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The University of Houston-Victoria has awarded 426 degrees to undergraduate and graduate students who completed their coursework during the spring semester.

Victoria Lions Club president, presents Courtney Middleton Sides, University of Houston-Victoria senior director of corporate and foundation relations, with a $3,000 check.

Minorities who own area businesses will have the opportunity to learn how to receive a certification that will make it easier to receive government contracts at an upcoming University of Houston-Victoria Small Business Development Center workshop.

National ranking website OnlineU.org recently included University of Houston-Victoria’s programs in computer information systems, creative writing and economics in three lists of affordable degree options.

KATY – The University of Houston-Victoria at Katy will open its doors July 20 to all prospective transfer and graduate students who want to learn more about the university.

University of Houston-Victoria has purchased a large segment of the former Town Plaza Mall to house university classrooms, labs, storage and space for business and community development initiatives.

Selling products outside the U.S. may seem daunting, but it’s often easier – and more profitable – than small business owners think.

Six high school students take a break during the University of Houston-Victoria’s Math Summer Camp. The July 11 to 14 camp was free thanks to a grant from Alcoa Foundation.

When it comes to effectively marketing a company, many small business owners have trouble knowing where to start, much less choosing tools from traditional and online media.

That’s why the University of Houston-Victoria is bringing back its Digital Media Marketing Series.

A University of Houston-Victoria faculty member recently presented two papers and won an award for the best workshop for her unique presentation about math education at an international education conference.

This is the second time Barba Patton, a UHV professor of curriculum and instruction, has received an award from the Canadian International Conference on Education.

Michael Wiblishauser, an assistant professor of health studies at the University of Houston-Victoria, is preparing students to be at the forefront of public health, and health promotion and education.

A trio of University of Houston-Victoria undergraduate programs in English and business have made a national list of most affordable online degrees.

However, affordability is just one of the reasons for the rankings. UHV also scored points for an 18:1 student-faculty ratio, the percentage of students taking online classes and other factors.

A group of 13 University of Houston-Victoria faculty members will have new job titles this fall after the UH System Board of Regents approved their promotions in academic rank.

Members of the University of Houston-Victoria President’s Regional Advisory Board have raised more than $31,000 to create a new endowed scholarship as a way to support the university and community.

A national Master of Business Administration guide has included the University of Houston-Victoria in its Top 50 Online MBA Programs in Accounting 2017 list for the program’s affordability, accreditation and other advantages. 

Seven middle and high school students bent over lab equipment, concentrating as they added liquids to beakers and watched the solutions change colors from yellow to blue to clear.

The students were taking part in the University of Houston-Victoria’s Aquatic Science Summer Camp. The camp took place from July 24 to Friday, and the theme was “How fertilizer kills: a look at nutrients, microbes and oxygen.”

The two weeks Brittany Bennett spent in China could best be described as mind opening.

Bennett, a Houston resident pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting, was one of 18 University of Houston-Victoria students who visited China from July 15 to Sunday to compare and contrast management principals in two different cultures.

Two of the University of Houston-Victoria School of Business Administration’s graduate business programs recently were included in a list of the top-value programs in the nation because of the school’s accreditation, support for students and low tuition.

UHV was 51st among the 64 schools included in Discover Business’s Best Value Online MBA Degree Programs list. UHV offers Global and Strategic Master of Business Administration degrees.

In recent years, the 2017-2018 president of the Faculty Senate has seen a few shifts in trends that characterize the University of Houston-Victoria.

The university’s recruitment of traditional freshman students; the growing number of social, student-led activities on campus; the rising standards and motivations of students; and the university’s focus on providing a hybrid face-to-face and online education are just a few of the major changes Joseph Ben-Ur has seen. He wants to support those shifts through continued and increased faculty involvement.

A University of Houston-Victoria senior’s classroom performance recently earned her a pair of prestigious honors from state and national accounting groups.

Donna McMullen of Rosenberg was awarded a $10,000 scholarship from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board for the 2017-2018 academic year. In addition, she received an Accounting Excellence Award from the Accounting Education Foundation of the Texas Society of CPAs.

The American Book Review will welcome its 100th author to the University of Houston-Victoria as part of a dynamic fall reading series lineup.

Visiting authors will include an activist who confronts violence against women, a poet who studied Bob Marley’s lyrics and a novelist who promotes Latino narratives.

When Youna Chen came to the University of Houston-Victoria in May, it was her first time in a foreign exchange program.

Chen is a faculty member at Zhejiang Ocean University in China and wanted to research English as a Second Language and teacher education programs. She has spent the past few months at UHV Katy, 2002 W. Grand Parkway N., Building 2.

