Welcome Back!
The Welcome Back! program mission is to facilitate baccalaureate graduation for returning students who were close to graduation before stopping out; to provide superior customer service as a "home base" for the returning students; and to uphold the academic integrity of the undergraduate degrees.
The first WB cohort began in spring 2010 with 58 participating just from the outreach letter sent to them in the fall of 2009. An additional 17 came aboard since then through inquires and advisor referrals. 35 have graduated and another 5 have applied for graduation this coming fall and into spring 2012. In a Welcome Back Student Spotlight, one of the spring 2010 graduates shares her story about the WB program and earning a degree after entering UTSA ten years ago.
A second cohort of 180 students was invited through letters mailed in May 2011 expectation that 50% will return for the 2011-2012 academic year. These invitees were pre-screened by the GI Office to meet the initial criteria. We also encouarge referrals from the academic advising centers.
Eligibility Critera
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Stopped out of UTSA for at least 1 academic year up to 7 academic years
- Have not earned a bachelor's degree at any other university, national or international, since stopping out of UTSA
- Have no UTSA fiscal holds
at the time of WB acceptance
- Have earned a minimum of 96 semester credit hours that are directly applicable to their degree programs with no more than 29 hours remaining for the degree and have demonstrated past academic success and progress
- Have a UTSA minimum 2.25 GPA preferred or no less than a 2.0 GPA; have met or exceeded their college's academic standing, if applicable
- Are readmissable to UTSA in good academic and good disciplinary standing
Benefits
Program participants can benefit in one or many ways depending on each unique need:
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$1,000 grant awarded to the first 60 who are accepted into the program. (The grant is for the return semester's courses taken at UTSA.)
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Academic and/or surcharge waivers considered for requirements pertaining to substitutions, residency, registration, catalog timeframe, & graduation
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Email and/or phone reminders of important deadlines
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Grade and registration checks each semester; assistance with identifying transfer courses and substitution process if student cannot return to UTSA
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A "home office" approach to provide appropriate referrals, advocacy and assistance, special requests, and navigation of university policies and procedures
- The assignment of a GI Retention & Graduation Analyst who is familiar with the student's college of major. This analyst helps to "shepherd" the WB student from readmission to graduation.
Participation
WB for spring 2012 is only open to former students who have already been readmitted to UTSA for the spring semester and meet our Welcome Back eligibility criteria.
If you are a former UTSA student and feel that you may be eligible to apply for the Welcome Back! program, please contact the Graduation Initiative Office at 210-458-4687 or graduation.initative@utsa.edu for more information.