The Lean Six Sigma project team has been working on a process to reduce payroll-processing errors for the UH System payroll department.

Team members, who are enrolled in the Quality Improvement in Project Management course, have ironed out the wrinkles for a smoother process and have helped prepare the UH Payroll Department for a rollout of a new electronic payroll process later this year.

“Lean Six Sigma concentrates on improving efficiency and reducing variability in all types of business processes,” said Jami Kovach, an assistant professor in the Project Management Program. “This level of performance is a tremendous improvement over where most organizations currently operate.”

The department’s investigation, which began last year, was looking for ways to implement electronic time reporting for biweekly employees. However, members soon found that major process advances were needed before employing a new system.

While investigating, it was discovered that the payroll department was continually running payroll, sometimes as much as twice a week during off-cycles. After analyzing their findings, the team members found more efficient ways to address the need for major improvements that would allow preparations for a new electronic system to begin.

“Initially, it had been a great idea to run more payroll cycles and meet employees’ needs to get paid on time, but the growing over-dependence on going around our established process to serve our customers presented another set of problems,” said Joan Nelson, executive director of human resources. “Our challenge was to figure out a way to reduce the number of off-cycle payrolls without causing payment delays for employees.”

The Lean Six Sigma project team is based around a business philosophy that focuses on a specific methodology. Their success is based on a formula utilized for a business approach.

They define the problem, measure the process performance, analyze the cause of the problem, improve the process and then control the improved process and fix the problem permanently.

“Being able to implement these strategies in a real-life setting has proven to be a valuable learning experience for our students,” Kovach said. “There is no better way to learn these kinds of things.”

Using this system, the team developed strategies to reduce the cause of errors, which include online orientation for students and implementing an employee acknowledgement form to alert new employees to the payroll process.

With the improvements put into place, payroll-processing errors decreased to 6.77 percent from 10.35 percent and the amount payroll processing cycles was reduced by 50 percent.

“We learned an efficient method to improve our process by partnering up with our students,” Nelson said. “We are very proud of our students and we know they will have great success in their transition to the real world.”

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In a Corpus Christi competition that required building a working canoe using only concrete, UH engineering students took home third place against 24 other schools.

The American Society of Civil Engineers sponsored Texas/Mexico Regional Concrete Canoe Competition also brought the UH canoe team, Cougar Construction, second place in a Texas Section ASCE Centennial, to host the University of Texas at a later date.

Team Cougar Construction rowed their way into third place in the Texas/Mexico Regional Concrete Canoe Competition, which is sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers. | Courtesy of Scott Wallace

Jerry Rogers, associate professor of civil engineering, said the first Texas ASCE concrete canoe race was on the San Antonio Riverwalk in 1975.

The competition is sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers and is completely student-run, said Reagan Herman, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.

Herman said ASCE has more than 140,000 members worldwide and it is America’s oldest national engineering society.

“In the competition, the students design, build and then race their concrete canoes. The competition gives an opportunity for the students to see a complete project from concept to final product,” Herman said.

The concrete canoe made by Cougar Construction weighed 240 pounds and took several months to build. While a concrete canoe may sound too heavy to maneuver in water, it was designed to be light in weight.

The regular density for concrete is 150 pounds per cubic foot, Herman said, but the density of the concrete used to construct the canoe was around 60 pcf, making it floatable. Building the canoe was a long task, but Cougar Construction was not alone.

“We received help from 30 undergrad students and came to rely especially on our junior captains William Regner and Jared Williams, who will be taking over the project next year,” said team captain Scott Wallace.

Instead of testing the completed canoe in Buffalo Bayou, the competition’s location, Cougar Construction chose Lake Houston for it’s windy conditions, said co-captain Hayley Redweik.

While University of Texas-Tyler placed first and Texas A&M placed second, Cougar Construction is satisfied with third place.

“The prize is just the pride of being recognized for all our hard work,” Wallace said. “Our team is very happy about how we placed this year, especially since the level of competition at the regional meet has risen significantly in the last few years.”

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Although election season is over, students still have another chance to get involved with SGA this year as a member of the executive cabinet.

The president and vice president are calling all Cougars to apply for a seat in their cabinet. Additionally, students may apply for the five empty senate positions.

The open cabinet positions include chief of staff, director of public relations, director of external affairs and director of finance.

President Cedric Bandoh and Vice President Rani Ramchandani, both supply management juniors, hope fill the seats with qualified and passionate student leaders.

