Driving Towards a Safe Spring Break is Wednesday, March 9 from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the Downtown Campus Bill Miller Plaza.

This free event for the UTSA community will feature a drunk driving simulator provided by the New Braunfels Police Department. Participants will have the opportunity to take a ride in the simulator and have open discussion with police officers.

“Students are preparing for spring break and I want my fellow Roadrunners to return safely,” said Jessica Beemer, graduate student and event organizer.

The goal of the event is to provide students an open line of communication to stress the dangers and consequences of underage drinking and drinking under the influence.

This event is sponsored by Be A Responsible Roadrunner, and supported by Student Activities, New Braunfels Police Department, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and UTSA Crime Prevention.

For more information about this event, please contact the Office of Student Activities at 210-458-4160 or email barr@utsa.edu.

Safe Float, It’s No Joke! is Wednesday, March 9 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Campus Recreation Center Pool Area on the main campus.

Safe Float, a free event for the UTSA community, will demonstrate safe-river floating techniques along with a variety of presentations and activities that will prepare UTSA students for safe spring break travels.

The event will also feature the New Braunfels Police Department and their DUI simulator where participants will have the opportunity to test their driving skills after a few simulated alcoholic drinks.

This new event is sponsored by Be A Responsible Roadrunner, and supported by Campus Recreation, Student Activities, New Braunfels Police Department, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and UTSA Crime Prevention.

For more information about this event, please contact the Office of Student Activities at 210-458-4160 or email barr@utsa.edu.

Safe Spring Break Health and Wellness Expo March 9, 2011
Sombrilla 9:30am-1:30pm
Presentations: Chicano Cultural Room, UC 2.01.40
9am: EAP to present Coping with Stress & Change
10am: EAP to present Weight Management-Exercise & Nutrition
11am: UT System to present Living Well: Make it a Priority
Noon: Ask the Doctor: General Wellness
1pm: Ask the Doctor: Allergist

http://utsa.edu/health/healthfairs.cfm

Student Affairs staff, it is that time of year again to start nominating deserving individuals and or teams for awards. This year, the Student Affairs Award Ceremony will be held on May 16th from 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM, so mark your calendars! Nomination forms for the following awards are now available in the Awards and Recognition Team webpage, www.utsa.edu/students/teams/pdt/ar.html and the deadline to submit is Friday, March 11th.

- Outstanding Student Employee Award
- Support Staff Award
- New Professional Staff Member Award
- Outstanding Student Affairs Team Award
- Transformational Student Affairs Leadership Award

Review each award carefully and follow the directions on the nomination form. For any questions regarding the nomination process, please contact Luisa Ramirez at 210.458.4593 or e-mail to luisa.ramirez@utsa.edu. On behalf of the Awards & Recognition Team, we hope to see you in May.

The University Life Awards honor the most outstanding students, registered student organizations, faculty and staff members at UTSA. This year, Student Government Association celebrates 35 years of awarding excellence in leadership.

Nominations for University Life Awards are now being accepted through the Student Government Association website. All nominations must be submitted online by Tuesday, March 15 at 5:00 p.m. Winners will be announced at the University Life Awards banquet Thursday, March 31 at 6:00 p.m. in the UC Ballroom.

To view criteria and nominate outstanding Roadrunners, visit utsa.edu/sa/sga. For additional information, please contact John.Montoya@utsa.edu or 210-458-4936. Go Roadrunners!

The Student Affairs Annual Conference this year is scheduled for March 23 and April 5, 2011 and we look forward to seeing you again this year. Be sure to check with your supervisor to see which date works best for your office. Watch for a separate registration link that will be arriving in your e-mail soon and register early!
The Staff Development Team works hard to make each year’s conference better than the last. Here are some this year’s enhancements:

· Keynote speaker – Dr. Stan Carpenter, Interim Dean of the College of Education, Texas State University, San Marcos.
· Lunch will be provided for all participants. During the lunch hour, Dr. Gage E. Paine will address the staff.
· Silent auction benefitting the VPSA Transformation Fund.
· Door prizes and giveaways throughout the day.
· Register for the Day – No need to choose your individual sessions in advance

Check out our website at http://utsa.edu/students/teams/pdt/staffdev.html for more information.

We hope to see you at the conference and hope that it contributes to your continued professional development here at UTSA!

The Staff Development Team

The Student Government Association along with volunteers from Kappa Sigma fraternity recently constructed a framed cardboard structure on the Central Plaza to raise awareness on issues of homelessness and poverty and to collect food, clothing and books. Student Government collected approximately a quarter ton of food and another quarter ton of clothing and books that will be donated to area agencies. The group constructed on Sunday Feb 13 and then beginning on Monday Feb 14 had someone continuously manning the edifice 24 hours a day until demolition on Friday Feb 19.

