• Joanne Delgreco, Student Health Services
 • Michele Gilbert, Student Health Services
 • Marissa Gomez, Undergraduate Admissions
 • Oscar Martinez, Undergraduate Admissions
 • Ashley Spain, Orientation and Family Programs

 Welcome to UTSA! We are glad you are here!

Note: the deadline to submit proposals is January 25th

By Kevin Femmel
Student Writer, Office of University Communications

This spring, the UTSA Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs will host two professional development conferences, and faculty, staff members, and graduate students are needed to be presenters.


For the full article, visit UTSA Today.

The Student Leadership Center would like to encourage you to nominate exceptional UTSA students for Roadrunner of the Month. Every month a student who exhibits outstanding leadership qualities and contributions will be featured in an article that will be published in UTSA Today and the Vice President of Student Affairs Newsletter, which will highlight the student’s achievements. In addition, the winner will receive a certificate and have their name added to the plaque under the Roadrunner of the Month display on the UTSA Legacy of Leadership wall in the University Center, outside of the UC ballroom.

In order to be considered for Roadrunner of the Month, students must meet the following criteria:
      • Must be a full-time UTSA undergraduate or graduate student
      • Must have a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or higher at the time of nomination
      • Must have demonstrated excellence in leadership above and beyond typical expectations
      • Nominations should be for actions that positively impact the UTSA community

Students may be nominated by a member of the faculty, staff, or any other student attending UTSA.

Please note that nomination forms are due by the last Monday of each month at 4:00 p.m. (Next deadline January 28, 2013) The student will be notified and presented the award on the first Monday of the following month. Submit your nomination through the Student Leadership Center website at http://utsa.edu/slc/rr-of-month.html

**NOTE: Nominations received after the deadline will be considered during the judging process for the following month.**

If you have any questions regarding Roadrunner of the Month or the Student Leadership Center, please call 210-458-7967.

Get Your Hands Dirty This Spring Break

Alternative Spring Break 2013 sponsored by VOICES and the Inclusion & Community Engagement Center

What?   Alternative Spring Break (ASB) is a chance to give back during your break
When?   San Antonio- March 11-15 and Atlanta- March 11-16
Where?   Atlanta, GA and San Antonio, TX
When?   San Antonio- March 11-15 and Atlanta- March 11-16
Who?   A college student who is ready to have fun and make a difference... You!
Why?   Past participants have consistently said it is one of the best experiences of their lives! It is a chance to travel while making a difference and meeting new people.

Past trips include Habitat for Humanity in Corpus Christi, Big Bend National Park, New Orleans Rebuilding, Orphanages in Piedras Negras, Mexico, Oklahoma City, and more!

Spring 2013 trips will be to Atlanta, Georgia to focus on creating community and urban poverty; and San Antonio, TX to focus on education and mentoring youth.

Applications are now available! Link to Application
Application deadline is February 1, 2013 at 5:00pm


For more information contact Janet at asb@utsavoices.org or Cristina at Cristina.Dominguez@utsa.edu.

Come by the Volunteer Services/VOICES office UC South 1.216 to pick up an application TODAY! 210.458.7291 or volunteer@utsa.edu. Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter!

http://utsa.edu/today/2012/12/uea13nomform.docx

This is a link to the University Excellence Awards nomination forms. Please take some time to review the list of awards and nominate programs or individuals from Student Affairs deserving of recognition for valuable contributions to UTSA.

The nomination period is December 14, 2012 through February 8, 2013 for the following:
      • President’s Distinguished Diversity Award
      • The Rising Star Award
      • The Leadership Award
      • The Team Spirit Award
      • The Extra Mile Award
      • The Order of the Roadrunner Award

The nomination period is December 14, 2012 through February 20, 2013 for the following award:
      • Richard S. Howe Excellence in Service to Undergraduate Students Awards

Thank you for taking the time to recognize your co-workers for going the extra mile!

The Staff Development Team is pleased to announce that our Student Affairs Orientation: What Do We All Do will be held February 12, 2013, 8:30 am – 12 pm in UC Ballroom I. This workshop provides an opportunity for new staff to meet with co-workers across the division and learn about our rich diversity and the many offices within Student Affairs. Participants will have the chance to network, attend a fair where they will learn about different departments, and win prizes! Being able to Communicate, Connect, Collaborate and Create across the division and campus starts with knowing what we all do!

Sam Gonzales, our interim Vice President for Student Affairs, will welcome and begin the workshop at 8:30am. We have notified directors regarding staff who are invited to attend. This is a mandatory training for new Student Affairs employees.

If you have questions regarding this event, please email staffdevelopment@utsa.edu or Kim.EllicksCenter@utsa.edu.

PDF to post

The 2013 Diploma Dash race is gearing up! We had record breaking participation in 2012 and we plan to beat our record again! Come out in support of Diploma Dash as a runner, walker, fan, volunteer, or sponsor. Remember the Diploma Dash is the 5K City Championship and is a chip-timed race for all you competitive runners.

