VPBA Newsletter - August 2006

August 2006

SideNotes

Kerry's Korner...

I love UTSA; I love the important role each of us play and our influence in developing and transforming the lives of our students – the leaders of tomorrow; I love the staff I work with and the energy that I get from being with them; I love walking across campus and seeing students enjoying our manicured grounds, clean buildings and paseos; I love compliments from our colleague-partners about our extreme service and attention to detail; I love seeing the growth and development of our staff; I love talking with employees who also love working here and who are passionate about making their distinct mark of service; I love the changes, progress and improvements in our service levels; I love writing notes to employees who exemplify excellence in their work; and I am completely, unabashedly, and unapologetically in love with what the future holds --- that no matter our position, we are going to be known for our willingness to partner for others’ success, to rapidly change to enable progress, and to be considered the best service providers on campus.

In summary, I love working with each of you as we create a future with implications far beyond our imaginations.  You are IMPORTANT.  What you do here is IMPORTANT – it is life changing! 

As we begin a new academic year, our students and colleagues are looking to us to make a difference in their lives.  And I’m confident we will deliver – every person, every day, every job.

 Kerry

Calendar
of Events

Fall Convocation
August 21
10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Convocation Center

Freshens Opens
August 21, JPL

Einstein Bros. Opens
August 23, BSE

New Employee
Welcome Program
August 22

Worth Remembering
"You can't change where you started, but you can change the direction you are going. It's not what you are going to do, but it's what you are doing now that counts."
- Napoleon Hill
 

Have you heard of the forthcoming Business Affairs Shared Values Initiative? This program will kick-off sometime later in the Fall to coordinate with the institution’s Strategic Planning Initiative, which encompasses a significant ‘values’ element of its own. Identification of our Business Affairs core values is one of the most strategic and empowering exercises that we could do. Interfacing our Business Affairs ‘values’ discussions and meetings with the overall institution’s values identification program will be even more rewarding and useful to us.

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
 - George Bernard Shaw
 

THANK YOU!

We would like to thank the Web and Multimedia Services Team, especially Craig Evans, Director, Tom Palmer, Web Designer, and Frank Yannuzzi, Webmaster for partnering with us and for their expertise with Business Horizon’s new professional design.  We appreciate your time and patience!

Matthew "Matt" Anderson

Matthew "Matt" Anderson is a native Texan, born and raised in San Antonio. After graduating from Clark High School in 1998, he enrolled at Northwest Vista College to pursue a degree in Multimedia Technology. Matt started working for UTSA in the Human Resources Department in June 1999, working part time while continuing his quest for an associate's degree. He is now less that 4 credit hours away from reaching his educational goal, and has found his coursework in web design to be the most interesting and enjoyable of his classes.

Matt joined the Mail Services team in June 2005. He quickly adapted to his new position as a Mail Clerk II, not only learning mail processing and distribution responsibilities, but also the important duties of the Mail Courier. Matt fills this vital position when the assigned courier is out.

In addition to going to college and working at UTSA, Matt plays electric guitar and performs in San Antonio with a local band named "Jupiter Mission". His work here has enhanced customer service and he is an integral member of the Mail Services team, helping to make Mail Services "Your partner for successful solutions."

Einstein Bros. Bagels opens: August 23rd in the BSE

Einstein offers a wide variety of bagels and “schmears”, breakfast sandwiches, lox and bagels, lunch panini and sandwiches as well as lighter fare….with fewer carbs and lower fat grams. Coffee, tea and espresso beverages are available. Look for this new and exciting location on the 1^st floor of BSE!

Freshens opens: August 21st in the JPL.

Freshens offers "Fat Free", "Low Fat" and "Fat Free No Sugar Added" yogurts and smoothies and features Old Fashion Milk Shakes in four mouth-watering flavors, including Oreo Cream. Parfaits are also on the menu, as well as soft serve yogurt in a variety of flavors. Freshens also offers a variety of Fat Free Dairy, Tropical Fruit Juice, Orange and Low Calorie Smoothies. Many of the smoothies start at a slimming 155 calories per serving!

Make it a point to stop by and try one of Freshens Frozen Treats starting Monday, August 21st!

Business Affairs has printed these business size cards with our new brand on the front and our vision on the back. They are available in both English and Spanish. Please contact your AVP or Director Office for a copy of the branding card.

Materials Management Changes Name

Effective September 1, 2006, the Materials Management Department is undergoing a name change.  The new department title, Purchasing and Distribution Services, has been chosen as a more accurate reflection of the diverse services the department provides to UTSA. 

Purchasing and Distribution Services consists not only of Purchasing, but also oversees Procard Compliance, Mail Services (Downtown and 1604 campuses) Records Retention, Central Receiving, Warehouse, General Stores, the Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) Program, and ROTC supplies.   

Did you know that the 1604 Mail Services Department sorts and delivers approximately 1.5 million pieces of incoming mail each fiscal year?  Central Receiving delivers approximately 40,000 packages yearly to the tri-campus community.  Wow!

