  
|
Posted By Marketing & Communications,
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
|
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. The camp was run by UHV lecturer Mai Shakra, and the camp was financed by a grant from Alcoa Foundation.
Attached Thumbnails:
Tags:
#UHV #UHVfamily #AlcoaFoundation #summercamp
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By UHV Marketing & Communications,
Thursday, August 4, 2022
|
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. Amazon provides a variety of education and upskilling opportunities including full college tuition, industry certifications designed to lead to in-demand jobs, and foundational skills such as English language proficiency, high school diplomas and GEDs. The partnership, which includes all the schools within the University of Houston System, officially began this spring, and UHV is accepting Amazon employees in the program for student enrollment. “I am excited about this added partnership to UHV because we strive to make higher education accessible to working adults, and this is another partnership that can help us achieve those goals,” said Karla DeCuir, UHV assistant provost for distance learning. “UHV has focused on making an adult admissions and transfer-friendly program, as well as flexible and affordable class schedules so that those who want to finish a college degree can do so. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students joining us from Amazon.” The Amazon Career Choice Program launched in 2012 and is live in 14 countries, including the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, South Africa, Costa Rica, Slovakia and Australia. More than 80,000 Amazon employees have participated globally since its inception, including more than 35,000 in the U.S. The program offers three education paths for employees: foundations, which includes high school diplomas, GEDs and English as a Second Language proficiency certifications; education and job training in academic programs and skilled trades; and college credits toward a certificate, associate degree or bachelor’s degree. In the U.S., the company is investing $1.2 billion to upskill more than 300,000 Amazon employees by 2025 to help move them into higher-paying, in-demand jobs. The program’s most popular fields of study globally include health care, transportation and information technology. “We are very pleased to be a part of this initiative with the Amazon Career Choice Program,” said Chance Glenn, UHV provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Programs like this are aligned with UHV’s commitment to providing students with a quality education and the skills they need to be successful. We look forward to our future with helping Amazon employees obtain their degrees.” UHV is in a great position to be a part of this program as the university works with many working adults around their schedules to earn degrees, DeCuir said. While students could have the option of taking classes in person, UHV offers options that can be completed online. One program UHV offers is FastTrak, bachelor’s and master’s degrees offered in eight-week online courses. Depending on the program the student enrolls in, and their schedule, students can attend classes in the evenings as well. There are also Amazon hubs within 30 minutes from the UHV Katy instructional site. The Amazon Career Choice Program is available to hourly full-time and part-time employees who have worked at Amazon for at least 90 continuous days. Amazon will provide funds for tuition and fees for the student through a voucher. Amazon employees must apply for funding through the voucher process, and they must also follow the UHV admission and application process. “Amazon employees must have the correct information, approvals and all required signatures before turning in their voucher to UHV at least a week before the payment deadline for the semester they are enrolling in,” said Debbie Green, UHV student receivables specialist. “Employees also can apply for a voucher per semester that they plan to attend.” Amazon employees interested in enrolling in the program and attending UHV for the fall semester should aim to have their vouchers turned in to the university by the beginning of August. Vouchers can be submitted via email at billing@uhv.edu or mailed to the university labeled “Attention: Student Billing.” Employees with questions can email or call Student Billing at 361-570-4833. To learn more, visit www.uhv.edu/amazon.
Tags:
#UHV #UHVfamily #Amazon
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By Marketing & Communications,
Monday, August 1, 2022
|
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. “A fellowship with the Massachusetts Historical Society is a prestigious honor, and I am excited to have the opportunity to travel to Boston for my research,” Chávez-Rivera said. “The society has a collection of documents stretching back more than 300 years. Receiving this fellowship is a confirmation that my previous research has been successful.” Boston was and is a major trading hub for New England, and many of the people who operated out of the city traded with Cuba and other Caribbean nations, Chávez-Rivera said. In its collection, the Massachusetts Historical Society has a wide variety of documents in Spanish from those trading voyages, including letters, journals and other manuscripts. Some even include pictures as well as correspondence with Caribbean artists and famous personalities from the time period. In addition to learning about the history of the Spanish language, the documents also have many references to historical issues, such as the push to abolish slavery in the region that was supported by traders in New England. However, because there are no digital copies of the collection, researchers must study the manuscripts and other items in person. The fellowship will assist Chávez-Rivera by giving him space and appropriate conditions to work with the manuscript and other documents. “Dr. Chávez-Rivera’s research into the history of the Spanish language and the documents from the 1800s is a welcome look into how the abolition movement and Transcendental documents affected the Caribbean and were influenced by them,” said Kyoko Amano, dean of the UHV College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences. “We are proud to see his work continue to receive praise and support from other academic institutions across the nation.” In addition to helping Chávez-Rivera access research materials, the fellowship also will provide him with a stipend to cover his living expenses while in Boston. “Many researchers struggle with the problem of having to find ways to afford finding temporary housing while conducting research in an expensive city,” Chávez-Rivera said. “I’ve personally had to save up some of my personal money to travel to London and other locations to gain access to manuscripts. This fellowship and others like it make research more attainable.”
