University of Houston Division of Student Affairs - 2021–2022 Annual Report - University of Houston
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Campus Life

The University of Houston offers a number of opportunities for students to be engaged on campus, and departments within the Division of Student Affairs help support Coogs’ efforts to get involved and develop leadership skills, character and discipline. We offer a number of programs and activities to help enrich the Coog experience, as we also promote positive living and learning communities through social and service activities.

Providing Second Chances for our Coogs!
“Second Chance Prom” makes up for dance COVID stole from Coogs

During the pandemic, many Coogs did not have a traditional freshman year and missed many in-person campus activities. In addition, many students missed opportunities during their senior year in high school. Unfortunately, some students never got to attend prom in high school, which is considered a rite of passage. No one should have to miss their prom, so we threw a UH prom for those students that missed their prom due to the pandemic.

The event was an enormous success when nearly 400 students dressed up and attended UH’s “Second Chance Prom”. This was a free event hosted by the Center for Student Involvement, Student Centers, and the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life.

"It was amazing,” said Tina Powellson, director of the Center for Student Involvement. “The students who attended had a night to remember,” Powellson said. “Many students were excited to show off their prom outfits, brought partners and friends, and experienced something new. Based on our students’ reactions and participation in activities throughout the evening, we think the event turned out great!”

The prom was held on April 26 in multiple rooms in the Student Center South and the Second Chance Prom offered many different activities for students. Organizers chose a classic theme for the prom, Fire and Ice, and the staff went all out for the attendees. This included fabulous decorations and activities, including an ice bar, a Cougar ice sculpture, a synthetic ice rink, a themed photo booth, crystal face painting, and giveaways including an electric scooter, Air Pods, and a Nintendo Switch.

The idea for a Second Chance Prom was born from a planning meeting conducted by the Center for Student Involvement for its infraRED nights, held several times a year. The last InfraRED of the year is typically the largest and is a collaboration with other campus departments, including the Student Centers and this year, the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life. “We love partnering on the last InfraRed of the year, and we were excited to make sure this year was the biggest and best one yet,” said Eve Esch, executive director of the Student Centers.

“We were excited to be part of this year’s collaboration to offer an opportunity for fraternity and sorority students who may have missed similar events like formals to be part of this awesome experience,” said Ja’ Nelle King, director of the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life.

InfraRED organizers realized during planning that “many students at the university spent much of their high school experience in a modified setting during the COVID-19 pandemic, causing prom to be canceled. Others may not have been able to afford a prom experience, and there may be several students who were not able to be their most authentic selves at their high school prom. Providing a prom-like experience to campus that was completely free for anyone to attend filled a gap for students while creating new college memories,” Powellson said.

Our efforts to give Coogs that experience was appreciated. “My whole life I looked forward to prom night and graduation, but because of the pandemic I wasn’t fortunate enough to have a high school prom,” said Anthony Carranza, a first-year student who attended. “(Second Chance Prom) was a memorable night that my kids will hear about as part of my crazy freshman experience at the University of Houston.”

Rosalinda Thach, a senior at UH, chose to skip her prom when attending high school. “You had to pay for a prom ticket admission, find a dress that wouldn’t break your budget — when every place knows it’s prom season — and drive pretty far to get to the venue,” Thach said. “There were a lot of things that lined up and made me not want to attend, so when I saw ‘A Second Chance at Prom,’ it was so rightfully named that I just had to go. Plus, it was free!”

Powellson said organizers hope to host another prom event in the future based on the success of this one. “After seeing the engagement and excitement for the event, we hope to continue this event in the future,” she said.

Campus Recreation has increased participation as students engage in physical activity

Due to the pandemic, the Campus Recreation department experienced a major drop in student participation. Since returning this year, they have seen monumental growth in their student engagement. This is indicative of their desire to be healthy, fit, and social with their peers. The Campus Recreation participation has increased 251% with a total of 465,108 compared to FY 21, which had a total of just 132,380.

Campus Recreation encourages students to get moving, motivated, and involved through, and experience many physical fitness offerings. Specifically, “get moving” is a reference to the outdoor adventure program. The "get moving” program is committed to introducing students to several types of outdoor activities, such as wall climbing, adventure trips, and team building in a safe learning environment. Campus Recreation’s has opportunities for student to join group fitness classes which provides a motivating atmosphere that is conducive to helping individuals reach their fitness goals while making friendships.

Campus Recreation is about helping our students get involved in their life-long wellbeing. We offer opportunities for students to play intramural sports featuring on-campus teams and individual competitions which are open to all UH students. We provide personal training options that help our students gain knowledge, resources, and confidence in their fitness goals. The students can also get hands-on training through our First Aid/CPR/AED courses that teach life-saving techniques.

The mission of the Campus Recreation department is to provide inclusive recreational experiences that inspire student success. Their vision is to create a culture of engagement by providing opportunities for involvement through the utilization of extraordinary facilities, programs, and services. They also want to connect with students by uniting individuals through recreational activities and programs to foster a sense of belonging.

In continuing to provide exceptional campus experiences, our values include providing quality service that includes intentional patron interactions, safe reliable equipment, well-maintained facility spaces, effective communication, and knowledgeable staff ready and willing to help when needed. We recognize the importance of integrity and how it is beneficial to the outcome of our students. We also empower our students to experience self-discovery through leadership opportunities.

The New Residential Engagement Model helps students living on-campus

Student Housing and Residential Life rolled out a new Residential Engagement Model, which is a new curriculum concept that has emerged in on-campus residential living. The Residential Engagement model creates new, specialized programming for students living on campus that not only focuses on key learning goals but also helps staff identify students who need more help.

The Residential Engagement Model is based on three pillars for success which are to Learn, Discover, and Empower and each pillar is critical to promoting academic success. The “Learn” pillar focuses on helping our residents to cultivate co-curricular learning experiences that promote increased competence in critical thinking, ethical development, and the lifelong pursuit of knowledge. This pillar has three basic tenants where residents will engage in strategies to enhance academic success, identify support resources, and become involved in campus life that promotes connections to the UH community. Each pillar has levels specifically designed for beginner, intermediate and advanced students.

The “Discover” pillar helps residents to cultivate inclusive spaces that enhance their sense of belonging. This will allow residents to interact in an open and civil community. They can also identify their personal identities within a cultural and societal context.

The “Empower” pillar will experiment with innovative strategies to develop confidence to pursue life-long goals and aspirations. Some examples include allowing residents to articulate core values that inform ethical decision-making. Other strategies that use opportunities to empower will be to help residents explore professional career opportunities and develop leadership skills to navigate a multidimensional global society.

The Residential Engagement Model provides a framework for engagement that is intentional, sequential, and scaffolds learning that promotes student success to a diverse community. The staff added additional educational planning components to the Residential Engagement Model structure so that professional staff can forecast the programmatic pieces to be implemented each semester. This will allow our team to look at how they can sequence the learning objectives in a way that optimizes the full educational plan. As an example, to support students' academic success within the model, the iClicker platform has guided our protocol for academic interventions. Residential students identified as at “higher risk” are then invited to a coaching conversation that is focused on their areas of concern. These interventions may occur with a peer or from a Residential Life Coordinator (RLC) for additional support.

Looking more long term, we are working to develop a consistent cycle of assessment with some built-in feedback loops that can help us look at our student success data at both a macro and micro level. We want to develop a robust system of support for students that continuously builds from their first-year experience through graduation.

FY22 Campus Life and Impact by the Numbers: