Fall
2013
HDCS Student Participates
in Provost’s Undergraduate
Research Program
On Wednesday, October 2, 2013 following the President’s
Fall Address, President Khator and current and former
members of the University of Houston System (UHS) Board of
Regents attended a Student Success Showcase at O’Quinn
Great Hall in the Athletics/Alumni Center on campus. The
event showcased mentored research and co-curricular
activities taking place at the University of Houston (UH)
through research poster presentations.
Senior undergraduate Human Development and
Consumer Sciences (HDCS) student, Tori Spriggins, presented
a research poster at the event on her study analyzing the
transition from university to work and attitudes towards
work-life balance among recent female college graduates.
This study was conducted under the direction of Human
Resource Development Visiting Assistant Professor Dr. Tomika
Greer. Spriggins was selected to represent the College of
Technology at this event and was joined by 12 other students,
each from one of the colleges on campus.
Spriggins conducted this research as a participant in
the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Scholarship (PURS)
program in spring 2013, and previously presented her work
at the UH Spring Academic Showcase event in April 2013.
Dr. Renu Khator, Tori Spriggins, and Dr. Tomika Greer
Bishop Retires
Dr. Peter Bishop
After encouraging students through the
support of futures studies for 30 years,
Dr. Peter Bishop is now an active faculty
retiree. His legacy has touched the lives
of countless students and his enthusiasm
was a source of encouragement to his
colleagues.
Pactor Named a Recipient
for the 2014 ABC-13
Women of Distinction
Eleven Houston
area women were
chosen as 2014
ABC-13 Women of
Distinction for their
tireless
volunteer
and
community
accomplishments.
Retailing
and
Consumer Science
Advisory
Board
President
Roz
Pactor, and RCS
alumni, was one of
the women chosen
to
receive
an
award.
The
ABC13
Women
of
D i s t i n c t i o n ,
presented
by
Mercedes-Benz
Dealers of Greater
Houston, will be
honored
at
the
Carnevale
di
Venizia Winter ball
on
January
25,
2014 at the Hilton
Americas
Hotel.
The women will be
formally presented
and honored at the
gala, which benefits
the Crohn’s and
Colitis Foundation of
America.
RCS FOCUS
Retailing & Consumer Science
Scholarship Recipients Honored at Star Awards
Members of the Houston area
retail
community
gathered
together at River Oaks Country
Club for the “A Salute to Retail”
featuring the Fifth Merchandising
Star Awards. Over 250 people
participated in the event that
recognizes those who make
contributions to the retail and
merchandising industry, which
undergraduate degrees or to
attend graduate school. The event
provides an incredible network for
our students and showcases those
leaders who represent the very
best in our industry.”
Awards were presented to
honored members for their
exceptional contributions to the
profession during a luncheon
RCS graduate Kahlid Al-Kalla and HDCS staff
member Patrick Suensom
also benefits the students of
the Department of Human
Development and Consumer
Science’s (HDCS) Retailing and
Consumer Science program. This
program prepares the University of
Houston’s College of Technology
undergraduates for careers in
retail.
“This event provides educational
outreach
and
benefits
our
students,” said Dr. Shirley Ezell,
associate professor of HDCS. “All
of the proceeds from the event go
into our permanent endowment
that provides scholarships for
retailing and consumer sciences
students
to
complete
their
Star Award Endowment was
established to provide funds
for RCS undergraduate and
graduate scholarships, continuing
education programs, program
and student enrichment, and
the expansion of the first online
merchandising degree in the
nation. Fashion designer Victor
Costa and philanthropist Rose
Dr. Shirley Ezell and Dr. Marcella Norwood
ceremony
held
Wednesday,
October 16, 2013. This year’s
honorees included CultureMap,
Silver Eagle Distributors, and
Tootsies. The Emerging Star
Student Scholarship Awards were
presented to RCS majors Khalid
Al-Kalla, Kelsey Noble, Andrea
Rodriguez, and Martha Villegas.
