September 4, 2008
Staff News

In This Issue:

 

Message from Gage E. Paine, Vice President for Student Affairs

First and foremost today, a very large and heartfelt thank you to everyone for such a smooth and successful opening to the new academic year.  The good planning and preparation all year, the attention to detail and the plain ol' hard work showed in the quality of our events and services, the very positive comments in this week's CMO meeting and in the resulting energy and enthusiasm displayed all across campus.  Last year at this time, I wrote about record numbers in attendance at events and walking across our crowded, busy campus.  Well, we're breaking last year's records all over the place, especially evident walking across campus and viewing the amazing changes, including our our new food venues. It feels like we've had another huge growth spurt, but we haven't. Students are staying on campus because there are more and more reasons to stay and places to hang out.  It's a great feeling to experience such a vibrant atmosphere.

So now the hectic days of moving into residence halls, of lost students trying to find classrooms, and all the free food of Roadrunner Days are all over.  Now, it's what passes for routine on a  college campus - classes, student organization meetings, special events, processing reports, sorting out start-of-year budget issues, and on and on through a very full list.  Before we run to the next thing, I'd like to suggest we stop for just a moment and think about the reasons for all of the fun that we arrange at the beginning of the year.  Yes, it's about fun for its own sake - fun has a place in our lives and in our work.  I hope you had fun as you inflated balloons, handed out food, or were mobbed for those highly valued t-shirts.  I know students were having fun.

Of course, it's not just about the fun, is it?  Everything we do has a purpose related to student success.  Whether it's sending out an 'all call' in Financial Aid and Enrollment Services to help with a long line or making sure the inflatables stay inflated, we want students to feel supported by and connected to UTSA.  These feelings are important for all students, but are critical for the newest students on campus during the early weeks of their transition to college.  We want them to spend time here with others because we know this is an important component of student success. 

A few years ago, Richard Light, a faculty member from Harvard, published a book called Making the Most of College:  Students Speak Their Minds.  The book is a result of his ten years of interviewing senior students.  I'd like to share a couple of quotes from his book.

"In short, students who are able to integrate the in-class and outside-of-class parts of their lives can reap great benefits.  Those of us who run or teach at colleges routinely talk about financial aid packages for students.  It should be possible to help every student build an 'educational package'.  Rather than saying 'Let's admit good students and not get in their way,' we should admit our students and then get in their way, in the most constructive sense, to help them make these powerful connections."

Light goes on to talk about research about outside-of-class experiences which debunks the idea that academic work is harmed by such experiences.  "To summarize, two main findings stand out.  If we aggregate all the non-academic commitments of students, adding up total hours spent on paid employment, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and athletics, there is no significant relationship between the level of involvement and grades.  Yet* there is a clear relationship between participation and satisfaction with college.   Students involved in some outside-of-classroom activities are far happier with their college experiences than the few who are not involved."

And we know because we see it year after year that students who are happier with their college experiences are better able to weather the tough times that will occur in their lives.  They are more likely to continue progressing toward graduation.  They know how to use their campus resources more effectively because they know someone on campus who can point them in the right direction.  And they help set the tone - the campus culture for engagement - in all aspects of the educational experience.  All that from free t-shirts and Student Affairs nametags! J  Ok, maybe that's a stretch, but all the hard work to make the opening days of the semester go as smoothly as possible does set a tone and an expectation for the coming year.  And if the last two weeks are any indication, we are going to have a great 2008-2009!

Thank you for all the good work you have done, are doing, and will continue to do!

Best Wishes,

Gage

*author's emphasis

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Announcements/Events 

 

Barry and Jan McKinney had a healthy baby boy this past weekend! 

 

Scott Slade McKinney is 9 lbs plus and both baby and mother are doing well, although I think Dad needs a nap. 

 

Please join me in congratulating Barry, Jan and Mark!

