Student Affairs News

September 15, 2006

In This Issue:

• Message from the interim VPSA
• Learning Opportunities
• Staff Notes
• Facebook
• Treasure hunt brings students to crime prevention programs
• Ambassadors will assist with Teacher Appreciation Day
• Your Colleagues -- Make Their Day!
• Student Activities and Student Government
• Directors' Reports for August

Dear Colleagues,

Good news to share this week.  Our attendance has topped 28,000 for the first time ever.  Record numbers of students attended many of the Roadrunner Days events, and the new Cultural Connections receptions during RR Days were a hit with our new students.  Summer orientation hosted more than 5,100 new students.

Sam Gonzales reports that UTSA is among the top 5% in the nation in percentage of students completing the mandatory alcohol education program.  Programs such as this one assist our students in making informed decisions.

Please mark your calendars now for commencement ceremonies on December 14, 15, and 16. 

We plan to publish Student Affairs news on a bi-weekly basis.  Please remember to send your news and names of new staff to Cindy Brockwell.

Thank you for all you are doing do make this fall semester a great one.

-- Kevin Price

The Office of Student Activities

presents

Belaynish Zevadia

Deputy Consul General of Israel to the Southwest

speaking on the

Ethiopian Jewish Community in Israel

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

 9:00 a.m.

 University Center Retama Auditorium

Texas Tejano Month and screening of A Tejano Son of Texas on Sept. 20

UTSA is celebrating Tejano Heritage Month with an exhibit in the University Center to educate the public on the lives and legacies of Tejano pioneers.

Please join us in the University Center Retama Auditorium on Wednesday,  Sept. 20, at 6:30 p.m. for a documentary screening of A Tejano Son of Texas.  It will be followed by a brief lecture.

The Student Organizations who bring the most people to the event will receive a prize. There will be more than one cash prize with the grand prize of $250, donated by TexasTejano.com. The individuals do not have to be in your organization so every group has a chance to win. At the sign-in table, they merely need to indicate their association with your organization. We look forward to seeing you there.

STAFF NOTES

Welcome Barbara Reyes to the Health Education staff.  Barbara and her family moved to San Antonio in April 2006.  She has more than 11 years of health education experience in the San Diego area as a nutritionist and as a manager/educator for HIV/AIDS, sexual health and disease prevention.  You will see Barbara's smiling face on campus at outreach events and weight loss classes for students.

Thanks to Barry McKinney for submitting these links pertaining to Facebook. The first is a history, and the second is a story on a new Facebook policy.  Barry says both are interesting and probably important for Student Affairs professionals to know.

UTSA PD Treasure Hunt to involve students in crime prevention programs

Calling all Treasure Hunters! UTSA PD has a new game to keep students safe.  Students form into teams of three, attend UTSA crime prevention programs, get clues, find the treasure, win prizes.

If you work with students, please help get the word out.  The first event is Alcohol 101 at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 15, JPL 4.03.12 at the 1604 Campus.

Your Colleagues -- Make Their Day!                                           

Kudos to...

Marissa Saenz, Bridgedette Garza, and Edward Ortega who performed extraordinarily well in the area of customer service this summer while working at the downtown Enrollment Services Center counter. We had many compliments from students, both in person and via email, for the help they gave our students in the areas of admissions, registrar, and financial aid. They also participated in all the financial aid presentations at the downtown campus. Way to go Team!!!!! Also, special thanks to David Longoria who came to help us on book loan day when we were short staffed! You are appreciated!

-- Michele Rench, DT UTSA Enrollment Services Office

Find Student Activities news and happenings "In the Loop."

Student Government Meets Thursdays

The Student Government Association meets every Thursday in the Regent's Room of the John Peace Library. Meetings begin at 5:30p.m. The meetings are open and university administrators are invited to attend. Individuals wishing to address or make a presentation to the Student Government General Assembly should contact Christian Porter, SGA Vice President, at least one week prior to desired time. Christian may be reached at christian.porter@utsa.edu.