Each student honoree was
introduced by a short video about
their careers. Dominique Sachse,
UH alumna and news anchor for
KPRC Channel 2, emceed the
event, which was chaired by
Soraya McClelland, with Honorary
Chairman Dancie Perugini Ware.
In 2004, the Merchandising
Cullen, both UH alumni, shared
the first MSA. At the time the
endowment was established only
an RCS undergraduate degree
existed. Through program growth
and support, this fall marks the first
semester of enrollment of graduate
students for the Master of Science
in Global Retailing program at UH.
The graduate program uniquely
prepares innovative, agile retail
marketers to successfully propel
their careers and emerge as
leaders of businesses throughout
the global marketplace.
Retailing & Consumer Science
Milan Industrial Design
Professor Shares Cultural
Insight with DECA Students
Dr. Marcella Norwood, Dr. Paola Bertola, and Dr. Chiara Colombi
Across the globe,
culture and branding
are merging together
through
retail.
Collegiate
DECA
students
welcomed
Dr. Paola Bertola who
gave a presentation
titled: Post-Global: From
Brand Identity to Brand
Authenticity. She spoke
on how cultural roots are
emerging in importance
to a company’s brand
identity. One of the
points Bertola touched
on was how consumers
really want authenticity.
Several
examples,
with
accompanying
pictures, were given
using various design
concepts from different
regions of Germany,
West
France,
and
South Spain. Particular
emphasis was placed
on hightlighing how
design and color are
different by region.
Bertola is an architect
with a Ph.D. in Industrial
Design from Politecnico di Milano University,
where she is currently
an associate professor
of industrial design at
the School of Design.
Additionally, she has
been a scholastic researcher at the Illinois
Institute of Technology
in Chicago. Bertola’s
academic contributions
include being a part
of the scientific board
of Alta Scuola Politecnica, coordinating The
FIT@Polimi Program at
the School of Design,
director of the master Fashion Management - Brand & Product
Innovation at Milano
Fashion Institute, and
serving as a member of
the Scientific commitee
of Fashion Practice.
Bertola was awarded
the Compasso d’Oro
Award for Research in
2011. Her research and
didactical activities are
focused on fashion design research and fashion design process planning.
Target Experts Help
Students Improve
Their Resumes
Thy Mai and Samantha Mexicano, both from
Target, stopped by the HDCS 439: Internship in Human
Development and Consumer Science course during
the semester. The purpose of their visit was to share
tips with current students on improving their resume
in preparation for employment in the retail industry.
Mexicano is a recent graduate of the Retailing and
Consumer Science program.
For more information on RCS courses, please visit
http://www.uh.edu/technology/.
Thy Mai
Stephanie Mexicano
ExHRD Alum Speaks to
Collegiate DECA Students
L to R: DECA officers Jason
Kim, Jasmine Berry, Vinay
Sanapala, Samantha
Guzman, and Crystal Wade
Vinay Sanapala, recent graduate of the Executive
Masters in Human Resource Development program,
spoke to University of Houston Collegiate DECA
students about “ What is Your Theory of Change?”
He provided students with insight on the importance
of communication, organizational development
and business planning. Sanapala also touched on
navigating the challenges of organizational change
management.
HRD FOCUS
Human Resource Development
Internationally Recognized Expert in Evaluation
and Training Effectiveness to Visit UH Sugar Land
The UH Executive HRD Program &
the City of Sugar Land announced
two speaking engagements in
which Robert O. Brinkerhoff, Ed.D.
will discuss training evaluation with
area professionals and students.
Dr. Brinkerhoff will converse on
a variety of related topics with
a focus on leveraging learning
investments for sustained business
impact, ROI, and value.
Attendees can expect to:
•Discover a strategy and
practical tools to transform
your organization’s Learning
and development function
from “order taker” to true and
valued business partner.
