Calendar of Events

Tracy Yukich Speaker Event
April 10

Shorthorn Housing Fair
April 10

Battle for the Block
April 11

Certified Leaders Institute
April 13

Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure
April 13

Spring Campus Elections
April 15-16

One Day without Shoes
April 16

UTA Baseball vs. TCU
April 16

LiveWell MavWell Awards
April 18 

April 18

UTA Volunteers: Earth Day Celebration
April 22

April 22

Leadership Recognition Ceremony
April 23

Diversity Recognition Awards
April 24

RSO Roundup
April 26

Friday Night Film: Silver Linings Playbook
April 26

The Big Event
April 27
 
Leadership Center Banquet
April 30

Lavender Graduation Celebration
April 30

May 1

Student Affairs Student End of Year Luncheon
May 3

Graduation Celebration
May 10

To view more information on these events, visit the Student Affairs event calendar.
A Message From Dr. Lamas
Greetings Mavericks,

Dr. Lamas

This spring semester has been one of the busiest to date with a great deal of change happening on campus. Last month UT Arlington welcomed Dr. Vistasp Karbhari as our new president. We are excited to welcome him to campus. Also in March, the Division of Student Affairs added new colleagues and departments including: The Career Center, The Center for Community Service Learning, and The Office of International Education. We welcome the departments and are very excited to have them as part of the Division. All of us look forward to working together in the coming months.

 

In February Multicultural Affairs hosted a successful Black History Month. A record number of students participated in the 5th Annual Black Leadership Institute and the screening of Ya'Ke Smith's award-winning film, Wolf. Last month the Movin' Mavs came in second place at the NWBA College Division National Championships. Also as the summer months begin to roll in, we are preparing for summer transfer orientation sessions and our first year student orientation sessions.

On April 18th, Student Affairs will be hosting another tradition, Block Party. The festival will feature food, music, activities, prizes, and more.
 
This year's Big Event will be on Saturday, April 27th. We are proud to note that last year's event welcomed over 900 volunteers that served over 3,604 hours of community service. This year's event expects to break that record by welcoming over 1,000 volunteers. All students, faculty, staff, and community members are encouraged to participate! Be sure to register for a project site by April 9th at www.uta.edu/thebigevent.
 
Wrapping up the semester will be Late Night Breakfast on May 6th and 7th and Graduation Celebration on May 10th.
 
Congratulations to all of the graduates! I look forward to seeing you out at our upcoming events and the commencement ceremonies.
 
Best regards,
 
Dr. Frank Lamas 

Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students   
Awards and Accolades
Beth Francesco Currie, Assistant Director and Adviser for Student Publications has been named a 2013 Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism Outstanding Graduate Student. She was nominated by faculty and staff at the University of North Texas and was recognized on Friday, April 5 during Honors Day, the most prestigious academic event of the year at North Texas. Beth is in the final semester of completing her Master of Arts in Journalism.

Justin Samuel
, The Heights on Pecan Residence Director in Apartment & Residence Life won the top program for his presentation Supervision Love Languages! at the annual SWACUHO (Southwest Association of College and University Housing Officers) regional conference earlier this week. Justin's presentation was based on Dr. Gary Chapman's 5 Love Languages.  As the winner, SWAUCHO will pay for Justin to attend and present at the annual ACUHO-I  (Association of College & University Housing Officers- International) conference in June. 

The Movin' Mavs Wheelchair Basketball Team came in second place at the 2013 NWBA National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Championships.

Hats off to The Shorthorn staff for bringing home Sweepstakes (the top award), Best of Show and more than 40 other awards from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association convention during the weekend of April 2-4, 2013 in Fort Worth. Awards included TIPA Editor of the Year to Dustin Dangli, TIPA Photojournalist of the Year to Michael Minasi and TIPA co-Reporter of the Year to Krista Torralva.

Shorthorn staff also were honored in awards presented by two other organizations: The Shorthorn's advertising rate card won second place for Best Rate Card in the College Newspaper Advertising and Business Managers national competition (announced in San Diego), and Shorthorn staff members Krista Torralva and Casey Holder placed first in the Society of Professional Journalists' awards for Region 8 (Texas and Oklahoma) in the online in-depth reporting and online sports reporting categories respectively, among six awards received by The Shorthorn from SPJ. As first place winners, Krista's and Casey's work will be entered into the SPJ's national Mark of Excellence competition. In its premiere year as a digital first publication, The Shorthorn staff continues to excel and receive state, regional and national recognition.
Follow Us!
 
