By Omar Hernandez
Social Media Coordinator, Office of University Communications

(April 18, 2012) -- UTSA's annual official Fiesta San Antonio event, Fiesta UTSA "Fiesta De Musica!," is 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Friday, April 20 at Sombrilla Plaza on the Main Campus. Student organizations will sponsor food, activities and music with proceeds benefiting the organizations.

Fiesta royalty including King Antonio and El Rey Feo (The Ugly King) will arrive at 1 p.m. directly from the Alamo. The event on the opening day of Fiesta San Antonio is free and open to the public.

Running April 19-29 this year, Fiesta San Antonio is an 11-day annual festival each April coordinated by the Fiesta San Antonio Commission, a private nonprofit organization. With more than 100 Fiesta events produced entirely by local nonprofit groups, the events generate funding for scholarships, grants, health organizations, and arts and music groups.

Fiesta began in April 1891 when San Antonio women staged a Battle of Flowers in front of the Alamo to commemorate the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto.

Fiesta UTSA is an alcohol-free event, along with the upcoming Party on the Paseo, set for 6:30-10:30 p.m., Thursday, April 26 at the University Center paseo on the Main Campus. There will be food, live music by Filligar and the lost, games and prizes. For more information, call the UTSA Office of Student Activities at 210-458-4160.

An unofficial Fiesta event during the celebration, Party on the Paseo is a national award winner. Sponsored by the student organization Be A Responsible Roadrunner (BARR), it is geared toward alcohol awareness and received a supporting grant of more than $15,000 from the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission.

Party on the Paseo is credited with a dramatic decrease in alcohol violations on campus during the opening weekend of Fiesta. In the first year of the program, violations decreased from 14 to seven -- and then down to one last year.

For the full article visit: URL

The fourth annual Party on the Paseo, a free event for the entire UTSA community, is 6:30-10:30 p.m., Thursday, April 26 at the University Center Paseo on the Main Campus.

During the evening, there will be free food, games, activities prizes and live music from Filligar and Campus Activities Board’s Battle of the Bands winner The Lost. Participants will have the opportunity to meet special guests Mr. and Ms. UTSA and other UTSA royalty.

Party on the Paseo provides an opportunity to celebrate Fiesta San Antonio on campus in an alcohol-free, safe environment. Activities provided by UTSA departments and local agencies will share the messages of enforcing the underage drinking laws and the drunk driving laws through a variety of activities including a DWI simulator.
Thursday night of Fiesta has been commonly referred to as “College Night” and on-campus alcohol violations historically would spike during this time. Since Party on the Paseo has been part of UTSA’s Fiesta celebration, on-campus alcohol violations during this time period have decreased each year. Party on the Paseo won Outstanding Creative Alcohol Abuse Prevention Program at The BACCHUS Network General Assembly in November 2010.

The evening's activities are sponsored by the UTSA Office of Student Activities, Be A Responsible Roadrunner, Campus Activities Board, Student Conduct and Community Standards, UTSA Housing and Residence Life, University Center Program Council, Campus Living Villages, Counseling Services, UTSA Police Department, Student Health Services, Video Productions and ARAMARK. Party on the Paseo is also made possible by a grant received from Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission through the Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws fund.

Be A Responsible Roadrunner is a student organization supported by the Office of Student Activities. The organization is made up of student leaders dedicated to purposeful, diverse and educational programming. They support the rights of all students to make their own choices regarding behaviors that affect their health and encourage student to educate themselves about those issues. Be A Responsible Roadrunner encourages all students to consider a wide range of healthier behaviors that reduce or eliminate the risk of negative outcomes. For more information, e-mail barr@utsa.edu or call (210) 458-4160.

Preview Filligar: http://filligar.com/

Like Be A Responsible Roadrunner
www.facebook.com/BeRowdyUTSA

Follow Be A Responsible Roadrunner
www.twitter.com/UTSABARR

Be A Responsible Roadrunner
www.utsa.edu/sa/barr

The Division of Student Affairs Awards & Recognition Reception: May 18th from 3-5 pm.

Awards can be found on the "magical" website: http://utsa.edu/students/teams/pdt/awards.html

Awards include:
·Outstanding New Professional Staff Member Award
·Outstanding Student Employee Award
·Outstanding Student Affairs Team Award
·Outstanding Student Affairs Supervisory Award
·Outstanding Support Staff Award
·Transformational Student Affairs Leadership Award

**Please submit your nominations by April 27th**

The Student Affairs Awards and Recognition Committee is hosting the Student Affairs ‘Making the Magic Happen’ Recognition Ceremony on May 18th, 2012. As part of recognizing all parts of Students Affairs we are asking for photos of your staff and students, 2 to 3 statistics about your department and 1 department ‘magical moment’ for the slide show. This is the first year for the submission of a ‘magical moment.’

