In response to the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases, the University of Houston-Victoria will have a soft opening for the first two weeks of the spring semester, just as other universities across the state have chosen to do.

UHV’s spring 2022 semester will begin on Jan. 18. For the first two weeks, the university’s face-to-face classes will also offer real-time streaming so students who are uncomfortable or unable to attend classes are able to continue their studies uninterrupted. The university plans to return to its original class modes by Feb. 7.

The University of Houston-Victoria College of Business’s Strategic Master of Business Administration recently was included in one of the Princeton Review’s lists of top business programs in the nation.

The Princeton Review included the Strategic MBA program in its The Best Business Schools 2022: Best On-Campus MBA Programs list. The list includes schools from across the country and the world and is determined by using factors including institutional and student survey data.

The design phase of the University of Houston-Victoria’s new Health & Wellness Center is nearing completion, and in addition to educational and fitness facilities, the building will feature a walk-in clinic that will serve UHV students and the community.

The Health & Wellness Center will be 35,000 square feet including the walk-in clinic. The center was designed by SmithGroup and will be built on the vacant lot on the southeast corner of Red River and Ben Wilson streets, near the new UHV University Commons student center and library and across Ben Wilson from Dairy Queen.

The University of Houston-Victoria has released the names of undergraduate students who made its fall 2021 President’s and Deans’ lists.

The President’s List honors undergraduates who earn a 4.0 grade-point average on all work completed during the fall semester. To qualify for the Deans’ List, undergraduates must earn at least a 3.5 grade-point average.

Four nationally acclaimed speakers are lined up for the spring Bridge to Brilliance series at the University of Houston-Victoria, including a career coach, a college football coach, a workplace culture expert and a motivational speaker.

The Bridge to Brilliance series is about unlocking the secrets to living an exceptional life and brings together guest speakers who offer tips for successfully fast-tracking careers and improving personal wellbeing. The free series is hosted by the UHV College of Business. 

Representatives from the University of Houston-Victoria and Blinn College met Tuesday to sign an agreement that will allow students to earn both an associate and bachelor’s degree at each institution through an academic pathway program.

Through this new agreement, called the Clear, Affordable Pathway to Success Program or C.A.P.S., students will have the opportunity to enroll in both institutions and start on an associate degree from Blinn College and a bachelor’s degree from UHV at the same time. 

In honor and celebration of Black History Month, the Victoria Regional History Center presents “History in the Crossroads,” an exhibition of historic photographs and prominent books relating to the remarkable lives of African American figures in Crossroads’ history.

The University of Houston-Victoria has awarded 580 degrees to undergraduate and graduate students who completed their coursework during the fall semester.

Students graduating cum laude, with honor, had grade-point averages of 3.5 to 3.67 on a 4.0 scale. Students graduating magna cum laude, with high honor, had GPAs of 3.68 to 3.84, and those graduating summa cum laude, with highest honor, had a GPA of 3.85 or higher.

The UHV Discovers series will kick off the spring semester with presentations by two UHV history faculty members featuring research on the making of urban law in medieval Britain and the interactions between federal soldiers and Southern women during the American Civil War.

Esther Cuenca and Laura Mammina, both assistant professors of history at UHV, will present research that was funded by UHV’s 2021-2022 Junior Faculty Summer Research Grant. 

The first-, second- and third-place winners of the Black History Month Poster Contest display their posters and awards Tuesday during a reception to honor the students who participated in the annual contest. The theme of this year’s contest was “Black Olympians,” and students from De Leon Elementary School in the Victoria Independent School District submitted posters that highlighted famous athletes ranging from Carl Lewis to Lebron James. 

Students in the kinesiology program at the University of Houston-Victoria will have the opportunity to gain real-world experience working in an athletic training facility through a new partnership with Dynamic Sports Training in Houston.

The agreement will provide an opportunity for kinesiology students to apply for an internship with Dynamic Sports Training, a facility that offers custom training for all athletes, including those at the youth, collegiate, professional and Olympic levels. 

A University of Houston-Victoria professor of nursing has been named the M.G. & Lillie A. Johnson Foundation Endowed Professor of Nursing.

