UTSA students Edgar Guajardo and Nestor De Hoyos along with OIT Assistant Vice Provost Vanessa Hammler Kenon are interviewed virtually by Ellucian.
(April 6, 2018) – Students from UTSA will join the Office of Information Technology (OIT) in California this weekend to show off technology that is used at UTSA to help students succeed.
Assistant Vice Provost Vanessa Hammler Kenon will be presenting the technology along with students Edgar Guajardo from the College of Business and Nestor De Hoyos from the College of Engineering at the Ellucian Live 2018 Degree Works Forum. The forum is scheduled on Sunday, April 8 in San Diego, Calif.
UTSA received the opportunity to participate in the forum with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Integrated Planning and Advising for Student Success (iPASS) grant. UTSA’s presentation titled, “If you build it, they will come…or will they?” will explore the importance of marketing student success tools for adoption.
During the session, attendees will learn best practices for communication in technology implementation. The UTSA team will share how the university utilized marketing, focus groups and strategies for student and advisor buy-in to help increase the awareness and usage of student success technology tools.
Student success is key to UTSA’s vision as San Antonio’s university of the future, and partnering with students to gain their perspectives is transforming the decision-making process. The iPASS grant has supported the implementation of several initiatives for technology tools directly aligned with UTSA President Taylor Eighmy’s Initiative on Student Success. These initiatives include Degree Works, the Education Advisory Board’s Student Success Collaborative Campus, UTSA Guide, the UTSA Mobile App, the recent Academic Advising website redesign, and the upcoming CIVITAS College Scheduler.
“Students collaborating on projects and giving our feedback is most important at the university because students get to share their thoughts on all tools that the university has to offer,” said De Hoyos. “The university will know what the students like and do not like, work from there and be able to provide a better service.”
UTSA's Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation iPASS grant project, a student success initiative, built a marketing plan to help advisors relaunch Degree Works, the degree-auditing tool. As a result of the project, adoption rates increased by approximately 70 percent within 12 months of the relaunch.
Collaboration between students, faculty and staff has been a key component of the success at UTSA. Guajardo has served on the iPASS committee and been involved in providing feedback on core student technology tools before rollout.
“I believe student collaboration on projects is important because students can tell you what they want and need from a new project that will directly affect them,” Guajardo said. “They can give feedback immediately or before the new project launches so the university knows if it is heading in the right direction as the project develops.”
The Ellucian live event will also showcase videos produced by OIT to support the relaunch of Degree Works at UTSA.
“I hope that my personal experience shared at the Degree Works forum is helpful for people and that the information that they walk away with can be applied to their field of work,” De Hoyos said. “I am very happy, excited and thankful for this opportunity, and I hope to represent UTSA the best way I can."
Learn more about the UTSA Office of Information Technology.
Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
This 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.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
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.