A ‘Magical moment’ recognizes how your department has made an impact on student(s) at UTSA. Please make sure that you include a student quote or story and a picture of the student that will be on the slide show. Please send your photos, statistics and ‘magical moments’ by Friday, April 27th to Tiffani Hoot at tiffani.hoot@utsa.edu. Please make sure that your department name is included with these documents.

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By Omar Hernandez
Social Media Coordinator, Office of University Communications

(April 18, 2012) -- Fiesta San Antonio officially kicks off Thursday, and UTSA will reign over the festivities with the best Fiesta medal for 2012. WOAI TV announced Wednesday that UTSA won the online competition as part of "Best of San Antonio" Fiesta edition.

The honor for best Fiesta medal was a special treat for President Ricardo Romo who designed the UTSA medal.

"I'm not surprised, because so many people love UTSA and this medal represents the spirit of UTSA," said Romo. "Our students deserve the credit because they voted and got others to vote. Without them and the great work they do in the classroom and on campus, this would not be possible."

Medals are an essential part of Fiesta. Organizations across town create medals to sell or give away with the goal of collecting as many as possible. King Antonio XLIX is credited with starting the tradition in 1971 when he put 200 royal coins on ribbons and distributed them at Fiesta events.

For the full article visit: URL

By Omar Hernandez
Social Media Coordinator, Office of University Communications

(April 11, 2012) -- The University of Texas at San Antonio hosted a groundbreaking ceremony April 10 for the Park West Athletics Complex. The complex will be on a portion of the 125-acre tract approximately two miles west of the UTSA Main Campus, and is slated to include a track and field, soccer field, paved parking and related infrastructure.

UTSA President Ricardo Romo, Assistant Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Lynn Hickey, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, County Commissioner Kevin Wolff, San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and City Councilman Reed Williams attended the ceremony featuring the UTSA Marching Band and UTSA student-athletes.

Construction of the complex will be completed in multiple phases. With an expected completion date of 2013, phase I will include a 1,000-seat soccer stadium, 1,000-seat track and field stadium, 500-space parking lot, roadways, and a retention basin and related infrastructure. The facilities will be used for public events and will serve as home base for the UTSA sports teams. Future development of the complex will include tennis, softball and baseball facilities, fan amenities, meeting and ho spitality rooms, and expansion to existing facilities.

For the full article visit: URL

The 2012 Student Affairs Conference was a huge success. The Staff Development Team would like to thank all presenters, moderators, participants, our keynote, Dr. James Studer and, of course, our Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Gage E. Paine.

For the first time, attendees (including graduates students) had an opportunity to Tweet about what they were learning using our hash-tag #utsaSAconf. Here’s what some people were saying:

more tweets

Our top tweeters from both conferences were Tyler Archer Moran and Adriana Alicea-Rodriguez. If you aren’t already, follow @UTSAStudents and view some of the Tweets before they are gone. We’re happy to note that even non-UTSA colleagues were tweeting using our hash-tag. This is great for UTSA and for our division!

(April 16, 2012) -- UTSA has a new home for service-learning in the Inclusion and Community Engagement Center. Jennifer Rames is now the associate director of service-learning, charged with designing and coordinating a comprehensive service-learning program across the university.

"The first task is to begin to gather information about all of the great service-learning work already being done by students and faculty in our community," said Rames. "From there, we will be reaching out to faculty and helping design projects that will support their curricular goals and meet community needs. Service-learning presents a great opportunity to engage students in experiential, active learning that will allow them to help solve real problems and make change in the community."

Rames began April 1 in the newly created position of associate director of service-learning. Previously, she coordinated UTSA volunteer programs including United to Serve and Alternative Spring Break, among others, and advised the sponsored student organization VOICES since July 2007.

She earned a M.S. in Higher Education Administration in Student Affairs from Texas A&M University and coordinated volunteer programs in the Department of Student Activities at TAMU before joining the UTSA staff.

Contact Jennifer Rames and Service-Learning staff at servicelearning@utsa.edu or 210-458-4770, or visit the UTSA Service-Learning website.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The UTSA Cheer program won the All-Girl I NCA Collegiate National Championship on Friday.

The Roadrunners, who recorded a score of 9.500 (on a 10-point scale) with no deductions, easily defeated Towson (9.065), New Hampshire (9.018), Sam Houston State (8.923), Kennesaw State (8.868), Morgan State (8.848), Coastal Carolina (8.808), Central Connecticut State (8.580) and Saint Francis (8.535) for the first national title in program annals.

"I'm so excited for the girls," Spirit Coordinator Jason Gregory said. "They've worked so hard in preparation for this competition and to finish as National Champions with zero deductions is just phenomenal. We couldn't have done it without the help of our choreographer, Jose De La Garza."

UTSA advanced to the final after posting the top Day 1 score (9.250) on Thursday in the 15-team field. See the video of the Roadrunners' preliminary performance.

Meanwhile, the Roadrunners' co-ed squad finished seventh in its final.

For the full article visit: URL

By Tim Brownlee
Associate Director of Internal Communications

(April 9, 2012) -- A crowd of more than 400 UTSA faculty and staff members and students attended the 2012 University Excellence Awards Ceremony April 10 in the University Center Ballroom on the Main Campus.