 

John Kaulfus

 


SAVE THIS DATE!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 for the Student Affairs Holiday

Luncheon - Details forthcoming

 


 

SECC 'Share Your Story' Request

 

Dear UTSA Friends,

 

As a member of the State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC) Communications Committee I am asking if you would be willing to share your story about how the SECC has benefitted you or your family or friends.  Or, please let me know if there are other people in your area who we could approach with this request. As in the past, we would like to feature brief stories on UTSA Today about our personal experiences with the positive impact of the various charities that SECC supports.  If you are willing to share your story or further contacts, please let me know and our committee can arrange a brief interview.

 

Many thanks,

 

Dan Gelo

 

DANIEL.GELO@UTSA.EDU

 


 

Business Procedures Tips

Vouchers for reimbursement of moving expenses require the approval of the Vice President for that division.  Please route paper copies of these vouchers through the VPSA Office (not to Dr. Paine directly).  Once approved, these vouchers will be routed forward to the Payroll office.  For more information, please visit:

 http://utsa.edu/payroll/relocationexpenses.htm.

*******

As part of the pilot program for decentralizing travel, Jackie Hobson and Bob Miller will be conducting three workshops to cover information about the processes.  Attendance is recommended.

 

Workshops will be held:

  • Tuesday, 9/16/08, 9-10 a.m. (1604/UC Mesquite Room

  • Wednesday, 9/17/08 10-11 a.m. (DT/Frio Street Bldg Multipurpose Room 1.402)

  • Wednesday, 9/17/08 2-3 p.m. (1604/UC Pecan Room

RSVP to Bob Miller via email to let us know which session you would like to attend.

More Business Procedures Tips


UTSA Alumni Reflections Gala on August 16

(L-R) Marjie French and Gage E. Paine

Alumni Kristy Pacheco, Paul Ayala  and Tom and Jana Kennelly

(L-R) Mr. UTSA, DJ Bernal, Gage Paine and Gregg Muenster, Honorary Chairman, Alumni Gala

The UTSA Alumni Association hosted the ninth annual UTSA Alumni Gala on August 16 at the Westin La Cantera Resort and Hotel. The event included a Power Drawing for vacations and other prizes and a silent auction featuring merchandise and services from alumni business owners and other friends of UTSA.


 

A  Special Thanks from The Office of Orientation and Family Programs

 

TO: Howaida Werfelli; Gage Paine; George E Norton; Joleen Reynolds; Kendal Draycott; Kim Canady; Eric Cooper; Kim Ellicks-Center; Richard Johnson; Erik Stein; Ryan Jesberger; Anne Jimenez; Jan McKinney; Todd Wollenzier; Melissa F Hernandez; Thomas Baez; Susan Colorado; Julie Mathieu; Cynthia L McCowen; Amir Karimi; Barbara Smith; Clay Haverland; Bruce Bravo; Al Cole; Christopher Wickham; Katherine Calucci; Lisa Montoya; Niki Stutzman; Mehdi Shadaram; Lona George; Nancy Martin; Sylvia Mansour; Edward Tiekink; Patricia Gonzalez (Cosae); Joan Tsacalis; Barbara Lamont; Dainon Deviney; Sabina Bhattathiry; Cynthia Rodriguez (Tomas Rivera); Diana Howard; Ann Eisenberg; Laura Munroe; Mark Munguia; Cari Goodyear; Barry McKinney; Geoffrey L. Merritt; Dionne Davila; Terry Perez; Nikki Lee; Lowa Mwilambwe

 

Hello Orientation Facilitators!

 

On behalf of the Office of Orientation and Family Programs and all of our Student Coordinators and Orientation Leaders, I would like to thank each of you (and your staffs) for all of your hard work this summer!  This summer had to be one of the smoothest I have experienced here at UTSA. We could not have done it without you and truly appreciate the team support. 

 

Attached (PDF) is a little thank you card from us to you.  Enjoy and have a wonderful Fall semester.  Go Roadrunners!