SEPTEMBER IS TEXAS TEJANO MONTH

CELEBRATE LATINO & HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH SEPTEMBER 15-OCTOBER 15

 STUDENT AFFAIRS MONTHLY DIRECTORS' REPORTS

AUGUST 2006

 ATHLETICS - Lynn Hickey

General Athletics - The Athletic Department is offering a season ticket special to all faculty and staff.  For only $60, you will receive a pass to all UTSA athletic events.  Each additional pass is only $40.  To date, more than 300 passes have been sold. 

 Volleyball - UTSA Volleyball swept SMU in its home opener.  They have been on the road since that match on August 29 and have compiled a record of 6-5 with wins over Syracuse, Louisiana Tech and Brown.

 Soccer - UTSA Soccer began its inaugural season with a tough schedule, competing against UT, Texas Tech and A&M.  So far they are 3-4 and will begin their conference schedule on September 27 versus Texas State.

 Cross Country - The UTSA men's and women's cross country teams opened the 2006 season with a solid effort at the SFA Lumberjack Opener Senior transfers Aaron Castro and Benson Cheserek teaming up for a second-place finish in the unique 3x2,000-meter relay format.  At the Texas State Invitation, UTSA posted a pair of top-five finishes at the season opener in Nacogdoches, highlighted by seniors Hope Jimenez and Brianna Mendez taking third in the 2x2,000-meter.

The Ricardo Romo Open will be hosted on the UTSA 1604 campus on September 22.

Scott Slade was hired at the beginning of the 2006 season as the Asst Men's Track/Cross Country Coach.  Slade comes to UTSA after a three-year stint as the director of cross country and track & field at Soka University in Aliso Viejo, Calif.

Women's Tennis - Head women's tennis coach Brenda Niemeyer resigned her position as of August 15.  After seven years at UTSA, Niemeyer will remain in the San Antonio area as a local teaching professional.  She also will serve as a United State Tennis Association (USTA) coordinator with the Northside Independent School District.  A nationwide search is being conducted for her replacement.

DEVELOPMENT - Cindy Brockwell:  I completed the preliminary draft of our annual proposal to AT&T for a $100,000 grant for scholarships.  Linda Lopez-George in development office will finalize it.

OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS AND TRANSITIONAL SERVICES - George E. Norton

Undergraduate Admissions - Jennifer Ehlers

The 2005-2006 Recruitment/Admissions cycle ended as we welcomed the fall 2006 classes.  A quick review of the year’s activities included, but was far limited to:

Recruitment…including transfers

• 901 students attended one of the four 1604 on-campus events

• 2078 students participated in one of the daily tours at the 1604 campus

• 4084 students participated in a group tour at the 1604 campus

• 1482 students visited with an admissions officer

• Participated in 202 college programs across the state

• Made visit/presentations at 206 schools

• Dropped off information at 125 schools

• Communicated with over 3500 via Prospects@utsa.edu mailbox

• Hosted 10 receptions throughout the state which were attended by 714 students

• Created five on-line newsletters for counselors/students

• Completed 12,124 Telecounseling Calls

• Established a physical presence/office space in Houston

• Created a regional coordinator in the valley of Texas

International

• Recruited in Mexico

• Visited with 369 students individually

• Communicated with 1116 students via e-mail

• Experienced an increase in applicants and admits for the fall term

Transfer Advising

• 1292 students advised via appointment or on walk-in basis

• 358 unofficial degree evaluations were created

• 1773 Transfer@utsa e-mails processed

Processing

• Automated the fee payment process

• Went paperless!!!!

• Replaced the filing cabinets with a heavy-duty shredder

• Processed 26,814 applications

• Admitted 20,219 students

• Processed, including indexing, approximately 52,221 transcripts

• Processed 22,267 ACT or SAT score reports

The 2006-2007 Recruitment cycle has already begun.

• ·               Following are some of the planned recruitment events:

• ·               Discover UTSA Day       Monday, October 9, 2006                   9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• ·               UTSA Day                      Saturday, November 18, 2006           10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• ·               Come to Class Day       Monday, February 19, 2007        9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• ·               Spring Fling                    Saturday, March 31, 2007         10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• ·               Visitor Center information, updated

• ·               1604 Campus Tours       Monday to Friday    10 a.m.   12 noon    2 p.m.

