Dr. Francisco Solis, San Antonio College Interim President, talks with Hot Mustard about William R. Sinkin Eco Centro. Named after William R. Sinkin, a long-time San Antonio community leader, who was a champion for many causes, including renewable energy. Eco Centro is a community and environmental sustainability center at San Antonio College that provides information and resources to positively address environmental and social challenges.

Rose Flores, Director of the Sinkin Eco Centro, talks about resources available to the public and how people can get involved.

Cory Foshee, SAC’s Environmental Club, invites students to join the club and talks about her interest in sustainability and the environment.

More information and upcoming events are online at https://www.alamo.edu/sac/ecocentro

Dr. Francisco Solis, San Antonio College Interim President, talks with Hot Mustard about SAC’s Strategic Plan. Every three years, SAC brings together our key stakeholders to identify and anticipate the changes needed to guide the college in the future. SAC hosts a visioning session just for students from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 27 in VAC 120 with another online session for faculty at 1p.m. Friday, March 28.

SAC begins offering a Level 1 certificate to be certified as a life coach beginning in the 2025-26 academic year. It will be a one-year program with classes taught in 8-week terms. Unlike therapists, life coaches focus on the present and the future. They offer guidance, motivation, and strategies for success.

The 2nd Annual SAC Symposium will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 28, in Victory Center room 202. The event aims to inform students what services are available and how to access them. This session is for all students as well as faculty and staff.

SAC’s history program, with help from current students, faculty, and staff, are working on a project to record personal histories of people who were part of SAC; former students, faculty or staff members. This is for the Centennial History Project, which is part of SAC’s upcoming anniversary, which will be formally observed starting in the fall of 2025. They are inviting everyone to come to a History Harvest, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 5, in the SAC Library.

Dr. Francisco Solis, San Antonio College Interim President, talks with Hot Mustard about SAC’s Veterans Affairs Program. SAC has about 2,200 students who are either veterans or military connected, making up about 13% of SAC's student population. SAC’s Veterans Affairs Office has been recognized for four years in a row with the Veteran Education Excellence Recognition Gold Award. This is the highest rank given by the Texas Veterans Commission’s Veterans Education Program.

Tim Pair, Director of Student Success for Veterans Affairs, talks about the services offered at SAC’s Veterans Affairs Program. Valerie Coronado and Michael Robideaux share their views as SAC veteran students.

The SAC Veteran Affairs program offers Academic Advising, VA benefits certification, Tuition assistance, Tutoring, and Disability claims representation.

More information is online at alamo.edu/sac/va

Dr. Francisco Solis, San Antonio College Interim President, talks with Hot Mustard about Fredstock. Fredstock is moving closer to the middle of the SAC campus on Thursday, May 1, 2025. Fredstock is a music festival put on by students of the Music Business program at San Antonio College.

Dr. Solis talks about the planning process for SAC’s Centennial celebration. He also gives a brief history of SAC and how it started at Main High School with night classes. Main High School was located where Fox Tech is located today. The 100 Years celebration is coming up in September!

Hot Mustard and Dr. Solis talk about A.I. and the future.

More information on Fredstock is online at https://fredstockmusicfest.org/

Dr. Francisco Solis, San Antonio College Interim President, talks with Hot Mustard about the transfer fair. Students can stop by and meet with representatives from local and area universities and start planning for their next academic choice. Colleges love our SAC students. They find our students are ready to succeed on their campus. We have heard from college presidents that SAC students do better at their schools than students who started on their campus.

Congratulations to the SAC drama program for winning several awards from BroadwayWorld San Antonio, a website that covers the local theater scene. The awards were given for the drama program’s production of the musical Cabaret, which occurred last spring.

The awards included:

· Best Direction Of A Musical

· Best Ensemble

· Best Lighting Design Of A Play Or Musical

· Best Music Direction & Orchestra Performance

· Best Performer In A Musical

· Best Musical

The drama program is getting ready for its next production, titled Peter/Wendy, a retelling of the story of Peter Pan. The play will be staged starting April 4 through April 13.