As the award recipient, Victoria Thomas, UHV clinical professor and interim director of the nursing program, will hold the endowed professorship in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and will receive a $5,000 stipend for each of those years. Thomas learned she was chosen for the professorship when she received a letter from UHV’s provost and vice president for academic affairs.

A University of Houston-Victoria Library government information guide recently was recognized by the U.S. Government Publishing Office and will be placed on a list of examples for other depository libraries to consult.

The website was selected by the U.S. Government Publishing Office as an “exemplary” digital depository website. The Government Publishing Office publishes and distributes official government publications to Congress, federal agencies, federal depository libraries and the public.

The University of Houston-Victoria College of Business’ graduate human resources program took a major leap forward this month when it received approval from the most prestigious human resources association in the world.

The Society for Human Resource Management recently awarded its coveted certificate of alignment to the college for its Global and Strategic Master of Business Administration in human resources management programs. The certificate awarded to UHV recognizes that its human resources curriculum aligns with the society’s competency model for addressing contemporary requirements of the human resources field and also provides the information students need to pass the society’s professional exam.

Members of the University of Houston-Victoria Marketing & Communications and Enrollment Management teams pose for a picture Friday with the Bronze ADDY Award that the university won during the American Advertising Federation-Corpus Christi Chapter ADDY Awards. 

The university received the Bronze ADDY in the Online & Interactive category for pieces for the 2020-2021 UHV President’s Annual Report & Excellence Awards. 

Officials from the University of Houston-Victoria, the City of Victoria and Keep Victoria Beautiful pose for a photo Tuesday before a Victoria City Council meeting where UHV was honored by Keep Victoria Beautiful for winning the Business Beautification Award for the month of March. 

The Business Beautification Award is given based on public nominations followed by a review of each nominee by members of the Keep Victoria Beautiful award committee. 

To Claud Jacobs, it is important to honor and express appreciation for others while they are still alive to receive the recognition. With that in mind, Jacobs has donated $25,000 to the University of Houston-Victoria to create a new endowed scholarship for nursing students in honor of his wife, Mary Virginia.

Three-time University of Houston-Victoria alumna and Food Bank of the Golden Crescent president and CEO Robin Cadle will speak at the next UHV Alumni Networking Luncheon and speak about the work the food bank does in the Crossroads community.

The luncheon will be from noon to 1 p.m. March 10 in the UHV University Commons Multi-Purpose Room, 3006 N. Ben Wilson St. The event will begin with networking, followed by lunch and Cadle’s presentation.

Community college students can more easily earn a bachelor’s degree at the University of Houston-Victoria, thanks to a new expansion of its partnership with Alvin Community College.

On Feb. 17, the institutions updated their partnership agreement to allow ACC students completing an Associate of Applied Science in Paralegal to transfer those credits to UHV and apply them toward a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences in Legal Assistance and Administration.

Four University of Houston-Victoria faculty members will be able to spend the academic year focusing on research in their areas of expertise thanks to grants awarded by the university.

UHV awarded two $10,000 Junior Faculty Summer Research Grants for summer 2022 and two $6,000 Internal Research Grants for the 2022-2023 academic year. Ashley Fansher, an assistant professor of criminal justice, and Sharon Hamrick de Marin, an assistant professor of special education, received the Junior Faculty Summer Research Grants. Asahi Tomitaka and Aobo Jin, both assistant professors of computer science, received Internal Research Grants.

One of the most famous medieval scholars in the world will soon be addressing members of the University of Houston-Victoria community.

William Chester Jordan, a Princeton University history professor, is an expert on the Crusades and the history of the medieval world. He is slated to speak at UHV’s annual History Day later this month.

University of Houston-Victoria alumni Bishop Gary Janak and Loveth Ohenhen have at least one thing in common: a passion to help others as much as they can. Now, the two alumni will be honored during the 2022 UHV Alumni Awards Banquet.

Janak, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, will receive the 2022 Distinguished Alumnus Award. Ohenhen, a systems engineer at Dell Technologies in Atlanta, will receive the Young Alumnus of the Year Award.

The University of Houston-Victoria’s 2022 homecoming celebration will be a magical experience for all thanks to this year’s theme and a wide variety of fun activities.