• ·               Information Sessions     Monday to Friday        9:30 a.m.      1:30 p.m.

• ·               Saturdays                       10 a.m.    11 a.m.

• ·               DT Campus Tours         Monday to Friday         2 p.m.

• ·               No scheduled Information Sessions or Saturday tours

• ·               Admission Officer Appointments

• ·               Both campuses             Monday to Friday         8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• ·               Admission Officer Walk-in Times

• ·               Both campuses             Monday to Friday         2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Proposed Reception Dates

• ·               Dallas Metroplex            November 28-29, 2006

• ·               Houston                          January 23-25, 2006

• ·               Austin/San Antonio         January 30-February 1, 2007

• ·               Valley                              February 6-7, 2007

• ·               Corpus/Laredo               February 13-14, 2007

FINANCIAL AID, Scholarships & Enrollment Services - Lisa Blazer

Enrollment Services - Henry Cantu

Call Center: 

• Call Volume for August:  37,313 Total Calls Received

• Total Amount of Credit Card Payments for August:  $679,963.94

• Staff members will be contacting approximately 350 students who have not yet

• made payment arrangements for their tuition and fees for the fall term. 

 New Staff: 

Catherine Prieto, Aurora Castillo, and Nestor Esquivel have been hired as Enrollment Services Officer I’s.  Catherine will serve on the Support Team, Aurora will serve on the 1604 ESC Counter Team, and Nestor will be working on our Call Center Team.

Promotions:

Eva Trevino has been promoted to Enrollment Services Officer II on the 1604 ESC Counter Team.

Vacant Positions:  We currently have 2 vacant Enrollment Services Officer I positions.  These positions have been posted and are expected to be filled by the end of September.

REGISTRAR - Joe DeCristoforo

• ·        The 2006-08 Undergraduate Catalog is now on the Web in HTML format for searching links and PDF format for printability. Many thanks to the Publications area staff, Donna Edmondson, Johanna Hunziker, Pat Hedelius, and Hilary Bednorz for their hard work and dedication.

• ·               Veteran Certifications Office has certified 940 veterans for Fall 2006

• ·               SIS conducted four additional classes on WebI training to include three new universes on

•          academic history and student enrollment

• ·               SIS has developed several new data verification/error checking reports for class schedules to detect errors early and correct them in Banner

• ·               Census Day files are being validated early.  Data errors are being found and corrected in Banner.  Work is being finalized on combining several databases into one database for consistent reporting

• ·               Documents detailing the process involved in producing the CBM reports are being finalized 

We now have 8 digital signs spread out among the University Center, JPL, and the Downtown campus.  If you want any information displayed on these signs, please put it into PowerPoint landscape format and forward to joe.decristoforo@utsa.edu.  Thank you.

Registrar DT -  Fred Hample

Over 6400 students are enrolled on the downtown campus for the Fall Semester.  Many students participated in Road Runner Activities on the downtown campus; they met with faculty from their colleges, and they were served boxed dinners on the second day of classes.  The Wellness and Recreation Center opened with expanded hours.  A digital sign is now operable on the downtown campus in the Frio Street Commons which provides a venue for both administrative reminders and student activity announcements.  Staff from Counseling Services met with our downtown staff and the Vice Provost to review services and programs for the downtown campus.  An Orientation for new graduate students was arranged so they could meet key administrative staff, faculty and deans.  An outline of fall student activities planned for the downtown campus was presented to the Downtown Council by Keith Pilger.  The problems associated with students who enroll in courses on the downtown and 1604 campus without considering the commuting time required between the campuses was discussed by the associate deans.  Registrar and IT staffs are working to provide a warning message for students who register in back-to-back courses offered on the 1604 and downtown campus.  The result of this effort should minimize this problem for students in the future.  A Student Involvement Fair on the downtown campus is planned for September 7.

OFFICE OF STUDENT LIFE - Kevin Price

Childhood Development Center - Luretta Filbert

In August the Center received the Formal Written Notification of Approval of Accreditation from The National Association for the Education of Young Children.  The Center’s teachers and staff worked very hard these past six months to achieve this goal and are very proud of this accomplishment.  Two activities will be held for the Center’s families this semester, Open House (September 13^th) and Harvest Fest (October 13^th).  We currently have a vacant Assistant Early Childhood Specialist position. The Center is full this semester and there are 376 children on the waiting list.

