FEBRUARY 17, 2020 — The UTSA Honors College is taking the first concrete step toward becoming a residential college—a comprehensive on-campus living-learning community that will provide its students with the small, supportive, private college experience that many top-reviewed honors colleges in the nation offer.
Starting in fall 2020, all first-year freshmen entering the university as Honors College students will be required (with some exceptions) to live on campus for their first academic year. These students will be part of the Honors Residential Community, where they will live and study with other honors students in a supportive, close-knit community designed to help them succeed.
“UTSA is committed to providing our students with an exceptional educational experience—both in and out of the classroom,” said Kimberly Andrews Espy, UTSA provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “Increasing our living-learning communities is one of the many steps we are taking to help new students more quickly find their sense of belonging at UTSA and strengthen the connection they make to their academic experience.”
—SEAN KELLY, Dean of the Honors College
Besides the benefit of being closely networked with peers and living with students with similar priorities, on-campus honors students will enjoy programming and special opportunities geared specifically for them.
“Adjusting to college life can be tough at times for even the brightest, most well-adjusted students,” said Honors College Dean Sean Kelly. “Thus, expanding our living-learning experience will help more honors students network with each other, join study groups or receive informal tutoring, connect over shared experiences, and form close friendships in their first year at UTSA.”
On average, students who live on campus their first year are more likely to perform better academically, says Tammy Wyatt, vice provost for student success.
⇒ Visit the UTSA Honors College to learn more about the residential community, including the circumstances for which a student may request a waiver.
“The Honors College model is a great example of a living-learning community designed to create more collaborative learning opportunities that can help new and continuing students develop deeper UTSA roots and a have better overall student experience,” she said.
Students in the Honors Residential Community will first live in Chaparral Village, then move to the new Guadalupe Hall until a new dedicated residential and academic building is built along UTSA Boulevard according to the UTSA Master Plan.
The Honors College is home to roughly 1,300 high-achieving, academically driven students from across all majors and disciplines. As the only 100% experiential learning honors college in Texas, its hands-on and project-based approach allows UTSA students to chart their own path and achieve their highest potential.
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.
Come celebrate the doctoral students graduating this commencement season.
H-E-B Student Union Ballrooms, UTSA Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203Celebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203First Friday Stargazing gives anyone free access to the night sky using university telescopes and teaching equipment. Weather permitting, experienced astronomers will provide a handful of telescopes of varying designs, give training on how each operates, and point to various astronomical objects that may appear in the sky for that given time of the year. If you have a telescope and do not know how to operate it, feel free to bring it and get instructions on its use.
4th Floor of Flawn Science Building, Main CampusThe 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 ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
