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, and the deadline to submit is now Friday, March 25th.
- 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 in May at the Award Ceremony and reminisce what a wonderful year it has been so far. Awards & Recognition Team!

Mark your calendars for the College of Liberal and Fine Arts (COLFA) Career Expo taking place on Wednesday, March 30th from 10:00-1:00PM in the UC Ballroom. Students are encouraged to prepare themselves for the event by:

· Being open to interaction with employers and be willing to explore possible career paths within your major
· Bring several copies of your resume (Please see your career counselor to have your resume reviewed!)
· Attend a scheduled Career Fair prep workshop!
· Attend COLFA Walk-in hours at the University Career Center (UC 2.02.04) March 28th or 29th to have your resume reviewed

*Please note: It is highly encouraged for students to dress professionally when attending this event so you make a good impression on employers.

If you have any questions, please contact the University Career Center at 210-458-4589.

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(March 17, 2011)--The UTSA University Center is hosting a t-shirt design contest for Earth Week, April 18-22. Students, faculty and staff are invited to submit designs that will motivate participation in Earth Week and creating a healthier and more sustainable environment and world.

>> The design contest deadline is Friday, April 1.

The winner will be selected by members of the Earth Week planning committee, which includes staff members and students from across the university.

The winning t-shirt design will be produced on an organic cotton t-shirt that will be distributed to participants at the UTSA Earth Week 2011 Info Fair on April 19.

Contest rules:

1. Designs must be submitted to jared.jones@utsa.edu by Friday, April 1.
2. Designs must be one color and submitted in black as a high-resolution PDF or vector file.
3. Submitting art indicates the artist consents to have his or her art reproduced and used for promotional and educational purposes.

For more information, contact Jared Jones, University Center assistant director of marketing and communications, at 210-458-5099.

The Student Affairs Annual Conference this year is scheduled for 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.

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 conference schedule 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

Staff members working with the E.P.I.C. Journey Sanctioning Model were selected to present a half-day pre-conference session: one of only twelve offered at the conference. The session was titled Purposeful Discipline: The E.P.I.C. Journey Sanctioning Model. Participants were able to experience the E.P.I.C. Journey through learning motivational interviewing, spectrum scaling and trying their hand at journey sanctioning. Additionally, the team presented a general interest session that was an introduction to the E.P.I.C. Journey Sanctioning Model to a packed crowd of over 80 participants. Many participants remained after the session and approached staff throughout the conference to further discuss the model and its components. Congratulations to Kevin Price, Adriana Alicea-Rodriguez, Melissa Hernandez, Jennifer Fueglein, Misty Kelley and Jan McKinney for presenting and/or preparing the sessions.

More about the sessions: Current trends at universities are to infuse the judicial process with meaningful encounters that take students on intentional personal journeys aimed at transforming decision-making patterns. Informed by the literature on learning outcomes and student development, the E.P.I.C. Journey Sanctioning Model brings an effective, tangible approach to developmental discipline. This model assesses the student’s Engagement with the university, Personal development, Interpersonal development, and Community membership through the use of multiple theoretical lenses. This pre-conference will demonstrate the E.P.I.C. model and its related residence life, counseling, and student conduct strategies with a focus on easy replication of similar collaborations and resources. After learning about motivational interviewing techniques and discussing the transformation of educational meetings, we will transition to an experiential segment to practice using the model through case studies designed to create the Journey. Regardless of whether or not conduct is your primary focus, come and learn about the E.P.I.C. Journey to move your institution’s behavioral processes to the next level.

Additionally, VPSA was represented by John Kaulfus and Yvonne Pena. Thanks to all!    