For Jeremy Shapiro, the decision to serve on the University of Houston-Victoria Staff Council stemmed from a desire to know more about what is going on in different parts of the university.

Shapiro, the UHV communications manager, came to UHV in 2012 from Kansas. He is the UHV Staff Council chair for 2017-2018 and represents the university’s staff on the UHV President’s Cabinet.

The University of Houston-Victoria Fall 2017 Downtown Arts Series will present a lineup of writers, poets and a museum librarian who has documented Texas art.

Three of the presenters are Texas natives, and another hails from the United Kingdom but teaches in the Austin area. The fifth is a resident of New York.

Farhang Niroomand, dean of the University of Houston-Victoria School of Business Administration, will resign Aug. 31 after more than eight years of leading the school.

UHV President Vic Morgan announced Monday that Niroomand will take faculty development leave this fall and spring semesters to prepare to teach at UHV as a professor of economics and international business in addition to other duties.

Students at the University of Houston-Victoria and Victoria College soon will have access to a food pantry and a way to borrow clothes for job interviews thanks to a new food pantry and career closet at UHV.

Many University of Houston-Victoria freshmen write down a major on paperwork before starting college, but that doesn’t mean they are sure it is the subject they want for a future career.

“It’s pretty normal for students to come to college undecided on a major or to change a major once they’ve taken some classes,” said Beverly Tomek, UHV associate provost for University College. “One of the benefits of University College is that it lets students get acclimated to college before they move into a major.”

The University of Houston-Victoria is making the path to becoming a strength and conditioning coach easier by presenting a test preparation clinic.

For the first time, UHV will host a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist exam preparation live clinic. The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sept. 23 and 24 in the Walker Auditorium of UHV University North, 3007 N. Ben Wilson St.

The University of Houston-Victoria is well on its way to recovery after a major hurricane made landfall along the Texas Gulf Coast.

Classes will begin Monday at UHV and UHV Katy. Students can return to the residence halls on Sunday. All UHV offices are open this week.

For the second straight year, the University of Houston-Victoria has been named a NAIA Champions of Character Five-Star Institution for the 2016-17 academic year.

Institutions are measured on a demonstrated commitment to the NAIA Champions of Character program and earn points in character training, conduct in competitions, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion. Institutions also earn points based on exceptional student-athlete grade point averages and obtaining zero ejections during competitions throughout the course of the year.

Crossroads small business owners interested in creating or editing an employee handbook will be able to get professional guidance through a workshop hosted by the University of Houston-Victoria Small Business Development Center.

The University of Houston-Victoria has created a fund to help students who are facing hardship because of Hurricane Harvey.

“We knew some of our students would be severely affected, and we wanted to help them,” said Jesse Pisors, UHV vice president for advancement and external relations. “The university’s primary focus is always our students, and we want to be sure they have what they need to be successful at UHV.”

Whether Hurricane Harvey caused physical damage or a loss of business income, financial assistance is available from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Most counties in the path of Hurricane Harvey have been declared disaster areas, which makes many Coastal Bend businesses eligible to apply for help.

When Vito Lozano evacuated to his hometown in Eagle Pass before Hurricane Harvey made landfall, he wondered what would happen to Victoria after the hurricane had passed.

“Victoria and the University of Houston-Victoria are like a second home for me,” Lozano said. “During the storm, I got updates from friends who stayed in the area, and their experiences really impacted me. After finding out how Victoria was affected, I just wanted to find a way to help.”

Texas teachers and activists tried to get Mexican American studies on the curriculum for years, but when they finally succeeded and a textbook was created, there was an uproar about the content.

The textbook controversy is one of several educational issues that have affected Mexican American students. Those issues will be discussed Saturday at the 31st annual Martín De León Symposium on the Humanities at the University of Houston-Victoria. This year’s symposium theme is “En Lucha: Mexican Americans and Educational Protest.”

A former business school dean and financial bond analyst is the new interim dean of the University of Houston-Victoria School of Business Administration.

James Jordan-Wagner started his position at UHV on Monday, replacing former dean Farhang Niroomand, who resigned at the end of August to teach after more than eight years of leading the school.

The University of Houston-Victoria Downtown Arts Series will kick off its fall series with a pair of writers who bring personal observations to life through their stories and poems.

Writer and educator Christine Granados and poet, educator and activist Lupe Méndez will read selected stories and poems at 7 p.m. on Sept. 30 in the UHV Center for the Arts, 204 N. Main St. The event is free and open to the public.