“This will be a great opportunity for students majoring in Communications, Political Science or Business, however it is not limited to other students who share a particular interest in these fields,” Ramchandani said.

“We are looking for students who want to be challenged in a leadership position and that share the same passion that Cedric and I have for this campus. There is no doubt that this will be a high growth and learning experience for everyone, but we want ambitious folks.”

SGA is also looking to fill five remaining empty seats in the senate: Graduate at-large, College of Education, Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, UH Law Center and College of Optometry.

Students may apply for both executive seats and the remaining senate seats on the SGA website. Applications may be found by clicking “Open Positions” on the “Get Involved” dropdown menu.

Students who are interested must apply by the filing deadline on April 12.

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The following is a partial report of campus crime between April 2 and Sunday. All information is selected from the files of the UH Department of Public Safety. Information or questions regarding the cases below should be directed to UHDPS at (713) 743-3333.

Burglary of a Motor Vehicle: At 2:09 p.m. April 2 at Cullen Oaks Apartments, a UH visitor reported his unattended and secured vehicle was burglarized. The case is inactive.

Burglary of a Motor Vehicle: At 4:24 p.m. at Cullen Oaks Apartments, a student reported his unattended and secured vehicle was burglarized. The case is inactive.

Theft: At 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Cambridge Oaks Apartments, a student reported someone entered his room, went into his closet and stole a pair of his shoes, which contained money. The case is inactive.

Burglary of a Motor Vehicle: At 2:43 p.m. Wednesday at the Cullen Oaks Apartments garage, a student reported two secured and unattended motor vehicles were burglarized. The case is inactive.

Theft: At 10:12 p.m. Wednesday at Philip G. Hoffman Hall, a faculty member reported someone stole personal property from her office. The case is inactive.

Public Intoxication: At 12:31 a.m. Thursday at Bayou Oaks Apartments, a student was observed by security officers to be highly intoxicated. The student was transported to hospital because of his level of intoxication. The case is cleared by referral.

Theft: At 5:09 p.m. Thursday at Moody Towers, a student reported the theft of her wallet from her unsecured and unattended bag. The case is inactive.

Theft: At 6:01 p.m. Thursday at the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library, a student reported an unknown suspect or suspects stole his laptop computer. The case is inactive.

Theft: At noon Friday at the E.E. Oberholtzer Residence Hall, a contract employee advised that an unknown person or persons stole liquor from a secured metal cage inside the hall’s kitchen area. The case is inactive.

Theft: At 2:42 p.m. Friday at the General Service Building, a staff member reported a golf cart missing. The case is active.

Public Intoxication: At 2:55 a.m. Sunday at Calhoun Lofts, a UH visitor was found to be intoxicated in the lobby of Calhoun Lofts. The visitor received a criminal trespass warning and was released to a responsible party. The case is cleared by exception.

Theft: At 4:20 a.m. Sunday at Cougar Village, a student reported an unknown suspect or suspects stole his laptop computer from his dorm room. The case is inactive.

Theft: At 4:48 p.m. Sunday at the Athletic Alumni Building, a staff member reported an unattended and unsecured laptop computer was stolen from a secured officer. There are two possible suspects. The case is active.

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The English department’s teaching fellows have made their voices heard by the administration, requesting a re-consideration of a wages, and President Renu Khator has responded, saying she will take the necessary actions to make their requests a reality in a statement to the UH community.

A chalked statement outside of Ezekiel W. Cullen building advertises the English teaching fellows’ campaign to attain a raise. | Nichole Taylor/The Daily Cougar

Khator said she was away celebrating the birth of her granddaughter for the last ten days, but was immediately briefed on the goings-on in her absence. She said the budget restrictions make it difficult for any immediate salary adjustment.

“While decisions related to TF and TA salaries are entirely under the domain of the colleges and departments based upon their priorities,” Khator said, “I understand that colleges’ decisions may be shaped by budgetary allocations from the University.”

While the president’s office does not directly control individual salaries, Khator said she will allocate funds to the deans, along with the provost, who will decide how the money is distributed.

“Funding will come from monies designated to support our broad commitment to student success,” Khator said. “This pool of money will provide assistance to TFs and TAs, whose salaries are most compressed and who teach undergraduate CORE classes.”

Secondarily, Khator said she will create a “university-wide task force on Graduate Assistant Success.”

