May 1, 2008

Staff News

In This Issue: 

• Message from the Vice President

• Announcements/Events

• Departmental News

• "Getting To Know You....."

• Thank You Rowdy Travels Across Student Affairs

• Kudos

Message from Gage E. Paine, Vice President for Student Affairs

The Division of Student Affairs will be a leader in the development of a dynamic and diverse culture that facilitates learning and engages students. 

The Division of Student Affairs serves the university by providing purposeful, student-centered programs and services, creating opportunities that facilitate holistic development of students and developing a culture of engagement in the classroom, across campus and throughout the global community. 

I hope everyone recognizes our Student Affairs vision and mission statements.  As the members of Team 2016 work on the implementation plan for the university’s strategic plan, so do we need to be thinking about implementing our plan to move us toward our vision.  

Last week, I met with four students who will be graduating from UTSA with a master’s degree in education and who are going to be or are considering joining our field.  One of their comments, echoing what I heard the undergraduate students who met with Dr. Romo say, was that this was a friendly campus, with a small campus feel and big campus benefits.  (Sounds like San Antonio – the world’s largest small town!)  We started talking about the name badge I was wearing and I told them that the Executive Council, with input from staff, had agreed that we will ask all Student Affairs staff to wear name tags when they are working.  (We’re figuring out the logistics and design and there will be more information on that soon.) 

Wearing name tags serves multiple purposes.  They identify us as UTSA staff; they identify us as Student Affairs staff; and most, importantly, they identify us as someone willing to answer a question or to find the answer if we don’t know it.  It sends a message of approachability, of willingness to be bothered and to take the time to help someone who needs help.  It signifies a “culture of engagement” rather than one of walking quickly past the person who looks lost or confused.  Wearing a name tag is a little thing.  However, if we live up to its message by being approachable, helpful, engaged, by learning more about our university than just our specific jobs so we can answer a variety of questions, it can be transformative. And that will be one big step forward to implementing our strategic plan and reaching our vision. 

In our strategic plan under the heading of Transformative Leadership we stated it this way, “Student Affairs celebrates and serves students by making every interaction an opportunity to affect positive change.”   In the discussions leading up to the final strategic plan, a staff member said she wanted every interaction with a student to transformational rather than transactional. But what does that mean?  

Here’s how I interpret it.  In every interaction with students or colleagues, we can choose to hear a question we’ve heard a hundred times and give a routine answer and send them on their way.  But what if we take just a moment to make sure the question really is routine?  What if there is something deeper behind it, or they are asking the ‘wrong’ question? How many times have you seen a frustrated student who has been to multiple offices because they didn’t ask quite the right question and got sent on a wild goose chase through the orange tape?  If we take the time to find out what’s really going on, maybe we can save everyone some time and, best of all, we can help students learn how to manage university processes more effectively. 

Or, what about a bigger picture version?  I learned recently that the staff of Campus Recreation takes turns attending every Student Government Association meeting.  So, when a question came up about extending hours, the staff member there listened to the concerns, went back to his/her colleagues and the next meeting brought solid information to the SGA meeting.  That’s responsive.  That’s service.  But it’s a transactional response. 

Please, don’t get me wrong, I’m very impressed with the initiative and responsiveness of the Campus Recreation staff.  But as I’ve been talking to several candidates for positions with Campus Recreation, I’ve come to realize that we missed a chance to be transformational.  Let me explain.  

Students are concerned about their fees and what services and programs they receive for those fees, as well they should be.  With the new Campus Recreation facility, there is some conversation that it should be open 24 hours, 365 days a year.  That’s what they see at the big fitness centers around town.  Campus Recreation staff responded by giving them costs of extended hours – facts, good facts.  But the reality is we aren’t the big fitness centers across town, nor do we want to be.  Do they offer intramurals – for free (which I learned from candidates who attend other schools is pretty rare)?  Do they offer the incredible range of Outdoor Pursuits trips for highly reduced costs?  Do they offer club sports, teach leadership, teach officiating?  And the list goes on and on.  That’s really what the fee is paying for -  a range of opportunities and experiences that goes far beyond using the treadmills and the weight equipment at two in the morning.  Students don’t understand that full picture and they won’t unless we draw it for them, fully, in color, and over and over.  Students then have a more accurate understanding of what their fee provides and can make a more informed decision about the value they are receiving. That’s transformational knowledge. 

