AUSTIN, Texas — The Holy Cross Institute at St. Edward’s University is hosting its annual Convocation, an in-person event focused on advancing the Holy Cross mission and supporting Catholic educators from here in Texas, across the country, and around the world. The in-person event will be held March 24-26 at St. Edward’s campus in Austin, Texas.

This year’s spring Convocation 2022 will offer workgroups, networking, prayer and speakers focused on timely issues, including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the future of Catholic Higher Education.

The institute has invited nationally-known speakers including Gloria Purvis, a Catholic speaker and podcaster based in Washington, D.C., who will be speaking on “Mending the Human Family: Reconciliation and the Role of the Church.” Best-selling author Chris Lowney who will share a presentation titled, “Everyone Leads: Forging a New Culture for a VUCA World” (VUCA stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous). And national leader in Catholic Higher Education, Fr. James Heft, S.M. will speak on “The Future of Catholic Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities.”

Founded in 2004, the Holy Cross institute plays a vital role in the life of Holy Cross’s global and ever-expanding educational ministries.

Today, the Holy Cross Institute works directly with 20 primary and secondary schools and eight colleges and universities sponsored by Holy Cross in 14 states in the U.S. The institute also supports the international education community of Holy Cross which includes more than 120 schools globally. The Holy Cross Institute is committed to four core values: building respect, educating hearts and minds, building family and bringing hope.

There are more than 200 people registered from four continents. Registration is free and is open to Catholic school teachers and leaders from K-12 and higher education. 

For a full list of speakers and to register, visit Convocation 2022. 

AUSTIN, Texas — Bank of America has selected St. Edward’s University for a $125,000 grant to support low-income students from underrepresented backgrounds and enhance educational opportunities for all students. 

Bank of America’s philanthropic investment in St. Edward’s is part of its commitment to invest $1.25 billion over five years toward advancing racial and ethnic equality, and creating economic opportunity. 

“Bank of America’s philanthropic vision builds on values that have been part of St. Edward’s culture and tradition since our founding. Those values include promoting social justice and advancing equity,” said President Montserrat Fuentes. “This partnership will expand the ways St. Edward’s educates the hearts and minds of its students, and will provide opportunities for students from all backgrounds to succeed.”

St. Edward’s will leverage Bank of America’s funding to provide economic mobility and workforce development support, with a strong focus on building pathways for low-income students, students of color, first-generation students, Pell-eligible students, College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) participants, and The Bill Munday School of Business (MSB) scholars. 

“St. Edward’s University is well-known for being an institution that creates opportunities for students to thrive regardless of their family history, background, or socioeconomic standing,” said David Bader, President of Bank of America Austin. “After partnering for over two decades to provide scholarships through the university’s CAMP program, this new grant deepens our impact by supporting low-income students across various disciplines and advances economic mobility by equipping our workforce with a strong educational foundation.”

About St. Edward’s University:

St. Edward’s University is a private, liberal arts university in the Catholic, Holy Cross tradition with approximately 3,600 students. Located in Austin, Texas, it is one of the top universities in Texas and offers more than 50 undergraduate and 10 graduate programs. With a network of partner universities around the world, St. Edward’s delivers a premier, highly personalized education that helps students explore their own transformational pathways to knowledge, experience, understanding and success. St. Edward’s has been recognized for 19 consecutive years as one of “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report. In the U.S. News 2022 rankings, St.Edward’s continues in the list of top 10 Best Regional Universities in the West for the 3rd consecutive year.

About Bank of America:

At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We’re delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It’s demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Connect with us on Twitter (@BofA_News).

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts.

AUSTIN, Texas — Today, the St. Edward’s University Board of Trustees formally welcomed Montserrat Fuentes as the 24th president of St. Edward’s University in a historic inauguration on the hilltop campus in Austin, Texas.

Fuentes is a lauded mathematician, researcher, veteran higher education administrator and the first Hispanic to lead the university, notable since fewer than 5% of university presidents are Hispanic/LatinX women according to the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. 

“It is a privilege and responsibility to become the 24th president of St. Edward’s and join a rich tradition of the university,” said Fuentes, who has been serving in her first year as president since July 2021. “I want to celebrate our long history of inclusion by cultivating a vibrant campus and distinctive academic experience for all of our students, regardless of their background or identity which is deeply aligned with our Holy Cross values.” 