The TFs sent an email to members of the press acknowledging Khator’s statement. They said they appreciate the promise to take action and now wait on College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Dean John Roberts to find out more details.

“We are waiting on a concrete wage adjustment figure from Dean Roberts, who has been working closely with us throughout this process,” the TFs said in the email.

While they wait to hear more details, the sit-ins have been suspended, according to the email.

“We are incredibly hopeful and experiencing a great deal of support from the administration,” the TFs said in the email. “We have contacted Dean Roberts in order to find out when he will be able to allocate the funds given to him by President Khator.”

At the end of her letter to the UH community, Khator said the provost asked for an external review of the English Department—the last one was nine years ago.

“The review will help the dean and provost evaluate competitive information, learn best practices, get advice from aspirational peers, show accountability to the public, and help rectify not just the wage issue, but all issues related to the learning and working environment of the teaching fellows and teaching assistants,” Khator said.

Additional reporting by Zachary Burton.

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The English department’s teaching fellows have made their voices heard by the administration, requesting a re-consideration of a wages, and President Renu Khator has responded, saying she will take the necessary actions to make their requests a reality in a statement to the UH community.

A chalked statement outside of Ezekiel W. Cullen building advertises the English teaching fellows’ campaign to attain a raise. | Nichole Taylor/The Daily Cougar

Khator said she was away celebrating the birth of her granddaughter for the last ten days, but was immediately briefed on the goings-on in her absence. She said the budget restrictions make it difficult for any immediate salary adjustment.

“While decisions related to TF and TA salaries are entirely under the domain of the colleges and departments based upon their priorities,” Khator said, “I understand that colleges’ decisions may be shaped by budgetary allocations from the University.”

While the president’s office does not directly control individual salaries, Khator said she will allocate funds to the deans, along with the provost, who will decide how the money is distributed.

“Funding will come from monies designated to support our broad commitment to student success,” Khator said. “This pool of money will provide assistance to TFs and TAs, whose salaries are most compressed and who teach undergraduate CORE classes.”

Secondarily, Khator said she will create a “university-wide task force on Graduate Assistant Success.”

The TFs sent an email to members of the press acknowledging Khator’s statement. They said they appreciate the promise to take action and now wait on College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Dean John Roberts to find out more details.

“We are waiting on a concrete wage adjustment figure from Dean Roberts, who has been working closely with us throughout this process,” the TFs said in the email.

While they wait to hear more details, the sit-ins have been suspended, according to the email.

“We are incredibly hopeful and experiencing a great deal of support from the administration,” the TFs said in the email. “We have contacted Dean Roberts in order to find out when he will be able to allocate the funds given to him by President Khator.”

At the end of her letter to the UH community, Khator said the provost asked for an external review of the English Department—the last one was nine years ago.

“The review will help the dean and provost evaluate competitive information, learn best practices, get advice from aspirational peers, show accountability to the public, and help rectify not just the wage issue, but all issues related to the learning and working environment of the teaching fellows and teaching assistants,” Khator said.

Additional reporting by Zachary Burton.

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Walking is defined as moving at a regular and fairly slow pace by lifting and setting down each foot in turn but for the people involved in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention walk, this simple activity has a greater meaning.

“I walk to honor my brother and so that his death will not have been in vain,” said Chalen Rice, secretary for the AFSP board.

Rice went on to inspire the crowd with her own experience with suicide and the reason she is involved with this program. Rice said she had never given much thought to the issue of suicide until her 20-year-old brother, Devon, took his own life.

Family members of lost loved ones set up poster boards with pictures and letters at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention walk. Also used to demonstrate the seriousness of suicide were bags of beans. Each bag, with about 7,000 beans, is a 73 day period, representing how many people died from suicide during those days. | Kayla Stewart/The Daily Cougar

The fourth annual Out of the Darkness AFSP Walk for Suicide Prevention began at 9 a.m. Saturday. It consisted of an opening ceremony, a loop around the UH campus and a closing ceremony, which included the reading of names of people lost to suicide that participants had given during their registration.

Rice said her brother felt like he didn’t have any other options, and she wants to prevent anyone from feeling this way. She said that she — and anyone in a similar situation — shouldn’t be embarrassed about losing someone to suicide but focus on prevention.

“I walk so that I don’t have to be ashamed of how my brother died and that I can celebrate his life and who he was,” Rice said. “I walk in an effort to increase awareness of mental health. I walk because suicide is 100 percent preventable. I walk for those who are still grieving and hurting and not yet ready to walk.”

