Have you ever thought about applying for a scholarship or financial aid? Have you ever needed help on homework in a class that was particularly challenging?
Where can you find help with situations such as these? In the John Peace Library Building (JPL), one of UTSA’s oldest buildings, which houses the newly renovated library and much more.
The Sombrilla, a favorite place for students to hang out, is the gateway into the first floor of the JPL where you will find a food court as well as a Starbucks where you can buy that pick-me-up coffee to get you through the day.
On the first floor of the JPL is the fiscal services office, the financial aid and enrollment services offices.
Fiscal services is the place all students and parents may dread visiting because it eats away at the contents of your pocket book.
At fiscal services you can make payments on tuition, get refund checks and find answers to questions about your tuition bills. By “liking” the office’s Facebook page, you will have access to updates on payment deadlines.
Financial aid and enrollment services is the center where you can apply for scholarships or turn in your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). If you are seeking loans outside of FAFSA or seeking any scholarship information, come here.
On the second floor of the JPL, a whole world of help and information is available. Inside the library, students have access to the Q-Lab, the Supplemental Instruction (SI) offices, computer/printing labs and traditional library resources: books, Internet, journals and databases.
The Q-Lab, Quantitative Skills Tutoring Lab, is a free tutoring service available to any UTSA student. This center, located on the first floor of the library, can help students with the more difficult classes, including those in science, mathematics, engineering, and business. You can access the full list through http://utsa.edu/trcss/tutoring.
No appointment is necessary; simply walk in, sign in with your UTSA ID and select the class you need help with. A tutor will be available shortly.
Mind you, this is a tutoring center—not a homework-answer-center— so the tutors will help you to understand the information. However, they will not do the homework for you.
The SI portion of the library is directly next to the Q-Lab. SI leaders have offices at this location, so if a student needs any outside help, this is a great place to receive it.
SI sessions are for “students [to] review lecture notes and text material, prepare for tests and improve learning strategies,” explains the Supplemental Instruction pamphlet available at the Tomás Rivera Center.
These leaders “attend class every day,” and their job is “to help students think about the lecture and reading material…to help you put it all into perspective so that you can learn the course material much more efficiently.”
SI session times and locations vary because the tutors strive to cater to the needs of the students. Your SI class decides which meeting times work best and on which days; the SI leader takes care of the rest. The best part is that the service is free—just like service in the Q-Lab.
Immediately past the main entrance into the library is a large computer and printer lab for students. The computers are accessible by logging in with your my.utsa.edu email id (abc123) and password.
As a registered student, you will have full Internet access with the convenience of information desks, just in case any problems arise.
So if you happen to get locked out of your computer because your password expired, or if you have questions pertaining to any computer or printer needs, simply ask the people at the desk.
Furthermore, the most pleasant part of using the computer lab is that paying for the printing is painless. Each semester UTSA puts a specific amount of money on your UTSA ID card to use just for printing.
So when you need to print large numbers of lecture slides or really big term papers, these printers are ready, whether you need to print black-and-white or color.