Best Wishes,

Gage

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Announcements/Events

President Ricardo Romo and John Frederick, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs invite you to attend the 2008 Faculty Honors Convocation to honor recipients of teaching, research and service awards, to acknowledge years of service, and to recognize retirees.

Friday, May 2, 2008

10:30 a.m.

Retama Auditorium, University Center

(pdf flyer)

From the Staff Council Fundraising Committee:

Once again, your Staff Council is gearing up to sell bottled water at all commencement ceremonies this May 8-10th to raise funds for our annual Staff Council Scholarship.  If you are interested in providing support to any, or all, of the 5 ceremonies, we would love for you to come on out and help raise scholarship funds.  If any of the shifts occur during your normal working hours, please get supervisor approval before you sign up.  Contact Melissa Tenberg at 210-458-4527 or via e-mail at Melissa.tenberg@utsa.edu to sign up for a date and time as we still need help for all ceremonies.  The shifts are listed below.  Additional information regarding the actual scholarship or donating to the scholarship may be found via the Staff Council website at http://utsa.edu/sc/. 

The cool thing about assisting with our Staff Council Water Sales is that not only do you help out a good cause, but the hours you work count toward service hours! 

Here is the website that you can log into http://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/s/ut/ to track your hours.

Thanks for your consideration!

 Water Sale Times and Dates 

• Thursday, May 8th at 5:00 p.m.  (in need of at least 2 staff members)
• Friday, May 9th at 5:00 p.m.  (in need of at least 7 staff members)
• Saturday, May 10th at 7:30 a.m.  (in need of at least 6 staff members)
• Saturday, May 10th at 11:30 a.m.  (in need of at least 4 staff members)
• Saturday, May 10th at 3:30 p.m.  (in need of at least 6 staff members)

LATE NIGHT BREAKFAST

 Monday, May 5th 

10:00 p.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Roadrunner Café (Schedule - pdf)

University departments and programs can request space in University Center (UC III).  Effective immediately

UC III meeting rooms will be available for meetings starting the first day of the Fall Semester (August 27, 2008). Current UC policies and procedures will apply in the new facility.

Please visit the UC website at www.utsa.edu/uctr/.... for space specifications and meeting room access time. 

To make a reservation for space, please visit the UTSA event calendar at:

http://utsa.edu/uctr/events/request/index.cfm

Contact the Events Management & Conference Services office at 210-4358-4155 if you have additional questions.

UTSA Calendar of Events

13th Annual La Despedida

Saturday, May 10, 2008

8:30pm—11:30pm

UTSA Downtown Campus

Buena Vista Building

Theatre BV 1.326

What is La Despedida?

La Despedida is a registered student organization that was established at UTSA in 1995 by a group of Latino students who wanted a graduation ceremony to reflect who they are and be able to include the three major influences in their lives.  Story....

Akshay Thusu Named Student Leader of the Month for April 2008

Thusu was nominated by Charlin Jones, assistant director for the special events center and advisor for Honors Alliance.  The award is sponsored by the UTSA Office of Student Activities.

Originally from India, Thusu is a junior biology major and minor in chemistry with a 3.94 GPA who has become an active member of the student leader community.  This past year, he was the co-president of Sigma Kappa Upsilon Sophomore Honor Society for 2007-2008.  Thusu also became a member of Alpha Chi National Honor Society as well as Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society in the spring 2008 semester.

