February 2015, Issue 2
Message from VPSA
Sam Gonzales
Our 7th Annual Student Affairs Conference is about two weeks away. Have you registered yet? The Staff Development Team has been hard at work to bring you a day of professional development like no other. With participants and presenters from UTSA Student Affairs, other divisions and universities throughout San Antonio and surrounding areas — plus an etiquette luncheon hosted by the University Career Center — it will be a day filled with networking, learning and growth. It is no surprise then that the theme is, "Grow More to Give More."
The truth is that our university is always growing. As an institution, we are at a time when we have matched many of our contemporaries, but we must continue to progress. We also have to tell our story and the UTSA Day at the Capitol pictured above is one of the ways we accomplish this.
It is also important to redefine ourselves along our path as an emerging Tier One institution and a top Hispanic Serving Institution. The reality is that we need to evaluate our processes and try new things without losing our identity and strengths. In other words, we are doing many things but are they the right things? Are we looking for new ways to streamline processes? What are our student’s greatest needs and how are we preparing to address them?
This growth is also important to us individually. Status quo is rarely the answer in professional development. Our success is temporary unless we engage in lifelong learning. To me, lifelong learning means that I am always looking to educate myself about new ways to approach work and life. I am interested in examining the present and applying the lessons from that assessment to the future.
I encourage you to think about what lifelong learning means to you and your job. What are your goals for professional development? What skills would you like to gain to enhance your department’s efforts? Each of us has an important role in advancing our division and a great way to do that is through dedication to our own professional development. When we grow more, we can give more…to students, the campus community and each other.
Look forward to seeing you at the conference.
Best wishes,
Sam
We Are UTSA! We Are Student Affairs!