Judicial Affairs - Anne Jimenez

The hard work and dedication of Coordinators Todd Wollenzier and Jan McKinney during summer orientation, trainings and through presentations is paying off.  Of the students being referred currently, both parents and students not only recall the preventative messages and information given during the summer but are fully accepting of the responsibility for their actions.  We are also initially seeing a slight decrease in the referrals as compared to last fall.   

We commend the teamwork of our fellow housing, counseling and law enforcement professionals with student judicial affairs as it is resulting in quick referrals, increased communications which allows students to be seen quickly.  The impact of this quick turnaround time contributes to student success and retention as we uphold the standards of UTSA.

Mary Smeltzer and Norma Scalf should be commended as our stellar administrative professionals that work diligently and relentlessly tracking down addresses, phone numbers, schedules and other various and sundry requests that keep student judicial affairs and student life running smoothly.          

In addition to the daily work in student judicial affairs, Todd is pursuing his Master’s of Public Administration degree and Jan is in her second year teaching a freshman seminar class, conducting mediations for Greek Life and preparing her presentation for the Leader Summit.  

Housing & Residence Life - John White

August was very much about getting ready for the Fall 2006 semester.  We spent the most of the month finishing up with Summer Conference Housing and Summer School Housing.  Summer school move out was on the weekend of August 12-13.  We had all but 4 students move out on time.  We spent most of the following week tracking them down and getting them moved out so we could turn over the unit for fall check-in.   We had 150 students who checked-in early.  These early arrivals were from athletic camps to Roadrunner camp.

Fall check-in started on Friday, August 18.  We had over 650 students move in on that Friday with the remainder checking in throughout the weekend.  We were very pleased with our check-in process; we never had anyone stand in line more that 15 minutes and were able to process everyone through without any difficulties.  We only had 1 upset parent and worked to resolve her issues.  Housekeeping and Facilities assisted us in making sure that we could respond immediately to any problem during the weekend.  We were very lucky that Financial Aid was able to have someone here at Chaparral Village on Friday to assist with questions and concerns from parents.  We had a great response for volunteers to help with check-in.  We couldn’t have done it without them. 

Facilities:

Gary Coates did a fantastic job getting units turned over between summer and fall.  We had approximately 5 days to get everything repaired and cleaned before the fall check-in.  It was extremely difficult to coordinate with all of the early arrivals but Gary was able to handle any situation.

Residence Life

Resident Assistants showed up for training on August 1.  The two Hall Directors participated with the RA’s in their fall training schedule.  Kim Center worked on getting everything ready for check-in and did a welcome back, training session for returning students who were interested in creating an RHA.  The Residential Learning Communities got off with a big bang this month.  We have 75 students participating in the RLC experience.  The Housing and Residence Life staff participated in all of the Roadrunner Day activities and helped get residents to attend the various functions.  We had a lot of parents that stayed through out the weekend and it was difficult to get residents involved when their parents were around.  Chaparral Village had their own Welcome Week of Activities August 27 through August 31.  Many of the RA’s have already planned their activities and programming for the semester and working to complete all the planning.

Operations

We processed 100 deposit refunds for summer move-outs.  Most of the month was spent handling assignment issues, roommate changes, unit type changes, etc.  The first installments of the fall housing and meals were due this month.  We were able to collect approximately 48% of our total fall revenue this month.  We had more students pay before check-in than we had in the past which is another reason check-in went so smooth.  We only had 4 no shows for this fall which is similar to what we had in the past.  During the month of August we processed 30 cancellations.  We were able to open with every space assigned and no one in hotels.  We were able to fill the cancellations with waiting list individuals.

Special Events - Dr. Patricia Graham

Fall Information Tables

• ·               The UTSA Ambassadors staffed the Information Tables August 14-24, 2006.

• ·               Thirty-five Ambassadors worked 195.5 hours on this activity.