 

Roadrunner Camp Photos:

 

Please follow the link below to view Roadrunner Camp photos.  Scroll to the bottom of the page and you will find the Roadrunner Camp 2008 link.   You will need to save the file to your desktop and then open it.  There are approximately 100 photos in the file.  Thank you to Stefanie Cisneros and Laura Zamzow for the photos.

 http://utsa.edu/orientation/rr_camp/photos.html

 


 

UTSA Roadrunner Days 2008

Multiple events, along with the President's Bar-B-Q and Spirit Rally, started the fall semester in full swing. Members of the UTSA community enjoyed the Campus Recreation Center at "Late Night at the Rec. New students attending   "Dive into the UC" with free food and games learned about services offered in the University Center on the 1604 Campus. Among celebrations, also highlighted, was the UC III Grand Opening on August 26.

A new "Cultural Connections" program was highlighted, as well as a Fajita Fest, sponsored by the Greek Councils and immediately after the Fajita Fest, was the 13th annual Howdy Rowdy Bash. 

Photo: Jackie Hobson and Bob Miller pose at the Vendor Fair.

Roadrunner Days Photo Gallery 2008


 

 Student Travel Update

 

Upcoming student travel training sessions are as follows: 

  • Monday, September 22nd, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. UC 1.102 (Bexar Room)

  • Monday, September 29th, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.  UC 1.102 (Bexar Room)

  • Monday, October 6th,      2:00 to 3:30 p.m.  BV 4.304A

  • Thursday, October 16th,  9:00 to 10:30 a.m. UC 1.102 (Bexar Room)

  • Thursday, October 23rd,  9:00 to 10:30 a.m. UC 1.102 (Bexar Room)

  • Tuesday, October 28th,   9:00 to 10:30 a.m.  UC 1.102 (Bexar Room)

These sessions are offered through TX Class (SD 320).

 

We look forward to seeing you there!

 

Edna Dominguez (ext. 7818) and Carol Gonzalez (ext. 4040)

 


 

Name Badges - making a difference

August 28th - It was about 9:20 am and I was walking through the HSS building on my way to the University Center.  A couple of students came up to me and asked if I could help them locate a room on the 2nd floor of the HSS.  I assisted these students and then another student approached me for help.  I showed this student where her class was and then another student approached me. 

I provided directions to this student and then two other students approached me for assistance.  I made some calls from the Writing Center and found out that their class had been moved to the Main Building.  Then one other student asked me for help because she could not locate her class in the HSS building.  We walked over to the kiosk and she looked up her schedule on ASAP. 

Turns out her class was on the 2nd floor of the UC and not the HSS building.  All of these students were very appreciative and felt comfortable enough to ask for help because I was wearing my name tag.  I would have been just another face in the crowd had I not been wearing my name tag.    

Carol Gonzalez

 

Do you have a comment to share?  Please send in your comments that you've received from students as well as from other staff.  We will feature the comments in future issues.  Send to Vivis.Lemmons@utsa.edu.


Departmental News

Athletics

Area September All Sports Schedule:

Date

Team

Opponent

Location

Time (CT)

 Fri, Sep 5

 WS

 Texas

 at Austin, Texas

 7 p.m.

         

 Sat, Sep 6

 WCC

 Texas State Invitational

 at San Marcos, Texas

 8 a.m.

         

 Sat, Sep 6

 MCC

 Texas State Invitational

 at San Marcos, Texas

 8 a.m.

         

 Wed, Sep 10

 VB

 Georgia

 San Antonio, Texas

 7 p.m.

         

 Sat, Sep 13

 WCC

 Texas A&M Invitational

 at College Station, Texas

 7:45 a.m.

         

 Sat, Sep 13

 MCC

 Texas A&M Invitational

 at College Station, Texas

 7:45 a.m.

         

 Wed, Sep 17

 VB

 Texas-Pan American

 San Antonio, Texas

 7 p.m.

