When: May 31
Where: University Bowl
Check-In: 5:15-6:00 pm
Bowling: 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Who: VPSA Staff & Families

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The fourth annual Student Affairs Awards Ceremony was held on May 18 in the UC Ballrooms and was coordinated by the Awards and Recognition Committee. The theme of this year’s awards reception was “Making the Magic Happen.” Each one of us in Student Affairs has been a part of making the magic happen for our students, and the students have made the magic happen for us. Some of the magic involved thousands of people…some involved one or two individuals. Thousands or one, it makes no difference. The magic happened.

Student Affairs staff submitted fifty-five nominations for the six awards. Eleven Student Affairs staff members were chosen for the Selections Committee. Nine members of the Awards and Recognition Committee planned and implemented the awards process and the reception. A lot of magicians “Made the Magic Happen.”

Congratulations to the 2012 Student Affairs Award winners!

Outstanding Student Employee Award Winner: Craig Hui – University Center

Outstanding Student Affairs New Professional Staff Member Award Winner: Edith Mason – University Center

Outstanding Student Affairs New Professional Staff Member Award Winner: Jacqueline Heiman – Orientation and Family Programs

Outstanding Student Affairs Supervisory Award Winner: Audrey Magnuson – University Career Center

Outstanding Student Affairs Team Award Winner: Campus Recreation Professional Staff – Campus Recreation Center

Student Affairs Transformational Leadership Award Winner: Yvonne Pena –Assistant Dean of Students and Director of the Student Leadership Center and the Inclusion and Community Engagement Center

By Omar Hernandez
Social Media Coordinator

(May 25, 2012) -- The UTSA Division of Student Affairs recently was selected as the NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, Excellence Award Gold Honoree for development of the E.P.I.C. Journey program. Student Affairs staff members presented the program developed by a collaborative effort of Student Life offices led by the Student Conduct and Community Standards group. The presentation was at a pre-conference and concurrent session and poster presentation at the 2012 NASPA Annual Conference in Phoenix, Ariz.

"The E.P.I.C. Journey philosophy was developed to address behavioral and scholastic dishonesty cases at UTSA," said Jan McKinney, UTSA assistant director of student conduct and community standards. "As staff reviewed the cases, many had root causes in the underdevelopment of four distinct skill sets: engagement with the university, personal development, interpersonal development and community membership."

The E.P.I.C. model provides UTSA the tools to evaluate students' underdeveloped areas as a means to transform decision-making patterns. This process allows administrators to meet students where they are in their development and enhances due process through incorporating student perspectives. E.P.I.C. addresses the underlying factors contributing to student ...

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The Student Leadership Center is happy to announce the 2012 graduating class of the LeaderShape® Institute for UTSA. The LeaderShape® graduates spent six intense days at the John Newcombe Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels, Texas completely focused on discovering what drives their passion for change and how they can impact their community.

The mission of the LeaderShape® Institute is “To transform the world by increasing the number of people who lead with integrity and a healthy disregard for the impossible”. During the institute, 59 students were asked to discover their vision and create an action blueprint for change. Throughout the six days, students learned how leadership is not positional and does not require any formal authority. They were consistently challenged in order to discover what they truly desired to see happen in their community and ultimately in the world.

Guiding the students throughout the six days were their Family Cluster Facilitators, which included: Mary Buzzetta, UTSA Career Counselor, Trey Payne, University Center, Building Supervisor, Melissa Evans, Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs, Multimedia Designer III, Sapna Naik, Tomas River Center, Student Development Specialist, and Charlin Jones, Assistant Director, Special Events Centers. The students did much of their vision work within their family cluster, a group of about 12 students. During the six days these family clusters grew close and become a place full of support and encouragement.

A few weeks before arriving in New Braunfels, the students were asked, “What would your ideal world look like?” During LeaderShape®, students participated in lectures, activities and exercises focused on their personal values and the vision they have for an ideal world. During a guest panelist discussion, the students were able to share their visions and ask questions to prominent members of the San Antonio business community. The guest panel, hosted by Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Gage Paine, included: Brandon Van Vleck-Principal for Judson Learning Academy, Art Flores- Vice President for ARTCOM Associates, Inc., Laura Davies- Chief Financial Officer for Deer Oaks EAP, Dr. John Frederick - UTSA Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Roy Schroer-Assistant Vice President for Human Resources for Union Pacific.

When asked what they would like to share about their experience at LeaderShape®, some of the graduates shared:

“It was such a pleasure to serve as a staff facilitator for the 2012 LeaderShape Institute. Working alongside these students was such a life-changing experience for me. As a career counselor, I have always strived to make an impact in the lives of college students – and I can honestly say that LeaderShape made me feel successful in accomplishing this goal. I left this experience with a whole new family – the LeaderShape 2012 experience will forever be a part of who I am.” - Mary Buzzetta, LeaderShape facilitator

“Leadershape is a great experience, what it taught me is still being carried on today, right now and I will forever be able to say that. It showed me who I was and it gave back a lot of what I had been giving to other people; my all. I know more of me now, almost all of me.” – Charnelle Thompson, LeaderShape 2012 participant

"My experience at LeaderShape is one that touched my mind, body, and soul. The lessons I have learned and the relationships I have forged will continue to live with me long after the experience itself. I feel blessed to have even been a part of it." - Zack Dunn, LeaderShape 2012 participant

“I felt like it gave me time to thoughtfully write out my vision and put all those things I have thought about since I was a child into action.” – Kaneshia Davis, LeaderShape 2012 participant

If you are interested in more information about our programs and events, please visit the Student Leadership Center on campus (UC 1.002) or our website at www.utsa.edu/slc/

(May 22, 2012) -- UTSA is one of three finalists in this year's Marketing Team of the Year Award (MTOYA), it was announced by the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA), sponsored by row27. The nomination is for the work of the UTSA's Football Gameday Committee, which helped plan and coordinate activities and marketing for UTSA's inaugural football season.