The Division of Student Affairs is on Facebook and Twitter. Become a fan and follow us to keep up with the latest goings on around campus, discounts, and much more! 
New Staff
Debra Mehalko
Business Manager for Student Publications

Debra was previously a general manager at LensCrafters. She brings with her several years of business management experience.
Elvira Smith
Disability Specialist for The Office for Students with Disabilities 

Elvira is a certified rehabilitation counselor who has a background in counseling and disability services from her work for the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services.  

Faculty/Staff Profile
Mary Jo Lyons 
Student Governance and Organizations

In this age of information and technology Freshmen Leaders On Campus (FLOC) has learned that it is good to know a librarian! For more than five years FLOC has had the good fortune of having Mary Jo Lyons, of the UT Arlington Library, share her expertise with their organization. 

Mary Jo has served on FLOC steering committees for OneBook related projects including Darfur, food sustainability, ethics and well-being. She has brainstormed with them and guided them to resources within the Library and the community. She has connected them with colleagues who taught them about Second Life and advised them on Gallery design. Thanks to her efforts, FLOC has partnered with the Library to co-sponsor several documentaries as well as the intriguing former CIA agent who challenged them to think ethically about real CIA situations.

Thanks, Mary Jo! 
Student Profile
Navjot Navjot Singh
Fraternity and Sorority Life  
 
Navjot Singh is junior psychology major from Arlington, TX and proud member of Alpha Tau Omega. Navjot also serves in various leadership positions as the Vice President of Programming for the Interfraternity Council, New Member Educator for Alpha Tau Omega, UTA Ambassador and current Mr. UTA. In addition, Navjot gives tirelessly his time to support the many events hosted by F&SL and the campus community by often serving as a deejay and promoting various campus events through social media efforts. Navjot is always willing to lend his fraternity and sorority community brothers and sisters a helping hand while also supporting the efforts of the Fraternity and Sorority Life team.
Staff Profiles
Penny Acrey
Director, Office for Students with
Disabilities (OSD)
Student Affairs
   
A native Houstonian, Penny is a proud alumna of UT Arlington School of Social Work where she focused on direct practice in mental health. Her areas of interest are disability and trauma. Penny serves on several executive boards and advisory councils in the community, including Fort Worth ISD, REACH, and Helping Restore Ability. Memberships include NASW (National Association of Social Workers), NASPA, TACUSPA, ATSS (Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists), and ACCA (American College Counseling Association). At UT Arlington, Penny provides disability counseling and services to students registered with OSD.
Joey Usher
Graduate Assistant,
The Leadership Center
   
 
   
Joey is originally from Richardson, TX and earned a bachelor's of science in criminal justice from the University of North Texas. He is the graduate assistant for The Leadership Center while working towards his master's in social work at the UT Arlington School of Social Work. Prior to joining UT Arlington, he worked in government based social service delivery in Dallas, Texas. Joey co-facilitates the EDAD 1130 Foundations of Leadership course and advises the UTA Volunteers and the Leadership Center Student Fellow. He also assists with technical and administrative duties. 
Departmental News
Adaptive Recreation/Movin' Mavs Wheelchair Basketball
   
Movin Mavs take a shot The Movin' Mavs capped a successful wheelchair basketball season with a first place regular season finish and a 2nd place finish at the NWBA College Division National Championships.  Jorge Sanchez was recognized as first team All American, Andreas Kraft as 2nd Team All American, Jan Gans as Division All Rookie Team and Andreas Kraft was selected as an Academic All American.

Jorge Sanchez and Kris Shannon were selected for the USA Junior (Under 23) National Team and Coach Doug Garner was selected as a coach for that team to represent the United States at the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation Junior World Championships in Adana, Turkey. Sanchez, Shannon and Ruben Mauricio were invited to tryout for the U.S. National Senior Team in the National tryouts this summer. With seven players playing wheelchair tennis and plans moving forward for a Women's Wheelchair Basketball Sport Club Team, the Movin' Mavs are continuing with a busy spring.
Apartment and Residence Life

  

Apartment and Residence Life

Apartment & Residence Life staff are in recruitment mode hiring two graduate assistant residence directors and an Associate Director of Apartment and Resident Life. They have also just completed a successful Fall 2013-2014 resident assistant recruitment process and will soon begin their search for office assistants.

 

ARL recently co-hosted a cookout on Moritz Plaza with Athletics prior to the UTA/TCU baseball game at the Ballpark. Free food, shuttles, and tickets were provided to over 230 students. 