The Happiest Homecoming at UHV will be from April 18 to 23, and everyone is invited to help the university celebrate a magical, Disneyesque series of events throughout the week. Homecoming week will include events for students as well as many opportunities for UHV alumni and community members to partake in the celebrations either virtually or in person.

The University of Houston-Victoria invites area college and high school students to its upcoming diversity and inclusion conference focusing on the importance of supporting underrepresented groups on campus and in society at large.

UHV’s second annual Race, Inclusion and Social Equity Diversity Conference, also known as RISE, will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 2 in UHV University North, 3007 N. Ben Wilson St. The conference is hosted by UHV Student Life and is open to students from the University of Houston System, Victoria College and area high schools. Students also can attend the conference virtually.

After two years, the University of Houston-Victoria will once again host the International Festival and showcase the diversity of cultures and countries represented on UHV’s campus, including a flag parade, cuisine from different countries, a fashion show and traditional dances.

The International Festival will be at 5:30 p.m. April 8 in Pyramid Row, located behind UHV University Center, 3007 N. Ben Wilson St. The festival is free and open to all UHV students, faculty, staff and the community.

EVENT NAME: Spring 2022 UHV Katy Open House

Daniel White, a University of Houston-Victoria assistant professor of biology and program coordinator for the UHV biology and chemistry programs, shows Stroman Middle School students a video of a rollercoaster in UHV’s visualization theater Tuesday during Stroman STEM Academy’s field trip to the campus. About 170 students in the Stroman STEM Academy visited the UHV campus Tuesday and Wednesday and met with UHV biology, computer science and mathematics faculty to learn about STEM subjects.

Armando Chávez-Rivera, a University of Houston-Victoria associate professor of Spanish, recently was elected to join the Spanish-language academy that serves the United States and also will become a corresponding member of Spain’s oldest official Spanish-language institution.

Chávez-Rivera was nominated and elected to join the Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española, or North American Academy of the Spanish Language, at the end of last year. The academy is one of 23 Spanish-language academies in four continents that serve 580 million Spanish-speakers around the world, according to the academy’s website.

A member of the University of Houston-Victoria Facilities staff was recognized Tuesday as the 2021 Employee of the Year for his positive attitude and dedication to doing his best to get the job done every day.

Ruben Monroe, senior maintenance technician, was given the honor during the UHV Faculty & Staff Recognition Luncheon. The event also recognized faculty and staff members who are celebrating employment anniversaries at the university.

A University of Houston-Victoria professor is preparing for academic leave to research at the renowned Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, N.J.

Esther Cuenca, a UHV assistant professor of history, is among a select group of about 250 scholars from around the world chosen to be members during the 2022-2023 academic year at the institute, where Albert Einstein was a founding professor. Additionally, Cuenca is one of only a few of those scholars who received a Mellon Fellowship for Assistant Professors with funding from the Andrew Mellon Foundation.

Beverly Shuford knows that success and doing important work doesn’t necessarily mean being out in front and receiving accolades, and that’s the attitude she plans to bring to the University of Houston-Victoria as a new vice president.

“I find success in being behind the scenes, enabling others to succeed and removing barriers,” Shuford said. “My leadership style focuses on accountability, trust but verify, empowerment, and support and encouragement of my direct reports and teams. With professional business and finance teams, I have found that a ‘thank you’ for a job well done is powerful and welcomed.”

Patients have for years connected with their doctors via videoconferencing, to a limited degree, but the spread of the pandemic is what really made telemedicine take off. The question is, how much should telemedicine usage continue once the pandemic is over?

Chien-Ping Chen, a University of Houston-Victoria professor, intends to find out. He was granted academic leave for the fall 2022 semester to pursue a research project aimed at answering this and other questions about telemedicine usage.

Sometimes, the best way to learn is through a game. After hosting a successful workshop based on creating a digital game and application, Amjad Nusayr, a University of Houston-Victoria assistant professor of computer science, plans to create more workshops so that students and community members can learn about what goes into creating a digital game and application.

The first workshop, which was held in March, was based off the popular word game Wordle and was open to all UHV students. The event saw more than 40 participants and took place in person and through Microsoft Teams.