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) met February 15, 2011 with local education supporters who will serve on a Host & Planning Committee for its upcoming annual conference. The annual conference, “25 Years of Championing Hispanic Higher Education Success,” will be hosted Oct. 29-31, 2011 in San Antonio. UTSA’s Experiential Learning Coordinator, Christian Corrales is part of the Student Track Subcommittee who are responsible in recruiting qualified students for participation in the program. HACU is offering student scholarships to cover the cost of the conference, conference-related meals, and conference-sponsored entertainment events. Students may apply at www.hacu.net (click on Student Resources). You may also contact Christian at Christian.corrales@utsa.edu or 210-458-7486 with any further questions.

Barbara Reyes, Assistant Director of Student Health Services (Feb. 16, 2011)--UTSA Student Health Services has lowered the price of flu shots. The cost is now $3 for UTSA students and $5 for UTSA faculty and staff members. The supply is limited, so take advantage of the deal soon.

This year's vaccine is a combination of the seasonal flu and H1N1.

"We have seen a drastic increase of influenza cases over the last few weeks," said Beth Wichman, M.D., Student Health Services...

For the full article, visit: URL

Is your office planning an educational program focused on sustainability, the environment or just overall “being green?” If so, the Earth Week committee would like to include it in Earth Week marketing materials (calendars, website, etc.) To be included, programs should occur during Earth Week—April 18-22, 20011—and should focus on relevant themes. Please notify jared.jones@utsa.edu to have your program included.

What is LeaderShape? Is it another retreat? Another chance for your organization to meet for a couple days and discuss leadership roles?

Nope. The LeaderShape Institute is a rare opportunity for students as individuals to discover and focus on their passion. They get six entire days devoted to discovering what is most important to them. Students will also find how they can make a difference in their community, whether that is at UTSA, San Antonio, Texas or the world. All students need is something they care about and the willingness to let LeaderShape guide them through narrowing down their focus while creating an action plan.

Students do not have to hold a leadership position or role to apply. This could be the student’s first semester on campus and they are trying to decide how to leave their legacy. Maybe they are only a couple semesters from graduating and facing a world that they desire to change. All that matters is that they want to know more about the tools needed to truly affect change.

The best part about LeaderShape is that at the end of the six-days students will leave with a tangible blueprint for their personal action plan. LeaderShape fills their leadership tool box and then draws out how to use those tools. The week will challenge the student and re-build them up in order to turn into individuals with “a healthy disregard for the impossible”.

Some LeaderShape graduates shared their vision statements:
“My vision is for a world where all children are born with the right to education and the opportunity to be empowered by knowledge.”
“My vision is a world where no man, woman or child ever suffers because of the HIV/AIDS virus.”
“My vision is to focus on a way to eliminate deaths caused by a lack of knowledge about early detection of cancer.”
This is the first time the LeaderShape Institute has been available at UTSA. The Student Leadership Center will be selecting about 60 students to participate in the institute May 8-13th. Participants will be divided into groups of 10, their Family Clusters. Guiding, supporting and challenging these clusters are the Cluster Facilitators. Each facilitator has also applied and been selected to participate in the institute. Cluster facilitators will be UTSA faculty, staff and advisors.

This institute is for students that are no longer satisfied accepting the world as they know it, they are tired of living a would-a, should-a, could-a existence. As a leader you no longer have a to-do list, you have a to-be list. Leaders take action because it is who they are, not what they do. The action is the result of desire and passion of the person. The LeaderShape Institute is an opportunity to begin that journey of not only self-discovery, but discovering how to change your community.

If you are interested in participating or would like to know more about the LeaderShape Institute at UTSA, contact the Student Leadership Center at 210-458-7967 or stop by the center at UC3 1.002. Information can also be accessed through our website utsa.edu/slc or you can like us on Facebook.

Every other year Training and Development conducts an institutional needs assessment to allow staff and faculty the opportunity to express the types of training they believe they need. Training classes are designed and implemented not only by Training and Development staff but also by more than 100 Subject Matter Experts from campus departments. If you, your staff or your peers are needing to improve business skills in any area, please give us your opinion. Please click on the link below to complete the survey which takes about 9 minutes.

During March and April focus groups will be coordinated to further determine staff training needs. If you have an interest in participating in a focus group, please contact Training and Development at ext. 4658 for consideration and coordination! We appreciate your input!

2010 UTSA Training Needs Assessment