Latest News from the Division

We’re moving full steam into fall and our talented staff is making sure students have the resources they need to succeed. Below are the latest team updates:

Counseling and Mental Health Center (CHMC)

• Hosting the Mindfulness Meditation group every Tuesday, 12:15-12:50 p.m., Student Services Building (SSB) 5^th floor conference room. Open to students, faculty and staff who are interested in learning meditation or who seek support for their established meditation practices.
• Organizing 25 weekly groups and classes  to target specific issues faced by college students, such as social anxiety, test anxiety, depression, eating disorders, interpersonal violence, grief and family relationships. Offering other groups that cater to specific student populations, including men, women,

  

  graduate students, gay/bisexual men and international students.

• Held a series of events for Suicide Prevention Week, including the unveiling of a plaque in honor of the Brian L. Harlan Memorial Endowment for Suicide Prevention.
• Planned several activities for Relationship Violence Awareness Month. See the newsletter calendar for details.

Housing and Food Service (DHFS)

• Held supervisors’ meeting with special creative leadership presentation by artist Rolando Diaz. See the photos.

Housing

• Partnering with campus facilities and utilities departments to create a future program allowing staff to utilize department issued bicycles for work purposes.
• Coordinated the implementation of the UTprint program with Information Technology Services (ITS) to be used in all residence hall computer labs. See the news story.
• Installed meters from SmarteBuilding, a provider of real-time energy monitoring and feedback, in Andrews, Blanton, Carothers and Littlefield Residence Halls to collect electrical use data that will be used to discuss opportunities for energy conservation. Kudos to student Michelle Camp who submitted a Green Fee proposal to fund this project and will work with Residence Life staff to run a Quad Energy Challenge.
• Partnering with the university Police Department to hold National Night Out events on campus featuring games, safety presentations and opportunities to get to know your neighbors.

Food Service

• Celebrated Grand Opening for Jester Java coffee shop located in Jester Center, proudly brewing Starbucks Coffee with hours extended to 10 p.m., coffee and pastry samplings and giveaways. See the photos.
• Sent 13 chefs to Texas Chefs’ Symposium held at US Foods where topics included cooking local, knife skills and ethnic cooking.

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  Commemorated Belo Center for New Media opening with Welcome to the Neighborhood Luncheon  for over 250 College of Communication staff members at Kinsolving Dining.

• Launched 40 Acres Catering as an affordable pick-up catering option for faculty and staff. Buy breakfast and lunch options through an interdepartmental transfer, then pick up items at multiple locations. See the photos.

Office of Assessment

• Sending well wishes to Gale Stuart, who has been the director of the office of Assessment for the past three-and-a-half years and chairs the Student Affairs Assessment Advisory Committee (SAAAC). Now working as the director of the Rapid Analysis Team for David Laude, senior vice provost for enrollment and graduation management. Will lead a group of high caliber researchers to provide information and data analysis about enrollment, graduation and other issues pertinent to the campus.
  • “I felt lucky to work with such amazing people all across Student Affairs and it has been a complete joy. I respect deeply the work done by professionals in the division and how that work positively impacts our students,” said Gale.

Office of the Dean of Students (DoS)

• Launched the Longhorn Internship Connection, an online tool in collaboration with Student Government. Allows students to self-report on internships in

  

  which they have participated.

• Hosted the Student Organization Center grand re-opening offering more storage, an improved business center, an attractive, comfortable meeting area and a paint center for making banners. Featured tours of the renovated space, a ribbon cutting ceremony and refreshments during the Sept. 12 event.
• Held second annual Student Veteran Welcome Dinner in The Texas Union Ballroom with Student Veteran Services. See the photos.
• Organizing Lunchtime Boot Camp to be held Oct. 8 and 22 at 12:10 p.m. in SSB 3.406. Get down to fitness basics in this 40-minute, comprehensive exercise class Free for all Division of Student Affairs staff. Instructed by Janelle Green.
• Partnered with Senate of College Councils for its first annual Academic Expo on Gregory Plaza which highlighted and showcased the university’s academic resources. See the photos.

Office of the VP for Student Affairs

• Released the latest Research Advantage student video on the Student Affairs homepage, which highlights academics, research and healthy out-of-classroom activities as vital for the full student experience. Featured another student video from the series on the UT “What Starts Here Changes the World” microsite. Watch for additional videos throughout the fall semester.

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  Registered 314 students to vote, distributed 300+ additional voter registration forms, passed out 387 mini-Constitutions and gave away 1,000 free T-shirts during Constitution Day, Sept. 17. See the photos.

• Added 20+ photo albums to Facebook and Flickr. Increased Facebook weekly reach metrics to a high of 5,808. Increased Twitter followers by 30 percent. Like us, follow us, share us, comment and retweet!
• Launched “What’s On Your Mind?” social media campaign, connecting Gage Paine, vice president for Student Affairs, with students for small group discussions. See the photos.

