Guadalupe Hall to help UTSA freshmen achieve their full potential

AUGUST 23, 2021 — UTSA’s newest residence hall is now open for the Class of 2025. Guadalupe Hall is devoted entirely to freshmen who want to live on the Main Campus this fall.

To promote student success and connect new students to the campus community, the hall will offer its residents a unique mix of learning and social programs all under one roof.

“We were very intentional about how we created a more vibrant academic experience in this living community while also bringing in the social element,” said Tammy Wyatt, UTSA vice provost for Student Success. “Once students move in, we will introduce academics and support services inside the residence hall that will help students form close-knit communities. The hall itself was designed to accommodate academic programing such as academic coaching sessions, group tutoring, study hall, and other academic support related programming and workshops.”

“Guadalupe Hall fosters a sense of belonging. It helps students to get out of their rooms and connect”

Guadalupe Hall was intentionally designed with an academic lounge on each floor. Each level introduces a different style aesthetic to encourage residents to utilize the entire building and its amenities.

There are several engagement spaces in the residence hall with kitchens and lounge furniture, further supporting a collaborative college experience for the first-year residents. A special e-gaming lounge and gym offer residents another way to relax and recharge.

Guadalupe Hall will include several living-learning communities such as the Honors Residential Community. These communities enable UTSA to match students with similar interests to one another.

“Guadalupe Hall fosters a sense of belonging. It helps students to get out of their rooms and connect,” added Wyatt. “The students live together, participate in programming around a particular field, and in some cases take similar courses together. We are following an approach that has been nationally recognized as a best practice.”

Undergraduates who live on campus generally perform better academically and are more likely to graduate in four years than their peers, according to the UTSA Office of Institutional Research.

According to a five-year survey conducted by UTSA, 54% of students living in university housing reported being very prepared for exams, having had opportunities to discuss and work through course material with other students. That figure is five percentage points higher compared to reports from students living elsewhere.

Data also shows that first-year students living on campus achieved higher average GPAs and maintained this advantage even when moving off campus in later years. First-generation students who live on campus, rather than off campus or at home, are more likely to stay in school as well.

Additional factors for choosing on-campus housing include convenience to other university facilities, such as academic support services like tutoring or academic coaching, convenient access to the on-campus health clinic, and 24/7 support from the UTSA Police Department. Residents who live on-campus also cite the opportunity to engage with a diverse population at higher rates than those students who live off-campus.

Guadalupe Hall has 200 double-occupancy bedrooms, accommodating 360 students. Each room includes two extra-large twin beds, desks and closet space.

Each wing of the hall includes two sub-communities of 16-17 residents who share a bathroom pod. The bathroom pod offers one fully private bathroom with shower, sink, toilet and one semi-private bathroom with three private showers, three private toilet stalls and three sinks. Each bathroom pod is secured and only accessible to the residents in the sub-community.

TREANORHL and Alamo Architects designed Guadalupe Hall. They are the same team that designed the university’s new Science and Engineering Building.

“The University of Texas at San Antonio’s new Residence Hall is an affordable, sustainable, safe environment that promotes success, fosters connections, and creates memories,” said Nadia Zhiri principal at TREANORHL. “It is an enhanced student life experience that feels like home, celebrates South Texas, and generates the sort of cool factor that imbues its residents with a sense of pride.”

It is estimated that about 4,000 students will live on campus this year.

“Although freshman can opt to live in other residential facilities, Guadalupe Hall is designed with best practices in student residential living that foster student success, facilitate meaningful academic interactions and college friendships that will last a lifetime,” said Wyatt.

— Milady Nazir