•Use an “Impact Map”
to clearly and convincingly
communicate the business
linkage and value of training
initiatives to senior leaders to
win their buy-in and support.
•Use practical tools to
engage managers so that
they
enthusiastically
take
accountability for helping their
employees to use new skills on
the job.
•Increase
competitive
advantage by building a
learning organization that
consistently accelerates the
execution of key business
strategies – out-learning to
out-perform competitors.
•Discover how to assure
that “soft skills” management
and leadership development
programs consistently deliver
critically needed “hard” results.
On December 4, 2013, Dr.
Brinkerhoff will speak at the
following events:
•11a.m. – 1 p.m. at the Sugar
Land Marriott at Town Square
– HRD Professionals Meeting
(attendees to include ExHRD
Brown Bag participants and
City of Sugar Land business
constituents)
•6-9 p.m. at UH-Sugar Land
campus – Executive HRD
students and alumni (UH Sugar
Land)
For additional information about
these events, please contact
Bonnie Rogers (bjrogers@central.
uh.edu) or Dr. Consuelo Waight
(clwaight@central.uh.edu).
Executive HRD Program Welcomes a
Second Cohort in August
The fall 2013 semester kicks
off another promising year
for the University of Houston’s
Executive Human Resource
Development
(ExHRD)
master’s program. This year
marks the second year the
executive option has been
offered through the College of
Technology. Students enrolled
in the current cohort come from
a wide range of employers in
the immediate Houston area
including Memorial Hermann,
Matrix Metals LLC, Applus RTD,
UH Bauer, Wells Fargo Bank,
Bechtel, Wood Group Mustang
Inc., and the City of Rosenberg.
Following the success of
the program’s first year, classes
continue to be held at the
Sugar Land campus in both
traditional and hybrid formats.
Students will remain in the
program during the spring term,
participate in a cross-cultural,
international component in Sao
Paulo, Brazil during the summer
mini session, and complete their
course of study in summer 2014.
For more information about the
ExHRD program, please visit
www.uh.edu/executivehrd.
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Executive HRD
Program Celebrates
First Graduating Cohort
Back, L to R: Tiwana Robinson, Shana Funkhouser, Mario
Espinosa, Dr. Holly Hutchins, Dr. Consuelo Waight, Vinay
Sanapala, David Sweeten
Front, L to R: Program Coordinator Bonnie Rogers, Farah
Lawrence, Shipra Kashap, Nesrin Bunkhelia, Toni Forrest
Not pictured are Julie Harper Van Dusen and Nitya
Undergraduate HRD
Students Benefit
from Internship
Experiences
Over
20
senior-level
undergraduate
students
are
currently working in internships
across the Houston area with
companies including Baker Hughes,
Weatherford, FMC Technologies,
Sunoco,
Houston
Community
College, and the University of
Houston. These students are gaining
first-hand knowledge about Human
Resource Development (HRD) as
they work towards the completion
of their undergraduate degrees.
All undergraduate HRD students
are required to enroll in HRD 4396
– Internship in HRD and complete
an internship during their senior
year. The course is offered every
fall and spring semester. If you
have questions about HRD 4396,
please contact Dr. Tomika Greer
(twgreer@uh.edu), the course
instructor.
..........................................................
HRD Graduate Student Pandit Completes Thesis
Paper on Mentoring in Organizations
Students completing a team building exercise
created by Comedy Sports.
Establishing class goals during fall orientation.
During the summer of 2013, Mayura
Pandit successfully defended her Master’s
instructional approach in a graduate
Pandit’s research was guided by Human
Professor Dr. Consuelo Waight who also
thesis study, entitled “Mentoring as an
organization
development
course”.
Resource
Development
Associate
served as the thesis committee chair.
