NOVEMBER 7, 2022 — UTSA is joining institutions across the country this week in celebrating its first-generation student population by hosting First-Gen Fest. Organized by the UTSA First-Generation & Transfer Student Programs (FGTSP) office in collaboration with other areas across the university, the festival takes place Monday, November 7 through Friday, November 11 and includes a series of events for students, faculty and staff that support, empower and celebrate first-generation students.
First-generation college students are a core part of the Roadrunner community, representing nearly half (45%) of UTSA’s student population. The university’s first-generation and transfer student programs are nationally recognized.
In 2019, FGTSP was designated a “Program to Watch” by Excelencia in Education. That same year, the Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA) named UTSA a top university for its programming efforts to create a supportive and empowering campus for first-generation and transfer students.
Students who are the first in their family to go to college have an advantage at UTSA to connect with a strong support network and academic support programs so they can confidently chart their path toward graduation. Programs include First to Go and Graduate (F2G&G), First-Gen STEM Scholars, First-Gen Living & Learning Community and the First-Gen Second Year Experience.
As a result of these programs and other student success initiatives, UTSA has seen substantial gains in first-gen student graduate rates and degrees awarded over the past five years. The six-year graduation rate has increased 14%, from 37% in 2017 to 51% in 2022. Additionally, the number of degrees awarded annually to first-gen students has increased 15%, from 2,215 in 2017 to 2,539 in 2022.
“UTSA is proud to recognize the resiliency, unique experiences and outcomes of our first-gen students,” said Tammy Wyatt, vice provost for student success. “These trailblazers are charting a new path to change the trajectory of their lives and that of their families and communities and it is an honor to be at a university that wholly supports them.”
The Roadrunner community is invited to celebrate National First-Gen Celebration Day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, November 8 at Central Plaza on UTSA Main Campus. This signature event will include prizes, food, games and activities to celebrate our first-gen students, faculty and staff.
Other events include a career exploration workshop, a first-gen family social, sessions dedicated to exploring first-gen identity and first-gen veteran identity, a holistic health day with wellness activities, and a workshop about generational wealth.
UTSA hosts First-Gen Fest in conjunction with National First-Generation College Celebration Day, which falls on or around November 8 each year to acknowledge and elevate first-generation college students. First-Gen Fest has been held annually at UTSA since 2017.
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It's a battle of the birds! Support the UTSA Volleyball team as they take on the Cardinals! Join the crowd of cheering Roadrunners in the Convo.
Convocation CenterGrab your friends, put on your favorite orange and blue shirt, and join us for an epic football watch party for UTSA Football as we join the American Athletic Conference and take on the University of Houston Cougars.
H-E-B SU Lawn and Ballroom, Main CampusInterested in learning more about the different fraternities and sororities in the Multicultural Greek Council? Come meet our organizations and enjoy free food and music.
Retama Galleria (SU 2.02,) Main CampusIn this hands-on workshop, participants will learn to setup an EndNote library, save references and PDFs, and automatically create and edit a bibliography. Attendees are encouraged, but not required, to have EndNote already installed on a personal computer.
Virtual EventJoin this annual community celebration of Mexico’s independence sponsored by the Avenida Guadalupe Association. UTSA’s Westside Community Center—located at the parade’s starting location at Guadalupe and Brazos Streets—will be open to visitors for the duration of the event.
UTSA Westside Community Center, 1310 Guadalupe St, San Antonio, TX 78207Don’t mind the writing but hate formatting citations and bibliographies? Working on your thesis or dissertation, or even a long paper this semester? Citation managers such as Zotero® can help you store and organize the citations you find during your research. Take part in this session about using Zotero®.
Virtual EventAre you interested in learning more about incorporating digital methods into your research? This workshop will introduce you to approaches and tools that can help support your research. Through hands-on activities, you will learn about text analysis and digital mapping and how these methods can enrich your projects.
Group Spot B, 2.01.22, John Peace LibraryThe 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.
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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.
