With the Spring Semester under way, the University of Houston-Downtown’s Virtual Lobby is continuing to be a valuable resource for students, faculty and staff.

The Virtual Lobby provides a centralized location for students to access services and schedule appointments without having to come to campus. This semester, additional student support offices have expanded its offerings by creating more Zoom rooms and virtual chat opportunities with students.

Offices that can be accessed through the virtual lobby include Student Services, Student Support, Campus Life, Information Technology and the five UHD colleges. Meetings with these offices are conducted via Zoom or other online platforms.

The lobby was launched by the Office of the Provost in September and originally created in response to the pandemic. However, it also is designed to meet the needs of UHD’s growing commuter population.

“With the spring semester starting with classes fully online, the Virtual Lobby is giving greater access to vital resources for students, faculty and staff — and helping them to stay connected to one another,” said Natalie Boehm, Assistant Director of Academic & Student Affairs.

In addition, links have been included on the left hand menu of the Virtual Lobby homepage to IT’s Computer Lab Hours webpage and the newly updated Keep on Teaching and Learning webpages.

“These additional and more visible links on the lobby’s main page provide expanded access to instructional and technology resources at the fingertips of students and faculty,” she noted.

Lobby hours are 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday. Visitors with questions are encourages to complete a form provided on the lobby’s webpage. Responses to questions will be sent by the next business day.

“We had a great response during the fall semester and we anticipate the Virtual Lobby continuing to be a valued resource for our students,” Boehm said.