January 2014, Issue 1
True Colors Facilitators Tell Their Stories
Recently, the Division of Student Affairs sent five employees to receive True Colors certification as Personal Success Seminar facilitators. You will see them presenting True Colors sessions beginning immediately. They join a strong team of True Colors facilitators representing offices across Student Affairs that work to keep our common language.
We asked our newest facilitators what they would like to share about their True Colors certification experience, and their comments are below.
Please join us in welcoming them to the True Colors team!
Jan McKinney
Director of Communications
Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs
Since attending the True Colors’ Facilitator Training, I’ve found my understanding of others’ needs, values, and beliefs has increased; this deeper understanding, has helped me in communicating important messages by tailoring my responses to an individual’s True Color. Also, learning the strengths and unique talents of each True Color has been invaluable-whenever I need assistance with a specific task, challenge, or project, I know which True Color to seek. I also enjoyed getting to know my colleagues who attended the True Colors training with me. Lastly, I really enjoyed learning how I can appeal to all the True Colors when teaching a class, specifically my freshman seminar class!
The other participants attending the True Colors’ Facilitator Training came from all over the nation- most of them had careers in K-12 and/or retail. It is nice to know that UTSA-Student Affairs values the importance of having a “common language” and allows our division to take training together as a larger team- I feel this is very important as it allows us to work better together in order to create programs that best serve our students’ needs.
Jessica Avalos Alvarez
Assistant Director, Family Programs
Orientation and Family Programs
True Colors Certification was a wonderful experience that gave valuable tools and insight into facilitation. Learning about how to engage others keeping their dominant colors and motivating factors in mind was intriguing. The most valuable take away was learning how to create an environment that allows for individual growth but also an awareness for fellow teammates and how they operate.
Sarah Webb
Senior Training Specialist
Enrollment Services Center
Attending True Colors Certification helped me focus on understanding True Colors in a more focused way than I could as a participant and it confirmed my high level of interest! It was really helpful to go with other members of the Student Affairs staff and Education Team because it helped me to be comfortable immediately and form relationships. The most useful part of the training was that there were men and women of different ages from many different occupations. It was really nice to be able to practice in front of such a diverse group because I believe that this will allow me to be more successful when I begin presenting to Student Affairs staff. Although we are all UTSA staff members, we come from different places and it’s important for me to be able to connect as best I can with those in the room.
Sara Gothelf
Athletics Academic Coordinator
Intercollegiate Athletics
Attending certification training provided an opportunity to deepen my knowledge of True Colors. I acquired new resources that I am excited to share when facilitating. Additionally, it was wonderful to share the experience with Student Affairs colleagues and build new relationships across departments!
Victoria Lopez-Herrera
Associate Director, Student Development
Campus Recreation
The True Colors training was great! It was fun to learn the history and background of the program and all the ways it can be integrated and used in the workplace. I am really excited to start using my True Colors training with our new Student Affairs staff.
Melissa Hernandez, LCSW
Assistant Director
Counseling Services
Has your color spectrum changed over the years? How?
Describe those changes to your colleagues. Remember True Colors is a tool to understanding others and ourselves. It is a common language because we talk about it and use it to articulate our perspectives to each other. Keep it going.
True Colors Training Schedule for STAFF (SD 410)
True Colors Training Schedule for Student Affairs STUDENT Employees (SD 417)
Any questions or comments? Please send us an email at VPSA@utsa.edu.