NOVEMBER 30, 2020 — Editor’s note: The following message was sent via email today from Dean Lynne Cossman of the College for Health, Community and Policy to the college’s faculty and staff:
It is with a heavy heart that I let you know HCaP has lost a member of our community to COVID.
Gidget Vasquez spent the last eight years managing the office in the Department of Demography. Gidget was an incredibly devoted and dedicated member of the department.
In chatting with members of the department this morning, it became clear Gidget was so much more than an administrative assistant. She was the glue for the department—she celebrated its members’ successes and milestones with them. Faculty birthdays were celebrated with cake. Holidays were honored with door decorations. She coordinated a department Thanksgiving lunch every year.
Graduate student defenses were as nerve-racking for her as they were for the students.
She did these things because she cared deeply for the demography faculty and students as a part of her family.
In this season of Thanksgiving, we are cognizant of all the things for which we are grateful. Clearly faculty, staff and students of the Department of Demography are immensely grateful for Gidget’s many contributions.
COVID has made these incredibly difficult times and her death has brought this home to us. This is the first time for many of us the pandemic has been so personal.
COVID and its effects on our society and our communities emphasizes the critical importance of our HCaP mission: focusing on the health and well-being of all. Please lean on each other as we mourn Gidget’s death, celebrate her life, and withstand this pandemic.
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Now that some employees are back in the office, others may still be telecommuting. Meetings may be a combination of virtual and face-to-face. This situation can cause challenges within the work environment. Through presentation, scenarios and discussion participants will learn easy strategies to address incivility in their area.
Virtual EventOctober is Domestic Violence Prevention Month and PEACE Center is asking you to pledge to not use your hands for hitting by putting a handprint on our canvas! All supplies will be provided!
McKinney Humanities Building Portico, Main CampusDr. Phillip W. Schnarrs is the founder of the UTSA Pride Faculty Staff Association. He is an Associate Professor of Population Health at The University of Texas Dell Medical School and was a 2017 to 2020 Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Fellow with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Retama Auditorium, Student Union, 2.02.02, Main CampusWork/home life has its stressors, but living in a multigenerational house can move the goal posts. Their discussion looks at how living with parents who may have health issues, your child and their children can create stress both at home and at work.
Virtual EventDr. Yoojin Muhn and David Waterland conduct this concert. More details to come. The Fall 2021 concert schedule is subject to change. Please continue to monitor our website and social media for updates.This concert will be live-streamed via the UTSA Music Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/UTSAMusic
UTSA Recital Hall, Main CampusThis town hall will include remarks from campus leadership and a presentation of the Campus Climate survey results by Rich Boyer, founding partner of ModernThink, LLC. There will be time for faculty and staff to ask questions and learn more about how the survey data can inform strategies to promote a welcoming and inclusive environment for working, teaching and research at UTSA.
Virtual EventThematic voice recitals featuring student performances from the Recital Hall stage and live-streamed via our Facebook page.
Recital Hall, 1 UTSA Circle, 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.
