won't be nearly as effective as a f-2-f presentation

Response

I agree a face-to-face class is often best for learning a new skill. However, the webinars you are talking about were targeted to professors already using PowerPoint in their online classes so they could pick up some pointers to make their online classes more effective and learning easier for their students. The webinars were also specifically requested by some of our professors and then opened up to others who might be able to use the information. In fact, the professors were very pleased with the information they gained. However, someone coming to learn basic PowerPoint would have been very frustrated.

Anytime you would like to know if a course will meet your needs, please feel free to call and ask us. We would be glad to share the course objectives with you. Then you can know in advance if you want to attend.

If you learn about training vendors you think we might not know, please send us a note or a flyer. We would appreciate it!

Suggestion — 1213

Subject — Financial Aid Office

Forwarded to — Director, Financial Aid

Suggestion / Comment

Once again we are at peak processing times and key financial aid personnel are on vacation. I called with a question and was told I would have to call back next week because the only staff member who could answer my question is on vacation until then. Not very good customer service or planning.

Response

When a staff member takes off, another person who is cross trained in the office assumes the duties. If the question is too specific, then the person assuming the duties may have to consult with the staff member who is on vacation.

Suggestion — 1214

Subject — UHV Website

Forwarded to — Director, Marketing

Suggestion / Comment

I hope with our new web redesign, we will finally have some branding and consistency throughout our website, something that will be critical for our downward expansion and the message we send to prospective students and their parents. How many other university websites do you see where each academic school looks different--different colors, different navigation, lack of consistent services/support. Students are left trying to hunt and search for information--sometimes it is linked to from a school webpage, other times not. Let's hope we can finally use the web to effectively market a strong UHV brand/image instead of multiple brands/images that make us appear unfocused and disorganized.

Response

Thanks for your suggestion.
I agree that consistency throughout our website is critical to communicating a unified university brand. I.T and marketing are working on getting the new web design completed as soon as possible. With the help and cooperation of the academic schools, we can then incorporate some level of consistency throughout the school’s web pages. If you are aware of information that is challenging to find, please let us know. Your input and feedback is critical in helping to refine our web site.

Suggestion — 1215

Subject — UHV Web Services

Forwarded to — Director, Financial Aid

Suggestion / Comment

I'd like to suggest we take a good, hard look at our web office. It's embarrassing to receive emails that the governor's site and YouTube have video of his visit before we do. And now president Hudson's blog is available through the Victoria Advocate? I spoke with someone in IT who confirmed we have multiple blogging packages and even a personal web site portal available on site. When I asked why they're not being used, I got a shrug. When I pressed the issue I got, "Ask web services." I know kids in high school who have their own web sites with more updated information than our own. With the amount of money that's been sunk into that office, we should not have to go to a web site outside of UHV to see what UHV is doing.

Response

Thanks for your suggestion.
Posting video quickly about news events has been somewhat of a challenge. Communicating newsworthy events is the responsibility of the Marketing & Communications department, but capturing and posting video has taken the resources of several departments. We are in the process of resolving this challenge so that the entire process is done in Marketing & Communications. This will hopefully speed up our ability to post video. With respect to your concern about Dr. Hudson’ s blog being made available through the Victoria Advocate, this was an conscious decision. The objective in using the Advocate is to reach as many people as possible. The Victoria Advocate dedicated resources to help us accomplish this. The UHV page on the Advocate Web site has multiple links to the UHV home page to drive readers to our site.

Suggestion — 1216

Subject — UHV Website Portal

Forwarded to — Sr. Director, Information Technology

Suggestion / Comment

When will we have an intranet so that we can move some of our web materials that should only be available to faculty/staff off the general website? We've been talking about this one for a long time but nothing seems to be happening.

Response

I agree that this is a needed resource and a long time coming. However, we’re in the midst of implementing the content management system for the university’s web site, as well as rolling out a revamped web design that incorporates the changes needed for downward expansion. These projects will need to be launched and well into campus-wide implementation before we begin work on an intranet. Once we have a handle on the impact of those projects, we’ll begin the planning of the intranet. The earliest I can see us beginning the intranet project would be spring 2010, and implementing it mid to late 2010.

Suggestion — 1217

Subject — Employee Name Badges

Forwarded to — Director, Human Resources

Suggestion / Comment

I would like to suggest that UHV employees wear name tags. We are growing and have new staff and faculty starting all the time. Additionally, many of us interact with one another over the phone and via email but would not know each other if we passed in the hall. I for one would like to be able to put a face to a name or voice and greet my coworkers by name in the hallway by simply looking at the name tag. That would then allow me to get to know all of the people I deal with by name and make for a friendlier workplace. This could also be considered a security matter. As we grow we want to be able to identify people who are authorized to be in offices, work rooms, file cabinets, desk drawers etc. Security will have an easier time of maintaining a secure work environment when people can be easily identified.

Response

An email was sent out September 8, 2009, about the new Security System installation at the Victoria campus which includes a keyless access system. This new system includes photo ids which may also be used as an ID badge. This new system was discussed at President's Cabinet on Wednesday, September 9, and a recommendation was made to use the badges for ID purposes also. Guidelines are going to be developed and brought back to Cabinet for approval. Thank you for your suggestion and hopefully you will be seeing “name tags” in the very near future. Please do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions.

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