Dr. Gage E. Paine and members of the Education Team presented Excellence in Service & Programming: Achieving Strategic Success. This session allowed other student affairs practitioners to hear more about how we brought the ideas of assessment to life through the Four C’s. Participants were able to learn about the evolution of the Four C’s from conception to writing group to curriculum. They were also able to experience the barriers exercise that you will remember from the Four C classes. This session offered a fresh new way to look at the fiscal, buy-in, collaboration challenges that sometimes accompany a strategic planning process. Congratulations to Dr. Gage E. Paine, Dr. Eric Cooper, Dr. Lisa Blazer, Jan McKinney, Donna Edmondson, Eliot Howard, Marisol Scheer and Edna Dominguez for presenting and/or preparing the session.

More about the session: Strategic planning is an activity that is integral to higher education. Yet, conveying strategic directions to staff can be a challenge. Assessment is meant to be understood and lived. This session introduces a tangible model of employee development, successful building of a common language and a foundational culture change that focuses staff on strategic success. The result is Excellence in Service and Programming with the Four C’s: Communicate, Connect, Collaborate, and Create. Employees and students are transformed by the experience and renewed in their commitment to strengthen campus and community ties that bind.

Dr. Gage E. Paine presented a session at the conference entitled Conversations to Sustain the Profession. This session provided participants a unique way to learn about a model of listening by experiencing it firsthand. Throughout this experiential session, participants were able to discuss how application this model could assist their campuses in becoming better connected. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the conference, participants were able to slow down, share, reflect, think and listen.

About the session: When was the last time you had a real conversation with a colleague? Not telling ‘war stories’, but talking about something important to you or listening deeply to what another person says. To paraphrase Margaret Wheatley, I believe we can sustain our profession if we start listening to one another again. This session is an opportunity to engage in such a conversation as a method of sustaining our individual work and our profession. It is also an opportunity to experience a model that can be applied on any campus.

Monica Ceja, UTSA Student and a NASPA Undergraduate Fellow (NUFP), attended the NASPA 2011 conference. During the conference Monica was able to attend a two day pre-conference for the Student Affairs Leaders of Tomorrow (SALT), attend general interest sessions, assist with the UTSA conference presentations, network, meet with potential internship sites and receive an insider’s view of a potential career in Student Affairs. An active student leader in both Greek Life and the Be a Responsible Roadrunner (BARR) organizations, Monica was able to meet with leaders in the profession and learn from their experience. Congratulations Monica!

About NUFP: The NASPA Undergraduate Fellows program is a semi-structured mentoring program for undergraduate students wishing to explore and better understand the field of student affairs and/or higher education. Students and mentors apply as a pair, and if selected are provided the foundation to establish a semi-structured mentoring relationship at their institution. Students, once selected, are known as Fellows, and are also given the opportunity to attend a national conference, participate in paid internships, and participate in the Summer Leadership Institute.

Courtesy: UTSA Athletics Communications
Release: 03/17/2011

KATY — Freshman Jeromie Hill poured in 25 points and senior Devin Gibson added 15 to lead UTSA to a 75-72 victory against McNeese State in Saturday's State Farm Southland Conference Tournament Championship Game. The Roadrunners (19-13) earned the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, the program’s fourth overall and first since 2004.

UTSA held as much as nine-point lead against the Regular Season Champion Cowboys (21-11), but it had to withstand a flurry of 3-pointers in the final minutes to secure the victory....

For the full article, visit: URL

By Greg Johnson
NCAA.org

DAYTON, Ohio – Devin Gibson is far too young to be considered an old man.

But at the age of 21 and being the only senior on the University of Texas at San Antonio basketball team, that’s the kind of good-natured ribbing he endures from his teammates.

His leadership is also a major contributor to the Roadrunners being in position to participate in the inaugural First Four against Alabama State at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday.

The winner advances to the second round to play the No. 1 overall seed Ohio State Friday in Cleveland.

Gibson, a 6-foot point guard from Houston, leads UTSA in scoring (17.0) and assists (5.6). The numbers reveal only part of his impact on the club.

“He is taking on the role of playing with people who had never stepped on a Division I basketball court....