After hosting Leadercast Victoria for the past six years, the University of Houston-Victoria Small Business Development Center will present the inaugural Leadercast Women.

A live, worldwide leadership conference, Leadercast Women will be broadcast from Atlanta on Oct. 5 and feature nine speakers who are nationally recognized for being powered by purpose. The Victoria simulcast will be from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Victoria College Emerging Technology Center, 7403 Lone Tree Road.

Every year, the University of Houston-Victoria/American Book Review Reading Series brings in writers who share their unique perspectives of the world, and Kwame Dawes, the 100th writer, is no exception.

KATY – The University of Houston-Victoria’s newest administrator sees tremendous growth potential for the university’s teaching center in Katy.

“We are sitting on a gold mine,” said Ronald Salazar, a UHV associate professor of management and associate provost for Katy operations. “The enrollment for community colleges in our area exceeds 200,000. These are students within our grasp. In addition, Katy is the fastest-growing zip code in the country, and we are right in the middle of the energy corridor.”

The Guide to Online Schools recently included the University of Houston-Victoria in its list of schools that enable students to improve their economic situation through higher education.

UHV was included in the national guide’s list of Top Accredited Online Schools for Student Economic Mobility as well as No. 14 in the website’s 2017 Top Online Schools for Economic Diversity and Upward Mobility.

The University of Houston-Victoria recently saw an all-time high in employee giving as part of a campaign to support different programs, scholarships and initiatives at the university.

A total of 189 faculty, staff and administrators participated in the university’s 2016-2017 One For All, All For One employee giving campaign. Their total contributions brought in $78,919, a 27 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.

Preliminary enrollment figures show more students attending the University of Houston-Victoria this fall than the previous year and a record number of students living in the residence halls.

Kristen Kelly, right, an interlibrary loan associate at the Victoria College/University of Houston-Victoria Library, grimaces Thursday as she reads a passage from “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood.

University of Houston-Victoria students Melissa Torres, left, a San Antonio junior; Eliana Truss, a Chicago junior; and Brianna Torres, a San Antonio freshman; display some of the food items available in JP’s Market during Thursday’s open house event.

Robert Craig Bunch enjoys art of all kinds, but he has a particular fondness for pieces that incorporate found objects.

“It’s so fascinating because the pieces could come from literally anywhere,” said Bunch, who will speak at UHV on Oct. 14. “It could be something the artist found on the street, bits of wood, an item from a store or even bits of soap. And somehow the artist puts those elements together to create art.”

A presentation by two poets and writers in the University of Houston-Victoria Downtown Arts Series has been moved to a later date.

A University of Houston-Victoria faculty member recently received a national award for his work compiling and editing a two-volume book series about the effect of mass media in evangelical churches.

The University of Houston-Victoria recently added six members to its faculty to teach topics that include communication, criminal justice, forensic psychology, kinesiology, management and nursing.

A school district executive and a banking center president are two of the newest members of the University of Houston-Victoria President’s Regional Advisory Board.

Lee Crews, chief operations officer for Katy Independent School District, and Lola Castro, Prosperity Bank’s Beeville Banking Center president, recently joined the board. They are serving three-year terms, and the board approved their appointments at its Sept. 26 meeting.

As Disney prepares to release its latest movie, “Coco,” in November, a novelization of the story written by a University of Houston-Victoria faculty member already is on bookstore shelves.

“Coco: A Story About Music, Shoes and Family” was released Oct. 10. The book adaptation of the film was written by Diana López, a UHV associate professor of creative writing.

“This was a dream project for me,” López said. “When I watch movies, I’m always curious about the possibilities and expanded stories for different characters that viewers miss because of time limitations.

Martin Luther’s act of protest 500 years ago changed the face of modern Christianity when on Oct. 31, 1517, he nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg cathedral.

When she was growing up in Sri Lanka, Ru Freeman’s family spent a great deal of time reading and writing, and political involvement was a natural extension of those activities.

“We didn’t have a TV or radio,” said Freeman, an author and activist. “Writing was just something we did. We wrote short stories, poems and other things about political topics and social justice. We all participated in political activism.”

Although their individual methods are different, Tom Mandel’s and Beth Joselow’s poetry begins with a focus on language and words before a topic takes shape.

“Sitting down and writing about a specific topic happens from time to time, but it’s not common,” Mandel said. “I have the good fortune to be able to write every day, so I often have several projects in the works at once.”

Black history and civil rights form the connecting threads of Beverly Tomek’s research interests, and she in turn has woven together essays by various scholars to produce a major work about the subject of recolonization.

A website focused on applied behavior analysis degrees and certificate programs has named the University of Houston-Victoria master’s degree as one of the top programs in Texas in two national lists.

