2020–21 Annual Report

Supporting Student Success

The Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Services supports students to provide a foundation for academic and personal success.

We take a holistic approach to building a healthier student body by offering programs and services that address mind, body, and spirit. Several of our departments are dedicated to offering services that also support addiction recovery and overall well-being, as well as supporting veterans on campus and parents who need childcare.

Student-led campaign brings new name to accessibility center

The students spoke, and we listened.

In 2003, the UH honored one of its most distinguished alumni and the “godfather” of the Americans with Disabilities Act by naming a center after him: The Justin Dart, Jr. Center for Students with DisABILITIES.

This center was the first space specifically designed for students with disabilities at any major Texas university, and it was the only center in the country that honored Dart’s legacy of advocating for diversity, inclusion, and the ADA by bearing his name.

But what was empowering nearly two decades ago didn’t seem that way to students of today. The all-caps emphasis on “abilities,” students said, did not reflect a current celebration of diversity and inclusion, and that it implied there was something negative about having a disability.

So on the 31st anniversary of the passage of the ADA, after research and a lot of student input, the center got a new name: the Justin Dart, Jr. Student Accessibility Center.

Kyle Mutz, who was named the new director of the center in October, said he’s excited to be part of this new future for the Dart Center.

“The new Dart Center will focus on empowering students with disabilities with knowledge, excellent services, supportive academic environments, and work to engage the campus community to build a foundation on inclusive environments for everyone at the University of Houston,” Mutz said. Mutz oversees a growing department that serves students who need accommodations or other support services for temporary or permanent health impairments, physical disabilities, mental health disabilities, and/or learning disabilities. Any student that is experiencing an access issue on campus that is related to a disability is encouraged to visit the Dart Center for additional information.

Mutz finds some shared experience with the Dart Center’s students and the disability community. “Growing up with a disability myself, I know how important and critical accessibility is for people,” Mutz said. “Creating inclusive and supportive environments benefits everyone on campus.”

Justin Dart, Jr. was also a member of the disability community, and he became one of the most renowned activists fighting for the rights of disabled people, even leaving a successful corporate career in the late 1960s to devote himself to his activism. Dart ultimately even became the vice chair of the National Council on Disability, and he is most renowned for his role in the passage of the ADA on July 26, 1990.

The number of students who have sought accommodations through the Dart Center in the past few years has more than doubled — and 250 new students registered with the Center from 2020 to 2021 — and the center has begun transforming its space and adding staff to better serve this growing UH student population.

Mutz is looking forward to meeting the needs of that growing student population. “We anticipate that with the name change, new staff, new leadership, building enhancements, and other changes we are hopeful this number will continue to increase,” Mutz said. “The Dart Center looks forward to serving

more students and ensuring they have access and events that work to create the most inclusive university experience possible.”

He said as the Dart Center adds more staff —they are currently interviewing candidates for several new positions — they plan to expand the services and events offered by the Dart Center, including adding some new programming.

“Currently we are working to plan a transition fair for juniors and seniors in high school who have disabilities,” Mutz said. “This event will have several informational workshops that include topics on advocacy, accommodations and services, and assistive technology, and a resource fair to help inform young people with disabilities what is at the university and community to help them be successful. In addition, there will also be an adaptive sport opportunity for students to experience. Other events will be a movie night for students to learn about various aspects of disability, culture and awareness.”

Since the name change, Mutz said, students have shared positive feedback about the new direction of the Dart Center. “The feedback so far from students has been very positive and encouraging,” he said. “Since the name change, hiring of the new director, changes to the building, the new and permanent staff being hired there is a lot of great energy by our staff to continue our collective efforts to make the Dart Center a destination and home for students with disabilities.”

Student Health Center spearheads COVID-19 vaccinations and testings on campus

Thousands of people in the UH campus community can thank the Student Health Center for protecting them against COVID-19.

Not only did the health center spearhead 13 vaccine clinics to inoculate faculty, staff and students against the coronavirus, but they have also tested hundreds more people for the virus. Most of those vaccine clinics were held when getting a vaccine appointment was harder to come by.

By the time the last vaccine clinic was held in 2021, the health center had helped protect 3,922 people from the virus, by providing one of the three major COVID-19 vaccines.

“It was incredibly important to get access to the COVID vaccine and deliver it to our campus at a time when the regulations and requirements made it difficult to access elsewhere,” said Dr. Cheryl Person, executive director of the Student Health Center. “Being able to provide this needed service to our campus helped get us back to our new normal.”

The Student Health Center had some help pulling off this vaccination feat: It partnered with Walgreens — who oversaw 12 of the clinics — and HEB, who administered one of the mass vaccination clinics. Volunteers from various student organizations, faculty and staff all pitched in to help spread protection. All vaccine clinics were held in the Student Centers.

The final breakdown of who got vaccinated:

81 percent students
19 percent faculty and staff

In fiscal year 2021, which ran from September 1, 2020, to August 31, 2021, the Student Health Center has tested 586 people for COVID as well.

At just one two-day mass vaccination clinic, held in early March not too long after Winter Storm Uri had knocked out power and water to much of the state for days, volunteers and staff vaccinated 1,097 people with the Moderna vaccine. Then they did it again in late March, vaccinating another 1,100 people.

At the time, they were vaccinating just the people who fell into either Phase 1A or Phase 1B eligibility — a requirement that is no longer needed. Those people included frontline healthcare workers, people 65 and older, and people 16 and older with at least one chronic medical condition that would put them at increased risk for severe illness; and for the second, also people 50 and older.

The Student Health Center found out in January that they had become an approved vaccine distributor.

For the clinics, UH provide the space, organized the volunteers, and managed logistics and appointments, but Walgreens and HEB provided pharmacy team members to deliver the vaccine injections and follow state and federal vaccine document requirements.

Jennifer Graham, patient services manager at the Student Health Center, created and managed the complex paperwork needed for state and federal compliance. Graham said after the first clinic in March that UH’s partnership with Walgreens brought the team a “wealth of knowledge and manpower to ensure that the clinic succeeded.

“But the other UH departments — volunteers as well as the UH students, faculty and staff — receiving their first dose of the vaccine also contributed to the clinic’s success,” Graham said.

Dr. Woods Nash, assistant professor of bioethics and medical humanities in the College of Medicine, volunteered instantly when the call went out. As a new faculty member in March, he’d barely even been on campus.

“Being involved in that simple capacity taught me the importance of teamwork,” Nash said. “Vaccine sites depend on the collaborative efforts of many people, each of whom needs to communicate clearly with those they serve. I was impressed by the efficiency and kindness with which vaccines were given by the Student Health Center.”

Now that the vaccine is widely available to anyone who wants it, Person said the Student Health Center will not be holding any more clinics for a while. But she hopes everyone will take advantage of the free vaccines that are available to them.

“Vaccines are ubiquitous in the community at this time,” Person said. “We highly encourage everyone to be vaccinated and take advantage of the community access.”

By the Numbers

A number of our programs and services achieved remarkable results in the 2020–2021 Fiscal Year in their efforts to support students’ mental, physical and spiritual well-being. These are some of those results.

1,870 Students received individual assistance from Veteran Services
90.8% Approval ratings of Counseling and Psychological Services’ virtual options
1,371 Unique clients for CAPS
100% and 98% Recovery rates for Cougar in Recovery in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, respectively
86,640 Pounds of food distributed by Cougar Cupboard
917 Students received food by Door Dash from Cougar Cupboard
32,215 Visits to A.D. Bruce Religious Center
1,733 Telepsychiatry visits to Student Health Center
2,796 Virtual primary care visits to Student Health Center