When reflecting on her thesis
like to mention my sincere thanks to Dr.
support. I am also thankful to Dr. Tomika
inspiration, feedback and inputs. This
research in HRD and I used these skills when
Energy.”
experience, Pandit remarked, “I would
Waight for her guidance, motivation and
Greer and Dr. Holly Hutchins for consistent
experience gave me a new insight for
I was doing my internship with Enbridge
Mayura Pandit
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
HRD Undergrad Student Spotlight
Arianne Sierra is
a Senior in the HRD
undergraduate
program. She is currently
enrolled in the HRD
internship class (HRD
4396) and is interning at
Baker Hughes.
Like every other
college student,
Human Resource and
Development (HRD)
undergraduate student
Arianne Sierra was
beyond excited when
she was about to start
her final semester. There
was light at the end of
the tunnel, which was
graduation. After the
excitement settled,
however, she started
to feel anxious and
nervous.
After you graduate,
what is next is typically
asked of graduates?
It is a common notion
they are supposed
to be in an ideal job,
doing what they spent
years learning in the
classroom. “At the
same time, I knew that
one of my final classes
was HRD 4396 that
required me to have an
appropriate internship
that was specific to
HRD and allowed me
to work on a project I
could present at the
end of the semester,”
Sierra said. “I began to
feel concerned about
finding an internship
that would fit my school
schedule, meet the
receive updates and
emails about different
job openings in Houston.
Users can check the
career services website
and email daily to
see any job postings
that fit what they are
looking for. “Once I
saw the opening for
“If I could give any advice
for other undergraduates
who are looking for
internships it would be to
take full advantage of the
resources that UH offers.”
Arianne Sierra
criteria for the class
and, at the same time,
would replace my
full time job I already
had. I immediately
contacted classmates
from the past semester
I knew were already in
internships and started
to find out about the
different resources UH
offers to students to help
them find internships
and full-time positions
after graduating.”
One of the first
actions Sierra took was
to sign up at the career
center on campus to
an internship at Baker
Hughes, I immediately
jumped on it. I did not
wait even five minutes
to complete the
application and submit
my resume. I knew that
there would be many
people in the same
position I was, and did
not want to risk the
posting closing before I
applied,” Sierra said.
“I got hired on with
Baker Hughes as a
Resident Instructional
Design Project Manager
(IDMP). This position is
a full time internship
that allows me to work
directly with other
IDMPs and learn the
system and processes
of being an instructional
designer,” Sierra
said. “In my position,
I collaborate with
subject matter experts
to analyze course
content, identify course
objectives, and develop
material to create
trainings. Also, I create
content & graphics for
instructor led and web
based training courses
using Bloom’s Taxonomy
and the ADDIE model.”
Sierra is able to make
the connection
between the materials
learned in classes to
what is done at Baker
Hughes.
“If I could give
any advice for other
undergraduates
who are looking for
internships it would be
to take full advantage
of the resources that
UH offers,” Sierra said.
“Use the career center
to receive emails and
use the TechConnect
website to upload
resumes to different
employers. I would also
encourage students
to attend the different
career fairs throughout
the semester.”
Learn more about HRD jobs
through the SSHRD job
postings and the ASTD job
board.
Internship Leads to Full
Time Position with Shell
SSHRD Fall
Updates
Alex Stiles is in her last semester
of the HRD graduate program.
Her interests include leadership
development, adult learning, and
the experiences of expatriates.
She is a graduate of Louisiana
State University.
When Stiles first met Dr. Tomika
Greer, Visiting Assistant Professor
and Program Manager for the
Human Resource
Development
Program, for
lunch to discuss
her graduate
assistantship over
the summer in
2012, she told
her she wanted
to be interning
with a major
oil company
Alex Stiles
the following
summer.
“This past summer I interned
with Shell Oil Company in the
Upstream Americas Learning
and Organizational Effectiveness
organization,” Stiles said. “Within
two weeks of my internship
ending, I accepted a full-time
offer of employment for January
2014.”
Stiles will be the first to admit,
the time between voicing her
goal and signing a full-time offer
letter was incredibly challenging.
