READY OR NOT, HERE THEY COME

Freshmen and sophomores arrive on campus this fall

TIFFANY SEXTON
THE SIGNAL

“In the fall of 2014, UHCL will be making the biggest change in the university’s history since they opened its doors,” UHCL President William Staples said.

Beginning fall of 2014, UHCL will become a four-year university admitting freshmen and sophomore students.

The university opened in 1974. To date, UHCL has accepted students completing the last two years of their bachelor degrees and graduate degree-seeking students. In 2011, the university received legislative authority to downward expand the campus to include freshmen and sophomores.

For the past four years, UHCL administrators, faculty and staff have been working to put into place the “four-year initiative” in order to be ready for the incoming freshmen and sophomore students.

Some of the steps taken to prepare include: getting the University of Houston System Board of Regents to approve new admission standards, hiring new faculty, updating the curriculum and increasing student services.

“Aug. 1, 2013, UHCL started taking applications, and as of last week we have received slightly over 1,800 applications,” Staples said. “Although that sounds like a big number, people need to realize there are three important numbers to consider: how many people apply, how many people we accept, and how many students will actually enroll.”

As of April 1, 2014, there have been a total of 580 freshmen and sophomore students accepted into UHCL for fall 2014, said Bridgette Daniels, executive secretary to the associate vice president of enrollment management.

It remains to be seen how many of the accepted students will actually enroll.

“We are thinking by August we will have between 300-400 freshman and sophomore students enrolled,” Staples said.

Police Chief Paul Willingham said he does not believe the incoming freshmen and sophomore students will change the dynamic on campus. He believes once UHCL has thousands of younger students on campus with traditional housing, Greek life, partying etc., there will be a real change in dynamic at the university, but right now the goal is to continue having a low-key, quiet campus.

Student Services established the Office of Orientation and New Student Programs, as part of the “four-year initiative” preparation. In order to make the transition a smooth one for new students, UHCL now requires a mandatory New Student Orientation.

UHCL’s new student orientation is titled Student Orientation and Registration (SOAR), with the first session scheduled for June 13. Each SOAR session, accommodating for freshman and sophomores below 45 credit hours, and also first time in college students with more than 45 credit hours, will host 30-50 students.

Students who are attending SOAR have a preemptive hold on their account and will not be able to register for classes. Undergraduate transfer students who are invited to attend NSO will be able to register for their first semester, but if they do not attend their orientation session they will have a hold put on their account for their next semester of classes.

Darlene Biggers, associate vice president for student services, has overseen the necessary changes for Student Services to be prepared for the freshmen and sophomore students’ arrival.

“The biggest change has been training our faculty and staff members on how to handle [younger] students,” Biggers said.

Biggers points out that because UHCL has never had freshmen and sophomore students at the university before, it is important the university’s faculty and staff knows how to help make the students’ transition from high school to the university a smooth one.

One of the many offices involved with Student Services is the Student Success Center (SSC). The SSC handles tutoring, supplemental instruction, peer mentoring and academic coaching.

“The SSC has expanded each of our programs to accommodate the incoming freshmen and sophomore students,” said Tim Richardson, director of the SSC. “One of the biggest changes to our department is the expansion of tutors and supplemental instruction. We want to include as many tutors and supplemental instructors in our lower-level courses as possible.”

Richardson said the SSC has expanded its programs in such a way that it will not only help make the transition to UHCL a smooth one, it will continue to accommodate the university’s junior and senior-level students.

“We are absolutely not taking away any of the programs that have been helping our junior- and senior – level students,” Richardson said. “We are only expanding to accommodate our younger students, and we hope the expansion of our programs will continue to help our older students.”

Another office involved with Student Services is the Math Center. In order to prepare for the incoming freshmen and sophomore students, the Math Center has expanded its tutoring for almost every mathematics and statistic course that the university offers, said Allen Cox, director of the Math Center. Online tutoring options will be expanded in the future.

Other major changes to Student Services involve the Office of Student Life. In preparation for becoming a four-year university, the Office of Student Life has created the Hawk Leadership Institute and the Hawk Spirit and Traditions Council. The office also oversees appearances by UHCL’s new mascot, Hunter the Hawk.

“We are also adding more recreational activities by upgrading the basketball court, tennis court, soccer field and adding a cricket pitch,” Biggers said. “Although we are short on inside space, we are at an all-time high of [84] student organizations on campus.”

Biggers points out that it may seem like everything the university is putting together is to accommodate the incoming freshmen and sophomore students, but she feels as though the changes will benefit all students.

“My assumption is the resources will benefit all students and will build more of a school spirit,” Biggers said. “I hope students will see [the resources are] helping everyone, because we are accepting 300-400 freshmen and sophomores, but we will have 7,000 plus upper-level and graduate degree students.”

Richardson believes UHCL accepting freshmen and sophomore students will be a big cultural change for the university but that it is a necessary change.

“It is an exciting yet challenging time for UHCL, and the credit goes to the faculty, staff and administration,” Staples said. “I have no doubts this is the right thing to do in the expansion of UHCL, and I hope in 10 years people will be saying the same.”

Corrections: April 14, 2014
This article reflects the following changes from the print edition:

In the 12th paragraph, the orientation program identified with the acronym SOAR should read “Student Orientation and Registration” not “Student Orientation Academic Registration.” Our article also misstated the number of sessions, citing sessions of “30-35” students instead of the correct “30-50”.

Additionally, SOAR was misidentified as a freshman orientation. The program is not limited only to freshmen but is open to all new students to UHCL. Lastly, the article mistakenly read “Freshmen, sophomore and undergraduate transfer students are not eligible to register for classes until they have attended one mandatory orientation session.” The paragraph has been corrected to reflect the proper changes as they pertain to preemptive holds for students entering UHCL for the Fall 2014 semester.

In the 21st paragraph, “Hawk Leadership Institute and the Tradition Council” should have read “Hawk Leadership Institute and the Hawk Spirit and Traditions Council”. The HLI and HSTC are two separate programs operated by the Office of Student Life.