The new Student Success Center is dedicated to advising services and is an important gateway for students wherever they are in their academic journey.
OCTOBER 1, 2021 — Editor’s note: This is the final story in a four-part series highlighting the new Academic Success District. Part one introduced the Academic Success District’s key locations and learning hubs; part two unveiled upgraded classrooms; and part three introduced the Outdoor Learning Environments.
The Academic Success District (ASD) is a multi-layered initiative that places student success at the forefront. Initiated by UTSA Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Kimberly Andrews Espy and Senior Director of Space Management Joshua Gerkin, the initiative advances the university’s strategic goal to become a Hispanic thriving institution and a model for student success by providing upgraded learning environments and more strategically located and streamlined resources for students to thrive at UTSA.
The first component of the ASD initiative was the relocation of several student success resources to centrally-located, ground-level locations on the Main Campus. These spaces include advising offices, mentoring programs, upgraded university classrooms, college-specific academic support centers and other learning hubs. The reorganization of these program and facility locations allows students to have easy access to resources that help them be successful and enhance their overall academic experience. Many of these programs are crucial in supporting first-generation, first-year, and transfer student success at UTSA.
The Academic Success District aligns student success resources near the Sombrilla.
The new Student Success Center is dedicated to advising services.
The Tomás Rivera Center for Academic Excellence is a key hub for tutoring services.
The Mentoring Hub recognizes, encourages and supports first-gen students.
The Collaborative Learning Hub connects students with resources.
Outdoor Learning Environments are versatile spaces with collaborative technology.
Upgraded classrooms across campus integrate learning technologies.
The second aspect of the initiative involved strategic classroom upgrades. In total, 22 classrooms in 11 buildings received a variety of renovations, including updated furniture, lighting, flooring, and digital integrations. These renovations allow faculty and students to use the space to better suit their teaching and learning needs and will help UTSA accommodate new learning styles in the future. The integrations also help UTSA increase digital accessibility and functionality for all students.
The third layer of the initiative is the Outdoor Learning Environments (OLÉ), located outside the Flawn Sciences Building and the Student Union. These flexible and collaborative workspaces provide an opportunity for both students and faculty to meet in an informal setting. Equipped with multiple power outlets, Bluetooth, AirRowdy and modular furniture, Roadrunners can reserve the space to accommodate their needs.
The Academic Success District was a collaborative effort brought about by both Academic Affairs (Academic Innovation, Student Success) and Business Affairs (Space Management, Facilities). These offices took feedback from faculty and students to ensure the initiative provided the most beneficial updates to these student success spaces and learning environments. This input reinforces UTSA’s prioritization of supporting students through their academic journeys and supporting faculty in providing inclusive and equitable learning experiences.
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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.
