AUGUST 22, 2022 — As a new academic year begins, UTSA students will find a more comprehensive and connected network of academic support services that advance career-engaged learning, digital fluency, belonging, wellbeing and academic success university-wide and within their academic colleges.
Over the past year, each academic college has worked closely with the Student Success academic support division to open or expand its College Student Success Center. These new facilities, which are part of the Academic Success District, raise awareness of UTSA’s student support programs and connect the dots between a college’s resources and university-wide initiatives using a hub-and-spoke model.
For example, as the "hub," the division of Student Success offers academic support such as tutoring and student success coaching that broadly supports all students regardless of their major. As a "spoke," the college success center may offer academic support for major-specific courses and experiential learning opportunities connected to fields of study and career pathways.
“The hub-and-spoke student success model promotes the alignment of shared goals, funding, initiatives, assessment, and research with students at the center,” said Amy Buechler-Steubing, UTSA’s senior director of student success strategic planning and administration and director of student success initiatives. “Colleges and academic support divisions are working together to help students more easily access resources, implement effective university-wide initiatives, promote student success best practices and harness our collective creativity and expertise.”
Buechler-Steubing and staff from the College Student Success Centers frequently meet to share new resources, review data and align efforts. The networked approach among the centers allows them to focus on the broader strategic priorities of their respective areas while establishing basic standards of care, consistency in services and effective assessment approaches across the university. As a result, students can more easily navigate support services and find tailored assistance.
These centers complement the existing hubs located throughout the Academic Success District. For example, students can address all their advising needs, from enrollment through graduation, in the University Student Success Center. The Tomás Rivera Center for Academic Excellence is the central location for tutoring and success coaching. Students seeking supplemental instruction can find it in the Collaborative Learning Hub. First-gen and transfer students will find customized support programs through the Mentoring Hub.
“Through these efforts, we cultivate an inclusive and collaborative ecosystem of support that connects, empowers, and equips students to be lifelong learners and active citizens,” said Tammy Wyatt, UTSA vice provost for student success. “The Academic Success District and College Student Success Centers demonstrate UTSA’s commitment to responding to students’ evolving needs and ensuring they can access these resources as easily as possible.”
Additional support on the horizon
The division of Student Success is also expanding the integration of TutorMe, an online tutoring platform. First launched in 2020, TutorMe is a free service with live academic support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. TutorMe provides access to highly qualified tutors from the best universities around the globe. This fall, over 100 courses across more than 650 sections will have TutorMe as an available academic support resource. The multitude of options allows students to choose the services that meet their personal academic needs on their own time.
The Student Success team has also partnered with the division of Academic Innovation on several special projects. For example, this fall, the divisions will launch the Undergraduate Adobe Institute, which includes a series of short projects that provide students with an opportunity to produce work that enhances their digital literacy skills. Students will have access to graduate assistants and digital fluency coaches throughout the experience.
The divisions will also resume the First-Year Experience and Faculty Engagement Mini-Grant program which provides funding to deepen engagement between students and faculty outside of the classroom. The divisions will distribute $30,000 in funding, more than twice the amount offered in spring 2022. Applications will open to faculty on September 6.
“Our students each have a unique journey to UTSA and we understand that no two students have exactly the same needs,” said Wyatt. “We have mobilized our services across academic affairs to provide a robust set of services that will support students’ success at every point in their academic journey.”
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