Home   About Us
Graduation Help Desk
The UTSA Graduation Help Desk (GHD) was established in 2017 as part of the UT System's Student Success Quantum Leap initiative. The GHD is one of many UTSA Student Success initiatives designed to support the academic advancement of our undergraduate students.
Matt Keneson

Matt Keneson

Associate Director, Retention & Graduation Initiatives

Email Matt Keneson  

Matt's Bio

Matt has been with UTSA since 2012. He previously worked as an academic advisor before establishing UTSA's Graduation Help Desk in November 2017. As an advocate for student success, Matt is passionate about creating an environment that improves educational opportunities and outcomes for all students.

Matt believes empowering staff to succeed and supporting their wellbeing is vital to UTSA's success. He has served in various leadership roles throughout his time at UTSA, including serving as the 2020-2021 Staff Senate Chair.

Matt earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology from Texas A&M University and his Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from UTSA.

What We Do

PROACTIVE OUTREACH

We proactively address roadblocks to graduation by reaching out to students to remove potential barriers such as these common issues:

Unmet degree requirements

Missing graduation application

Taking courses not needed for the degree

Taking duplicate courses

 

REFERRALS

We help individual students who are referred to us — collaborating with various areas and services to resolve cases with solutions that support a student’s graduation while upholding the integrity of the degree.

Here are some common examples of referral cases and how we have resolved them:

  Roadblock: Last course needed not offered at UTSA

    Resolution: Found online transfer course to graduate within 4 years

  Roadblock: Missing hours for graduation

    Resolution: Found unawarded transfer credit to cover the hours needed

  Roadblock: Off-track for timely graduation

    Resolution: Created plan to complete a 3-course sequence in time for 4-year graduation

The GHD is not a substitute for any existing campus services.
Students are expected to first work with areas like advising, financial aid, or their department to resolve issues, but if a solution has not been identified through the normal processes, then the case can be referred to the GHD.

ADDRESS INSTITUTIONAL BARRIERS

When we see trends in common roadblocks to graduation that affect many students, we look at modifying institutional policies, processes and systems in order to address and potentially remove those barriers.