San Antonio named a finalist city in the hunt for Women's Final Four Article

San Antonio selected as finalist for future Men's Final Four's Article


Campus Rec

See Tony Daniels' (Associate Director, Campus Recreation Center) interview when UTSA was visited by KABB TV on August 25. KABB interview


Housing and Residence Life

UTSA student move-in kicks off fall semester

Over the Aug. 22-24 weekend, 1,250 students moved into UTSA resident housing and had a chance to get situated before the first day of school. Roadrunner Days officially kicked off Friday, Aug. 22 with the Residence Hall Move-In. It's the first of several events that lead up to the first day of class, this year on Aug. 27. UTSAToday Article


 

Inclusion and Community Engagement Center (ICE)

 

15th Annual Babcock Road Clean-Up!

 

On Friday September 26, VOICES and the Inclusion & Community Engagement Center will sponsor the 15th annual Babcock Road Street Clean-Up. Students, faculty, and staff are invited to help beautify our neighborhood from 10:00am - 3:00pm. We currently need staff to volunteer to drive students in minivans from the Convocation Center to the Babcock/UTSA Blvd. locations and back in one hour shifts as follows:

 

10:00am - 11:00am

11:00am - 12:00pm

12:00pm - 1:00pm

1:00pm - 2:00pm

2:00pm - 3:00pm

 

Please contact Jennifer Lilly at Jennifer.lilly@utsa.edu or 458-4770 if you would like to volunteer with us! If you are able to do more than one shift that would be welcomed. By the way, all volunteers will receive a free Babcock Rd. Clean-Up t-shirt!  See Complete ICE News (PDF)

Monthly Newsletter

The ICE Center now distributes a monthly newsletter highlighting events on campus, volunteer opportunities, and more! To sign up, please email engaged@utsa.edu


"Getting To Know You......."

Name: Thank You Rowdy

Title: Kudos Ambassador for Student Affairs 

Job Description:

My job is to travel across UTSA Student Affairs, from one staff member to another to show appreciation for their work...such as, taking extra assignments to provide support, offering unsolicited assistance, or completing tasks in a unique way. Here are my rules:

Rowdy's Road Rules

  1. Thank You Rowdy stays with his Student Affairs friend in Student Affairs for two weeks.  At that time Thank You Rowdy friend does the following:
  2. Selects a new Student Affairs friend
  3. Writes a special thank you message in the journal that Rowdy keeps in his back pack
  4. Sends an email message of her/his thank you to Vivis.Lemmons@utsa.edu to include in the Kudos section of the VPSA newsletter. Sends an email or calls Vivis at ext.7887, to schedule a photo presenting Rowdy to his new friend.
  5. Delivers Thank You Rowdy to his new friend

Background: Joyce Fox custom shirt and back pack in September, 2007.  She said that "Dr. Paine came up with the idea for the 'Thank You Rowdy'.  She just asked me to dress and accessorize him."

Experience and Awards: How can I possibly get it all into this one section? 

  • Stefanie Cisneros came through when I worked with her in Career Services.  She wrote my resume which I carry around for all Student Affairs staff to see! But just in case you're interested, here's a link to it: (Resume Rowdy PDF)
  • I received a La Despedida (Graduation Farewell) pin from the Downtown Student Activities.
  • Student Judicial Affairs, Campus Living Villages and Housing and Residence Life (shared recipients) gave me a "Civility" pen for my backpack when they passed me to Melissa Hernandez so I could be an ambassador of Civility.
  • Barbara Reyes gave me a World AIDS Day pin and the Fiesta 2008 "?Tomas? O Manejas" Medal. The medal was distributed during a Fiesta Press Conference held at the Downtown campus (which I attended with Dr. Paine.) Fred Hample from the Registrar's office gave me 2007 and 2008 Fiesta Medals.
  • I have received numerous buttons and pins and tags, for example, a heart, a "great job" pin, an Admissions pen, a miniature laser and whistle protection key chain from UTSA Counseling Services, and a key chain from Student Financial Aid and Enrollment Services. All these gifts were given to me because I'm such a "Good-Will Rowdy".
  • I received an Honorary UTSA Roadrunner Club Member Pen.
  • Most curious of all: Career Services gave me a "Super Shine Shoe Polisher" kit, and since I don't wear shoes, I'll just have to buff my toenails like a good Student Affairs Rowdy!
  • There's more to add I'm sure, but I'll save that for later.....

