DSAES honors retiring Provost Paula Short with special recognition

DSAES News
July 21, 2022

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Paula Myrick Short has made a lasting impact on student success over the last decade at the University of Houston. In recognition of her contributions to the UH community and upcoming retirement, the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Services presented Provost Short with a special “Friend of the Division” award to honor her longtime collaboration and partnership with the division and student success initiatives.

Short has been a “champion of student success and diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Houston,” said interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Services Daniel Maxwell. “I can confidently say that the University of Houston has grown closer to our goal of becoming a Top 50 public university because of her.”

Short was presented with the Friend of the Division award on Thursday, June 23.

“I am deeply honored to be recognized as a ‘Friend of the Division,’” Short said. “This is so special to me as I am so proud of the strong collaboration between the Provost Office and the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Services in advancing the UH agenda for student success.”

Short retires at the end of July after serving as UH’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost for a decade. Over that time, Short has been instrumental in numerous achievements that have elevated UH’s reputation and academic standing and improved student success. Over her time as senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, UH’s four-year graduation rate has increased 114 percent. Other initiatives Short has implemented:

• UHin4
• Open Textbook Network
• Provost Summer Read Program
• Passport for Coogs
• Global Citizens Credential
• Cub Camp

She also oversaw the creation of the UH Graduate School, and under her watch two new colleges were established at UH: The College of the Arts and the School of Public Affairs.

Short’s contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion have also been immense: She’s helped recruit and retain top-quality faculty, and in six years she increased the number of Black and Hispanic tenure and tenure-track faculty members at UH. Women tenure and tenure-track faculty members increased 26%. Women full professors increased by 59%.

“We are committed to helping students succeed, to helping them from the moment they enroll at UH to the moment they graduate,” Maxwell said. “And we could not have fulfilled our promise to these students over the past decade without Paula’s vision, leadership and support.”