The University of Houston-Victoria Discovers series will close the spring semester during the university’s homecoming festivities with presentations by two UHV College of Business faculty members about stock returns and bankruptcy.

Nazif Durmaz, an associate professor of economics, and Tong Kang, an assistant professor of management, will present their respective research topics from 1:30-2:30 p.m. April 21 in Room 111 of UHV University North, 3007 N. Ben Wilson St. The presentation also will be streamed live through Microsoft Teams. The event is free and open to the public and will be part of UHV’s 2022 homecoming celebration, called The Happiest Homecoming at UHV.

The University of Houston-Victoria chapter of the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society inducted 59 students from the Victoria and Katy area in a special ceremony on April 7.

The honor society invites students from the top of all academic disciplines to join, including the top 7.5 percent of second-term juniors and the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students. 

Marilyn Medina learns something new every day as an intern for the San Antonio Police Department as she rotates between different divisions to gain a big-picture understanding of law enforcement.

Medina, a University of Houston-Victoria sophomore criminal justice major from San Antonio, views the internship as providing essential experience for her goal of becoming a crime scene investigator.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Meredith Bridges was getting ready to start student teaching so she could become a teacher. However, once the schools shut down, all student teaching was suspended, and she decided to find a new plan for her career.

Now, Bridges is preparing to graduate on May 14 with a Master of Science in entrepreneurship and economic development from the University of Houston-Victoria College of Business with a goal to work in community development in the future. She was also named the Outstanding Graduate Student for the business school. Salvador Francis Palma of Houston was named the Outstanding Undergraduate Student.

University of Houston-Victoria students will have the opportunity to gain experience working in a collegiate sports environment while in school, thanks to a new partnership with Victoria College Athletics.

The agreement will provide opportunities for UHV kinesiology students to apply for an internship with the Victoria College athletics program, which includes men’s basketball, women’s volleyball, and men’s and women’s cross-country.

When Calhoun High School senior Ian Chen took the computer science and senior mathematics tests at the 25th annual University of Houston-Victoria Math & Robotics Awareness Day, he felt confident in his abilities. Still, it was a welcome surprise to learn he won first place in both competitions.

“It feels good, especially because I want to go to college to study computer science,” the 17-year-old Port Lavaca student said. “The Math & Robotics Awareness Day is a great experience because it helps students get to know different fields with lots of interesting presentations. I’m glad I got to participate in the event again.”

Elizabeth De La Garza and Jensen Schindler remain laser-focused on what matters most to them as they prepare to graduate next month from the University of Houston-Victoria. That’s why the women were named outstanding students by the UHV College of Education & Health Professions.

“My goals are just to be the best I can and to help others,” said Schindler, who plans to become a school teacher. “If I can help out someone each day, such as a kid in need or a kid who just needs some positive encouragement, then I will have done my job for that day, and that is rewarding.”

The University of Houston-Victoria recently acknowledged three faculty members in the fields of English and creative writing, Spanish, and psychology and biology for their work in teaching, research and service.

The faculty members are selected by their colleagues and students each spring for the prestigious awards.

For Wendy Hughes, running for homecoming court in college was not something she imagined herself ever doing. But after a spontaneous and last-minute decision to cast her name in the running to be a University of Houston-Victoria Royal Jaguar, she found herself wearing a crown.

“When they reopened the call for homecoming court candidates, I thought if I could show other nontraditional students that you can still have the same experience as younger students, it could maybe inspire them to do the same in the future,” Hughes said.

Hughes, a Victoria resident, along with Kevin Madrid of Odessa and Jaira Jenkins of San Antonio were named Royal Jaguars Saturday as part of UHV Homecoming Week. 

jaX the jaguar sniffs the University of Houston-Victoria ring box at the jaguar exhibit at the Texas Zoo. Each year, the UHV class rings are placed in a locked box and secured at the jaguar exhibit for 24 hours so that UHV’s live mascot can “bless” the rings before being brought back to the university for the Jaguar Ring Ceremony.

For many students, an internship can help set them up for a career after graduation. Now, University of Houston-Victoria students who have internships for the spring and summer semesters will be paid for their work, thanks to a Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board grant.

UHV Career Services recently received a $78,678 grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to support student internships called the Work-based Learning Opportunity Grant. With this grant, UHV students who were in unpaid, off-campus internships during the spring semester will receive pay for their internship.

University of Houston-Victoria spring 2022 graduates will have the opportunity to celebrate graduation and listen to words of encouragement from the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness this month during the university’s commencement ceremonies in Victoria.

UHV will hold two commencement ceremonies on May 14 at Faith Family Church, 2002 E. Mockingbird Lane. The 10 a.m. ceremony will be for graduates of the colleges of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences and Natural & Applied Science. The 3 p.m. ceremony will be for graduates of the colleges of Business and Education & Health Professions.

University of Houston-Victoria College of Education & Health Professions students and their families listen as UHV President Bob Glenn speaks Tuesday during the Spring 2022 Student Teacher Induction Ceremony in Victoria. Thirteen of 28 education students were honored in Victoria with pins to celebrate the completion of student teaching and the beginning of their careers as educators.

With aspirations to become a physician assistant, Ryley Reyes looks forward to helping people with medical ailments by drawing from her educational background in biology and from life experiences dealing with her own health challenges.

“I’ve actually known that I wanted to go in the science direction since I was about 14,” said Reyes, who was then diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder called idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. “It was a big change in my life, so it was a big motivating factor for me.”

Brittney Bradley and Jesse “Patrick” Garcia look forward to drawing from their schooling in psychology to make a positive difference for others after they graduate Saturday from the University of Houston-Victoria.

“The field of psychology has always interested me,” said Bradley, who plans to become a school psychologist to help students with disabilities. “I look forward to helping families and parents gain more understanding and insight as to why their children do the things they do.”

When it came to preparing their research and recommendations for the 30th University of Houston-Victoria Bachelor of Business Administration Case Conference, the first-place team chose to follow the democratic process.

“We made sure to communicate all of our research finds with each other, then we’d vote on how we wanted to move forward,” said Dara Gomez, a Pettus marketing major. “We divided up the work according to each person’s strengths, but we made the decisions about how to proceed together.”

For Sarah Stanaland, the University of Houston-Victoria Association of Future Advocates, Leaders and Lawyers receiving the Student Organization of the Year award during the annual Student Organization and Leadership Banquet was a culmination of all the work the group has done since September 2020.

Throughout the year, the group has started a mentorship program, a Law School Admission Test study group, connected with local and state political candidates and brought to campus representatives from two Texas law schools.

Mark Ward Sr., an associate professor of communication at the University of Houston-Victoria, was named the 2022 Outstanding Scholar in Communication Theory by the Southern States Communication Association.

“This honor is especially gratifying because theory development is the key to research in communication studies and in any academic discipline,” Ward said.

Newly inducted members of Nu Gamma Nu, the University of Houston-Victoria’s chapter of the Beta Beta Beta national biology honor society, pose for a photograph April 19 during the annual induction ceremony. Requirements for invitation to membership include being an undergraduate biology student of sophomore level or above, be in good academic standing, with an overall grade point average of 3.0 or above, and a B average or above for all biology courses. Biology graduate students are also eligible for membership.

Members and friends of the Latino community celebrated Cinco de Mayo this month with a silent auction to raise money for a new scholarship fund.

Organized by the Latino Faculty and Staff Association at the University of Houston-Victoria, the event was the young organization’s first scholarship fundraiser and took place on May 5 at the University Commons building.

University of Houston-Victoria faculty, staff and students were recently honored for their positive attitudes, excellence in teaching, research and mentorship, top grades and more.

The 2021-2022 Academic Affairs Awards were recently given to those who have gone above and beyond during the academic year. The university first started this awards program last year.

For a winning group of University of Houston-Victoria Master of Business Administration students, a semester-long business analysis has proven to be more than just a group project. The four-person group left the 29th UHV College of Business Master of Business Administration Case Conference feeling more confident in their business skills and knowledge.

“All four of us come from different industries, and by having each of us weigh in, we were able to innovate from our broad experience and figure out the issue,” said Gavin Menezes of Houston. “I feel really blessed to be part of such a strong team.”

Yonghui Wang builds bridges through bilingual instruction – a talent recently recognized by the middle school office of the Houston Independent School District, which named her Bilingual Teacher of the Year.

