From the Desk of the Provost

Commencement rightly is a family affair, which is why I especially was delighted to be present at the Honors College ceremony last month to witness this moment between new graduate Brianna Roberts and her mom, Kim Kline.

Brianna was one of nearly 3,000 bachelor’s students who graduated this semester, and Kim is both a faculty and staff member at UTSA, serving as associate professor of communication and assistant vice provost for assessment.

It should be noted that sociology professor Derral Cheatwood actually was Brianna’s honors thesis advisor, but he graciously surrendered his final duties to Kim so that she could hood Brianna onstage.

“I’m a proud momma, and also a proud Roadrunner,” says Kim. Indeed she is: Kim always is quick to point out the numerous enrichment opportunities that were available to Brianna as a UTSA student, such as participating in the Archer Fellowship Program and the Summer Law School Preparation Academy.

It also deserves mention that Brianna was among the first graduating class of the university’s new Multidisciplinary Studies degree program. Brianna’s an exceptional representative of the program — a high-achieving student with varied interests.

Five Multidisciplinary Studies graduates walked the stage in May and another eight are set to finish their degrees this summer. It’s wonderful to see how this new program, in only its first year, already is filling an unmet need for our students.

Congratulations, Brianna! (And you, too, Kim!)

Those who know me know that I think it’s important to inject a little humor and joy in our daily work in academia. So I was absolutely delighted to read this essay written by one of our own, Heather Trepal, for the Chronicle of Higher Education, in which she shares her story of interviewing for her position in the Department of Counseling back in 2004.

Heather Trepal

I do not wish to spoil the story, but I will add some details: Larry Golden, who recently lost a battle with cancer, was the unsuspecting department chair Heather mentions in her tale. And Marcheta Evans played the role of the very supportive search committee chair.

It’s important to note the story’s happy ending. Heather did get the job, and she and her husband, Todd Wollenzier (assistant director of the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards) have made a home at UTSA. And she did earn tenure and was promoted to associate professor in 2009.

Here’s another very happy milestone in Dr. Trepal’s career: Earlier this month, she hooded her first three doctoral candidates at the COEHD commencement ceremony. One has already accepted a position at Marymount University in Arlington, Va.

No doubt these three new Ph.D.s learned a great deal from their advisor, but I think the examples of humility, humor and humanity in Heather’s story are good lessons for all of us.

While the rest of San Antonio was kicking off Fiesta last weekend, some of the brightest student computer programmers from around the country came to San Antonio for a very different reason: to compete in the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition.

The three-day event, organized by the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security, features teams from 10 universities, all winners of their regional competitions. Their objective is to protect their network systems from simulated cyber attacks and maintain the operational needs of their fictitious businesses.

So on Saturday morning — perhaps while you were at Fiesta de los Reyes or the Fiesta Arts Fair — I headed downtown to the St. Anthony Hotel to watch the students in action.

First, I have to say I was struck by the juxtaposition of this stately, hundred-year-old hotel and the cutting-edge technology happening inside. The event organizers take great pains to simulate real-world environments and scenarios, and I was really impressed with what I saw.

The competition has also grown into fertile recruiting ground. I spotted an NSA recruiting table at the hotel and learned that past competitors collectively have received hundreds of job offers; once a competition sponsor hired an entire team of student competitors.

The University of Washington took home the top honors for the second year in a row, so congratulations to them, and also to southwest regional winner Texas A&M for placing third.

Lastly, hats off to Greg White and his team at CIAS for building this competition over the past seven years into one of the nation’s premier training exercises for our future cyber defenders and something UTSA can be very proud of.

And it wasn’t ALL cyber security for me on Saturday. I did make it to the Fiesta Arts Fair later that day, and I’ll have more Fiesta fun at NIOSA this week!

It often seems like our faculty in the STEM fields are the ones grabbing headlines, so I especially enjoy seeing much-deserved recognition for our outstanding faculty in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

Nowhere was that more evident than in City Council Chambers on Tuesday evening, when UTSA senior lecturer and writer-in-residence Carmen Tafolla was formally introduced as San Antonio’s inaugural poet laureate. Carmen, a gifted writer and devoted educator, has delighted readers across the world with her words — in Spanish and English — and we are fortunate to have her on faculty in the College of Education and Human Development.

The value that faculty like Carmen bring to campus and into the classroom may be less quantifiable that faculty who bring in large research grants and contracts, but it’s absolutely no less important. In Carmen’s case, her work enriches not just our students and the people of San Antonio, but anyone around the world who reads her words. Congratulations, Carmen!

And more recognition for our social sciences and liberal arts faculty is on the way: I think the official list of winners still is under wraps, but I will divulge that the College of Liberal and Fine Arts is set to clean up at next week’s University Excellence Awards, with seven COLFA faculty receiving awards. Nice job!

At the poet laureate ceremony with Carmen Tafolla and Bicultural-Bilingual Studies department chair Robert Milk