***New Course, New Start Location, Photo Finish, New Sponsors***

Same Great Race Around Campus

Saturday, March 2nd, 2013
UTSA Main Campus, Bauerle Road Parking Lot 3
7:00 am Race day registration, packet pickup, and warm up
8:00 am The Race Begins!

Register by 2-20-2013 to be guaranteed a t-shirt! All racers can compete for medals. This event is rain or shine - no refunds.

Each participant receives a t-shirt and can compete for medals.

This event is rain or shine - no refunds!

March 4,2013
University bowl

Registration begins January 22nd. Details to follow.

Donate anytime to our Staff Council Scholarship Fund by visiting https://giving.utsa.edu/

On this trip the students will be visiting the following places:
      • The Ninth Ward Tour and the United Saints Recovery Project in New Orleans, Louisiana
      • 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park, and the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, Alabama
      • Civil Right Museum and Heritage Tours: Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum, Stax Museum, and W.C. Handy Museum in Memphis, Tennessee

These are the following ways you can keep up with what is happening along the way.
      • The Facebook page that one of the students created for the trip is under the group name The Progression 2012.
      • You can also follow the Student Leadership Center FB page and @UTSASLC on twitter.
      • For Twitter, the students will use the hash tag #theprogression2013 to post comments and photos.

The 2011-2012 Student Affairs Report, Stories of Excellence, may be found online at: http://utsa.edu/students/annualreport/. In addition, highlights specific to employees may be found under the “Staff Excellence” link. Each department should have received enough paper copies for every full-time employee. Contact Kasey Neece-Fielder at kasey.neece-fielder@utsa.edu or 458-7887 for additional copies.

Thank you to all departments for submitting a story specific to your area. Thank you to the Writing Team for synthesizing these stories and developing the publication!

Writing Team members:
    Lisa Blazer
    Eric Cooper
    Donna Edmondson
    Nicholas Hernandez
    Anne Jimenez
    Nikki Lee
    Mark Munguia

Curtis Wilkins, a graduate student intern in the UTSA Office of Orientation and Family Programs, recently won the Graduate Student Case Study Competition at the National Orientation Directors Association (NODA) annual conference in Las Vegas.


For the full article, visit UTSA Today.

Eighteen offices across the Division of Student Affairs and twelve student organizations adopted 25 senior citizens and 27 families through the Family Service Association Adopt-a-Family program this holiday season.

Volunteers packed cars and trucks with wrapped gifts ranging from sheets and kitchen supplies to bikes and games and delivered the gifts on December 11th and 18th. The Family Service Association coordinated the adoption of 750 families in our community this year, and UTSA was one of the biggest adopters in the entire program. Families are carefully selected to participate, and most of the selected families are very low income and often have experienced job loss, death in the family, or medical emergencies this year.

This is the fifth year of UTSA Student Affairs participation in the program and each office and student organization puts its own tradition into the service project. In some offices, each staff member adopted one family member and shopped for the needs and wants of that individual. Other groups have a gift wrapping party as a part of their holiday celebration, and many offices donate canned goods and gently used clothing in addition to new gifts. This year, Athletics inspired individuals outside the university to assist with the effort when they decided to purchase a new mattress for a senior in need. Deby Bailey, Athletics Business Manager, set out to find an affordable mattress and ran into dead ends when prices were too high. She finally went to Factory Mattress on de Zavala, met a great sales person, and found what she was looking for. Before checking out, the salesman disappeared and returned with $25 of his own money to contribute to the effort, and later called to let Deby know that he had told his boss about the sale and the store upgraded the mattress at no cost.


To receive a monthly email with service opportunities please email volunteer@utsa.edu, or visit www.utsa.edu/ice/vs to learn more about UTSA’s volunteer efforts. For more information about the Family Service Association and the Adopt-a-Family program visit http://family-service.org.

By Christi Fish
Associate Director of Media Relations

With support from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) has added two experienced VA Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Counselors to support student veterans who are transitioning from the military to the civilian workforce. The counselors, a part of the VetSuccess on Campus program, are liaising between UTSA and the VA on behalf of UTSA student veterans.


For the full article, visit UTSA Today.

By Jana Schwartz
Program Coordinator, Student Leadership Center

The UTSA Student Leadership Center recently hosted the Storytelling Series Luncheon with the theme, "Women in Engineering." The event presented each semester brings together students, faculty and staff in a casual atmosphere where they can share leadership ideas, experiences and challenges.


For the full article, visit UTSA Today.

Carol Gonzalez will oversee communications and media. The request process will stay the same. Newsletter submissions and requests for photography services are submitted to vpsamedia@utsa.edu. Please coordinate any requests with the Office of University Communications through VPSA with Carol. Any questions for web assistance should be sent to vpsaweb@utsa.edu.

Jan McKinney will oversee all divisional teams' coordination including True Colors and our Excellence Model (4 C's) curriculum and training. The training and scheduling request process remains the same and should be sent to vpsa@utsa.edu. Special requests for trainings and presentations can be sent to that address and will be considered by the appropriate team.

Continue to send announcements for the division to vpsa@utsa.edu.