One of the first things she learned
was that a HRD-focused internship
with major oil companies did not
exist. “However, I wholeheartedly
believed if I just met the right
person I could achieve my goal. I
am a firm believer in the power of
networking, and my story confirms
its impact,” Stiles said.
While at Louisiana State
University, Stiles discovered
Our first fundraising event for
this semester was a success!
SSHRD hosted a carwash at
Barry’s Pizza on Saturday, September 7th, 2013. This semester,
SSHRD has implemented a new
membership point system. It’s
easy to earn points just by
participating in SSHRD’s activities. Please visit the SSHRD
website for more information
about upcoming events!
https://sites.google.com/site/
sshrduh/. We would like to
thank each and everyone who
have taken the time to participate in our events! The officer
team can’t wait to see everyone at our upcoming events.
Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter! If
you have any questions, comments or concerns, email us at
sshrd.uh@gmail.com.
the world of HRD and started
networking to learn more about
the field. She also discovered
these professionals were happy to
speak with her. The connection to
Shell began with reaching out to
a learning manager her college
mentor had once met. “I reached
out to him each time my resume
took on a new experience, but I
always kept our conversation to
advice, the learning moments
I experienced, and my next
steps,” Stiles said. “I inquired
about the company, but I
never asked for an opportunity.
Instead, I used the tactic of
showing him I deserved it
through my dedication and
desire to learn. It was over 18
months before I was offered
an interview for a brand new
summer internship opportunity.”
The internship experience
taught Stiles networking is just as
important in the workplace. She
was given seven assignments that
contributed to the major internship
project. These assignments
included interfacing with over
20 stakeholders in five different
countries. “I conducted over
30 networking interviews with
various employees across different
departments and attended
eight established networking
events,” Stiles said. “The actual
work I completed was done both
effectively and efficiently because
of the relationships I built and
guidance I sought. Networking not
only secured my dream internship
opportunity, but it proved I was
a positive investment for full-time
hire.”
Students at the carwash fundraiser.
Upcoming events:
ADA Heart Walk with
Cougars for Kids
When: Saturday, November 23, 2013
Where: Minute Maid Park & Northshore
Park
Houston Food Bank with UH
MVP
When: Saturday, November 30, 2013
Where: 535 Portwall St. Houston, TX
77029
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
HRD Faculty Publications and Presentations
Industrial Design Key for Soni’s Success
• Dr. Tomika Greer published “Maximize the
Internship Experience for Employers and Students”
in the May 2013 issue of T+D Magazine.
• Dr. Tomika Greer published “Facilitating
Successful Re-Entries in the United States: Training
and Development for Women Returners” in the
July 2013 issue of New Horizons in Adult Education
Vijeta Soni is a graduate of
the M.S. HRD program. Since
receiving her degree, she has
relocated to India and has found
success in instructional design.
In the last couple of years
Human Resource Development
alumni Vijeta Soni started an
online content designing and
development company. The
company has used freelancers
from various domains to work
on online course development
for a variety of clients. Currently,
the company offers instructional
design, content writing, graphic
designing, flash and HTML5 for
interactivities, and engaging
simulations for nursing and hospital staff. The current business
model appears to be working
very well as the clients are fixed
and the skill resource bank is also
completed.
Soni has also recently entered
back into the industry in a senior
manager position with Reliance
Industries (RIL) Corporate L&D
division. RIL is one of the most
Dr. Tomika Greer
Critical Reflexology in Exploring Adult Learning
Theories”.
• Dr. Holly Hutchins published a book chapter
regarding best practices in training transfer.
• Dr. Holly Hutchins was invited to speak on transfer
of learning from disasters at the Learning Disaster
Health Workshop sponsored by the National
Dr. Holly Hutchins
and Human Resource Development.
