HONORS COLLEGE COMMUNIQUE: June 2025  

        

Hello from Honors College!  

  

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:         

  

New College Honors Program - Honors has been working with various department honors programs and the newest one to join is COLFA Honors. The program is set up for 25 students, and students are part of both the Honors College and COLFA Honors program. The invite is open to first-year, transfer, and current UTSA students. Visit the website to learn more about the requirements for COLFA Honors and the contact information: https://colfa.utsa.edu/student/colfa-honors-program.html.  

       

 

Honors Academics:       

 

Honors Counseling – is available over the summer! We are busy working on summer graduation audits and onboarding a record number of new Honors students (nearly 800 new students!). Students can join Honors as a first-time freshman, as a transfer, as a current UTSA student, and via the many pathways (college honors programs, ROTC, Athletics, etc).  

 

Students can meet with any available Honors Counselor, either by dropping into the Honors office (GSR 2.210), attending a group counseling session, or requesting an appointment.  

 

Group counseling and information sessions are available:  

Zoom link: https://utsa.zoom.us/j/99317591886 

 

Upcoming meeting dates, all at 3:00pm: 

·       Friday, 7/11  

·       Friday, 7/25  

·       Friday, 8/8 

  

To request an appointment with an Honors Counselor, students will need to contact us at honors.advising@utsa.edu. 

 

Honors College and CPOS: What You Need to Know  
Students can pursue Honors without affecting CPOS or delaying graduation. In fact, the entire Honors curriculum can be completed with just 1 additional credit hour—and the HON seminars are not required. 

·       Only 4 required Honors courses: 

o   HON 1000 (0 credit, 8-week, online) 

o   HON 2301 (1 credit, 8-week, online) 

o   Honors CSH 1213 (core curriculum course) 

o   Honors WRC 1023 (core curriculum course; waived with ENGL 1302 credit) 

·       The rest of the curriculum is experience-based, allowing flexibility through courses or co-curricular activities. 

·       Flexibility in the curriculum includes approved substitution options for HON 2301 and Honors CSH 1213. 

 

Special Notes: 

·       Honors courses can count as free electives (if applicable to the degree) 

·       Could be used as substitutions for upper-division electives (if applicable) 

·       If taking 12 CPOS-eligible hours, Honors courses beyond that are still counted 

 

Bottom line: Honors works with your degree plan—not against it! Examples of CPOS scenarios can be found here. 

 

Honors Course Highlights:  

 

 

Honors Opportunities for All Students:       

  

Gilman Scholarship – UTSA has a record number of students receiving the Gilman Scholarship! The Gilman is open to all eligible UTSA students, who are Pell Grant recipients. It awards them up to $5000 to study abroad.  Check out the article, featured in UTSA Today:  

https://www.utsa.edu/today/2025/06/story/roadrunners-receive-gilman-scholarship-2025-2026.html . Learn more about the Gilman Scholarship here: https://honors.utsa.edu/onca/awards/gilman.html  

 

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. We have some exciting fall courses, so check out the course descriptions on our website. 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. 

 

 

UK Postgraduate Information Session - The Honors College hosted UK representatives from Cambridge, Newcastle, and Durham University to speak with our students about postgraduate degrees abroad. We had a fantastic turnout and an engaging, interactive crowd of students!  

 

 

 

Highlighted Benefit for Honors College Members:       

 

Study Abroad in Costa Rica - This month, Honors students traveled to Costa Rica as part of our Intentional and Sustainable Living in Costa Rica study abroad program. Students learned and practiced intentional and sustainable living on a working agro-ecological ranch on Lake Arenal, Costa Rica. Read more about the program here: Intentional and Sustainable Living in Costa Rica | Honors College | UTSA | University of Texas at San Antonio 

 

 

Student Highlights:    

 

 

Special shout-out to our Honors student, Efrain Garza, for presenting at the 2025 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR)! Efrain is a junior majoring in Actuarial Science and Business Analytics. He presented his research on mathematical modeling to improve mentorship pairings for business students. Click the link to learn more about his journey: Efrain Garza Research | Alvarez College of Business | UTSA | University of Texas at San Antonio 

 

  

Best Regards,       

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

Hector Aguilar, Associate Dean, Honors College, hector.aguilar@utsa.edu     

      

Honors email: honors@utsa.edu      

Honors advising email: honors.advising@utsa.edu      

Honors website: https://honors.utsa.edu/ 

Honors Experiential Learning Lab: https://honors.utsa.edu/academics/experiential-learning-lab.html