Student Affairs Staff News

Volume V, Issue XVIII, September 2010

Message from the Vice President

Walking through the Poster Sale in the UC this week, I was struck by the familiarity of the event. While the people selling posters are too young to have been the actual sellers when I was an undergraduate, I’m pretty sure some of the posters are the same! It proves the validity of the French saying, ‘plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose’*, commonly translated as ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same.’

As I thought about this idea, more and more examples occurred to me, because while it is true that there are differences between generations and our individual experiences, it is also true that there are many similarities. For example, we all know that the college decision-making process has changed as have our admissions recruiting processes. Admissions starts recruiting students earlier and students and their families spend a lot more time on it. But at its core nothing has changed – admissions staff are still looking for students who want to enroll and students are still looking for a campus that fits their needs and where they feel that they fit in.

Or there is orientation and the move-in process. Orientation barely existed when I went off to college and my mom and I really did drive from San Antonio to Norman, Okla., unload my belongings (from the car, no trailer), and my mom turned right around and drove straight back. But even though we do a lot to engage and connect students as soon as they arrive on campus, new students still get homesick and wonder if they made the right decision. (By the way, my mom got stopped for speeding on the way back, just like a mom I know (and who shall remain nameless) who got stopped a couple of weeks ago returning from taking her daughter to campus.)

Has anyone been on a campus in the last forty years and not heard students – and faculty and staff – complain about parking? In my lifetime, registration has been done by cards and standing in line, on the telephone, on computers in a lab, and now on the web from anywhere in the world. The details have changed but the complaints really haven’t. Students still try to figure out the right major and faculty and staff (and family) still work to help them out. The quality of the facilities at the rec center has changed over time, but students still work out at the strangest hours. Students valued free food while I was in college and that certainly hasn’t changed! (I don’t remember getting free t-shirts though.) Students worked on campus activities and went to parties and studied long hours and didn’t sleep as much as they should when I was in school--still sounds familiar.

It’s important we understand that student experiences today are their own and we should not make our decisions and create programs and services based solely on our time in college. As we make our decisions we need to understand the very real differences in these experiences. And yet our own experience gives us perspective and that is valuable too. 'Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.' I think I may have to go buy a poster this week – wonder what it will be.

Best wishes,

Gage

By the way – according to Wikipedia, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, a French journalist and novelist, coined this phrase* in 1849. I don’t know, but I suspect college students in that year also got homesick and complained about the food, but I doubt parking was an issue.

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Announcements/Departmental Events

Welcome New Staff Member

The Office of Student Judicial Affairs is happy to announce and welcome Mr. Kevin Crewson to our team and to the Division of Student Affairs. He was hired in August as our newest Coordinator of Student Judicial Affairs. He was raised in Ohio and attended The University of Akron. While there, he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a focus in Marketing Management, a Master of Science in Higher Education Administration and experience in Student Judicial Affairs. He enjoys traveling, most recently to Las Vegas, and has been busy exploring his new home in San Antonio. Please join us in welcoming Kevin.

New Career Counselor for COLFA students

Mary Buzzetta, M.S. is the College of Liberal and Fine Arts (COLFA) career counselor at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Career Center. Mary is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Southeastern Louisiana University and Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi. Following her Master’s degree program, Mary interned with UTSA’s Career Center for seven months before transitioning into the COLFA career counselor position.

Mary’s interests in career counseling stem primarily from her active membership on a research team that studied career development in college students. Currently, her research interests focus on college student career development and counseling, with particular focus on the Cognitive Information Processing (CIP) Approach. Mary also has a particular interest in working with college student veterans, as they are a unique and under-served population on college campuses.
In addition, she has experience teaching undergraduate and graduate career development courses.

Continued...

Business Career Week
September 14-16, 2010, College of Business Career Counselors Barbara Jackson and Claudia Giliberti, will be hosting Business Careers Week through the UTSA University Career Center and the College of Business.

H-E-B Day!
On Thursday, September 16, the University Career Center will be hosting H-E-B Day at UTSA. H-E-B Day is an opportunity for H-E-B Leaders to interact with UTSA students to discuss why H-E-B is a great place to work. During this day we will have several information sessions where H-E-B Executives will be presenting to your students in the College of Business, Science, Engineering and Liberal Arts. In addition to the Executives, H-E-B with their store and facility leaders will facilitating panel discussions targeting topics such as Leadership and Success in the Workplace. Some of the highlights for the day will include, presentations from President and COO, Craig Boyan, and President of H-E-B’s San Antonio Food and Drug Division, Suzanne Wade.

PDF to print and post

All Majors Career Fair
Public and private companies, as well as non-profit and government agencies, have been invited to participate in the UTSA University Career Center's Fall 2010 All Majors Career Fair. Over 700 students and alumni will be in attendance, searching for internships and full-time professional employment opportunities.

September 23rd
1:30pm – 4:30pm
UC Ballroom

2010 ROWDYS Camp

Greetings UTSA Community!

