[Advising] Honors College Communique - May

HONORS COLLEGE COMMUNIQUE: May 2025   Hello from the Honors College! It’s been a minute, but the Honors College Communique is back. In partnership with Academic Advising, we are sending a monthly Honors College Communique on the Advising listserv, in which we will send updates about:     1. Honors news, updates, and advising information 2. 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: Congratulations to Dr. Hector Aguilar and Fernando Cordova for their University Excellence Awards! Dr. Hector Aguilar, Associate Dean of the Honors College and Distinguished Teacher in the Chemistry Department, received the Faculty Mentoring Award. Fernando Cordova, Student Development Specialist, Special Programs, received the Rising Star Award. Honors Academics: CPOS – How does Honors work with CPOS? Great question! Students can still pursue Honors and NOT have it impact CPOS or their progress to graduation. In fact, students could complete the Honors curriculum with only 1 added credit hour! The HON seminars are not required. Here’s the important information regarding the Honors curriculum: There are only 4 required courses in Honors: 2 of which are core curriculum courses, 1 is a zero credit course, and one is a 1 credit course. The rest of the curriculum is experience-based, where students have the option to complete courses or outside the classroom experiences. Here are the potential scenarios for Honors courses, regarding CPOS. They can be applied: * To open free electives, * Possible applied or substitutions for UD degree electives, * If a student is taking 12 hours applied towards the degree, then the hours above that will be considered (including Honors courses). Detailed information regarding the Honors curriculum: The Honors curriculum has two parts: required courses & experiences. Required courses: · HON 1000 – is required for all Honors students and must be taken in the first semester. This is a zero-credit hour, 8-week, online, asynchronous course. Does not impact credit hours, schedule, or tuition. · HON 2301 – is required for Honors and can be taken anytime. This is a one-credit hour, 8-week, online, asynchronous course. · Honors CSH 1213– this is a core curriculum course, which is offered in the fall or spring semester. Each section has a different topic, and this course can be taken at any time. *Note: students can petition other cultural-based experience courses to sub for this, ex: study abroad. · Honors WRC 1023 – this is a core curriculum course, and is only required if the student does not have prior credit (ex: dual credit for ENGL 1302). Experiences: Students who enter Honors with less than 60 credit hours complete 6 experiences. Students who enter with more than 60 credit hours complete 3 experiences. Experiences can be any combination of courses or outside the classroom experiences. * Courses: This includes HON courses, Honors sections of courses, Honors contracts<https://honors.utsa.edu/academics/exp-spices/contracts.html>;, independent studies, research courses, internship courses, study abroad and more! * Note: not all courses have the H-grade mode or HNRS restriction. What does that mean? It means we have special attributes we put on courses so it does not restrict non-Honors students from taking the courses, but it pulls it into the student’s DegreeWorks to count as an experience (ex: MUS 3801, SOSA). * Outside the classroom activities: these can be any extracurricular activities that include professional, academic, personal, or social activities. Some examples can be: certifications, internships, study abroad, special projects, volunteering/service, being a part of a student organization/intramural team/student athlete, writing/publishing, presenting at a conference, learning a new skill, doing activities that promote wellbeing or work-life balance, etc. * Note: these activities are tied to zero-credit hour SPICES courses. Once a student completes the activity, they submit a form and get enrolled in a zero-credit HON course that represents the type of experience they completed. Find out more about the SPICES courses here<https://honors.utsa.edu/academics/exp-spices/>;. These courses do not impact the degree or graduation in any way! They are free, applied to the Honors block in DW, and students receive automatic credit at the end of term for them. * Collaborative pathways: Honors has worked to build blueprint pathways between the Honors College and College/Department Honors Programs, Athletics, and ROTC. Students engaged in these programs automatically receive Honors course and experience credits, as well as additional resources and support. Notes: * Honors AIS is not required, however if a student takes it, it will count towards the core curriculum and as the first Honors experience. * You can find Honors sections of courses by selecting "Honors" in the attribute box on the course schedule. *Note: non-Honors sections of CSH 1213 are also offered and will NOT count for the Honors CSH 1213 requirement. * Most HON seminar courses are interdisciplinary and open to all Honors students. There are a few that require instructor permission. Course descriptions & requirements can be found on the website<https://honors.utsa.edu/academics/courses.html>;. * HON 2301 often has approved substitutions with special sections of PAD 2073. Honors Counseling Honors Counselors are assigned to students by college/major, however, students are not limited to seeing just that Counselor. They can see any available Honors Counselor, or Peer Coach. Honors Counselors + Peer Coaches (aka, the Academic Team) are available in the Honors Experiential Learning Lab, GSR 1.204. Students can just drop in any time during operating hours and meet with any available Honors Counselor or Peer Coach! https://honors.utsa.edu/academics/experiential-learning-lab.html Have questions? Contact the Honors Counselors at honors.advising@utsa.edu<mailto:honors.advising@utsa.edu>. Honors Opportunities for All Students: Honors Course Requests - Did you know that after priority registration, any student with a UTSA GPA of 3.3 or higher can enroll in available Honors courses? It’s just a simple matter of filling out this form.<https://utsa.