Sept. 12, 2023

MESSAGE FROM DEAN HORN

All — I hope the start of this semester has been a wonderful one. The pace and energy of fall are palpable! As we move full-speed ahead into advancing our individual and collective goals, I hope that we will remind each other and ourselves that our work is not simply doing but thinking and doing with purpose. As always, our mission to lead and inspire generative transformations of learning, health, leadership, and well-being can guide us. And the president has identified clear outcomes — to enhance student success and increase production of research.

Aligning time and talents with the mission and strategies we have laid out for ourselves has never been more important to make real and profound difference at scale. Let’s continue to intentionally dismantle siloes and build meaningful connections. As Barbie said so well in her hit summer movie, with those kinds of efforts, we will be “part of the people that make meaning, not the thing that is made.”

Thank you for bringing the best version of yourself to this work and in support of each other. It is noticed and appreciated.

Best,
Cathy

Banner caption: Olga Guerra, a family partner with the Parent Education Project, shows off her new Cougar red at the COE Breakfast.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

• COE BrownBag and BrainStorming Session: Wednesday, Sept. 13. Noon to 1 p.m. KIVA. Focused on SB 17 (DEI). Bring your lunch, and dessert will be provided.
• COE Graduate Programs Virtual Open House – Tuesday, Oct. 3. 6 to 7:15 p.m. Program leads and program faculty are welcome to host breakout sessions.
• COE “Perspectives” Event on Mental Health & Well-being – Wednesday, Oct. 25. 3 to 4:30 p.m. UH Student Center South and live-streamed. Learn from the diverse experiences and expertise of our community. Program details and RSVP form to come.

Connecting with Students at the Back-to-School Snack Break!

OFFICE OF THE DEAN

Advancement

• Please encourage former students to join a COE Alumni Association committee to support our current students and the great work of the College!

Associate Dean for Faculty and Staff Belonging and Success 

• Promotion and Tenure Review and NTT Promotion Process
  • For tenure-track faculty candidates, the departmental-level reviews have started. The COE timeline for TT candidates is posted on the COE Policies & Procedures webpage.
  • For non-tenure-track clinical and research faculty candidates for promotion, the candidate’s dossier submission is scheduled for early October. The COE timeline for NTT promotion is posted on the COE Policies & Procedures webpage.
• The 2023-24 Provost’s Faculty Travel Fund guidelines and application information are posted on the Provost’s Travel Fund website. Tenured or tenure-track faculty members are eligible to apply. There are three deadlines per year based on the travel dates; the first is Sept. 25 for travel between Sept. 1, 2023, and Feb. 29, 2024. Please visit the link for complete information.

Associate Dean for Student Belonging and Success

• Staff Updates 
  • Kevin Thompson will be joining our team as the new director for Graduate Student Success beginning Sept. 18. Kevin is a COE alum (CUIN M.Ed. and Ph.D.) and brings diverse experience recruiting students, developing co-curricular programs, and collaborating with offices across campus to support student success. Welcome home!
  • We are seeking candidates for our director of assessment and accreditation services position. Please share this job announcement with folks in your network to help us add to our talented team. Thanks in advance! 
• Faculty Reminders 
  • Please consider nominating yourself for an appointment to the COE Student Grievance Committee. The deadline is Friday, Sept. 22. Please complete this short form.
  • Curriculog is now open for submitting proposals for GRADUATE course creations, revisions, deletions and catalog updates for 2024-25. The departmental review and approval deadline is Dec 1. 
  • The Undergraduate Studies Committee is hosting an informative, virtual session about the undergraduate course proposal process on Friday, Oct. 13 at 10 a.m. Please RSVP to attend.  
  • Program Leads, Program Directors and Chairs: Please be sure to check MyAdvisor for any pending approvals. While you may receive notifications from the system, they might be delayed, so we encourage you to check regularly.

Communications

• Friendly reminder: Please have students sign photo release and FERPA forms. Find guidance and forms on MyCOE (College Quick Links / Shared Files / Communications). For professors who plan to post regularly on social media, ask students to fill out both forms each semester.
• For quick access to MyCOE, go to the COE homepage and click “Intranet” on the very top bar.

DEPARTMENTS

Editor’s note: External grant awards are listed under Office of Research after they are officially logged in the UH system. For publications, additional authors are not included. Please email Ericka Mellon with any questions.