 

Justin Samuel, The Heights on Pecan Residence Director, recently won Top Program for his presentation Supervision Love Languages! at the annual SWACUHO regional conference. Justin's presentation was based on Dr. Gary Chapman's 5 Love Languages. As the winner,  SWAUCHO will pay for Justin to attend and present at the annual ACUHO-I conference in June.


LiveWell MavWell The spring semester was filled with exciting events and involvement from Campus Recreation. The Spirit Groups enthusiastically supported the basketball teams as they competed in their regular and postseason games, while preparing for their national competition that will take place in April.

The Second Annual Polar Bear Plunge, increased awareness of the aquatics program as the participants "took the plunge" into the cool water. The program had over 60 participants jump in to the outdoor pool. Intramural Sports had league play in dodgeball, basketball, bowling, soccer, flag football and softball. Sport Clubs continued to practice and compete regionally and nationally. The Fitness and Wellness program has reached out to more participants with online monthly fit clip videos, an expanded recreational activities class schedule and an LiveWell MavWell program to promote healthy lifestyles.
The Office of Community Standards: RVSP Program

The RVSP Program has had a busy semester with multiple programs on healthy relationship and positive bystander behaviors, all led by the peer educators. These programs are often collaborations with various departments and student organizations. On Valentine's Day, Jay Friedman with the JSPOT engaged students in a conversation about sex, sexual health and safety.

 

April is Sexual Assault Awareness month and the staff is busy preparing for multiple events. The Zumbathon took place on April 2nd and The Vagina Monologues will take place on April 18th and 20th. Both events will raise funds for local agencies in Arlington. Look for the red flags around campus during the Red Flag Campaign and make sure to stop by the UC Art Gallery and view The Clothesline Project April 17th-25th.

Planning and preparation have begun for the new Center for Student in Recovery. Outreach to the community has begun, establishing the advisory board, identifying university stakeholders and working closely with development. The kickoff event on April 23rd will give students, faculty and staff as well as members of the community an opportunity to learn more about the exciting things that will begin in Fall 2013. Details on the event are coming soon!

The Leadership Center 

The Leadership Center held its second annual Volunteer Fair, featuring 15 agencies from the local community to offer UT Arlington students volunteer opportunities. Blaze Through Reading/Dr. Seuss' Birthday, a collaboration with Freshman Leaders on Campus, had an outstanding 600+ participants this year from the local community, which included a puppet show, photo booth, arts & crafts, and readings from Dr. Seuss' work. During Mavs Spread the Word to End the Word, 227 people pledged to stop using the 'R' Word. The Leadership Center also announced UT Arlington's first ever Leadership Learning Community at the Heights on Pecan that will commence in the Fall of 2013. 

The LGBTQA Program concludes its inaugural year in April with special featured events including a theatrical production of The Coming Out Monologues on Friday, April 19th. Then the first Lavender Graduation ceremony will be held on April 30th as a special recognition of the accomplishments of our graduating LGBTQA students and their allies. For ticket and sign up information for both events, please visit http://www.uta.edu/lgbtqa
Multicultural Affairs

Women in Leadership Summit
The Multicultural Mavericks celebrated a successful Black History Month in February.  Highlights included: a record number of students participated in the 5th Annual Black Leadership Institute, a sold-out crowd at a campus screening of UT Arlington film professor Ya'Ke Smith's award winning film Wolf, and keynote by renowned historian Dr. Yaba Blay.  

In March, the Women in Leadership hosted their annual Women in Leadership Summit. Other Women's History Month highlights included collaborations with Women & Gender Studies, Health Services, and the RVSP office. A special highlight of the spring was the 6th annual UT Arlington Diversity Week which featured guest faculty workshops, the MAVfest outdoor festival, UC Gallery Exhibit, and Comedy Night.

Recruitment is now open to join the Multicultural Affairs and LGBTQA Program student staff for 2013-14. Both paid and volunteer student leadership opportunities are available. For complete details and application instructions, visit http://www.uta.edu/multicultural

New Maverick Orientation 

     

New Maverick Orientation

New Maverick Orientation is gearing up for its first set of orientation sessions for students starting during the summer 2013 term. Transfer students can choose between three sessions on April 11, May 21, and May 29. On May 31, NMO will offer two concurrent sessions for veterans and new freshman starting this summer.