Tags:
#UHV #UHVfamily #UHVfaculty #research #Spanish
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By UHV Marketing & Communications,
Thursday, July 21, 2022
|
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. “I was, at first, completely shocked that I was accepted,” she said. “But now I am thrilled to be a part of such a program, and I am learning everything I can about the state and what I need to know as I prepare to move.” Massengill is a native of Aransas Pass and has a bachelor’s degree in theatre from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi. Since her undergraduate studies, Massengill knew she wanted to teach and write for theatre. When she first experienced Asian theatre, a whole other world of performance opened her mind to more creative possibilities. In particular, the classical form of Kabuki and its larger-than-life storytelling caught her attention. The style of theatre inspires her to create plays that are a blend of Asian and Western theater, which she did for her manuscript for her thesis. Massengill wrote a Kabuki play based on a popular Japanese folktale with a modern twist. “I am hoping to inspire a new style of work, and I want to find ways where these two different cultures can meet in an art form,” she said. The program Massengill was accepted into is much like going to an Ivy League school for Asian theatre and performance, said Anthony Madrid, an assistant professor of creative writing and English and director of the creative writing program. According to the University of Hawaii at Manoa, since 1923, the Asian Theatre program has produced numerous world-premiere English-language productions of traditional and modern Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Korean, Indian and Thai theatre, as well as original, experimental works based on or influenced by research and training in specific genres of Asian theatre. For the UHV MFA program faculty, it came as no surprise that Massengill was accepted into such a prestigious program. Madrid describes Massengill as a complete original, a good student and a disciplined and serious artist. Madrid mentored Massengill and provided guidance for her manuscript and wrote a letter of recommendation for her Ph.D. application. “With a program like this, anyone getting in is surprising, but it is less surprising that Mariah was accepted because she is exactly the type of person they are looking for,” Madrid said. Liane Tanguay, an associate professor of English who teaches the “Literary Theory” graduate course, found Massengill to be a curious, motivated and diligent in her class, which is a course where students learn how literature has been theorized over the past century and helps students become better analysts and critics of different types of texts. When Massengill was a student in the class, she was able to take what they were learning in class and applied it to her analysis of kabuki, Tanguay said. Massengill asked questions and enjoyed the classroom conversations, read widely and engaged other students in the online discussions. “Mariah is the kind of student we all like having in our classes,” Tanguay said. “I wasn’t at all surprised that she wanted to carry on her studies beyond the master’s level. I’m really pleased that Mariah has found a program that will be rigorous and challenging, that will connect her with peers and mentors with similar research interests, and that will inspire her to excel. I think she’s going to have an amazing experience, and I hope she keeps in touch with us all.” Massengill first heard about the program while at a conference in Los Angeles in April. She immediately applied to the program and received her acceptance into the program in May. So far, Massengill has hand-picked the courses she will take in the fall and has been accepted into the university’s East-West Center Student Affiliate Program, a competitive program that includes leadership opportunities, professional development, funding for travel and field study, global networking, social events and activities, and discounted housing. She is looking forward to when she and other students will learn plays in both Japanese and English and perform a tour in Japan. Massengill appreciates her time at UHV, as she was able to finetune her writing skills through the MFA program. She also had the opportunity to work one-on-one with faculty to gain invaluable insight into her own writing. “I am so grateful for my time at UHV,” Massengill said. “I knew I loved writing, but it was kind of a Hail Mary moment for me to get my MFA. I feel like I couldn’t have landed in a better spot.” To request information about the UHV MFA program, go to www.uhv.edu/contact.
Tags:
#UHV #UHVfamily #JAXNATION #MFA #creativewriting #
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
|
Posted By UHV Marketing & Communications,
Thursday, July 21, 2022
|
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. “I am honored to once again be chosen to serve on the NASPA Region III board,” Wilkinson said. “This position allows me to work behind the scenes to ensure that the association’s members have a positive experience at professional development events so they can learn and bring techniques back to better serve their students. I believe individuals who serve in these types of volunteer roles are the bedrock of creating effective, student-centered learning communities.” NASPA is an international organization made up of student affairs professionals. The association is dedicated to equipping and supporting professionals in higher education so that the students they serve can achieve success. Region III of the association includes the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. In his role as professional programs chair, Wilkinson will focus on selecting sites for conferences and other professional programs for members to receive professional development training, such as the New Professionals Institute and the Mid-Managers Institute. In addition, his responsibilities will include attending board meetings, serving as a liaison to the Southern Association for College Student Affairs on joint initiatives and programs, facilitate event site proposals and institute director applications, providing professional program reports to the board and more. “I am excited Michael has been given this opportunity,” said Jay Lambert, UHV vice president for student affairs. “He is being trusted with a very important position and I am sure he will bring the same level of excellence to it that we see here at UHV.” Wilkinson sees serving with the association as an opportunity to give back and invest in other student affairs professionals, just as others have encouraged and supported him throughout his career. “I got into student affairs because people I knew and trusted told me I would be good at it,” he said. “Now, I take a lot of pride in the work I do every day in my position at UHV, and I am excited to have another chance to help others in my field. I want to give back to student affairs professionals and show them that this is a field where they can earn a living, have fun and make a difference in people’s lives all at the same time.” As a first-generation college graduate, Wilkinson has first-hand knowledge of how important it is to make students aware of the resources they could access through student affairs offices and professionals. He came into college with less knowledge of how the system worked and what resources might be available to him. “There are so many students in college today who are the first in their family to participate in higher education,” he said. “I remember how lost I felt, especially because I wasn’t aware of the resources that were accessible to me, much less where to look for them. Now that I work in student affairs, I want to make sure that students have the opportunity to utilize the resources that are available to them and get the support they need.”
Tags:
#UHV #UHVfamily #JAXNATION #NASPA
Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
|
Print Page
RSS
Blog Home
All Blogs
