HONORS COLLEGE COMMUNIQUE: FEBRUARY 2022

Hello from the Honors College! In partnership with Academic Advising, we are sending a monthly Honors College Communique on the Advising listserv, in which we will send short updates about:      

1. Honors opportunities open to all students   

2. A highlighted benefit of being an Honors College member   

3. A student highlight from your advising areas   

4. Contacts within Honors for more information   

Honors News: 

Spring 22 Honors College Experiential Learning Fair (ELF) – we invite the advising community to be judges for our spring ELF. This event is virtual, and judging is asynchronous, over one week period, and no longer than 1.5 hours. 

What is the ELF? Each semester, community members and UTSA staff, faculty and graduate students serve as judges for our Experiential Learning Fair (ELF). In the “ELF,” UTSA Honors College students present significant accomplishments outside of the classroom in Service, Professional Development, Intellectual Achievement & Research, Cultural Exploration, Engaged Living, Skill Development, and Leadership. The ELF is their “final exam” to ensure that activities meet our Honors learning outcomes and ethos. We intentionally invite community members and UTSA partners to judge to make explicit our belief that education is a civic good. Student efforts in our curriculum should benefit our communities. 

Virtual Judging Process. The judging process will be relatively simple:  

· We will send a link to each student’s project and a link to the grading rubric.  

· With the project link, judges examine the poster while listening to audio content 

· With the rubric link, judges enter student name, ID, grades, and comments. 

Timing and Time Commitment:

· Judging will take place asynchronously (at your convenience), one week in April.

· Time commitment is approximately 15 minutes per student project. 

Interested and available? Thank you! Please be on the lookout for the call out we will send to the community. A sign-up link will be provided. 

Honors Opportunities for All UTSA Students: 

Archer Fellowship Program – please share this with your students!

Roadrunners: Want to live, learn, and intern in Washington, D.C.? 

The Archer Fellowship Program provides undergraduate students from across The University of Texas System with a unique opportunity to explore their interest in public policy and/or public service in our nation’s capital. Earn in-residence UT San Antonio credit for coursework and gain hand-on work experience in an internship of your choosing. Archer Fellows live together in condominiums near Capitol Hill and build lasting friendships and professional connections with each other. Substantial funding is available! Ready to apply? The 2022-2023 Archer Fellowship Program application is open, and the deadline has been extended to March 1!

Highlighted Benefit for Honors College Members: 

Check out this cool Honors study away program! The 2022 UTSA Honors College Trailblazing the National Parks class (HON 3253) investigates landscape, history, and cultures of six national parks, two state parks, and one state natural area in a three-week Summer course. This program will be led by UTSA Honors College Faculty Dr. Karen Engates and Mr. Eliot Howard. This trip offers a life-changing learning experience in dramatic landscapes from deserts of Texas and New Mexico to deep canyon country of Arizona and Utah to mountains of Wyoming and Colorado. By participating in this program, students will earn a NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) Wilderness First Aid (WFA) certification. This program will also count toward Honors Requirements as an Engaged Living Experience.

Student Highlight: Madison (Maddie) Lagrimanta, Junior, major in Public Health in the College of Health, Community and Policy with a minor in Anthropology

· First-generation Mexican-American; first-generation college student

· First Year Experience AIS Peer Mentor

· Women Empowerment Coordinator in the UTSA Chapter of Texas Angels

· Chair and founder of the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society

· Interning with University Health to support the Operation B.R.A.V.E. program

· Class of 2022 McNair Scholar

· Class of 2020 United Nations Millennium Fellow

· Class of 2019 Terry Scholarship Recipient

· Hobbies: fostering dogs, trying new recipes, thrifting

· Future plans: Pursue a Masters in Genetic Counseling to become a Genetic Counselor

· Will be shadowing Genetic Counselors at the SA Children's Hospital in April

· Will be conducting research at UTSA this summer through the McNair Scholars Program

Best Regards,   

Alegra Lozano, Director of Counseling, Honors College, alegra.lozano@utsa.edu

Jill Fleuriet, Honors College Associate Dean, jill.fleuriet@utsa.edu