Editor's note: 2018 was an incredible year for UTSA students, faculty, staff and alumni. It was a year of intense momentum as the university moved forward to become a model for student success, a great research university, and an exemplar for strategic growth and innovative excellence.
Join us as we look back at the top ten news stories of 2018, and experience our biggest accomplishments once again. These stories set a rapid pace of accomplishments going into 2019 and our 50th Anniversary celebration. Here's number nine.
(Dec.22, 2018) -- On Monday, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) will open a new Dreamers Center to provide support to the university’s DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients and other undocumented students. The center represents a physical expansion of the Dreamers Resource Center website that launched last September, soon after the Trump administration announced its decision to end DACA.
“Given recent indications that DACA may not be resuscitated by Congress, it’s imperative we escalate the support we offer our Dreamers,” said President Taylor Eighmy. “We must do everything we can to ensure they have the right resources and information in the months to come.”
Originally scheduled to open in early February, Eighmy made the decision to accelerate the center’s launch in order to fast-track service delivery. The status of DACA students remains uncertain as negotiations regarding the program’s future continue in Congress.
The university is currently searching for a permanent, full-time Dreamers Center Program Manager to coordinate services, programming and community partnerships. Until that position is filled, Courtney Balderas-Jacob, UTSA assistant director for international student services, will serve as the center’s interim program manager.
“Courtney has been involved from the very beginning in our work to establish the Dreamers Center,” said Elvira Jacquez, assistant vice president for strategic initiatives. “She is a great resource for students seeking referrals and legal assistance, and I know she will do a wonderful job with getting the center up and running. Providing our students with timely, accurate information is the most important thing we can do in our current climate.”
The Dreamers Center will assist undocumented UTSA students with services ranging from legal to financial to emotional. One of the center’s first projects will be to establish a formal agreement with the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), a local nonprofit that collaborated with UTSA last fall to offer DACA-renewal workshops.
In addition to legal referrals, the center will provide students with referrals and information regarding counseling services, peer mentoring and funding opportunities, as well as educational programming for students, faculty and staff.
The center’s program manager will also work with designated UTSA faculty and staff in departments and offices throughout campus, cultivating a campus-wide referral network for Dreamers.
UTSA’s Dreamers Center will be located in the UTSA Student Union within the Student Center for Community Engagement and Inclusion (UC 2.01.04). Inquiries and appointment requests can be made by calling (210) 458-7777 or emailing dreamers@utsa.edu.
The Dreamers Center will hold an open house for the UTSA community on Monday, January 22 from 10-11 a.m.
Learn more about the UTSA Dreamers Center.
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Huddle Against Hunger is a fundraising competition with Texas State that benefits our Roadrunner Pantry. Donations this week will help UTSA earn additional prize monies provided by RBFCU.
In-Person and VirtualJoin UTSA Libraries for an update on federal public access policies and how the library can assist with compliance.
Virtual EventWe invite you to join us for Birds Up! Downtown, an exciting welcome back event designed to connect students with the different departments at the Downtown Campus. Students will have the opportunity to learn about some of the departments on campus, gain access to different resources, and collect some giveaways!
Bill Miller PlazaThere are many citation managers. Which one is right for you? This workshop will explain what a citation manager is and how it can help you organize your citations, insert citations as you write your paper, and generate your bibliography.
Virtual EventPubMed is an essential database for anyone conducting biomedical or health-related research. This workshop will teach attendees how to effectively navigate this free resource and locate peer-reviewed articles using advanced search features, MeSH subject headings, and Boolean operators.
Virtual EventIn this hands-on workshop, participants will learn to setup an EndNote library, save references and PDFs, and automatically create and edit a bibliography. Attendees are encouraged, but not required, to have EndNote already installed on a personal computer.
Virtual EventJoin UTSA Libraries and Museums to learn more about the publishing discounts available for UTSA researchers. Current agreements include Elsevier, Cambridge University Press, Wiley, and more. Bring your questions and feedback for the library as we continue to pursue partnerships with publishers to reduce costs for our researchers.
Virtual EventThe 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, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
