Nick Hernandez is a proud alum who greets new ’Runners at the UTSA Welcome Center.
(July 26, 2017) -- Meet Nick Hernandez ’11. He’s working to create the best experience for students by showing them what it means to be a Roadrunner.
Hernandez was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas. Living in an area with few choices for college, he decided to venture out and take a trip to San Antonio to visit UTSA.
“I had a great campus experience during my visit. I fell in love with the campus and the culture of the city. I knew right away that UTSA was the place for me,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez enrolled at UTSA in 2007 and held different jobs while pursuing his degree in communications. He started as a resident assistant at Chisolm Hall then became a leasing assistant at University Oaks. Shortly after that, he began working as a tour guide at the Visitor’s Center, which is now the UTSA Welcome Center.
“After graduation, I was fortunate to get a job as an Admissions Counselor, where I got to travel and recruit Roadrunners from all over Texas. That role helped me get to where I am today – a senior admissions counselor, where I get to oversee the Welcome Center.”
The UTSA Welcome Center is equipped with 12 to 15 tour guides and two additional staff members. The center hosted more than 44,000 students and family members last year at both the Main and Downtown campuses, a number that is expected to grow next year.
Hernandez credits UTSA with giving him the resources and skills he needs to succeed as a UTSA staff member.
“Growing up in a small town, I was always shy and closed off, but that changed when I got to UTSA,” Hernandez recalls. “I got involved on campus and attended events. I got to know a lot of people and truly made the most of my college experience.”
In addition to managing the Main Campus Welcome Center, Hernandez assists in coordinating other signature admissions events on campus, such as UTSA Day and the university’s Spring Break Tours.
“I want to enhance the campus experience for Future Roadrunners. The best part of my job is that we get to show admitted and prospective students our campus and make them feel like no matter what, they are welcomed at UTSA.”
Another big part of Hernandez’s role at the Welcome Center is mentoring UTSA student tour guides, just as he was mentored. He has implemented a ladder system for his tour guides, developed a senior guide structure and always attempts to have an open-door policy.
He regularly asks his tour guides and professional staff for feedback about how to improve the Welcome Center’s experience, and he attributes much of the center’s success to their leadership, passion and energy.
“My journey from student to staff member has definitely made me an even prouder Roadrunner,” he says. “It’s humbling to now see our students learning the same traits and skills I once learned and paving their own path.”
“‘Now and Forever, I am a Roadrunner’ is a phrase that I live by,” Hernandez adds. I truly feel like UTSA is home and this is where I belong.”
Do you know a Roadrunner who is achieving great things? Email us at social@utsa.edu so that we may consider your suggestion for our next installment of Meet a Roadrunner.
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Join the PEACE Center and Wellbeing Services for Denim Day, a day of learning about the importance of consent and why we wear denim on the last Wednesday of the month each April during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Stop by our Denim Day display to take a photo in front of our Denim Wall, spin the "Is It Consent?" Wheel, and get a Concha or goodie.
Student Union Window Lounge, Main CampusLearn to use Zotero®, a citation manager that can help you store and organize citations you find during your research. Zotero can generate bibliographies in various styles, insert in-text citations and allow you to share sources with collaborators.
Virtual EventThis event will acknowledge graduating seniors from the McNair Scholars program at UTSA before inducting the new cohort of scholars into the program.
North Paseo Building (NPB 5.140), Main CampusAt this memorable celebration, UTSA graduates will be introduced one-by-one to cross the stage and accept their doctoral degrees.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusRoadrunner Walk is an event for graduating students to have a memorable walk on campus to celebrate an important milestone and their achievements. Graduates will walk along the Paseo while being celebrated by the UTSA community, friends, and family members.
Student Union Paseo, Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of College of Education and Human Development, College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Sciences and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.Celebrate the accomplishments of Alvarez College of Business, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
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UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