“This award is a huge honor to me. It also encourages my continued commitment and dedication to support my linguistically and culturally diverse students,” said Wang, a University of Houston-Victoria alumna who also teaches kindergarten Chinese, math and science at the Mandarin Immersion Magnet School in Houston.

Past and current leaders from the City of Victoria and the University of Houston-Victoria, community leaders and elected officials gathered June 3 to celebrate the start of the Ben Wilson Corridor Improvement Project.

The project is centered on the section of Ben Wilson Street that divides the UHV campus from Airline Road to Red River Street. The project will reduce the street to one lane in each direction and add grass and landscaped center dividers from the north end of campus to Red River Street as well as crosswalks in front of UHV University Commons, 3006 N. Ben Wilson St.

Members of the University of Houston-Victoria Rotaract Club and Victoria East High School Interact Club pose with school supply kits made for elementary students and teachers. In April, members of the two clubs gathered to assemble school supply kits through a $500 grant from Rotary District 5930 and with a matching grant from United Way of the Crossroads. 

For many in the field of technology and computer science, the future doesn’t exist without artificial intelligence. That was the topic of discussion and interest at the AI & the Future of Houston Conference in April, where professionals and science educators, including University of Houston-Victoria faculty, gathered to discuss the future of the field.

The two-day conference was held April 29-30 in Houston and hosted by Houston Community College. Representatives from HCC, Houston-area universities, businesses and health care facilities and HCC students attended the event.

As a student teacher this past semester who excelled in the classroom, Lacey Robins was honored for her outstanding fieldwork during her placement as a student teacher working to enter the teaching profession.

Toward the end of the spring semester, she received the first-ever Teacher Ambassador Award from the University of Houston-Victoria College of Education & Health Professions.

Victoria-area residents can get free tickets to the June 20 Victoria Generals collegiate league baseball game sponsored by the University of Houston-Victoria.

Free Ticket Night at the Victoria Generals presented by UHV will feature a game between the Generals and the Acadiana Cane Cutters. The first pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. at Riverside Stadium inside Riverside Park. Attendees can get free tickets on a first-come, first-served basis. Admission also will be free at the gate.

Toward the end of 2021, Morgen Glenn sent out applications for several summer fellowships and internships and hoped for the best. What the University of Houston-Victoria student didn’t expect was to receive two offers.

Glenn, a UHV senior biology and pre-med student, was chosen as a research fellow for the Laney Graduate School Summer Opportunity for Academic Research at Emory University in Atlanta, and as an intern for the American Cancer Society Diversity in Cancer Research Internship at the Winship Cancer Institute, also at Emory University.

Isa Alstrom, front, and Brody Guajardo work together Tuesday to build a robot and create a program that will allow the robot to detect colors using sensors during the University of Houston-Victoria’s High School Robotics Summer Camp. The 15-year-old St. Joseph High School students are entering the 10th grade this year and saw the camp as an opportunity to learn more about robotics and computer science. 

A University of Houston-Victoria administrator and an alumna have both been named to the Houston Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list out of hundreds of nominations of business professionals and community leaders from the Houston area, the publication recently announced.

Karla DeCuir, UHV assistant provost for distance education, and Kristen Sayegh, a Whitley Penn tax partner, were both recognized this month in a special section of the weekly edition of the journal.

A University of Houston-Victoria faculty member and UHV students are helping to conduct research on technologies including artificial intelligence for the U.S. Department of Energy, thanks to a $300,000 federal contract awarded to the faculty member and other national laboratories.

Hardik Gohel, a UHV assistant professor of computer science, was awarded a $300,000 federal contract this year with Battelle Savanah River Alliance LLC for research that will apply predictive modeling techniques for detection and monitoring of groundwater contamination.

In the fall, University of Houston-Victoria students will have access to a range of new business concentrations and graduate certificates in areas that will enable graduates to pursue careers in area industries.

The UHV College of Business is adding four new graduate certificates and concentrations in business analytics, human resources management, nonprofit leadership and supply chain management. The college also will offer a new Bachelor of Business Administration concentration in construction management. All of the certificates and concentrations will be available in the fall.