How Are You Living the Partnering Brand?

Parking and Transportation Services
Recently, Parking and Transportation Services has worked extensively with Purchasing to locate HUB vendors for goods and services with great success.  Partnering for successful solutions, they have been able to enlist HUB vendors for 3 major initiatives, including Fleet Data Entry, parking lot striping, and the construction of a bus shelter.

Associate Vice President for Administration
Business Affairs has been “partnering for successful solutions” with the City of San Antonio, Student Affairs, and our neighbors who provide student housing to have a new traffic light at the intersection of UTSA Blvd. and Roadrunner Way installed. Following discussions last year with the City, the City studied traffic on UTSA Blvd. and determined that this traffic signal is warranted to improve vehicular and pedestrian traffic safety. Business Affairs and Student Affairs have engaged Century Housing and expect to engage the owners of the Outpost to put together a “neighborhood coalition” to support this project.

   Interim Vice President for Students Affairs

Kevin Price has been named Interim Vice President for Student Affairs by President Ricardo Romo. Price came to UTSA in 2005 with more than 20 years' experience in student affairs. Immediately prior to coming to UTSA, he worked at Louisiana State University for four years, where he served as dean of students and assistant vice chancellor for student affairs. Before that, he was at The University of Texas at Austin for seven years where he first served as an assistant dean of students and later as an associate dean of students.

Price earned two degrees from Auburn University--his bachelor's degree in history and his master's degree in counseling with an emphasis in college student development. He later earned his J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Vice President for Student Affairs serves three major roles: as a leader in overseeing the various student affairs components including student life, new student programs, career services, athletics, financial aid, admissions, registrar, counseling and health services, recreation, housing; as a facilitator by listening to the diverse voices on campus and fostering community through the development of rich co-curricular experiences for students; and as a visionary in finding ways to increase student retention and success through technology, programs and services. The position has been posted on STARS. First round interviews (phone) will be conducted mid-October, second round (on campus) will be conducted the week of November 6-10 and the goal is to finalize and provide recommendations to President Romo by the end of November. For more information, visit www.utsa.edu/vpsasearch/.

   Vice President for Student Affairs Search

REMINDER

August 31 ends the fourth quarter. This is the last month of the quarter and time for you to nominate a deserving Business Affairs employee for the Celebrating Excellence Award for their outstanding efforts demonstrating Creativity, Promoting Change and Communication in the performance of their duties. You can nominate someone using the Business Affairs website and clicking on the Celebrating Excellence logo or through your department using forms they've specially prepared for their internal programs. Either way, don't let this opportunity to recognize an outstanding employee go by!

PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUESTS

All requests to view or copy UTSA documents must be processed through the Vice President for Business Affairs Office. For more information, click: http://www.utsa.edu/bussvc/
OpenRecords.htm.

REMINDER.....

Please email us the new employees in your department, so we can add them to the newsletter mailing.

 

Chartwells has created a 40-meal plan for students who live off campus and faculty and staff. The meal plan is per semester and can be used at any Chartwells retail operation (excluding Einstein Bros., Freshens and Subway) for a meal trade, or eat at The RoadRunner Cafe. Meals must be used in the semester purchased. To purchase the Commuter Meal Plan go to any Food Service Venue cashier.

Congratulations to the Materials Management Department, which was recently awarded the 2006 Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award founded by the National Purchasing Institute for the second year in a row!  This program acknowledges organizations that demonstrate excellence measured by innovation, professionalism, productivity, e-procurement, and leadership exhibited by the procurement organization.  Congratulations to our UTSA Materials Management Department for receiving this prestigious award.

Continued growth at UTSA has resulted in a significant increase in energy costs and consumption.  Energy consumption will continue to increase, with additional UTSA growth, as the University moves forward in its ascent to become a top tier institution.  In an effort to reduce the rate of growth in resource consumption, the University plans to launch an Energy Conservation Committee comprised of faculty, staff, and students. The new Committee will provide a re-energized approach to improving resource and energy conservation, replacing the existing Conserve Energy Campaign Steering Committee, which was created in 2001 to advise and create awareness of energy conservation programs at UTSA.

The new Energy Conservation Committee will be comprised of a Steering Committee and two subcommittees.  The two subcommittees will be the Awareness and Technical Subcommittees, composed of smaller groups that will meet on a monthly basis.  The Steering Committee will meet on a quarterly basis, and updates will be provided to the President and Vice Presidents.
 

  Sponsored Programs Realignment

These changes, as well as the realignment of the Office of Technology Development, will result in the reassignment of a few members of our team from Business Affairs to Research. The realignment is only in the very early stages and a timeline for reassignment of personnel has not yet been determined. Watch for more news on this subject as we make changes to support UTSA’s growing sponsored research program!

Studies show that many freshmen who drop out decide to do so in the first two weeks. As in most situations, first impressions are crucial. Many freshmen, and especially first generation college students, often arrive on campus with a number of questions and a sense of uncertainty. Accordingly, each and every contact we have with our new students is vital.