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Fall 2007, Vol 2
In This Issue: UTSA Family Day 
Family Day at the Downtown Campus I n addition to festivities at the 1604 campus, the UTSA downtown campus was host to its own family day on October 6th. This event was designed to attract the growing number of students taking graduate-level or evening classes at the Downtown Campus who may not get the opportunity to participate in campus life. The event had a carnival like atmosphere with everything from hot dogs to popcorn and cotton candy. Families could also have their pictures taken in one of two formats of either an old-time family portrait or on a giant inflatable chair. Crafts, games and prizes were hosted by the Chemistry Club and Kinesiology students. Additionally, UTSA representatives from academic departments, The Institute of Texan Cultures and other UTSA offices were available to provide information on university services.
The end of the semester is fast approaching which means finals are right around the corner. Final examinations will take place the week of December 5th-11th. UTSA has also set aside December 3rd and 4th as dead days. Dead days are designated study days before finals where classes do not meet.
Registration
for the Spring 2008 is now underway. The registration schedule for
students is as follows: Seniors (90 or more credit hours completed): November 8, 2007 at 7:00 am - January 6, 2008 at 5:00 pm Juniors (60-89 credit hours completed): November 13, 2007 at 7:00 am - January 6, 2008 at 5:00 pm Sophomores (30-59 credit hours completed): November 16, 2007 at 7:00am - January 6, 2008 at 5:00 pm Freshmen (less than 29 credit hours completed): November 21, 2007 at 7:00am - January 6, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Students are able to register up to a limit of 19 hours online via the Automated Student Access Program (ASAP). All students are encouraged to speak with their academic advisor prior to registration. A list of advising center locations and phone numbers is available here.
The Spring semester will begin on Monday, January 14, 2008. _____________________________________________________________________________ Your student's first year of college is over. They made it!...But now what? Many times second year college students find themselves in somewhat of a “slump”. The anxiety and excitement of their first year in college has worn off, but their education must continue. Soon-to-be sophomores now begin to wonder what their next step is. Even though UTSA spends much of their time focusing on freshmen, traditionally there have not been many programs designed for the sophomore student, until now.
What began in the spring of 2005, “Making the College Connection”, was the first event to reach out to students who were making the transition to sophomore status. Then in October of 2006, UTSA’s Academic Advising Centers hosted the “Sophomore Transition Fair” which was based upon the previous year’s event. Due to better advertising and a more convenient location, attendance was higher. This year, on October 16, 2007, “Sophomore Day” took place. The event was expanded to a full day in order to target issues UTSA sophomores currently face. The day included an Information Fair, conference style concurrent sessions covering topics such as deciding on a major, study abroad programs and others. The day also included a student luncheon with Deans, department chairs, faculty, alumni and academic advisors. The program will continue to re-connect sophomore students and help address issues they may face as they continue to pursue their degree from UTSA. Students can learn more about this event and other support programs by contacting their advising center.
Students Approve Transportation Fee
The initiative passed by a narrow margin, with 53% of the voting body approving it. The initiative must still go through UTSA administration and then the UT System Board of Regents for final approval.
Other projects being implemented by Parking and Transportation Services
include adding new parking spaces in Lot 10 and Lot 12 and a new road
joining the two lots. A new parking garage is currently being
constructed near the Science Building and will include faculty/staff and
hourly parking. These projects are scheduled to be completed by Fall 2008.
 
The ceremony also featured the debut of the university's strategic plan, "A Shared Vision: UTSA 2016." This newest set of initiatives was a collaborative effort on the part of UTSA faculty, students, staff, alumni, community leaders and others. The plan will provide a strategic framework for UTSA's growth as it takes steps towards becoming a premier public research university.
UTSA Athletics are currently in the full swing of competition. Both UTSA Men's and Women's Basketball teams started their season off with a boom. The women and men both began their season on Nov. 9th, with impressive home wins. The Men's team kicked off the season by defeating Hardin-Simmons 69-47. Freshman Devin Gibson led UTSA with 20 points. Earlier in the day, the Lady Roadrunners routed Huston-Tillotson 89-50. Leading scorer for was sophomore Courtney Laing, as she poured in 23. The women's team was also in action on Sunday, November 11th, and beat Belmont University 77-65. The leading scorer was senior Terrie Davis, with 20 points.