Curriculum & Instruction

Publications

• Jen Chauvot. Reprint from 2000: “Convergence editors’ picks for 2023: Who? How? What? A strategy for using history to teach mathematics,” Convergence, the Mathematical Association of America online journal.
• Jen Chauvot, Cathy Horn. “Representing patterns of learning as a function of course opportunities,” Journal of Computational Science Education. “Exploring network security educator knowledge,” Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice.
• Sheng Kuan Chung. “Art education for social justice: A lesson on deconstructing oppression,” International Journal of Arts Education. He also served as guest editor for the special issue, “Future Directions in Art Education,” Journal of Education Sciences.
• Melissa Gallagher. “Supporting multilingual learners’ reading competence: A multiple case study of teachers’ instruction and student learning and motivation,” Frontiers in Education: Language, Culture, and Diversity.
• Vera Hutchison, Lee Mountain. “Composition organization and development analysis (CODA) scale: Equipping high school students to evaluate argumentative essays,” Assessing Writing.
• Susie Gronseth. “Strategically Inclusive E-Learning Design,” Journal of Technology-Integrated Lessons and Teaching.
• Alberto J. Rodriguez. “Claiming Your Own Identity and Positionality: The First Steps toward Establishing Equity and Social Justice in Science Education,” Education Sciences.

Book Chapters

• Sheng Kuan Chung. “Teaching critical media literacy” in “Teaching Civic Participation with Digital Media in Art Education.”
• Susie Gronseth. “Inclusive Education and UDL Professional Development for Teachers in Sweden and India” in “Developing Inclusive Environments in Education: Global Practices and Curricula.”

Awards/Honors/Notable

• The capstone paper of Michael Ahlf’s (CITE) doctoral dissertation received the 2023 Graduate Student Research ‘Mixed Methods’ Based Award from the Association for Educational Communications and Technology’s Division of Distance Learning.
• Joanna Batt was selected as one of eight 2023 Curriculum Inquiry writing fellows and participated in a retreat hosted at the University of Toronto.
• Vera Hutchison was appointed as chair of the Research Committee and Distinguished Dissertation Award Committee for the Association of Teacher Educators.
• Sheng Kuan Chung’s artwork was selected for the annual juried exhibition at Archway Gallery and “The Big Show 2023” at Lawndale Art Center. He also is an invited juror for the September juried exhibition at Ardest Gallery in The Woodlands.

Community Engagement

• Mikel Cole hosted the three poetry workshops inside Stewart Detention Center, the first ever educational programming at the immigration detention facility.
• Carrie Cutler started her tenure as lead co-facilitator of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators’ community circle for early childhood math teacher educators, where she will direct efforts to strengthen support for math from birth to age 8.
• Bulent Dogan hosted three summer STEM camps at UH and UH at Sugar Land, which involved mentoring 65 undergraduate students and about 230 K-12 students.
• Heather Domjan hosted six summer camps focused on STEM experiences, including a Mars Rover Explorers camp featured on TV news.
• Melissa Gallagher led a week-long math-focused collaboration with PK-6 teachers in Santa Avelina, Guatemala.
• Alberto J. Rodriguez was one of the main organizers of the Summer Research institute Without Walls in Costa Rica, focused on immersing teachers and researchers in field-based experiences to learn from nature and each other.

Kudos

• Congratulations to our new promoted faculty (effective Sept. 1): Celeste Alba (clinical associate professor), Justin Burris (clinical associate professor), Carrie Cutler (clinical associate professor), Bulent Dogan (clinical associate professor), Heather Domjan (clinical professor), Susie Gronseth (clinical professor), Robert Hausmann (clinical professor), Miao Li (associate professor with tenure), Dustine Thomas (clinical associate professor).

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies

Publications

• Virginia Snodgrass Rangel. “Understanding motivational beliefs of women in Postsecondary STEM-Vocational-Technical Education. Evidence from Chile,” Journal of Education and Work. “Developing educational leadership in mathematics and science,” Journal of Research on Leadership Education.
• Virginia Snodgrass Rangel, Keith Butcher. “The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the leadership work of aspiring school leaders,” Journal of Research on Leadership Education.
• April Peters-Hawkins, Virginia Snodgrass Rangel. “Disrupting the (hidden) curriculum: anti-racist approaches to student instruction and assignments,” Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership.

