Rising Star Award winner Lisa Casillas-Alonzo is
notified of her award by Lawrence R. Williams,
associate vice president for academic support
and undergraduate studies
Rising Star Award winner: Lisa M. Casillas-Alonzo
(April 9, 2003)--Lisa M. Casillas-Alonzo, director of orientation and transition services, will be honored with the Rising Star Award, one of five presented next week at the UTSA Staff Excellence Awards ceremony.
All UTSA staff are invited to attend the event hosted by President Ricardo Romo at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, in the University Center Laurel Room (2.01.28).
Staff members from the Downtown Campus and Institute of Texan Cultures are encouraged to use VIA express bus 94 as a convenient way to come to the 1604 Campus for the ceremony. The bus service is free to all employeees by showing their UTSACard. This year's event was moved to an earlier time than the 2001 event to accommodate travel time to and from the 1604 Campus and to encourage attendance by staff members from all of the three UTSA campuses.
The Rising Star Award recognizes employees who have made significant contributions to his or her area or the university community and are considered emerging leaders.
The ceremony will include other staff recognition, 5-35 year service pin recipients and refreshments. Twenty-four staff members will be honored on their retirements and nearly 200 staff members will receive service awards. Service awards are for the 2002 calendar year.
The five Staff Excellence Awards recognize excellent work performance in emerging leadership, dynamic leadership, teamwork, extraordinary initiative and overall excellence. A monetary award of $1,000 accompanies each Staff Excellence Award, with the award money divided among recipients in the case of a group award. Staff Excellence finalists were chosen by a 14 staff-member committee which reviewed more than 100 nominations.
The five Staff Excellence Awards are: Rising Star Award, Leadership Award, Team Spirit Award, Extra Mile Award and Order of the Roadrunner Award.
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Lisa M. Casillas-Alonzo
Rising Star Award winner
Casillas-Alonzo is responsible for developing engaging and informative orientation programs for new students and their family members, and in other areas of the university. As director of the Office of Orientation and Transition Services since 2000, she succeeds in her goal of providing a positive experience for students and informing them about UTSA and how to succeed in college.
Besides planning and implementing more than 30 orientation programs each year, Casillas-Alonzo is responsible for planning and implementing the Roadrunner Camp, a popular event for new students that cultivates the transition to UTSA. She serves as co-chair for the Week of Welcome Committee, and was responsible for suggesting the addition of an academic convocation to the week's activities last fall. She also helped plan a new event, Family Weekend.
The energy, passion and friendliness of Casillas-Alonzo have elicited numerous positive comments from students attending orientation programs. Besides supervising her own office, she has extended her leadership activities throughout UTSA, including the Student Affairs Professional Development Committee, the Strategic Enrollment Management Committee, the September 11 Recognition Committee and the Alcohol Awareness Committee.
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© The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2003