2006 Fall Convocation

• ·               The 2006 Fall Convocation Committee planned and implemented the 2006 Fall Convocation on August 21.

• ·               Approximately 150 faculty and staff participated in the processional.

• ·               The keynote speaker, Dr. George Wright, gave an excellent speech.

• ·               An evaluation of the convocation via Survey Monkey drew 86 responses; 1/3 faculty, 2/3 staff.  The majority of the responses were positive on the various aspects of the Convocation breakfast and the Convocation.  Respondents gave good suggestions for the 2007 ceremony.

2006 UTSA Ambassadors Fall Retreat

• ·               The UTSA Ambassadors held their annual Fall Retreat at the T-Bar-M Ranch in New Braunfels, TX September 2-3, 2006.

• ·               Forty-five participants attended the retreat.

• ·               The retreat objectives of team-building and goal setting for the 2006-2007 Ambassadors Program were accomplished.

UNIVERSITY CENTER AND STUDENT ACTIVITIES - John Kaulfus

 Student Activities - Barry McKinney

The Office of Student Activities helped plan and host several events for Roadrunner Days including Cultural Connections, the comedy concert, the Greek Fajita Fest, and the 11^th annual Howdy Rowdy Bash.  The Office of Student Activities also maintained the Roadrunner Days website and created and distributed the posters.  The absolute highlight of the month was the huge turn-out for the first annual Cultural Connections.  We also directly assisted 1,438 individuals through walk-ins and calls.  We welcomed Charlin Jones as Honors Alliance and Honors Programming moved back to Student Activities.  We also co-sponsored the Rowdy Wing Fling alcohol awareness program during the second week of school with over 500 students in attendance.  We put the final touches on preparations for the Texas Tejano grand opening and exhibit and are planning for several other cultural events.  We also were excited to hear that Michelle Montanio will return to work on September 25.  Finally, during our Fall SGA Elections, we have eleven students running for three freshman senator positions.

University Center – Lowa Mwilambwe

The UC sponsored its’ second annual “Dive into the UC” event in conjunction with Roadrunner Days.  This year’s event was highly successful with over 300 students and all UC offices participating in various events.  The Facility Reservation Committee has concluded its work and is in the final stages of drafting a facility fee proposal for review Dr. Ambrosino and the Executive Council.  The online room reservation request form and R25 WebViewer have been completed.  The R25 Committee is waiting for feedback before launching the form.  The UC Policies and Procedures Manual has been submitted for review.  UCEM handled almost 464 reservations in August with UC rooms comprising almost 70% of all requests.  There were three staffing changes in the month of August.  Nevil Shed and Leif Endresen resigned their positions, and Diane Grotheer has joined our department as the new UCEM Administrative Associate I.  Please join us in welcoming Diane.  We will all miss Nevil and Leif, but we wish them well in their new endeavors.

STUDENT SERVICES - Sam Gonzales

 Campus Recreation – Dr. Suzy Gray

• ·           Construction Update:  Major concrete pours for gym floor, in-ground pier drilling complete, demo of racquetball courts complete, removal of Rattlesnake Hill area complete, furniture mock-up and layout review continues.

• ·           Bob Miller & Yolanda Garcia assisted with JPL triage during first week of classes..

• ·           Suzy Gray, Bob Miller, Laura Munroe & Mark Munguia managed the distribution of 4,200 Roadrunner Days t-shirts, hundreds of cases of water & Pepsi product and several thousand Roadrunner Days key rings.

• ·           Suzy Gray & Bob Miller participated in New Faculty Orientation…presenting t-shirts, one-week free passes and Rec white boards.

• ·           Hosted first ever Women's NCAA Soccer game on the new recreation fields. 

• ·           Mario Rios and Intramural student staff provided games at Roadrunner Camp, Housing BBQ & the President's Picnic.

• ·           Eliot Howard, Matt Petty, Mario Rios & student staff attended Residence Hall meetings to promote Campus Rec.

• ·           Canoeing trip to San Marcos completed…first ever "Surfing School in Corpus Christi" coming up soon.

• ·           Men's & Women's Club Soccer teams had 95 participants at Fall tryouts. 