Kudos

• Thank you to ELPS staff members Norquezdan Florence, Debbie Gary and Andrew Snyder for helping with the successful department retreat in August at the Houston Arboretum; and a special shout out to Norquezdan for planning and organizing!
• Congratulations to our newly promoted faculty (effective Sept. 1): Vincent Carales (associate professor with tenure), Tiffany J. Davis (clinical professor), Lyle McKinney (professor).

Psychological, Health, & Learning Sciences 

Publications

• Ann Chen. “Texas Tobacco Quitline Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices within Healthcare Agencies Serving Individuals with Behavioral Health Needs: A Multimethod Study,” Preventive Medicine Reports. “Behavioral Health Care Provider's Beliefs, Confidence, and Knowledge in Treating Cigarette Smoking in Relation to Their Use of the 5A's Intervention,” Addictive Behaviors Reports.
• Virmarie Correa-Fernández. “Combustible Cigarette Smokers versus E-Cigarette Dual Users among Latinx Individuals: Differences in Alcohol and Drug Use Severity.” Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology.
• Julie Dunsmore. “Social and emotional determinants of parental reflective functioning in a multinational sample,” Journal of Family Psychology. “Parental problem drinking and observations of parent-child problem solving discussions: Do drinking motives matter?,” Journal of Family Psychology. “Profiles of parents’ emotion socialization within a multinational sample of parents,” Frontiers in Psychology. “Parents’ and friends’ socialization of positive emotions: Associations with adolescent emotion regulation,” Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.
• Norma Olvera. “Exploring factors associated with accelerometer validity among ethnically diverse toddlers,” Pediatric Exercise Science.

Awards/Honors/Notable

• Allison Master was named communications coordinator for the AERA Teaching Educational Psychology Special Interest Group (2023-25).
• Norma Olvera served as Hispanic Health Coalition Scholarship Program Planning Committee Chair.

Community Engagement

• Norma Olvera, in collaboration with Jeannette Alarcón (CUIN) and UHD, implemented a nutrition and exercise BOUNCE program at Cleme Manor Apartments.

Kudos

• Congratulations to our newly promoted faculty (effective Sept. 1): Ann Chen (research associate professor), Weihua Fan (professor), Milena Keller-Margulis (professor).

COE IN THE NEWS

• Check out the latest media clips, most recently featuring Duncan Klussmann (ELPS), Shea Culpepper (CUIN), Amber Thompson (CUIN) and Diana Lum (CUIN site coordinator).

MEDIA RELEASES AND STORIES

• “UH Addresses Teacher Shortage Through Alternative Certification Program.” Amber Thompson (CUIN), Shea Culpepper (CUIN), Justin Burris (CUIN).

OFFICE OF RESEARCH

Announcements

• As many of you know, valued team member Kristin Jones has resigned, and her last day in the office was Sept. 1. Kristin had been with OOR since February 2020, and it is exciting to see her pursuing a new opportunity to further her career at MD Anderson Cancer Center. She will definitely be missed! The program manager position has been posted, and our office will continue to run as smoothly as feasible until we on-board our newest colleague. In the interim, email coeoor@central.uh.edu for any requests where you would work with Kristin directly.