For the full article, visit: URL

By Greg Johnson
NCAA.org

DAYTON, Ohio – Welcome to the First Four, UTSA.

The Roadrunners’ charter jet touched down a little after 8 p.m. Monday, and 40 minutes later, the travel party of about 90 people, which included administrators, family members and the band and cheerleaders, walked into the lobby of their hotel to the tune of the school’s fight song.

This is a new experience for every player on the UTSA roster. It marks the first time since 2004 and the fourth time overall that the program has been in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.

Among the UTSA players were Jeromie Hill and Igor Nujic, a pair of 6-8 freshmen forwards from Australia. Both came from the other side of world with dreams of being in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, which means March Madness has no boundaries.

Those dreams will be realized Wednesday at 6:40 p.m. Eastern, when UTSA (19-13) takes on Alabama State (17-17) in Dayton. The winner advances to the second round to play the No. 1 overall seed Ohio State on Friday in Cleveland.

Since Hill and Nujic have lived in America only for a few months, it didn’t matter that neither knew where Dayton was. All either of them cared about was their team preparing to play in a marquee event....

For the full article, visit: URL

Enrollment Services Counter showing support for the UTSA Men’s basketball team making it to the NCAA finals.

By Amy Dalrymple
Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications, Department of Campus Recreation

(March 18, 2011)--UTSA hosted the National Campus Championship Series Regional Basketball tournament Feb. 25-27. More than 56 teams participated including 36 men's teams and 20 women's teams. The largest of its kind in the nation, the tournament has participants from intramural and club teams around the region.

One of UTSA's intramural teams, Legacy, won the men's bracket. Jeremy Hines was selected for the All Tournament Team, and Isaac Williams received the Most Valuable Player award.

This year marked a repeat win for the Lamar Lady Hoops, who dominated both this and last year's regional in the women's bracket. Lamar also had two players make the All Tournament Team, Janae LaCour and Kierra White.

Both regional champions will advance to the National Intramural Basketball Championships to be hosted April 1-3 by the University of Texas at Austin.

The Lamar Lady Hoops and UTSA Legacy are one of the eight men's and eight women's basketball teams to advance to the championship tournament. Of the eight elite teams for each bracket, one will be named National Champion.

Photos

This April 14, 2011 marks the 3nd Annual Party on the Paseo! UTSA is celebrating FIESTA style with free food, a concert and games. Party on the Paseo provides a safe, fun, and educational environment that allows students to gather in an alcohol-free space. Information will be available to students on the risks and consequences of underage drinking, alcohol abuse and dependence, other drug use, and sexual health and responsibility. Last year’s event reached over 2,000 students. Attached you will find more information about Party on the Paseo.

We would love for you to join us this Thursday, April 14 from 6:30-10:30 pm at the University Center Paseo to help us reach our students! If interested, please complete the registration included in the link below. If you decide to attend, we will provide a table and chairs for any displays or information that you would like to disseminate. We also encourage tables to participate with themed activities, games and give-aways that will make the table more attractive and fun.

We truly hope that you will attend and we look forward to a very exciting and informative event! After your registration form is received it will be followed with a confirmation email including a map and parking instructions.

We are looking for UTSA Staff that are eager to work with new UTSA students as a Roadrunner Camp Facilitator. Our RRC Facilitators will help to participate in all aspects of camp activities throughout the two-days and will even be paired with a Orientation Leader and a group of students. Each facilitator will receive complimentary overnight accommodations, meals, t-shirts and transportation for their time and assistance. Space is limited, please reserve your mentor spot today! The cost of camp for facilitators is $0 (complimentary). For more information please click here.

Student Health Services’ Health Education office is registered as the Great American Condom Campaign SafeSite where students can get free condoms. We have been awarded 500 free Trojan condoms! What is Texas’ profile on pregnancies and STDs in comparison to other states? Click here. For more information, click onto http://www.amplifyyourvoice.org/