This year's ceremony began the new tradition of combining the staff University Excellence Awards and the Faculty Honors Convocation ceremonies. Additionally, the President's Distinguished Diversity Award made its debut in this year's honors.

The awards listed below were presented and 2011 service milestones and retirees were recognized.

Download the 2012 University Excellence Awards Ceremony program including the lists of service awardees, retirees and award winners.

The program was opened by Gage E. Paine, vice president for student affairs, followed by retiree and service recognition by Kerry Kennedy, vice president for business affairs.

For the full article visit: URL

The Student Affairs Development Office is pleased to announce our annual call for grant proposals/applications to the Student Affairs Transformation Fund. The deadline for completed proposals/applications is Friday, May 25, 2012. Dr. Gage E. Paine and an appointed Student Affairs committee will review all grant proposals and make award decisions by June 18, 2012.

The Transformation Fund grant awarding criteria is to provide support on a one-time basis to innovative programs and services that fill real and immediate needs and align with the VPSA strategic plan. In order to be considered for a grant, applications must indicate how specific projects for which funding is being requested meet this primary criteria. Complete guidelines for the application process are below. Your submitted proposal can address, but is not limited to, the following initiatives:

• Leadership development trainings for both students and/or staff
• Diverse and dynamic speakers to inspire our creative spirit in Student Affairs
• Professional development for your department or for the division
• National competition and conference fees to enrich staff or student experience
• Projects that support Student Affairs committee activities and/or Student Affairs strategic initiatives All funding proposals submitted to the Student Affairs Transformation Fund must adhere to the following guidelines:
• Proposals must originate from staff members within the Division of Student Affairs with proper approval from the AVP (Assistant or Associate Vice President). The grantee will provide a written report detailing outcomes and financial accounting of grant funds to the Student Affairs development office by April 19, 2013. If the grantee fails to spend all awarded funds and/or fails to provide the final project report, they may be ineligible to request funding for the next year.
• Each proposal shall be submitted electronically using the Transformation Fund Grant Application to Marlon.anderson@utsa.edu

Additional information regarding the grant/proposal process:
• Applications for funds may not exceed $2,500.
• There is no automatic renewal of funding.
• Proposals not initially awarded funding will be retained by the Development Office for the remainder of the fiscal year for consideration should additional funding become available.
• Final grant recipients will be notified of grant status via e-mail by June 22, 2012. Successful grant recipients will have funds transferred into their designated account.
• Announced grant recipients will be mentioned in the VPSA newsletter.

If you have any questions, please contact Marlon Anderson at (210) 458-5125.

The UC and Frost Bank invite UTSA faculty and staff to a UC Lunch and Learn Seminar on “Wills and Testaments” from noon to 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 25 in the UC South-Travis Room (2.202) on the Main Campus.

Steve Barker, senior vice president and trust officer for Frost Bank’s Financial Management Group will discuss what wills and trusts are, why they are important, and what to include when creating a will or testament. Lunch from McAlister’s will be provided to the first 25 people to RSVP to ucinfo@utsa.edu.

Steve has been with Frost Bank since 1981 working in Trust Administration and Business Development. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Texas Tech University, JD degree from Texas Tech University School of Law, and LLM from Southern Methodist University School of Law.

Greetings!

Please check out the following news from the UTSA University Center on the UCNews Blog: http://ucnewsblog.wordpress.com

iPad Productivity Seminar April 17, Wills and Testaments Lunch and Learn April 25 http://ucnewsblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/upcoming-tech-tuesday-and-lunch-and-learn-seminars/

RR Express Celebrates Administrative Professionals Day http://ucnewsblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/roadrunner-express-celebrates-administrative-professionals-day/

UTSA Fiesta Medals at RR Express http://ucnewsblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/fiesta-medals/

Customer Service Update and Improvements http://ucnewsblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/uc-and-emcs-address-guest-concerns/

Find Events with the UTSA Mobile App http://ucnewsblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/find-your-uc-event-via-the-utsa-mobile-app/

You can also enjoy our regular UCinema Nights and Ticketmaster events update stories.

Gallery 23 at The University of Texas San Antonio’s University Center will host contemporary artist and UTSA Alumna Mira Hnatyshyn’s “Dear Garden: Anonymous Letters from You.” This exhibit is free and open to the public and will run March 19, 2012 through May 14, 2012.

“Dear Garden: Anonymous Letters from You” mixes classical oil painting on canvas with more non-traditional installation techniques allowing the work to extend into the exhibit space. The exhibit features a large-scale, mixed-media work of the artist’s garden gathering and an interactive trellis for audience participation and interaction.

“[Dear Garden] invites the viewer to return to the physical – to seek solace in oneself and share anonymously in writing,” Mira said. “Enter the garden. Take up a pen and share your thoughts on relationships, people, and places. Then post the message on the trellis for all to see."

For the full article visit: URL