According to Jones, “Akshay’s biggest role this semester has been serving as the Honor Code Chair for Honors Alliance.  Akshay along with his committee created an on-line survey for the campus community to take to gather feedback regarding academic dishonesty here at UTSA.  Over 600 responses have been submitted to date that will provide great feedback to the committee to push forward on the drafted honor code.  During the survey process the San Antonio Express-News reported that the students had potentially plagiarized the drafted honor code.  During this time Akshay served as the student spokesperson for interviews with the Express-News and Kens 5.  Akshay showed great leadership and poise when dealing with this trying situation.  I could not have asked for a better student to represent Honors Alliance or UTSA during the national media attention the article received.  Akshay has been elected to serve as the Honor Code Chair for the 2008-2009 academic year because of his outstanding demonstration as a top-notch student leader.”

When Akshay is not busy with Honors Alliance he is giving his time to the community through VOICES volunteer projects.  He regularly attends the VOICES meetings as well as participates in many of their weekend projects.  Akshay is also very active with the UTSA Ambassadors.  He recently was recognized at their annual awards banquet with the leadership award.

The Student Leader of the Month Award is sponsored by the Office of Student Activities as a means to recognize outstanding leadership contributions of UTSA students. Nominees must meet these criteria:

·         Full-time UTSA undergraduate or graduate student

·         Cumulative grade point average of 2.25 or higher at time of nomination

·         Must have demonstrated excellence in leadership above and beyond typical expectations

·         Nominations must be for actions that positively impact the UTSA community

Nominations are made through the Office of Student Activities Web site and must be submitted by the fourth Thursday each month.

For more information visit the Office of Student Activities Web site or e-mail John Kaulfus.

UTSA Celebrates Fiesta!

UTSA Wins Prizes in Battle of Flowers Parade UTSAToday

Photo Gallery - Fiesta UTSA (OOTSA) - 2008

UTSAToday Article - UTSA Royalty Celebrate Fiesta San Antonio 2008

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Departmental News

Athletics

Courtesy: UTSA Athletics -Release: 04/30/2008

Freshman Tyler Carpenter's two-run double on Wednesday sent UTSA to its eighth win in row

Freshman right fielder Tyler Carpenter’s game-winning double in the top of the 12th inning propelled UTSA to an 11-9 win at Houston on Wednesday night at Cougar Field. It was the Roadrunners' (33-12) eighth victory in a row and 18th in their last 21 contests overall.  Story….

UTSA Soccer is offering the following camps:

June 9-12, June 16-19, June 23-26---Coed Day Camp (ages 5-13)

June 20-23---Advanced Girls Residential & Commuter Camp (ages 13-18)

For more information go to www.goutsa.com  and follow the links to camps.  Or call Coach Ballard at 458-4660.  A 10% discount is offered to all UTSA employees and families.

Athletics All-Sport Schedule

Announcing Mr. & Mrs. Jones

Career Services would like to congratulate the newlyweds Yvonne Gonzalez, Associate Director of Technology, who married Doug Jones on March 31^st at an intimate ceremony with friends and family.  Help us in congratulating and sending best wishes to Yvonne and Doug.

Career Services Update

During the 2007-2008 school year Career Services held 13 fairs for our students at both the 1604 and Downtown campus.  Career Services has over 760 employers that attended these fairs to help students find employment after graduation.  We have had approximately 4,000 students in attendance to the fairs.  Employers are seeking qualified UTSA students to fill part-time, full-time, and internship positions in San Antonio and throughout the state. Career Services has begun to collaborate with other departments on campus to provide specialty fairs, including the College of Engineering Expo, the College of Architecture Career Fair, and the College of Liberal and Fine Arts Expo.  With the growth of the university and number of students that now attend UTSA; we continue to see an increase in number of students at the fairs.

Child Development Center

The Child Development Center wrapped up their 'Week of the Young Child 2008' with Music with Miss Ellen and a Story Time Festival on April 18th, with Student Affairs staff participating in the fun!