The Men traveled to Austin on November 12th, to take on the 15th ranked Texas Longhorns. The Roadrunners hung tough with the Longhorns all game long, and trailed at the half 22-19. In the end, the Longhorns were dominant down the stretch as they posted a 58-37 win. Freshman Devin Gibson was the leading scorer, and posted his first UTSA double-double, with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Men's next game is against Navy on Saturday November 17th. This matchup will take place in the Alamodome and will allow the facilities crew the opportunity to oversee all operations in preparation for Final Four events April 5-7, 2008.
The Men's and Women's Cross Country team
finished their season strong on October 27, 2007 at the Southland Conference
Championships with the men taking home sixth place and the women placing
eighth respectively. Men's and Women's Golf just completed their fall
season with the women taking home a second place finish at the UAB Beach
Blast and the men tied for fifth place at the UTSA Intercollegiate.
UTSA's Men's and Women's Tennis team finished their fall season on a high
note. The women will open their Spring 2008 season at Texas on January
19 with the men playing at Texas on February 3. UTSA Homecoming 2008 events will take place February 27-March 1
Each day will feature a variety of events around campus, leading up to the UTSA Roadrunners game against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders. Be on the lookout for more information to come your way about this year's Homecoming schedule of events.
Get updated on scores and schedules of all UTSA Athletics plus catch LIVE audio and video of select UTSA Roadrunner athletic events by logging onto www.goutsa.com.
On January 21st, 2008, UTSA Orientation and Transition Services (OTS) will debut its newest communication tool for UTSA family members. An electronic mailing list, or listserv, will be hosted by OTS in conjunction with the UTSA Family Association. This newest form of communication will allow family members to stay updated on university news, social events and UTSA life in real time! Family members can choose to receive email messages as they are posted to the listserv, or they can choose to receive a daily digest. The daily digest option will send one email to the subscriber, which lists all topics posted that day. The user can then view all messages in one email. Subscribers to the listserv all contribute to the content of the message board. Verification of student enrollment is required and can be completed through the UTSA Family website. This step will insure that listserv members are associated with a UTSA student. Have a question about a UTSA office? Wondering what businesses offer discounts to members of the UTSA community? Ask the listserv subscribers!
As the listserv launch date draws near, we would like your help in officially naming our message board. Think you have a catchy name to call the message board? Email your ideas to orientation@utsa.edu. We look forward to your suggestions!
Whether you know it or not, your student is probably the member of a virtual community. It is estimated that eighty percent of college students are members of at least one virtual community. Common virtual communities are Myspace.com, Xanga.com, XuQa.com, and Facebook.com. Facebook is currently the seventh most visited website in the world and the second most visited social network website. The website has thirty-one million active users, of which sixty-seven percent visit the site everyday. Users create profiles, join interest groups, chat, post comments and pictures. Users upload eight and a half million photos a day. With the accessibility of personal information, safety should be at the fore front of your student's mind; however, in many cases it is not. Talking with your student about their online profile maybe the first time they consider issues of safety. In an effort to help facilitate that conversation, included are four rules for you to share with your student when considering online safety. 1. If you would not post it on your front door, don’t post it online. Students often do not realize that web transmissions are open unless the website uses secure forms of authentication or encryption. As can be expected, these social websites do neither, and posting information on your profile page is the same as posting it on your front door. 2. Use a privacy setting to help control who can access your information. Many sites such as Facebook and Myspace offer you the ability to control the availability of your profile to certain individuals. Taking advantage of this ability allows you to gain some control over your profile and pictures. 3. Your online profile may be the only impression someone has of you. Friends can often differentiate between you joking and being serious; however, as more faculty, staff, student, and employers view these sites, they only gauge who you are by the information you have posted. The information on your profile should accurately reflect you. 4. Civility matters. Being part of the UTSA community comes with responsibility. UTSA would like all of its students to be positive role models in the community and that includes cyberspace. Courtesy of Paul Ayala, Assistant Director-Orientation and Transition Services
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