• Dr. Holly Hutchins published two articles in the
International Journal of Selection & Assessment,
including: “Reporting more than learned in
training? Social desirability and trainees’ needs as
interactive predictors of unrelated knowledge”
and “Can the LTSI predict transfer performance?
Testing intent to transfer as a proximal transfer of
training outcome”.
• Dr. Holly Hutchins published two articles in
New Horizons in Adult Education and Human
Resource Development, including: “Reflections
on Developing Student Authors: From Class Paper
to Journal Publication” and “Media Analysis as
Dr. Torrence Sparkman
Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health in
Washington, DC on September 17.
• Dr. Holly Hutchins was invited to speak to Applied
Performance and Technology doctoral students
and faculty at her alma mater – University of
North Texas – on “Becoming a Courageous
Researcher” on October 11.
• Dr. Torrence Sparkman presented “Change
Design, & Lead: The New Direction of Strategic
HRD Initiatives” to the Houston Chapter of the
National Association of African-Americans in
Human Resources in June 2013.
..........................................................
HRD Faculty Contributes to National Science
Foundation ADVANCE Grant
Dr. Holly Hutchins is serving as the
Co-PI on the NSF ADVANCE grant
proposal that seeks to increase
and advance the number of
women STEM faculty members.
Her specific role is to foster efforts
to increase STEM women (and
especially women of color) faculty
into administrative leadership
positions. To find out more about
the ADVANCE initiative at UH,
visit:
http://www.egr.uh.edu/
research/advance.
prestigious companies in India,
operating in oil & gas, petrochemicals, retail, telecom, and
health care sectors. “This L&D
Vijeta Soni
department has a lot of scope
for eLearning,” Soni said. “Since
that’s an area I have already
worked on so much, I am solely
driving my energies into implementing corporate social learning culture.”
Through working in a niche
area of the social learning Soni
has found it to be a rich experi-
Berthelsen Kicks Off Student
Society of Human Resource
Development Event
The SSHRD Fall 2013 kick-off event was held
Thursday, August 29th with special guest, UH
alumna, Alice May Berthelsen. As a current
employee of Aggreko, she provided great
insights and advice in the HRD field to members.
ence and more interesting than
the traditional and e-learning areas. “In this company of around
40,000 employees, it’s quite a
challenge as there’s a strong
“push” learning culture, which we
need to change to “pull”, Soni
notes. “In my first month I have
a dedicated SharePoint team
along with some IDs, with whom
we are driving some pilot studies
to bring in awareness, respect,
and value for collaborative
learning methods among Leaders, Managers, and operational
executives.” She also hopes to
be able to bring social learning in
a blended form (in-person learning communities and technology driven collaboration) and
concentrate on two major areas
namely collaboration for innovation and informal employee
engagement.
FORESIGHT FOCUS
Renowned Strategic Foresight Expert
Peter Bishop Announces Retirement
The future studies program was founded in1974
and Dr. Bishop has contributed tremendously to
the success of the program since 1983. In the
Strategic Foresight certificate program students
learn about disruptive change and how to work
towards the creation of transformational change in
order to influence the future of their organizations,
companies and communities. In the Futures Studies
in Commerce master’s program, students emphasize
systemic and transformational change focused on
achieving long-term goals.
Influenced
by
Dr.
Bishop’s
academic
contributions, several graduates from the program
have moved on to pursue careers in non-profit
enterprises and future-related research firms. Others
have founded organizations across the U.S. and the
world such as the Accelerates Studies Foundation
in California, New Moon Research in Atlanta and
Future Studies Center in Brazil.
In the college’s efforts to sustain his passion for
learning, teaching and building futures studies, he
will teach a smaller selection of courses part-time,
manage the certificate program and represent the
University and the program. Hoping that all students
will learn how to anticipate and influence the future,
Dr. Bishop foresees one or more courses being
included in the core curriculum. He is collaborating
with other foresight programs around the world
to define a common core of what the College of
Technology teaches to further improve and guide
others would desire to start new programs.