Once again, the readers of the Katy Times have named the University of Houston-Victoria the best college to attend in the Katy area.

The university received first place in the 2022 Katy Times’ Best of Katy readers’ choice awards contest in the Best College category. The university has been named a top choice by Katy Times readers for several years.

The University of Houston-Victoria has released the names of undergraduate students who made its spring 2022 President’s and Deans’ lists.

The President’s List honors undergraduates who earn a 4.0 grade-point average on all work completed during the spring semester. To qualify for the Deans’ List, undergraduates must earn at least a 3.5 grade-point average.

Two years ago, University of Houston-Victoria alumna Mariah Massengill would not have predicted that she would be spending the summer after graduation preparing to move to Hawaii.

Massengill, a UHV alumna who recently received her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing, will begin in August as a student in the Asian Theatre doctoral program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She will soon join the internationally recognized program for the study and practice of Asian performance.

The University of Houston-Victoria has awarded 514 degrees to undergraduate and graduate students who completed their coursework during the spring semester.

Students graduating cum laude, with honor, had grade-point averages of 3.5 to 3.67 on a 4.0 scale. Students graduating magna cum laude, with high honor, had GPAs of 3.68 to 3.84, and those graduating summa cum laude, with highest honor, had a GPA of 3.85 or higher.

Recently, a University of Houston-Victoria staff member was nominated to take on a board member’s role in the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Region III.

For the second time in six years, Michael Wilkinson, UHV senior director of student services and judicial affairs, will serve a two-year term as the association’s professional programs co-chair. He first served in that role from 2018 to 2020.

Ricardo Teixeira, an associate professor of mathematics, explains a mathematical concept to area high school students Friday during the University of Houston-Victoria’s Mathematics Summer Camp. Six students from area high schools including Calhoun, Industrial, Victoria East and Victoria West attended the camp from July 19 to 22 and stayed in the UHV residence halls during the week.

A University of Houston-Victoria student branch of an international technological society recently hosted its inaugural international conference, bringing participants from a dozen countries together to discuss artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

The UHV Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Student Branch held the UHV International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity from May 24 to 26 in the UHV University South visualization theatre and through Microsoft Teams.

Armando Chávez-Rivera, a University of Houston-Victoria associate professor of Spanish, recently received an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship to conduct research at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston.

As part of the fellowship, Chávez-Rivera will travel to Boston for four weeks in order to study a manuscript and other documents from the 1800s involving trade with Cuba. The language used in the manuscript will help advance his research into the use of the Spanish language in Cuba and the Caribbean.

Mandeep Jain, left, and Robert Jones, both eighth-graders at Howell Middle School, work on their robot’s program Tuesday during the Middle School Robotics Summer Camp at the University of Houston-Victoria. During the camp, seven students from area middle schools learned how to program robots to complete tasks such as detecting colors and following a path marked out by a black line. 

The University of Houston-Victoria, along with other University of Houston System schools, recently has joined a partnership with the Amazon Career Choice Program to help Amazon employees complete a higher education degree.

Amazon’s Career Choice program is an educational benefit that empowers Amazon employees to learn new skills for career success at Amazon or elsewhere.

The new UHV jaguar was created to embody the drive and determination that lives within all our students, staff and faculty. The jaguar is fierce, strong and determined and so are we. We all have a little bit of a jaguar in us.

Tristan Vahalik, left, and Jacob Kinnison, both 13, race their robots Aug. 5 during the University of Houston-Victoria’s Arduino Summer Camp. The camp allowed five area middle school students to learn how to use Arduino circuit boards to build robots that could complete various tasks, including follow a line, solve a maze and even receive directions from a mobile app. 

A University of Houston-Victoria faculty member is one of five editors of a book that recently was published about computational approaches to mitigate Sars-COV-2 infection and includes the research and work of UHV faculty and students.

The book, “Computational Approaches for Novel Therapeutic and Diagnostic Designing to Mitigate Sars-COV-2 Infection: Revolutionary Strategies to Combat Pandemics” published in July.

As the incoming University of Houston-Victoria Faculty Senate president, Sandy Venneman plans to stay focused on representing the faculty and making sure the faculty stay informed about the university leadership’s decisions.