Each year, more than 36,000 people die by suicide, said Bill Berger, the chapter chair, which is enough people to fill the Toyota Center twice. To get awareness out, the AFSP is working on implementing policies.

“There is one (policy) recently that came through in the state of Texas,” Berger said. “That’s really to mandate and require that all the local schools in high school raise awareness about suicide prevention.”

They are still working on getting it to elementary school and middle school as well, but at this point they are just speaking with these age groups, Berger said.

Raising awareness on college campuses has been a main focus for the Houston chapter. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for college students for many reasons, including depression, drinking and drug use, Berger said.

The AFSP is not just about raising awareness of suicide. It is about making people realize that it is an acceptable conversation to have and that mental issues are normally involved as well. They are raising awareness now so that hopefully one day, fewer names will be read off the memorial list at the end of the ceremony.

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The buzzed-about ozone level, and how members of the UH community are collaboratively raising awareness, surfaced in April’s Innov8 Talk.

“For each 20 parts in billion increases of ozone within the previous one to three hours, there was an associated heart risk and possible cardiac arrest of 4.4 percent,” said research assistant professor Dan Price.

Price

Price has done research and worked with UH community members to map out the ozone in Houston to ensure people are aware when the climate is safe for people to be out. Price has worked to develop the Ozone Map app that shows the current ozone levels. The app is available on the Apple App and Google Play stores.

Although pollution has improved, the ozone has still done a significant amount of damage, which in turn impacts the health of everyone, Price said.

Headlining the Innov8 talks with Price were a few other UH professors. Each month a few are selected to prepare 8-minute presentations that showcase new and different programs at the University and how to make the learning experience fun for students.

Three faculty members from the College of Technology discussed how they like to make the learning experience fun and hands-on for students. At the end of each semester, the college puts together a red carpet event for students to showcase their hard work in a fun environment.

“It is a show and tell kind of activity where students really do take that learning and put it into practice,” said College of Technology professor Sharon O’Neil.

Getting students to engage in the classroom can sometimes be challenging. UH faculty tries to find ways to make it more interesting for students to provide a better learning environment.

It can be especially challenging to get a class to focus if the class size is close to 900 students, said Assistant Dean of Career Services at the C.T. Bauer College of Business Jamie Belinne, who teaches a class of almost 1,000 students.

Belinne

“We have huge student bodies that we are supposed to give personalized experiences to and then give them relevant connection to the real world,” Belinne said. “It’s difficult but not impossible.”

The course, GENB 2301, is a market-based class that puts students in groups to form approximately 120 teams in which they get an opportunity to learn how to work with new people. The course helps in establishing networks and learning the ways of the business world.

“At the end of the class we see that one-third of the students have joined an organization as a result of being in the class,” Belinne said. “This giant class has made them feel closer to the University.”

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Staff Council members on Thursday discussed signs on campus during their April meeting.  | Aisha Bouderdaben/The Daily Cougar

Members of the Staff Council spoke on a proposal for major updates to the signage at UH addressed success and concerns within the University in Thursday’s meeting.

“Many students complained that they don’t know the numbers of locations well enough to know how to get there,” said Associate Vice Chancellor and Vice President of Administration Emily Messa. “They expressed that naming locations would be more beneficial when trying to complete task such as finding parking.”

The council, which consists of elected staff from each department, meet monthly to work to voice concerns about the university and staff concerns. Using six standing committees and special committees, the members serve as an advisory board to the president and administration of UH.

Messa led the signage discussion, using the complaints of students on recognizing the current numbers system. Messa and other council members discussed plans to create signage around campus that includes numbers, colors and names to differentiate locations on campus.

The process to convert all of the current signs to the proposed signage would take up to three years, according to Messa. While many of the staff members were impressed by the proposal, there were several concerns as well.

Jay Parks, associate director of campus recreation, was one of the first members to address concerns about the proposed plan.

“With as many interior intersections as the University has, how will we prevent signage from popping up every fifteen to thirty feet?” Parks said.

Messa said that the one of the goals of the proposals was to reduce the current signage of about four signs per location to two signs. She expressed the benefits of the proposal, funding propositions and the time frame to create these changes.

“We are looking to have the proposal accepted this May, and from there introduce to signage to campus in five month blocks,” Messa said.

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