Inclusion and Community Engagement Center

UTSA is recruiting for an Americorps VISTA Volunteer through the Texas Campus Compact. If you know any students who are about to graduate and are looking to spend a year giving back before pursuing a career or graduate school, Americorps VISTA might be for them! Texas Campus Compact places VISTAs at universities all over the state, and many host sites provide free housing and/or meal plans for volunteers. Applications are due May 10, 2008 and more information can be found at

http://www.texascampuscompact.org/vista.htm or 458-4770!  Vista Flyer...

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"Getting To Know You......."

Name: Vivis Lemmons     

Title: Web Specialist

Department: Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs

Background

I’m a native Texan (do Texans claim Amarillo?) and one of eight members of an oil patch roughneck family that moved to various oil field towns in north, south, east and west Texas and to Illinois, where I attended six different schools in the first grade.  With such an itinerant background I easily adapted to ‘the big city’ of San Antonio, and to small villages in Germany as well as to the fast-paced urban areas of Washington D. C.  After twenty years away from Texas, I returned to Amarillo and finally to San Antonio, where I belong.

Experience

I worked for the Don Harrington Discovery Center in Amarillo and created life science programs and exhibitions for students and the general public.  One of the programs, Stress Management, for sixth grade students, was chosen as a winning program with the National Science Foundation, and I received a grant to attend Texas A&M’s honor’s summer program as one of the top twenty elementary science teachers in Texas.

I began employment with UTSA as a weekend educational specialist at the Institute of Texan Cultures (I worked for the San Antonio Museum Association during the week).  Then, enticed with a job offer from the director of the educational programs department with the goal of ultimately creating a children’s festival, I became a full-time employee and created the first Texas Children’s Festival in 1992 with the support of numerous ITC staff and over 200 volunteers from UTSA and USAA.  I moved back to Amarillo for a time, then returned to UTSA and worked in Training and Development and Business Affairs until I retired in 2005.  I’ve been back as a retiree and part-time staff member for almost two years.

Describe Your Job

I create and produce electronic publications and graphic projects for the department, update and edit the Student Affairs web site, and collaborate with Edna Dominguez and Gage Paine to publish the bi-monthly Student Affairs Staff News. 

What job skills do you use most often?

I enjoy linking my creative ideas and abilities with other people’s creative ideas, and coming up with a product that’s unique.  In that sense, communication is crucial.

How do you unwind?

I love traveling, learning new subjects (especially in science and philosophy), working on various art projects and being with my extraordinarily talented children and grandchildren.

What advice would you give to other Student Affairs staff?

Never think you’re too old to be young, especially in your way of thinking!

Everything flows, nothing stands still.

Plato

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Thank You Rowdy Travels Across Student Affairs

Thank You Rowdy has a special mission in Student Affairs - to travel across UTSA recognizing the good work of staff members.

Within the Division of Student Affairs, Thank You Rowdy is presented from one Student Affairs staff member to another in recognition and appreciation of work done well - taking extra assignments to provide support, offering unsolicited assistance, or completing tasks in a unique way.

Whatever the situation, contributions like this are made every day and Thank You Rowdy helps us recognize them.

Thank you Rowdy reflects UTSA's spirit of community and reminds us to remember it takes everyone to make UTSA a great place to work and to learn.

'Thank You Rowdy' poses with Fred Hample and Melissa Rodriguez

To:  Fred Hample

Executive Director,

Downtown Student Affairs Operations

Fred,

Thanks for your continuing efforts in establishing contacts with other Texas institutions so that we can trade transcripts electronically.  Your efforts will not only help current students who need to get their transcripts to other schools, but will also expedite the admission process for students wishing to transfer to UTSA.  I appreciate your diligence in keeping the lines of communication open!

Melissa L Rodriguez

IT Associate II

Office of the Registrar

Previous 'Thank You Rowdy' Visits

Kudos

NOTE:  Please send your news items to Vivis.Lemmons@utsa.edu by Tuesday, May 9, 2008.

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