Orientation and Family Programs is currently accepting nominations for the 2010 ROWDYS Camp and need your help to spread the word to interested and qualified students! We cordially invite you to nominate one or more students for camp.

The camp information at a glance is below and in a format that can easily be duplicated and distributed. If students want more information or have questions, please refer them to our website www.utsa.edu/orientation/rowdyscamp.com OR our office:
Orientation and Family Programs
MS 2.01.10
210.458.4724

Thank you in advanced for your support and assistance! We look forward to receiving your nominations and working with your students. Have a great day!

Now Accepting Nominations for 2010 ROWDYS Camp!

***Deadline to Submit Your Nomination

All nomination forms are due by Monday, September 20, 2010 at 5pm. If you have any other questions visit the website www.utsa.edu/orientation/rowdyscamp.com or feel free to contact Orientation and Family Programs at (210) 458-4724.

Continued...

17th Annual Babcock Road Clean-Up: STAFF DRIVERS NEEDED!

Please join VOICES for the 17th Annual Babcock Road Clean-up Friday September 24th from 10:00am – 3:00pm. Students, faculty, and staff are invited to be part of this tradition! Shuttles will provide participants transportation from the Convocation Center and will pick up at stops along the route on Babcock between 1604 and UTSA Blvd., and on UTSA Blvd. from Babcock to I-10. STAFF VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED to drive minivans along the route in one hour shifts beginning on the hour at 10:00am, 11:00am, Noon, 1:00pm, and 2:00pm. To sign up to be a driver please email Jennifer.Rames@utsa.edu and include your preferred shift. For more information call 458-4770 or visit www.utsa.edu/ice.

University Oaks and Chisholm Hall

University Oaks has limited availability for UTSA students and staff! Please send any inquiries to 210.877.4000.

Student Health Services Earns U.S. Department of Education Grant

Student Health Services (SHS) is proud to announce funding under a U.S. Department of Education Grant entitled Grants for Coalitions to Prevent and Reduce Alcohol Abuse at Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs). UTSA, through SHS, will host while developing a sustainable statewide coalition focusing on alcohol consumption, including binge drinking, among under-age students at IHEs. The coalition incorporates a cross-site, comprehensive, multi-modal, multi-year approach evaluating and educating thus preventing the subsequent consequences of behaviors related to alcohol abuse in this target population.

The coalition will continue to expand and enhance the collaborative programs, resources, research, and networks existing within the participating IHEs and their respective communities. SHS, in collaboration with Student Life, has already identified 12 sectors to target including: college-aged students and their parents, business community, media, secondary schools, youth-serving organizations, law enforcement, religious or fraternal orders, civic and volunteer groups, healthcare organizations, and state, local, and tribal governmental agencies. The coalition will actively solicit broad participation from addictive disorder interventionists ensuring achievement of the goals and objectives of this exciting project.

Special thanks to Dr. Elizabeth Stanczak and Howaida Werfelli for their tireless efforts making this opportunity possible.

Student Leadership Center

The University of Texas at San Antonio celebrated its grand opening of the Student Leadership Center on August 26th. The grand opening took place in the University Center (UC 3 1.002), located underneath The Roost. The event was full of UTSA students and staff. The students had a chance to decorate their own shirts by defining what leadership meant to them. Some students defined leadership by all the organizations they are involved with, while other defined leadership through actions words.

Harrison Pierse, a junior said, “I think that the grand opening of the new student leadership center is a large step towards creating more opportunities for students to learn what leadership really is. So many people believe leadership is simply being a leader in an organization, but leadership is developing your ability to both inspire yourself and others to do more than they thought possible.”

The mission of the UTSA Student Leadership Center is to facilitate and provide intentional and purposeful leadership encounters through education, engagement and experience. This upcoming year, the center will offer students the opportunity to attend national conferences, engage in leadership dialogue and participate in a national program, called LeaderShape®.

LeaderShape® is a six-day national institute that will be hosted specifically for UTSA students. It is an intensive, energizing, and unique experience that builds leadership skills that no other program can match! It is six days of non-stop self-discovery and learning from practical experiences that build your leadership concepts and abilities. At the LeaderShape® Institute, participants create a personal vision to work on after they leave. The objective is to take something each person is passionate about and create a vision to help share that idea with friends, campus, the community, and the world.

Stop by the new Student Leadership Center to learn more about LeaderShape®.

UTSA Rec Center offers fitness activities for students, faculty and staff

09/1/2010

As one of the best university recreation facilities in the nation, there are fitness activities for the entire UTSA community at the UTSA Recreation Center -- or Campus Rec. Most activities are included with student fees, and faculty and staff members can be members for a reasonable fee. The faculty-staff and spouse-partner membership is only $30 per month.

"Campus Rec activities include a 54-foot indoor rock climbing wall, a lazy river, racquetball, cooking demonstrations, video games and camping ...