Office of the Vice President for Community Services
Contents
Paint against Prison
Students mentor at-risk youths through art
Ramp it up Texas Style
High school students depict skate culture
Help through Service Dogs
A small business success story
Ready for UTSA
Assessment and preparation program focuses on math and reading skills, allows participants to earn university credit hours
Foster Youth in College
Providing comprehensive mentoring and year-round housing, UTSA’s support for an underrepresented group is leading the way for other universities
A City between Real and Ideal
Architecture students conveyed their own understanding of San Antonio in a multimedia exhibit, inviting the public to participate
UTSA Lecturer Reduces Suspensions by 84 Percent
Pilot project brings "restorative discipline" approach to Ed White Middle School
Rowdy Readers
UTSA athletes mentor and support elementary school students
Outreach Activity
UTSA by the numbers
Q&A "Empowering Communities”
Students use own funds to volunteer in Honduras
Briefs
Alternative Spring Break: Volunteering over Vacationing
College of Public Policy: UTSA Helps SA2020 with Voter Turnout and Local Leadership
Prep Program:1300 Young Scientists and Engineers
CAPRI: Degrees for Early Childhood Educators
Honors College: Remembering the Holocaust
Extended Education: AP Summer Institute grows
College of Public Policy: National Award for Student Documentary
Dear Friends,
We are pleased to share this second issue of Community Connect, a magazine providing a snapshot of UTSA’s multifaceted involvement with our community.
At UTSA, community engagement is an integral part of who we are; it is part of our DNA. Through mutually beneficial relationships, UTSA strives to improve the quality of life for individuals and the community at large. Our dedicated and talented faculty, staff and students foster research, lifelong learning, economic development, cultural enrichment and contributions to the common good with the ultimate goal to improve the quality of life for individuals and the community.
Some of our community engagement efforts can be expressed in concrete facts and figures. For example, the UTSA Institute for Economic Development recorded $1.6 billion in direct economic impact during fiscal year 2013 – an all-time high, which helped to create and retain thousands of jobs (Read the story on page 9).
Other initiatives are harder to quantify but equally as important, such as the university’s much-praised support and mentoring system for foster youth, which seeks to change their underrepresentation in higher education (page 12).
Complementing our ongoing endeavors as a top-tier university, a UTSA task force has been charged with applying for the prestigious Community Engagement Classification by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The elective Carnegie Classification will reaffirm UTSA’s substantial commitment to the community and its people.
We hope you enjoy reading Community Connect. Please visit the magazine’s website, utsa.edu/communityconnect, for additional content including videos and slideshows. Your feedback and story ideas are always welcome at communityconnect@utsa.edu.
Ricardo Romo, Ph.D.
President
Jude Valdez, Ph.D.
Vice President for Community Services