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eyVNEREGlU2ddRQ> We have some exciting fall courses, so check out the course descriptions on our website<https://honors.utsa.edu/academics/courses.html>;. Please share these with any students you think will be interested. Link to the website where the form is housed: https://honors.utsa.edu/academics/forms-documents.html. Highlighted Benefit for Honors College Members: Cost Rica - the Honors College will travel to Rancho Margot<https://www.ranchomargot.com/> this June, where students spend one week at an off-the-grid farm learning about ecology, sustainability, and mindfulness. This trip is tied to a fall Honors course, where students put into practice the activities they engaged in, in Costa Rica with San Antonio community entities (such as local community gardens, learning about watershed processes at Confluence Park, and much more!). The program counts as an Engaged Living experience in the Honors curriculum. Learn more about the program on our website<https://honors.utsa.edu/programs/costa-rica.html>;. [cid:image002.png@01DBC33F.F331BA40] Student Highlights: Student Highlight: College and Majors Profile of the Spring 2025 graduating class In our graduating class, we have 369 students representing the following colleges and majors: · Alvarez College of Business: Accounting, Business Analytics, Cyber Security, Economics, Finance, Information Systems, Management, Marketing, Operations & Supply Chain Management, Real Estate Finance & Development, Statistics & Data Science · College of Education and Human Development: Equity and Education, Interdisciplinary Studies · College of Liberal and Fine Arts: Art, Anthropology, Classical Studies & Humanities, Communication, English, Film & Media Studies, Geography & Environmental Sustainability, Global Affairs, History, Medical Humanities, Modern Language Studies, Music, Philosophy, Politics and Law, Political Science · College of Sciences: Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, Microbiology & immunology, Mathematics, Math of Data and Computing, Neuroscience, Physics · Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design: Architecture, Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Construction Science and Management, Electrical Engineering, Interior Design, Mechanical Engineering · College of Health, Community and Policy: Criminology & Criminal Justice, Health, Kinesiology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Public Administration, Psychology, Public Health, Sociology · University College: Multidisciplinary Studies · Certificates: Aerospace Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Programming for Engineering, Data Science, Design Communication & Fabrication, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Legal Studies, Nutrition for Health Professionals, Public Policy and Data Analysis Students Future Plans: · Accepted into: * Master of Science in Public Health at John’s Hopkins * PsyD program at the University of Houston-Clear Lake * PhD in neuroscience at the University of Michigan * Masters program in Athletic Training at The University of Miami * MS in Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence program at UT Dallas * Graduate school with a focus on School Psychology * Houston Christian University in their Master of Arts in Psychology program * Texas A&M School of Law * University of North Texas to pursue a Master's degree in International Studies * Radiology program to become an X-ray Technician * Doctorate in Physical Therapy in Round Rock, Texas this May * CHSS Graduate Program at the University of Chicago * Master of Public Administration(MPA) Program at the University of North Texas * Doctor of Pharmacy program at the University of Houston * Continuing second year of dental school to pursue Doctorate of Dental Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center * Completing the 4+1 Accelerated Master Program at UT Health - Houston School of Public Health * UTSA Programs * Artificial Intelligence program * Mater’s of Aerospace Engineering * Multidisciplinary Masters Degree program * Masters in Health, Community, & Policy * Master’s program for Accounting * Executive MBA program * Master's in Special Education * UTHSCA Programs in Nursing, Dental, Medical, Respiratory Care, and Medical Laboratory Science Master's Program · Beginning career/Accepted Positions/Internships: * As an officer in the United States Air Force * In Supply Chain Management at Dell Technologies in Austin Texas * At Wells Fargo in Dallas, Texas * As a Paralegal at the Bexar County District Attorney's Office * As a Wealth Management Register Representative at Atlerna Securities in San Antonio, Texas * In Commercial Real Estate at ENV Title * Software Engineering in Dallas, Texas * In Cybersecurity at AIG in Houston, Texas * As a public relations specialist in San Antonio, TX * In Cybersecurity in The United States Space Force * Public health with an interest in medical anthropology * Marketing with American Campus Communities in Austin, Texas * Pursue a career in music education * Moving to Boston, Massachusetts and begin working as a vegetation field technician with the National Ecological Observatory Network * Art Educator in San Antonio, Texas * Structural Engineering firm on Federal Building projects * Elementary School Teacher * Real Estate Development in Plano Texas * Software Developer for Progressive Insurance * Process Engineer at Allegiance Refining in San Antonio, Texas * Mechanical Engineer at Toyota * Legal Assistant at an immigration law firm * Applied Behavior Analysis by becoming a Registered Behavior Technician * Public health internship in Austin * Process safety management at Valero in Port Arthur * Completing an internship with an assistant professor at UT Health · Applying for law school, medical school, pharmacy programs · Travelling overseas for the summer · ...and more! Best Regards, Alegra Lozano, Director of Counseling, Honors College, alegra.lozano@utsa.edu<mailto:alegra.lozano@utsa.edu> Hector Aguilar, Associate Dean, Honors College, hector.aguilar@utsa.edu<mailto:hector.aguilar@utsa.edu> Honors email: honors@utsa.edu<mailto:honors@utsa.edu> Honors advising email: honors.advising@utsa.edu<mailto:honors.advising@utsa.edu> Honors website: https://honors.utsa.edu/ Honors Experiential Learning Lab: https://honors.utsa.edu/academics/experiential-learning-lab.html