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Office of the Provost Initiatives

Center for ADVANCING UH Faculty Success 

UH Advance is a grant funded initiative with the primary goals of recruiting and retaining women faculty and supporting women in leadership positions in the STEM fields. The five-year, $3.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation focuses on increasing the number of women and women of color in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and social and behavioral sciences (SBS) fields, as well as increase opportunities for them to move into administrative roles.

Cougar Chairs Leadership Academy

The Cougar Chairs Leadership Academy is an initiative meant to cultivate leadership talent on the UH campus, including sitting chairs and future department leaders, and to develop specific leadership skills and expertise that will foster student success.

Cougar Initiative to Engage

The University of Houston is dedicated to providing “opportunities for student learning, discovery, and engagement…in a real-world setting.” Student learning and discovery are best accomplished through direct experience and reflection. The Cougar Initiative to Engage (CITE) will increase the number of high-impact co-curricular activities that provide direct real-world experience, preparing students for success in their lives and careers upon graduation.

Cullen Graduate Fellowship Travel Grant

This grant is a competitive fellowship program allowing graduate students to showcase their research and scholarly work at meetings, conferences, performances, and exhibits. The grant program aims to enhance professional development opportunities as well as promote the University of Houston as a Carnegie-designated Tier One Research University.

Education Advisory Board’s Student Success Collaborative and Navigate

The Student Success Collaborative (SSC) is an essential component of the university’s strategy to make evidence-based decisions about improving student success. The SSC includes predictive analytics that help administrators identify and address student risk findings at institutional, college, and departmental levels. An advising platform assists advisors with addressing risk factors at the individual student level. The Navigate tool provides automated interventions, nudges, and notifications to facilitate connections to campus resources.

Global Citizens Credential

The Global Citizens Credential (GCC) allows UH students to enhance their undergraduate degrees with core global competencies and distinguish themselves as global citizens. UH students who participate in the GCC will gain global knowledge and skills and upon completion, can demonstrate this expertise through a certificate. The GCC helps students stand-out when applying to jobs, graduate school, and competitive international scholarships. It also encourages students to increase their level of global engagement on the UH campus and within their local community and beyond.

Graduate Tuition Fellowship

The Graduate Tuition Fellowship is an award that is available to all doctoral students employed in teaching and research assistant positions. This fellowship covers all of the tuition and majority of fees incurred by doctoral students allowing them to focus on their studies and research.

Houston Guided Pathways to Success

Houston GPS is an integrated system of strategies aimed at improving college completion rates, reducing time to degree, and lowering excess credit accumulation at seven participating institutions in the Houston area. Essential components of Houston GPS include proactive advising, structured schedules, meta-majors, math pathways, co-requisite remediation, informed choice, and an integrated technology platform incorporating predictive analytics across institutions.

Data Science Institute 

In partnership with the Division of Research, The Office of the Provost supported the launch of this new institute in 2017. The Data Science Institute has an intense focus on education and research and will position the University of Houston in a leadership position in the applications of Data Science regionally, nationally, and internationally. Its initial work will span four areas of application: cyber and physical security, drug development and discovery, sustainable communities and infrastructure, and accessible and personalized healthcare.

Inter University Program on Latino Research (IUPLR) 

The IUPLR unanimously selected the Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS) at the University of Houston as one of its member institutions. IUPLR is a national consortium of university-based centers dedicated to the advancement of the Latino intellectual presence in the United States. CMAS is now part of the national network of scholars whose efforts increase the availability of policy-relevant research focused on Latinos. The Office of the Provost has provided funding in the amount of $1.4 million.

Passport for Coogs

The Passport for Coogs initiative is a program designed to encourage students to participate in study abroad programs by reimbursing eligible students for the cost of their U.S. passport book.

Provost Faculty Awards 

Each year the Office of the Provost sponsors faculty awards with the vision of promoting and recognizing excellence at the University of Houston.

Provost’s Undergraduate Research Scholarship Program (PURS)

The Provost's Undergraduate Research Scholarship (PURS) program provides talented UH juniors and seniors with the opportunity to participate in a semester-long research project under the direction of a UH faculty mentor. Recipients will receive a $1,000 scholarship to conduct a one-semester research project with their faculty members. All full-time UH faculty members are eligible to participate as faculty sponsors (this precludes adjunct faculty).

Three Minute Thesis (3MT)

Graduate students present their research to a non-specialist audience in 3 minutes and with one static powerpoint slide.  The winner of the University of Houston competition advances to the Conference of Southern Graduate School’s annual 3MT competition.

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

The SURF program at the University of Houston provides funding for approximately 80 rising UH sophomores, juniors, and seniors to participate in an intensive, full-time, 10-week research experience under the direction of UH faculty. The program is open to students of all disciplines. All full-time UH faculty are eligible to mentor a SURF student; faculty from all academic colleges on campus typically participate from STEM to the social sciences and humanities to the professional colleges.

UH in 4

UH in 4 is a partnership with students that provides a comprehensive plan for four-year graduation. A graduation agreement requires students to successfully complete a minimum of 30 semester credit hours per year, remain in good academic standing, meet with an advisor each semester, follow a four-year academic map, and monitor their degree progress. To support and guide students, the University commits to ensuring course availability and provides resources including academic maps, academic advisors, and degree planning and monitoring tools. Using these tools, advisors work with students to create and monitor plans for achieving academic and career goals.

UH Grant in Aid 

The Office of the Provost provides annual funding to the division of Student Affairs to support the UH Grant in Aid awards earned by student leaders who mentor and tutor high school and other UH students while maintaining their own high academic standing.