During his retirement party held in September,
he shared kind words or encouragement with his
colleagues. “Be grateful for the legacy that you are
building and I only hope that someday you will feel
the warmth and gratitude and the good feelings
when people have touched your life.” The College
congratulates and celebrates the evidence of hard
work and welcomes the start of new beginnings and
anticipated contributions.
Schlegel and Breaux Win Association of
Professional Futurists Student Recognition Awards
Two graduate students from competition. The competition has
the Foresight program, Heather participants from 26 universities in
Schlegel and Jim Breaux, were two 21 different countries. Foresight
of the three winners of the 2013 Program Coordinator Dr. Peter
Association of Professional Futurists Bishop exclaimed at the results
(AFP) Student Recognition
of
the
competition,
Program in the category
“Another great year for
of individual graduate
UH!”
students.
Through
the
Schlegel’s
project
efforts of students like
was titled “The Human
these, the program has
Problem.” “When I sat
resumed an excellent
down to think about
track record in winning this
the big questions or
Heather Schlegel
category after it finished
problems in the world
in third place the previous
I could not find a big
year. This year there was a great problem worthy of attention,”
set of entries from students and it Schlegel discovered. “So I went
was difficult to choose who would on a quick search to find what
represent the program in the other people thought were the
big burning questions of our age.
Problems like pollution, limited
resources, various crises, global
warming and rising population.
These are truly problems we must
face. But why were they problems
in the first place. How did they
become problems?” She noted
that at the time of writing, her
“usual optimism was absent,”
and decided to try “Appreciative
Inquiry.” From there, the paper
emerged and as Schlegel puts
it, “she is no hooked on the
Appreciative Inquiry method.”
The other winner from the
program
was
Jim
Breaux.
Continued...
FORESIGHT
A Vision for the Houston
Foresight Program and Students
Andy Hines, Program Coordinator
I acknowledge that I feel like
the guy who succeeded Steve
Jobs – anyone remember who
that was? Exactly! The good news
is that I’ve been here for nine years
working alongside Dr. Peter Bishop.
I intend to build on the foundation
Peter and other faculty over the
years have constructed.
When I think about what the
program is all about and where it
could go, the first thing that strikes
me is how important the work is
that we are doing here. The world
needs more foresight, and it’s our
job to help provide that. We need
more trained professionals to help
us spread foresight. So, thank you,
students (and alums), for joining us
in this important work!
In my mind, the big vision is
that foresight is a disseminated
practice in widespread use.
The program vision is the UH
Foresight is the premier training
ground for professional futurists.
Our graduates are recognized for
their unrelenting focus on helping
clients solve problems and work
toward their preferred futures.
For students, from day one
we want you to be thinking
about how you are going to use
your educational experience in
foresight. Be thinking about what
works for you. What are you drawn
to? A method? A tool? A particular
thinker? An organization? Do you
want to be consulting futurist? An
insider or organizational futurist?
“In my mind,
the big vision is
that foresight is
a disseminated
practice in
widespread use.”
Or a “futurizer,” where foresight is
secondary to your profession, but
you work to spread the foresight
message? Learn what works for
you. Each of you brings different
skills, capabilities, and needs to
the table, so it’s important to
customize what you learn to what
suits you going forward.
We want to build an experience
for you that extends beyond just
the classroom. This fall, for instance,
we are participating in an online
game. We are having a futures
classic book club meeting at my
house on an October Saturday
morning. We have an annual
Continued...
Breaux’s project was
titled “Weather-Related
Disaster
Recovery.”
The topic of strategic
recovery from disaster
actually inspired him to
undertake the Master’s
in Science in Foresight.
Breaux believes foresight
Jim Breaux
spring gathering of students,
alumni, and friends and this is a
great time for our virtual students
to visit. We participate in the
Association of Professional Futurists
(AFP) gathering each spring and
the World Future Society (WFS)
assembly in the summer and we
would like to do more.