AppliedBehaviorAnalysisEdu.org named UHV’s Master of Education in special education with an applied behavior analysis concentration as one of the top four Texas programs in its national 32 Best Master’s in Education Programs with an ABA Emphasis list. The program also was listed among the top five in Texas in the website’s 62 Best Schools with 100 Percent Online ABA Master’s and Certificate Programs. Individual rankings were not provided within the lists.

The University of Houston-Victoria now has a new way to honor people and organizations contributing to the university.

The university recently installed a donor recognition display on the wall outside the University North Multi-Purpose Room, 3007 N. Ben Wilson St. The display features 218 donor names.

A University of Houston-Victoria faculty member’s research on old record albums, songbooks, sheet music and radio programs has led to a book that explores the history of gospel music and its role in American popular religious culture.

Crossroads veterans who want to become entrepreneurs soon will have access to a training program specifically developed for them and their families.

Although he’s written and edited more than 30 nonfiction books, Frederick Aldama chose to make the jump to writing fiction to convey some of the hard truths in life, especially for Latinos.

One of Joe Humphrey’s favorite sayings is “You don’t know what you don’t know,” and that often applies to entrepreneurs trying to build successful businesses.

Ayesha Sahigara knows firsthand the power of connections in landing a plum job.

She was a new graduate student at the University of Houston-Victoria when the School of Business Administration connected her with a business consulting company.

Adrian Rigby, University of Houston-Victoria assistant athletic director, today announced the launch of Jobs After Graduation, or JAG, a comprehensive student-athlete enhancement program dedicated to providing learning and internship opportunity experiences for UHV athletes.

The University of Houston-Victoria recently received recognition from a national website for its ethnic diversity as well as its excellent degree programs in psychology, computer information systems, business and interdisciplinary studies.

The University of Houston-Victoria kicked off the public phase of a fundraising campaign with an $839,775 donation from the M.G. and Lillie A. Johnson Foundation.

The UHV Here, We Go campaign launched its public phase Tuesday at the end of the university’s 2016-2017 President’s Annual Report & Excellence Awards event.

University of Houston-Victoria leaders and supporters gathered Tuesday for the 2016-2017 President’s Annual Report & Excellence Awards to celebrate successes from the previous year and recognize four award recipients.

About 260 people gathered at the Spring Creek Place Event Center to watch a presentation of the university’s accomplishments and community involvement during the 2017 fiscal year.

Area entrepreneurs are invited to anonymously share their financial positions and needs as part of a federal survey designed to help lenders understand current business conditions.

The University of Houston-Victoria encourages area business owners to take part in the Federal Reserve Bank business survey. The survey is a go-to source for information about small business conditions and financing experiences.

University of Houston-Victoria students and community members have a chance Saturday to get a taste of international culture as part of a fundraising event.

The UHV Office of International Programs and the International Students Organization are hosting International Night, a fundraising event that will benefit the student organization and its goal to do more community outreach.

Crossroads entrepreneurs who are women or minorities soon will be able to learn more about a special certification for government contracts through a workshop hosted by the University of Houston-Victoria Small Business Development Center.

Grow Your Business with Texas HUB Certification will be from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nov. 29 at the UHV SBDC, 1908 N. Laurent St., Suite 400. The free workshop will be presented by Bobby Mirabal, a certified procurement professional from the Del Mar College Procurement Technical Assistance Center.

When Rob Stanton writes poetry about current events, he often uses the writing process to better understand his own reactions and feelings.

“When it comes to poetry, I like to think it can be useful for the writer and the reader,” said Stanton, a poet and professor of composition at South University in Austin. “I write a lot, but I also go back and do a lot of editing, and that helps me work through the topic and substance of my poems and better understand myself.”

Dalkey Archive Press recently received a grant of 90,544 euros, or about $106,900, to publish translations from nine Eastern European countries during the next two years.

This is the second year that the Creative Europe Culture Sub-Program Support to Literary Translation Projects has awarded a grant to Dalkey Archive. The press is internationally recognized for its commitment to literary translations and has publishing operations at the University of Houston-Victoria and also a European office in Dublin. Out of 220 eligible applications, Dalkey’s application was one of only 33 that were successful. 

Texas author Clay Reynolds recently considered whether any particular themes permeate his 10 published novels.

“I only go by what people tell me, and people tell me that all of my stories are love stories. I have no reason to think otherwise,” said Reynolds, who will speak at the University of Houston-Victoria on Dec. 6. “There’s always a central relationship around which the plots swirl, and it’s usually seriocomic, meaning it’s serious but has comedic elements in it. Life is a serious business that is relieved by incredible comedy, and you have to learn to laugh.”