Venneman, a professor of psychology and biology, will serve as the Faculty Senate president during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Four University of Houston-Victoria students received invaluable work experience interning for various City of Victoria departments this summer in a partnership between the city government and the university, thanks to a grant the university received this past spring.

The students spent several weeks this summer working alongside employees of the City of Victoria Fire Department; City of Victoria Police Department; City of Victoria Municipal Court; and the City of Victoria Finance Department. 

As the University of Houston-Victoria welcomes students back for another academic year, the new UHV Staff Council chair is working to find ways to support the university’s staff and improve connections between the staff and others at the university.

Theresa Hawken, administrative assistant to the senior director of the UHV Library, is the 2022-2023 Staff Council chair. She previously served as the vice chair, and she will move to the position of past chair once her term as chair is up.

As Kai Martinez looks to her term as the new University of Houston-Victoria Student Government Association President, she can’t help but focus on one important and basic factor: mental health.

“The past few years have been challenging for so many students, including our first-year students experiencing college life for the first time,” Martinez said. “I want UHV to be a safe space for everyone, including mental health matters.”

Martinez, of Mercedes, ran unopposed for the position of SGA president and started her term at the beginning of June. 

University of Houston-Victoria students soon will have the opportunity to apply for a new scholarship to help pay for their education, thanks to a new endowment by the Women in Partnership for Progress, also known as WIPP, a local Victoria group that has for years raised thousands of dollars for student scholarships, local nonprofits and those in need of assistance.

“Education is so important, and paying for it can be a struggle. We want to make sure that students can get the extra assistance they need in order to obtain a degree,” said Debra Williams, historian and member of WIPP.

When Amber Countis joins the University of Houston-Victoria in October, she is looking forward to learning about and immersing herself in the university community in order to promote higher education.

“I believe in the power of higher education and the important impact that it can have on people’s lives,” Countis said. “I’ve seen its impact on my own life, and I want to find ways to support those who want to earn a degree, whether that’s by securing donations for scholarships, applying for grants to fund programs or even just being part of a community that values education.”

More than a dozen University of Houston-Victoria faculty members recently were promoted, with five becoming full professors and 10 receiving tenure.

Computer science undergraduate students at the University of Houston-Victoria will now graduate with degrees that are accredited by a national engineering and technology board.

The UHV College of Natural & Applied Science Bachelor of Science in computer science program recently was accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. The board is recognized internationally for its accreditation of college and university programs in disciplines including applied and natural science, computing, engineering and engineering technology.

The Victoria Regional History Center invites you to explore Hispanic heritage in Victoria and the Crossroads. An educational exhibit featuring photographs, recreations of paintings, student essays from institutional archives, and issues from Victoria’s only bilingual newspaper, Revista de Victoria, is on display in the exhibit gallery on the third floor of the UHV Library. 

For many college students, sometimes navigating life, higher education, careers and adulthood can be overwhelming. It’s something Hannah Hayward, health educator at the University of Houston-Victoria Counseling Center, wants students to know that they do not have to fight those overwhelming feelings and thoughts alone. 

“Going to college, for some, is part of finding out who you are and figuring out the next steps of who you’re trying to become,” Hayward said. “Here, students can do that and they have access to free counseling to help them navigate those changes.” 

Jacqueline Young, center, maritime education outreach manager at the Port of Houston, poses for a photo with Ken Colwell, left, dean of the UHV College of Business and Karla DeCuir, UHV assistant provost for distance education. Young came to the University of Houston-Victoria at Katy on Sept. 6 to give a presentation to UHV College of Business students about the port and the impact it has on the regional and state economy. 

On July 9, 23 students arrived at the University of Houston-Victoria campus to participate in the 2022 edition of the UHV Summer Bridge program.

The Summer Bridge program offers first-time college students who are Texas Success Initiative incomplete an opportunity to take six credit hours at no expense to themselves during the summer in order to become better prepared for fall classes.

The University of Houston-Victoria’s Professional Counseling program will open its first Counseling Training Clinic, starting fall 2022. A grand opening is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. on Oct. 5. This event will include program remarks, introductions of faculties and students running the clinic and services offered at the clinic. The opening will conclude with a ribbon cutting. Light refreshments will be served.