 

How do you unwind? I read all the accolades in my Thank You Rowdy Travelogue. That's me in the picture above - reading and enjoying!

 

What is the most unusual job related case you have worked on?  

I conducted a staff meeting held by the Office of Vice President for Student Affairs. 

 

 

What advice would you give to other Student Affairs staff? Good work deserves recognition.  Pass me on!

 

How can we reach you?  Read about me on the web, UTSA, Student Affairs, News and Events, Staff News, and maybe I'll be visiting with you soon! Thank You Rowdy Recipients

 Top


Thank You Rowdy Travels Across Student Affairs

Thank You Rowdy has a special mission in Student Affairs - to travel across UTSA recognizing the good work of staff members. Within the Division of Student Affairs, Thank You Rowdy is presented from one Student Affairs staff member to another in recognition and appreciation of work done well - taking extra assignments to provide support, offering unsolicited assistance, or completing tasks in a unique way.

Whatever the situation, contributions like this are made every day and Thank You Rowdy helps us recognize them.

Thank you Rowdy reflects UTSA's spirit of community and reminds us to remember it takes everyone to make UTSA a great place to work and to learn.

Gage Paine


Kudos

Kudos to Paul Ayala and team from Jana Kennelly

 

You did a wonderful job these last two days at Roadrunner Camp. Your effort to build the spirit and traditions of this university through the various programming was outstanding!  I received a voicemail today from our Alum, Pat Clynes who attended the event and I wanted to pass his regards on to you.

 

He thanked me for inviting him to Roadrunner Camp. He found it very beneficial and said that we were right this was a program that he really likes to be engaged with. He was extremely impressed because he likes to see the university start new traditions and this was a great one. He enjoyed seeing the new students and believes that additional alumni should attend to experience the excitement of campus life. He said to tell Kim, Paul, Lisa and Joey thank you for the great job and to know that he just appreciated being apart of it. He wants to talk to see what more he can do.

 

So kudos to Paul for his leadership and thanks to the rest of the team.

 

Jana

 


 

Kudos to Robert Peek - Facilities Services

 

Lowa Mwilambwe, Kevin Price, and John Kaulfus want to publicly thank Robert Peek for his day-to-day management of the UC III Expansion project.  Robert was tireless in his efforts to oversee daily construction issues, troubleshoot problems with the contractors and architects, and make himself available for last minute tours and respond to requests for information.  Great job, Robert!  It was a pleasure working with you.

 


 

From the Registrar's Office:

 

I work in the Registrar's office and part of my job is to answer student calls and emails concerning graduation (and a bit of everything else if I can).  Last week I had several email exchanges with a student that had missed a deadline.  He was very upset and took a less than courteous tone.  He pelted me with questions about UTSA rules including statements that our processes were not fair for students and students are the ones who pay all the tuition and fees. 

 

Having encountered this student before in less than cordial ways, my first instinct was to ignore his email since it seemed more like a rant than a true inquiry.  I thought that by answering, I would only fuel him further.  Then I thought, "what if I was in his place?"  Some of our processes can be confusing and I take for granted how logical they seem to me because I work with them every day.  So I took each one of his questions and answered them to the best of my ability.  I was rather surprised in his reply...

 

?Thank you for that informative answer to all my questions!  It's nice to see that my, along with thousands of other students, tuition and fee money goes towards hiring staff that is capable of coming up with logical and thoughtful answers to students? questions, not simply robotic responses meant to simply "shoo" away inquiries.? 

Many times it is easy to say "that's the rules, it's in the handbook" but sometimes a personal explanation eases student confusions and anxieties.  I do get the same questions every day, but they are all coming from DIFFERENT students.


Please submit articles and events to Vivis.Lemmons@utsa.edu no later than Monday, September 15, 2008.