Awards

• UH Teacher Preparation TQP 2022. Department of Education. $3,356,160 (incl. 8% IDC). Jeannette Alarcón (CUIN), PI; Jennifer Chauvot, Shea Culpepper, Amber Thompson, co-PIs (CUIN); Samuel Brower (CUIN), Susie Gronseth (CUIN), Anne McClellan (Dean’s Office), co-investigators; Carrie Cutler, Justin Burris, other key personnel (CUIN).
• Houston Galveston Area Workforce Council. $524,994 (incl. 12% IDC). Cathy Horn (ELPS), PI; Anne Katz (CUIN), Jahnette Wilson (CUIN), other.
• Educator Preparation Program Planning Grant. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. $245,409. Cathy Horn (ELPS), PI; Shea Culpepper (CUIN), Amber Thompson (CUIN), co-PIs.
• Project Support to Develop and Implement the University of Houston Alternative Certification Program. Houston Endowment Inc. $3,500,000 (incl. 15% IDC). Cathy Horn (ELPS), PI; Shea Culpepper (CUIN), Amber Thompson (CUIN), co-PIs.
• HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: FIELDGeo – Field Investigations and Education Leading to Degrees in Geoscience. National Science Foundation. $1,000,000 (incl. 55% IDC). Virginia Snodgrass Rangel (ELPS), co-PI.
• RaMP: STEGG-INTERACT: Southeast Texas Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics INTEgrative Research and Collaborative Training. National Science Foundation. $2,999,247 (incl. 55% IDC). Virginia Snodgrass Rangel (ELPS), other.
• Taking Texas Tobacco Free: Dissemination to and Implementation Within Agencies Serving Texans Experiencing Homelessness. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. $4,103 (incl. 5.26% IDC). Ann Chen (PHLS), PI.
• Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) – Pilot proof of concept exploring longitudinal links between minority stress, stress physiology dysregulation, and drug use in sexual minority adults. National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. $77,472 (incl. 55% IDC). Nathan Grant Smith (PHLS), NOSI PI; Ezemenari Obasi (PHLS), lead grant PI; Ann Chen (PHLS), co-investigator.
• Continuation – FAMILIES CAN: Purchased Health Services Unit - FY 2024. Texas Department of State Health Services. $199,694 (incl. 8% IDC). Shelley Townsend (PEP), PI.

Submissions

• Project Thrive. Department of Education. $4,000,000 (incl. 10% IDC.) Anne McClellan (ACES), PI; Jorge Gonzalez (PHLS), co-PI.
• CAREER: Measuring Teachers’ Language Bias in Their Interpretations of Latinos’ Mathematical Thinking. NSF. $1,608,327 (incl. 55% IDC). Melissa Gallagher (CUIN), PI.
• Equity-centered Research-Practice Partnerships: An Approach for Advancing Educator Diversity in Education Systems. Department of Education. $4,000,000 (incl. 10% IDC). Conra Gist (CUIN), PI.
• CAREER: Understanding the Influence of Medium on Reading Comprehension of Bilingual Children. NSF. $499,439 (incl. 55% IDC). Miao Li (CUIN), PI.
• The Veggie Flavor Game: Gamifying vegetable liking and intake for children and families. USDA. $699,953 (incl. 30% IDC). Alberto J. Rodriguez (CUIN), co-PI.
• Innovating Science Education with Engineering Design in Texas - ISEED-TX. NSF. $107,415 (incl. 55% IDC). Robert Wimpelberg (Dean’s Office), co-PI.
• HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Broadening Participation, Fostering Cultural Wealth, and Increasing Success Through BURT, an Undergraduate Research Training Program. NSF. $500,000 (incl. 55% IDC). Tiffany J. Davis (ELPS), co-PI; Detra Johnson (ELPS), other personnel.
• Developing STEM Teacher Leaders in Culturally Responsive Classroom Management and Induction. NSF Noyce. $93,666 (incl. 55% IDC). Virginia Snodgrass Rangel (ELPS), co-PI.
• Connecting Education and the Workforce. Temple Foundation. $105,855 (incl. 15% IDC). Toni Templeton (ELPS), PI; Sangah (Sunny) Lee (ELPS), other personnel.
• A First Examination of Academic and Early-Career Outcomes of Refugee and Asylee Students: Evidence from Texas Public Schools. Russel Sage Foundation. $199,298 (incl. 12% IDC). Toni Templeton (ELPS), co-PI; Sangah (Sunny) Lee (ELPS), other personnel.
• Project WORLD-PLUS Translanguaging. Department of Education. $4,000,000 (incl. 10% IDC). Jorge Gonzalez (PHLS), PI; Miao Li (CUIN), co-investigator.
• CAREER: “Computer Science is for Us”: Countering Stereotypes to Broaden Girls’ Representation in Computer Science. NSF. $1,337,762 (incl. 55% IDC). Allison Master (PHLS), PI.
• Automated Approaches to Scoring Writing for English and Italian Learners. Spencer Foundation. $49,768. Michael Matta (PHLS), PI.
• NSF Convergence Accelerator Track J: AI-FEED: Connecting Food Charities to End Hunger. NSF. $5,000,000 (incl. 55% IDC). Norma Olvera (PHLS), co-PI; Susie Gronseth (CUIN), co-PI.

Questions about the Dean’s Update? Email coecomm@uh.edu and emellon@uh.edu.