We are looking to build up our
research capability to provide
students an opportunity to get
hands-on project experience.
There is no better way to prepare
for project work in the future
than to practice in the present.
There are also opportunities to do
interesting research on your own.
Besides the master’s project, there
are independent study options,
and many students have used
their class projects as a foundation
for building thought leadership on
their topic. We encourage our
students to speak and publish.
Our students routinely speak at
the APF and WFS conferences.
Our students have regularly won
awards for their written projects
for the APF Student Recognition
Program.
So, for those of you thinking
about it, come join us! For those
already here, thanks for your time!
Remember, we’ve got work to
do, and it’s important!
can be applied around
the time of disruption
to set the direction of a
community, individual,
or organization on the
path to a preferred
future;
preferably
before, but certainly
after. “This piece was a
lot of fun to put together
and came together
easily as I populated the
framework,” Breaux said.
“I really appreciate the
opportunity to compete
for the APF student
recognition
award
and am honored to be
selected.”
FORESIGHT
Grim Wins APF Most
Significant Futures
Works Award for Model
Congratulations are in order to
Foresight Adjunct Faculty Terry
Grim for winning the 2013 Association of Professional Futurists (AFP)
Most Significant Futures Works
Award for her work in developing
the Foresight Maturity Model. Grim
has been teaching an introductory class in the program for the
last several years. The program
appreciates her skill and expertise
in launching students on their journey into the program. Grim has
also been active as a consultant
on the outside working with the
Foresight Alliance. The program
is always looking to bring students a blend of academic and
real-world experience, and Grim
has been doing that through her
teaching in the classroom.
Grim began her work on the
Foresight Maturity Model several
years ago. She helped develop
a Strategy Maturity Model during
her time on staff with IBM’s Strategy Group. When she retired from
IBM and went to work for the former Social Technologies, she figured it was time to take what she
learned in developing the Strategy Maturity Model and applying
it to foresight.
Another connection to the Houston Foresight program is that Grim
based the “activities” involved
in doing foresight work on the six
activities of the program’s framework: Framing, Scanning, Forecasting, Visioning, Planning, Acting (which she re-characterized
as “Leading). The idea of the FMM
is
to
meas u r e
h o w
well,
or at
Terry Grim
what
level
of capability, the activities are being
carried out.
The model identifies five degrees of competence in various
practices within each of the six
activities. The tool can be used
by organizations to assess their
degree of foresight “maturity” using a survey took that Grim developed. For more information visit
the FMM page.
UH Faculty, Staff, and Students Shine at
the Fifth Merchandising Star Awards
RCS Advisory Board Members
Joe Williams and Kim Jordan
HDCS faculty Dr. Katy Greenwoon,
Dr. Barbara Stewart, and Dr. Carole
Goodson
Undergraduate RCS students
RCS program students
Endowment Opportunities
Contribute to our permanent endowment, which supports student scholarships and program enrichment. To
find out how you can help, contact Dr. Shirley Ezell at
sezell@uh.edu. Your contribution entitles you to a tax deduction and provides long term support for HDCS and
student scholarships.
HDCS graduate students
RCS program students
Outlook is published by the Human Development
and Consumer Science Department as a means of
informing the HDCS community about departmental
and campus news.
Target’s
sponsored
table with RCS
Advisory Board
members and
guests
Imagine the Possibilities
Be a Futurist
HDCS Office
713.743.4110
http://www.uh.edu/technology/
Dr. Marcela Norwood
Department Chair
Earn a Master of Science in Foresight
Forecasting • World Futures • System Thinking • Social Change
DEFINE YOUR FUTURE
HDCS staff member Jamie Thomas
and graduate student Noureen Asif
Human Development & Consumer Sciences | Isabel C. Cameron Building | University of Houston | Houston, Texas 77204-6020 | 713-743-4110 | www.tech.uh.edu/HDCS