• ·           85 teams registered to play Intramural Flag Football…the most in the history of UTSA Campus Rec!  Kudos to Mario Rios!

• ·           Over 2,000 participants have attended a group exercise class since the Fall 2006 academic year began and the fitness staff is performing 25+ free fitness evaluations each week.

• ·           Late Night at the Rec served as a kick-off event to Road Runner Days with approximately 800 attendees who enjoyed activities ranging from bench press, free throw and volleyball serving competitions to the pizza eating contest or taking a plunge on the inflatable obstacle course. 

• ·           Hosted two major events during Roadrunner Days the Undecided Majors Orientation and the Vendor/Majors Fair.

Student Health and Counseling - Dr. Elizabeth M. Stanczak

During the Month of August, besides being HOT, both services worked on updating policies and procedures, planning activities for students in the fall, and revising efforts to ensure the focus remains on the needs of the students at UTSA.  Student Health and Counseling also kept busy with the final orientations offered to new students.  Both services, I am pleased to announce, have demonstrated a strength, determination, and vision for the coming academic year that is inspiring and focused.  We will be working on addressing substance use/miss-use and abuse issues, sexual assault and related issues, and sexual health, along with the issues we typically address (i.e., relationships, communication, depression, anxiety, general health, healthy eating, health education, HIV testing, etc).  We will continue to support efforts related to recognition and appreciation of diversity on our campus and in our community by supporting the Allies Program and activities on campus that allow for personal growth and mutual respect within and outside of our community.  Both Student Health and Counseling Services are ready for this academic year.  Our journey has begun!   

 Student Health Services - Pat Berlet

A total of 1673 students (102 at 1604, 110 downtown) were seen at Student Health Services clinics.  Self care usage by students totaled 298 (132 at 1604 and 166 downtown) and 416 first time visits were recorded at 1604.  Nursing staff evaluated/assisted 1389 (1339 at 1604 and 50 downtown) of these and physicians (General Medical/Well Woman, and Orthopedic) provided care for 340 (305 at 1604, 15 downtown) students.  Students referred off campus for medical treatment were 84 (82 at 1604, 2 downtown). Psychiatrists saw 53 students, had 10 cancellations, 5 reschedule and 6 no show by students for a total of 75 appointments created.  TB screenings were provided for 257 international students, child care workers, student teachers and others. Pharmacy Statistics – 113 (1604-102 prescriptions and 11 Downtown) filled and for total sales of $2,343. Lab Statistics – 124 labs tests were done with sales totaling $3,154.  No Show Statistics – 28 students failed to show for doctor appointments for both campuses. Staff continued to participate in the New Student Orientation held at the Chaparral Village during the month of August.  Health education outreach included Freshmen Orientations, Alcohol EDU (4422 students logged on and 4000 completed Part I, participation in the Diversity Fairs, Vendor Fair, Rowdy Wing Fling, and Freshmen COR 1230. HIV testing was provided by Hope Action Care.

Disability Services - Lorraine Harrison

Disability Services begins the new academic year with three hundred thirty-four students receiving services. Six to seven new students are registering for services each week. DS has experienced a sixty per cent increase in the number of students using interpreter and captioning services this semester. Nelda has hired several new interpreters and captionists to meet the increased demand for services and is planning monthly training meetings for staff and part-time interpreters.  Lorraine has met with new faculty and staff from Admissions to provide an overview of DS services and discuss issues related to providing equal access for students with disabilities.  Lorraine and Nelda have met with faculty from the College of Education to discuss how to better meet the needs of deaf students in teacher certification programs. Staff also participated in events during Roadrunner Days:  Lorraine and Patrick participated in the Service Fair, while Lorraine and Nestor attended Cultural Connections.  Lorraine and Patrick have also met with Sandra Posada, director of internships for the graduate program in social work, to discuss placing an intern in the DS office at the downtown campus.  Lorraine is participating on the planning committee for Diversity Month in November; DS will sponsor a panel discussion during this month to raise awareness of disabilities on campus.  Analysis of the results of the program evaluation survey sent to all students who received services during 2005-2006 indicated that ninety per cent of the students who responded were satisfied with services, accommodations, and equipment.