Welcome to the Roadrunner Success Toolbox
This is a tailored resource for current UTSA Online students. Find essential tips and tools to excel in your online courses and navigate the digital learning landscape with confidence.
Advisor’s Tool for Success
- Make a Routine
- Create a Weekly Planner
- Dedicate time each day/week for your course work
- Start early/Get ahead
- Review your syllabi and determine which assignment require the most time
- Will you need tutoring or additional assistance?
- Do you understand the assignment fully?
- Set phone or calendar reminders ahead of time for upcoming assignments
- Think positively to learn and see challenges as opportunities
- Remember: your future is in your hands
- A designated study space will help you stay focused
- Make it a comfortable area that is free of distractions
- Ask your academic advisor if you have any questions
- We are here to help you succeed throughout your academic journey
Time Management
We know that being a student is a big time commitment, especially when it comes to trying to balance your schoolwork with anything else you have going on in your life.
There are some tips below that will help you plan out your time this semester. Here are a few important things to keep in mind:
Study Time
We recommend allowing 3 hours of study time per 1 credit hour you’re registered for. So, if you’re registered for 12 credit hours, that would be 36 hours of study time.
Course Types
When you register for classes, you’ll want to make note of the course length. Different courses are offered in different lengths:
- Fall and Spring Terms: 16-week courses and 8-week courses
- Summer Terms: 3-week, 4-week, 5-week, 8-week, and 10-week courses
You can mix-and-match course lengths based on availability. For example, if you wish to take two classes in the Fall semester, you might choose to take two 16-week courses, or you might choose to take one class during the 1st 8-week term and one class during the 2nd 8-week term.
Visit our registration web page and click on the “Term Options” accordion links to see a visual breakdown of all of the course length options.
Time Management Calculator
This tool will help you organize your time between different aspects and tasks from your daily life.
Mental Health Resources
If you or someone you know needs help now, call 911. Notify the operator there is a mental health emergency and ask for trained officers in crisis intervention. Here are more free mental health resources available to everyone:
TimelyCare, a Texas-based provider of virtual health and well-being resources in higher education, is available to ALL UTSA Students, including 100% online students through their mobile app (available on iPhone and Android)
The TimelyCare app provides students with access to 24/7 virtual health and well-being support. Services offered through the new program include:
- On-demand mental health and emotional support
- Scheduled mental health counseling sessions
- Health coaching
- Psychiatry services (by referral)
- Guided self-care content
- Access to free or reduced-cost community resources
If you’re in crisis and need to talk to someone, the Crisis Text Line is available 24/7 via Text and WhatsApp.
Text HOME to 741741.
Visit the Crisis Text Line WebsiteOpen Counseling is a website that provides a list of the free telephone counseling hotlines and warm lines in the United States including:
- Suicide and Crisis Lines
- Alcohol and Substance Abuse
- Domestic and Sexual Violence
- Eating Disorders
- Grief Support
- LGBTQ Hotlines
- Mental Health Conditions and Family Support
- Sexual Health and Pregnancy
- Specific Disorders
- State Crisis Lines
- State Warm Lines
- Trauma Survivors
- Youth and Parenting
The NAMI HelpLine is a free, nationwide peer support service providing information, resource referrals, and support to individuals living with a mental health condition(s), as well as families and caregivers.
You can contact them Monday through Friday from 9 am – 9 pm CST
800-950-NAMI (6264) | info@nami.org
The Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 via chat on their website or by calling 988.
Visit the Suicide Prevention Lifeline WebsiteAdditional Free Resources for Online Students
In addition to the free resources UTSA Online offers its students, here are some other great free tools that anyone can use!
- Coursera | Coursera is a free online resource where students can access courses in subjects ranging from computer science to biology to politics. They offer over 5,000 courses, as well as certificates, to help you in your career journey. They also collaborate with companies like Google and IBM. Those certificates will look great on your resume!
- Grammarly | Grammarly offers free grammar, plagiarism, and citation resources. Essay and general writing checkers will scan documents and text for errors and suggest edits, and the free citation generator helps students write APA, MLA, or Chicago citations for many sources including books, journal articles, and websites for both full citations and in-text citations.
- Khan Academy | Khan Academy is similar to Coursera, and it provides resources like practice exercises and videos to help you get a better grasp on subjects ranging from mathematics to computer science. Subjects are laid out like lesson plans and include practice problems and quizzes so you can test your knowledge as you go.
- freeCodeCamp | freeCodeCamp is a free resource that provides courses for you to learn how to code for free. They provide certificates that focus on a variety of coding-related subjects like JavaScript, Python, Front End Development, and Data Visualization. They also offer free coding exercises to help you prepare for job interviews where they might be requested.
Get Involved
Registered Student Organizations are separate, independent entities from the University whose membership is composed of UTSA students, or a combination of students, faculty, and staff; which has complied with the registration procedures to be officially registered (granted approval to operate on campus) by the University. There are currently more than 300 student organizations registered at UTSA.
Find more information on how to get involved here.How can I meet with others in my program outside of class?
Joining a Student Organization is a great way to connect with your peers! Two options are below:
The mission of OCSA is to enhance the educational and professional development of UTSA students in cybersecurity-related majors by hands-on exercises and mentoring and networking opportunities in a purely virtual environment. One of our major objectives is to provide a supportive and collaborative meeting space for students in the Online B.B.A. in Cyber Security degree. OCSA’s overall vision is to cultivate a community that supports each other in exploring critical cyber security issues at the forefront of today’s digital world.
You can sign up for an OCSA membership here using your UTSA email address. After your student status is verified, you will be added to the organization’s Discord server and Canvas shell.
The Women in Cyber Security at UTSA is a student organization dedicated to bringing together women in cybersecurity from academia, research and industry to share knowledge, experience, networking and mentoring. The organization is inclusive to everyone, regardless of identity. The WiCyS Student Chapter is organized with the following purposes:
- To decrease the gender disparity in cybersecurity.
- To provide education, mentorship, and networking support to students through the WiCyS community.
- To promote and recruit women to the cybersecurity workforce from UTSA.
You can sign up for a WiCyS membership here using your UTSA email address. After your student status is verified, you will be added to the organization’s Discord server and Canvas shell.
This year, one of the officers is an Online B.B.A. student from Houston!
You can also meet with your peers during Alvarez Student Success Center and University Career Center events as well as virtual career fairs.
More information about events will be available through your courses and/or through the Centers themselves.