Recreational Sports (RecSports)

• Sponsored Party on the Plaza 2012 on Sept. 5 on Gregory Gym Plaza to welcome new and returning students to campus. Over 22,000 students participated, including 225+ student organizations and student affairs agencies. Awarded two students $2,000 spring 2013 scholarships in the Scholarship Shootout contest. See the event photos and the photo booth.
• Updated the Friends of RecSports website to include pictures and profiles of 13 students recently awarded endowed scholarships for a combined total of $16,000. Made possible through the generous donations of RecSports alumni. Meet the students and their donors.
• Hosted multiple student kickoff events including Sabado Gigante (see the photos), the Welcome Carnival and the Queer Students Alliance, as well as pool parties sponsored by the Longhorn Band, the Hispanic Business Students Association and Omega Delta Phi Fraternity.
• Offered free chair massages, coupons for free TeXercise or Cycling classes and interaction with Recreational Sports fitness instructors and personal trainers as part of University Health Services -sponsored Healthy Horns Fest.

  

• Sponsored a Golf Expo on Sept. 21 to promote the Burnt Orange Scramble Tournament to be held on Oct. 9 at Grey Rock Golf Club.
• Offered tobacco cessation classes on site by partnering with the HealthPoint Wellness Program in association with Seton Healthcare Family. Find a class that fits your schedule and access additional cessation resources.

Texas Parents

• Announcing 2012 Outstanding Student, Staff Merit, Mike Wacker and Community Service Award recipients later this month.
• Completing final phase of the Texas Parents membership renewal drive.
• Concluded the fall brick campaign. Will lay 14 bricks on the Student Services Building plaza in time for December graduation ceremonies.
• Preparing for Oct. 26-28 annual Family Weekend activities and events.

Texas Student Media (TSM)

• Launched The Daily Texan mobile website on Sept. 27.

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  Provided freebies to the student community, including reusable bags ahead of the upcoming disposable bag ban, in collaboration with RecSports during Party on the Plaza on Sept. 5.

• Hosted the annual Texas Student Media Amy’s Ice Cream Social on Sept. 4. Thanks to all who took the time to come out and meet with the Texas Student Media family! See the photos.

The Center for Students in Recovery (CSR)

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  Organized the Super Krunk Sober Dance on Sept. 28, a campus wide dance for students who support sobriety and recovery on campus, with help from the Students for Recovery student organization and sponsorship by Texas Parents.

• Organizing a new silent meditation meeting on Wednesdays from 1:15 – 2 p.m. at the University Christian Church Campus Chapel at 2007 University Ave.
• Established ties with Westlake Al-anon parents meeting to bring Al-anon to the campus community, providing support for those with addicted loved ones and family members. Meet at the University Presbyterian Church at 2203 San Antonio, Fridays 12 p.m.  Free parking in the UT Co-op garage.

University Health Services (UHS)

• Earned third-best college health service in the United States by the Princeton Review, up from fourth place in 2012. Published in Princeton Review’s 2013 edition of The Best 377 Colleges, college rankings are based on surveys of approximately 122,000 students from the 377 top colleges in the nation.
• Hosted HealthyHorns Fest Sept. 19 at Gregory Gym Plaza with free chair massages, games and a wide array of health resources for the campus community. See the photos.

  

• Partnered with the Austin Travis County Sexually Transmitted Disease Outreach Program to offer two days of free HIV/STI testing. Held Sept. 26 testing in the SAC Ballroom and on Thurs., Oct. 11, testing will take place in the SSB Glenn Maloney Room from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Launched the Quitters Mobile app, a free mobile-based resource for all UT students, faculty and staff who want to quit using tobacco. Access the application through your mobile device from the UHS mobile website.
• Trained 30 new student clinic volunteers who will get clinical experience, have direct patient contact and gain career path clarification and leadership skills.
• Inviting a random sample of 8,000 students to complete the National College Health Assessment survey. Will help UHS assess the health-related needs and behaviors of our students and identify health-related impediments to academic performance.

University Unions

• Introduced a new organizational structure, enabling University Unions to offer a suite of facilities to support the student life experience. Charged with the management of four centers of student life: Hogg Auditorium, the Student Activity Center (SAC), the Texas Union and most recently the Student Services Building. Congrats to Crystal King, former director of the SAC, who will take charge of overseeing these facilities and their operations.
• Unveiled new submission portal for DigiKnow submissions, a system that is a series of 19 digital screens in our facilities that can be used to advertise your events.

 

Hogg Auditorium (HMA)

• Kicked off the fall semester in partnership with the Student Events Center with the first of many student-focused programs, including the Sept. 18 John Legend performance and speech to a crowd of 900. See the photos.
• Participated in a leadership development training program for staff to support the student-centric performance space and social media engagement mission.

Student Activity Center (SAC)

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  Fitted all public water fountains in the building with filtered bottle filling stations. Saved 21,000+ 16 oz. disposable bottles from potential use during the first three weeks of use. Will continue to save an average of 975 bottles per day. Offered students free SAC water bottles to complement this new addition.

• Installing a plaque and display recognizing the building’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification on Oct. 4.

Student Events Center (SEC)

• Partnered with other campus groups such as Student Government,

  

  University Libraries and Lambda Theta Alpha to host 15 events that served just over 5,000 students.

• Hosted a successful week of events with an attendance of 817 people, including featured speaker and Olympian Apolo Ohno, for the “Race Back to the Union.”

Texas Union (TXUN)

• Hosted the Omega Phi Gamma Unity Talent show in the ballroom, which had around 800 guests in attendance with over 10 different talent acts performing.
• Assisted guests in 268 different event reservations, including meetings, orientations, lectures and concerts, from the time of the grand reopening through Sept. 14.