When Michelle Ruiz first submitted her paper about how hospital sales affect nurse retention, it was rejected by a journal, but that didn’t stop her.

The University of Houston-Victoria assistant professor of healthcare management and her coauthor, Lori Peterson, an assistant professor at Missouri State University, reworked the paper and submitted it to the Southern Management Association Conference. Their submission was named the best paper in the Health Care, Hospitality Management and Public Administration category.

The holiday season is here, and the University of Houston-Victoria Student Government Association is celebrating by hosting its 15th annual Giving Tree donation drive to benefit Victoria nonprofit organizations.

The Giving Tree gives UHV students, faculty and staff, and community members the opportunity to donate items to different nonprofit organizations. This year, the Giving Tree will benefit Adopt-A-Pet and Mid-Coast Family Services. 

The Master’s Program Guide website recently ranked the University of Houston-Victoria Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies as one of the nation’s top 50 liberal studies programs.

UHV’s program is No. 31 on the website’s 50 Best Online Master of Liberal Studies Degree Programs 2018 list. The website ranked programs based on criteria that include school reputation, a liberal studies focus or variety of offerings, and online accessibility.

For the second year in a row, the University of Houston-Victoria has enjoyed a banner year of giving.

The university reached a new high in 2016-2017 with 931 unique donors giving $1.1 million. The number of donors and the amount given outpaced 2015-2016 by 27 percent more donors and 36 percent more money donated.

Fans of Disney’s "Coco" soon will have the opportunity to get a signed copy of the new movie’s novelization at a book signing hosted by the University of Houston-Victoria.

Diana López, a UHV associate professor of creative writing, will sign copies of her book, "Coco: A Story About Music, Shoes and Family," starting at 6 p.m. Dec. 14 at the UHV Center for the Arts, 204 N. Main St. The event is free and open to the public.

"The community response to ‘Coco’ and the book has just been overwhelming," López said.

When Melody Schluer decided to pursue her Master of Education in special education, several of her friends and colleagues suggested she apply at the University of Houston-Victoria.

“Several of them had attended UHV before or were finishing up their degrees,” Schluer said. “They told me about their good experiences and encouraged me to apply.”

Nicolette Do’s focus on efficiency tied right into why she chose to pursue her Master of Business Administration at the University of Houston-Victoria.

A resident of Richmond, Texas, she liked that she could do most of her graduate coursework online, saving hours in commuting, personal time and productivity every week.

A passionate University of Houston-Victoria professor of criminal justice opened Brittany Proctor’s eyes to the pitfalls of the criminal justice system, including problems with the rehabilitation services offered to those released from prison.

“We’re basically letting people out just for them to come right back in, and we never really give them an opportunity to change course. My professor’s point really resonated with me,” said Proctor, a Victoria resident who back then was an undergraduate student.

Darlyn Sustaita is one of 10 University of Houston-Victoria nursing students who on Friday will graduate from the university’s new Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.

“Getting a degree from UHV has been a great experience,” Sustaita, director of clinical services at Gulf Bend Center. “It’s been exciting to be part of the pilot group for this program.”

Four University of Houston-Victoria graduate students made school history this semester while participating in a Global Business Simulation competition that is part of the Global Master of Business Administration program.

The winning team, Active Jag Cameras, consisted of students Devon Dueser and Frank Hillyard, both of Victoria; Jennifer Sharpe of Chesterfield, Va; and Vanessa Rivera of Cypress. The team developed competitive strategies for a simulated action-capture cameras company in a global simulation of the worldwide economy. The team placed in the top 100 three out of seven total weeks of the competition. The last time UHV students placed three times in the top 100 was in 2014.

As the winning team prepared for the 22nd University of Houston-Victoria Bachelor of Business Administration Case Conference, it took full advantage of digital communication methods.

Ashley Garrett and Stephanie Kelley, both of Katy; Natalie Lazo of Needville; Christopher Nowzaradan of Missouri City; and Neilesh Vora of Sugar Land kept in contact through the GroupMe messaging app as they researched and built their presentation in a Google Docs file.

UHV President Vic Morgan, center, presents the 2016-2017 Community Partnership Award to Victoria City Council members and City Manager Charmelle Garrett, third from left, at Tuesday’s council meeting.

When Margaret Rice’s family was looking for a way to honor the memory of her father, she knew a University of Houston-Victoria endowed scholarship was exactly what he would want.

The Justin Truett Hunt Memorial Scholarship recently was fully endowed thanks to donations from Hunt’s family.