 

Beginning May 13, our Maverick Orientation Leaders will conduct four weeks of intensive training. During this time, they will learn about university resources, Student Affairs departments, and their role in the advising and registration process. Additionally, the Mav OLs will be practicing a campus issues skit that will be performed at every freshman orientation session. We traditionally invite members of the division to preview the skit and give the performers some feedback, and we will provide more details as the summer approaches.
Off-Campus Mavericks
 

Off Campus MavericksThis semester, Off-Campus Mavericks has been hosting focus groups with commuter students to learn more about how we can better serve their needs. So far, commuter students have stated an interest in more campus activities being offered during the afternoon hours between 2-5 p.m. and having multiple lounges across campus designed for their needs. We plan to connect with Student Affairs departments and other offices in the future to discuss how we might meet these needs of commuter students.

 

Additionally, we will be working with Campus Publications on the Shorthorn's annual Housing Fair on April 10. With this event geared to help commuter students find off-campus housing, we are anxious to meet those students and plug them into our programs and services.

The Office for Students with Disabilities 

  

Office of Student Disabilities

OSD welcomed Ms. Elvira Smith to the office as disability specialist. Elvira is a certified rehabilitation counselor who has a background in counseling and disability services from her work for the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services. Welcome, Elvira!

 

Staff participated in numerous campus events including Preview Day, Activities Fair, and Diversity Week. In partnership with Multicultural Affairs, the Department of History, and Delta Alpha Pi Honor Society, OSD presented Lest We Forget: Silent Voices, a documentary about the institutionalization of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

 

Director, Penny Acrey, and Associate Director, Demarice Ferguson, attended the UTA Advising Association Conference, the UNT Law Conference, and training on DSMV changes sponsored by Mental Health America of Tarrant County.
 

UT Arlington Parent and Family Center This spring, the Parent & Family Association was proud to award three, $800 scholarships to students of parents who belong to the Association. Congratulations to this semester's recipients:  Danielle Langlois (junior, architecture major), Sonia Fraide (freshman, nursing major), and Jacob Wadley (freshman, civil engineering major).

 

Starting this January, the Parent & Family Association also published a membership directory for its members. Hopefully the directory will allow parents to connect with one another in their hometowns.

 

TEDxUTA

The Department of Student Activities is looking forward to all of the energy and excitement that comes with the end of the spring semester. Fraternity and Sorority Life continued the semester with Greek Week, April 1-5 and the Fraternity and Sorority Life Awards Ceremony on May 1st at 7:00 p.m. in the U.C. Bluebonnet Ballroom.  

 

In addition, EXCEL Campus Activities is excited about the variety of events during the remainder of the semester. This semester still has several events including TEDxUTA, Friday Night Films, Battle for the Block (annual Battle of the Bands), Mavs Got Talent; Blazin' to Fame Talent Show, the final show in our Entertainment Series. For a complete listing of events sponsored by EXCEL Campus Activities visit www.uta.edu/excel .

    

Student Congress solicited student feedback on the  proposed re-purposing of Bowling and Billiards in an open meeting in February. They also conducted a survey to assess the needs of extending the hours of services on campus.

 

In conjunction with the Leadership Center, Freshmen Leaders On Campus hosted Dr. Seuss' Birthday Party and Blaze Through Reading with over 600 attendees. In addition, the UTA Ambassadors hosted an event-filled Ambassador Week to promote campus pride!

The UTA-HOSTS! program is busy recruiting mentors for 2013-2014.

 

Student organizations are preparing to celebrate the year's accomplishments at the 2nd Annual RSO Roundup, and the announcements of Student Organization Awards will be made at the Leadership Recognition Ceremony.

 

The department is proud to congratulate Bailey Guthrie, Assistant Director for SGO, on her recent marriage!
Student Publications
 
The Shorthorn was one of six student newspapers in the nation to receive the 2013 Gold Crown award for "hybrid" print and online publications from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, which is considered one of the top student media awards in the nation. The award was announced in March at the College Media National Convention in New York City. Shorthorn Editor in Chief Natalie Webster and Features Editor Shelly Williams represented The Shorthorn at the convention and awards ceremony.
University Events

This spring break, University Events had three groups  participate in Alternative Spring Break trips. Forty-four students, staff and faculty helped at-risk youth in Atlanta, GA; the homeless in Cincinnati, OH; and environmental restoration in Moab, UT. The Maverick Speaker Series continued with conservationist Jeff Corwin on March 27th and New Orleans musicians Aaron Neville and Ellis Marsalis on April 2nd. 

Students  are currently working on "Block Party: Color the Block" which will take place on April 18th with live music, novelties and a DJ. Tickets are currently on sale for TEDx UTA on April 22nd featuring short "talks" on the theme of "Moving Forward." On-line registration has begun for the 14th annual The Big Event at UT Arlington day of community service, which will take place on Saturday April 27th. Visit www.uta.edu/thebigevent to register.