JULY 30, 2021 — Editor’s note: The following message was sent today via email from President Taylor Eighmy, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Kimberly Andrews Espy and Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President for Business Affairs Veronica Salazar Mendez to all faculty, staff and students:
As you know, we are in the midst of a surge in the COVID-19 Delta variant across much of our nation, including here in San Antonio. The new guidance from the CDC and efforts by the City and County yesterday to advocate for masking and vaccinations have many of us thinking about what life will look like in the weeks ahead with our new academic year on the horizon. Your health and well-being are paramount and we want to share our current thoughts about this development.
We are closely monitoring the pandemic situation and communicate daily with our Public Health Task Force Expert Advisory Group, our colleagues at UT Health San Antonio, our colleagues at UT System, and relevant state and federal agencies. We, along with our colleagues at UT Health San Antonio, rely on pandemic models like the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation COVID projections for Texas. Data presently suggest this surge will continue through August and early September, but be smaller overall than prior surges last winter and fall. Most importantly, the model indicates the direct positive impacts of masking.
We are extending the telecommuting agreements that have been in place over the summer until August 6, and perhaps longer if conditions warrant. Those of you who have been working remotely and were planning to report in-person to work on Monday are still free to do so, but it is not required unless requested by your supervisor or department chair. Please continue to communicate with your supervisor/chair around fall work modality planning. Other than the extended telecommuting agreement, there are no additional changes to our current summer term operations.
We continue to strongly urge all Roadrunners to get vaccinated and to wear masks while in indoor public campus spaces. On-campus COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and confirmed case report tracking are continuing this summer and through the fall.
Watch your inboxes for information on an upcoming town hall for faculty, staff and students where you can learn more about UTSA’s preparations for the fall semester. In addition we encourage you to attend our August 12 community conversation on Variants and Vaccines: Separating Fact from Fiction—this event is free and open to all, so please share widely with your family and friends.
We will update you periodically as we approach the start of the semester, knowing that this situation is fluid. In the meantime, please be extra vigilant about practicing hand hygiene, masking up, and monitoring your own health.
Most importantly, stay home if you are sick.
In the face of these challenges, we appreciate all you continue to do to keep our community safe.
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The UTSA Office of Undergraduate is proud to celebrate National Undergraduate Research with an annual event sponsored by the (OUR) featuring students will showcase undergraduate student research and creative endeavors from all disciplines across campus.
Various LocationsDía en la Sombrilla, formerly Fiesta UTSA, is a festival hosted each spring as a part of Fiesta® San Antonio events. Sponsored by Roadrunner Productions, the event features music, food, confetti, games, event t-shirts, and more.
Sombrilla Plaza and Central Plaza, Main CampusFiesta Arts Fair features contemporary art from more than 100 artists from across the U.S., Fiesta favorite foods, drinks, live music by local and regional performers, and a Young Artists Garden providing opportunities for budding artists to learn, explore and express their creativity.
UTSA Southwest CampusJoin the PEACE Center and Wellbeing Services for Denim Day, a day of learning about the importance of consent and why we wear denim on the last Wednesday of the month each April during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Stop by our Denim Day display to take a photo in front of our Denim Wall, spin the "Is It Consent?" Wheel, and get a Concha or goodie.
Student Union Window Lounge, Main CampusLearn to use Zotero®, a citation manager that can help you store and organize citations you find during your research. Zotero can generate bibliographies in various styles, insert in-text citations and allow you to share sources with collaborators.
Virtual EventThis event is to achnowlege the graduating seniors and induct the new cohart of scholars to our program.
North Paseo Building (NPB 5.140,) Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of College of Education and Human Development, College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Sciences and University College.
AlamodomeThe 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.