The winner will be announced during the kickoff session at the 21st annual NACMA Convention, June 25-28 in Dallas, Texas. The other two finalists are California State University, Bakersfield and Iowa State University.

UTSA set NCAA football opening-season records with opening-game attendance of 56,743 and average home-game attendance of 35,521.

"When the Football Gameday Committee started meeting over two years ago, our goal was to provide a Tier-One football experience for all UTSA students, faculty, staff, alumni and the greater San Antonio community," said John Kaulfus, UTSA associate dean of students...

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The main objective of UTSA’s first Capital Campaign is to raise funds to position UTSA to achieve its ultimate goal of becoming the next top-tier research university in Texas. We are meeting with departments to promote and encourage Student Affairs staff to contribute to the Capital Campaign each year for the next three years.

Our campaign motto, We are UTSA, is so much more than a catchy phrase. It is an inclusive message that every member of our community can make a difference—students, faculty and staff. If you are giving regularly to UTSA, we encourage you to stretch your contribution and give a bit more. If you have not participated before, we encourage you to give at this time. It is critical to show our support of this next step in our transformation to a top-tier university.

We are UTSA, and We are Student Affairs! Our goal is to lead the university in the percentage of staff who participate in the campaign. You may know students who are benefitting from donations that have been made to the university. Some of these students might have received scholarships, others might have attended a conference, or conducted some cutting edge research, or participated in an internship in their future career area. These opportunities were made possible by the generosity of donors, like you, who believe in what we do at UTSA. Let’s be the first to reach 100% participation by June 1st.

Please take a moment to listen to these student testimonials and consider making a donation to the Capital Campaign today, and commit to making that donation for the next three years. We are on our way to becoming a top-tier university because of you.

– Carolina Canizales
– Travis Merriweather
– Justina Williams

Your Capital Campaign team,

Marlon Anderson
John Kaulfus
Pat Graham
Barry McKinney
Carol Gonzalez

Student Affairs Development would like to remind all Directors that all donations to your department, whether cash or in-kind, must be processed through the development office. If your department receives a gift, please contact development staff to process the gift. This will insure that the company receives the accurate tax benefit for the gift, that the gift is reflected in development records, and that the appropriate thank you correspondence is sent to the company acknowledging their support of your department and UTSA.

If you have questions on the process for recording gifts, please contact the Student Affairs Development Office staff:

Marlon Anderson
210-458-5125
Marlon.anderson@utsa.edu

Michelle Vryn
210-458-5119
Michelle.vryn@utsa.edu

The Office of Strategic Planning and Assessment is pleased to announce its new website:

http://utsa.edu/students/assessment/

Thank you to Stacy Pena, Melissa Evans and Edna Dominguez for your patience and expertise to make this happen!

On the homepage, you’ll see the Departmental Annual Report Template under the Forms section. The completed template is due June 15. Please contact your departmental assessment representative if you have questions about the status of your department’s report. A PDF with the complete list of annual dates can be found on the Cycle/Dates drop-down from the Resources tab.

Please contact Kasey Neece-Fielder at kasey.neece-fielder@utsa.edu with any feedback or questions about the website. The goal is for it to be as helpful, accurate and user-friendly as possible. Thank you!

The freshmen entering UTSA this fall are The Class of 2016. To recognize this group's identity, a Class of 2016 t-shirt has been designed and the first fall 2012 orientation participants are wearing their t-shirts today. Throughout the summer, each orientation participant will receive one of the t-shirts. At the 2012 Fall Convocation on August 27, the convocation theme will celebrate the Class of 2016 and freshmen will be asked to wear their t-shirts. The Class of 2016 is embarking on a journey that begins in 2012 with orientation and Fall Convocation. In four years in 2016, these freshmen will reach the milestone of graduation. At the 2016 Commencement Ceremonies we will join with the graduates and their families and friends in celebrating graduates' achievements.

Pat Graham and Lisa Alonzo

(May 22, 2012) -- What do UTSA and the Chris Madrid's restaurant have in common? They both value personal attention, a quality product and a genuine concern for customer satisfaction.

When Mari Mandujano, assistant director of admissions at the UTSA Downtown Campus, realized that of all the t-shirts displayed on the walls of Chris Madrid's, not one was from UTSA, she made it her mission to correct that.

So, on Wednesday, May 16, 10 staff members from the UTSA Downtown Campus presented Diana Madrid, the sister of the restaurant's namesake, an official UTSA t-shirt to be displayed proudly in the restaurant.

Known for his famous hamburgers, the late Chris Madrid opened the restaurant in 1977 and was a University of Texas at Austin marketing major.

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