Dr. Francisco Solis, San Antonio College Interim President, talks with Hot Mustard about the recent executive orders and how the district and SAC navigate them. Dr. Solis asks people to be patient as SAC works to understand and comply with federal orders. He also talks about the Texas legislature and the bills they have planned for the current session.

SAC celebrates Black History Month with a kickoff in the SAC Mall area. Several black-owned businesses and community organizations are on campus from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday February 5th. There will be weekly events throughout the month, including an African Loteria game, a “Where are We Now,” panel that includes a soul food tasting, and a presentation on the Underground Railroad to Mexico.

SAC is also Working on a New Strategic Plan. Every three years, SAC brings together key stakeholders; students, faculty, staff, educational partners, and District partners. They come together to discuss and anticipate the changes needed to serve the community. This is the way to identify and proactively plan to keep up with the dynamic changes in higher education. SAC is developing classes for students to take advantage of new technology and have even worked with business who will partner with Alamo Colleges to educate the next generation of workers.

More information on Black History Month events is online at https://www.alamo.edu/sac/blackhistorymonth

More information on the Bond 2025 Proposal is online at https://www.alamo.edu/cip

Dr. Francisco Solis, San Antonio College Interim President, welcomes students back for the Spring 2025 semester. Dr. Solis talks with Hot Mustard about enrollment and how San Antonio College is beating the national trend. Students are showing they believe in the value of a SAC education. Students are finishing up certificates and finding jobs in careers that pay good wages. Many of those jobs are in high demand areas, such as medical and dental technicians, nursing, firefighting, law enforcement, and court reporting to name several areas.

Work continues across campus to meet the growing and changing demands of a larger student body. SAC continues the massive renovation project at eight buildings across the campus. This includes Chance Academic Center, McAllister Fine Arts Center, and Gonzalez Hall. Completion is scheduled to be finished by December 2025.

More details about the campus renovations are online at alamo.edu/sac/mtn

Dr. Francisco Solis talks with Hot Mustard about the Empowerment Center. The center helps non-traditional students such as first-generation students, student parents, and English language learners, enter college.

Dr. Helen Vera, Director of the Empowerment Center, talks about her history with the Empowerment Center and the programs offered. The center first opened in March 1981 as the Women’s Center. Its original mission to help women who needed to enter college to help them gain education and independence. Later the center’s mission expanded to help all adults who wanted to come to college after years away from school.

Michelle Tovar, SAC student, talks about her experience with the Empowerment Center. She also discusses the importance of scholarships and the opportunities she has access to because of the Empowerment Center.

The Empowerment Center offers a College Enrollment Lab, Academic Advising, Leadership Development, and Scholarship Assistance for students. The center also sponsors special observations and activities for students throughout the year. Recently, they held several events in October to observe Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Every year the center holds the WE Conference. for the past 22 years. The conference usually includes keynote speakers and breakaway workshops that focus on developing leadership abilities. This opportunity also offers qualifying participants scholarships to continue their education at SAC. The conference is now open to all students, not just women.

San Antonio College Empowerment Center: https://www.alamo.edu/sac/empowermentcenter

Dr. Francisco Solis, San Antonio College President, and Hot Mustard countdown to finals week at San Antonio College. They discuss strategies for taking finals. Good luck to all Alamo College students.

They also remind students to make sure they are up to date on their tuition plans. Students who are on payment plans approved by SAC’s Business Office should be aware of upcoming payment deadlines. Students who are late making payments will be charged a late fee. They could also be dropped from their classes.

Links:

San Antonio College Mortuary at https://sacmortuary.com/

Dr. Stella Lovato, San Antonio College Vice President for College Services, joins the program to talk with Hot Mustard about current Maintenance Tax Note renovation projects on campus. SAC is currently renovating Gonzales Hall, Chance Academic Center, McAllister Fine Arts Center, Nail Technical Center, and McCreless Hall.

Jennifer Johnson, Project Manager Lockwood, Andrews, and Newnam, talks about the specific renovations in some of the buildings. SAC has had to make changes on campus that have caused some temporary inconveniences. The project is scheduled to be completed by December 2026, about two years from now.

More information about the Maintenance Tax Notes is online at https://www.alamo.edu/sac/mtn