Originally from Spain, Fuentes immigrated to the United States after she was recruited by the University of Chicago, where she earned her doctorate in Statistics. Fuentes has more than two decades of experience in higher education and has served on committees and advisory boards for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Institute of Health, among others. 

“Dr. Fuentes has a keen understanding and data-driven approach to higher education that will position St. Edward’s University and our students for future success,” said St. Edward’s Board of Trustees Chair Steve Shadowen ’80. “In a short time, she has demonstrated an ability to energize our students, campus and Austin community to strive for excellence in academics, professional goals and service.”

In her inauguration speech, “Destination University for a More Just World,” Fuentes spoke about the five main goals of the university’s 2022-2027 strategic plan: academic excellence and distinction; diversity, equity, inclusion and justice; vibrant and inclusive campus; Austin impact; and infrastructure and resources.

Under the strategic plan, Fuentes will seek out new opportunities to deliver distinctive academics through courageous teaching, research and creative work that is responsive to the needs and workforce demands of the Austin community and beyond.

As part of the strategic plan’s emphasis on academic excellence, Fuentes announced that the university will develop new programs in technology and health care, including a new school of health sciences.

“When we look at the needs of our Central Texas community, we see disparities in people’s access to health care and infrastructure that is strained by this region’s growth,” Fuentes said. “The pandemic has exacerbated these challenges. We can be part of the solution by educating compassionate, highly qualified members of the healthcare workforce who prioritize the needs of the disadvantaged.”

Since its founding, the university’s Holy Cross mission has empowered transformative experiential learning, leadership development and a service commitment that prepares informed and responsible global citizens who create a more just, diverse and equitable world.

“At St. Edward’s, we say the mind will not be cultivated at the expense of the heart,” Fuentes said. “We want to engage with our community and make sure our students have access to a transformative and excellent education rooted in mentorship, hands-on learning and academic opportunities. We will become a destination university for a more just and humane world for all.”

For more information on President Fuentes, visit her webpage.

About St. Edward’s University: 

St. Edward’s University is a private, liberal arts university in the Catholic, Holy Cross tradition with approximately 3,600 students. Located in Austin, Texas, it is one of the top universities in Texas and offers more than 50 undergraduate and 10 graduate programs. With a network of partner universities around the world, St. Edward’s delivers a premier, highly personalized education that helps students explore their own transformational pathways to knowledge, experience, understanding and success. St. Edward’s has been recognized for 19 consecutive years as one of “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report. In the U.S. News 2022 rankings, St. Edward’s continues to rank in the list of top 10 Best Regional Universities in the West for the 3rd consecutive year.  

AUSTIN, Texas— St. Edward’s University is proud to be named a top producer of 2021–2022 Fulbright U.S. Students.

Six students from St. Edward’s were awarded Fulbrights for the academic year 2021–2022, getting the opportunity to work, live with and learn from the people of their host country. St. Edward’s is one of five institutions in Texas to be named a top producer for 2021–2022. The others are The University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University, University of Houston and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. 

Each year the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announces the top producing institutions for the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. The Chronicle of Higher Education publishes the lists annually

With this year’s recognition, St. Edward’s has been recognized as a top producer 12 times.

“It’s thanks to the remarkable diversity and accomplishments — both academic and experiential — of our St. Ed’s students that we have once again been named a Fulbright Top Producer. Our students have great hearts, sharp minds and unique stories that make them ideal candidates for cultural exchange and future success.” said Dina Guidubaldi, director of Fellowships.

Since 2008, 75 Fulbrights have been awarded to our students to teach and conduct research in more than 20 countries. St. Edward’s was named the nation’s top producer of U.S. Fulbright Students among master’s-granting institutions in 2018–2019 and in 2015–2016. 

“We thank the leadership of these institutions for supporting their faculty advisors and administrators, who are instrumental in guiding their students through the Fulbright application process. We know that U.S. institutions benefit from having their students represent their campus overseas, which often fosters reciprocal exchanges that in turn help further internationalize U.S. campuses,” said Ethan Rosenzweig, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.  

The Fulbright competition is administered at St. Edward’s through The Office of Fellowships, which helps high-achieving students academically and professionally, connects them to merit-based opportunities and makes the process of applying an enriching, reflective personal journey. The Office of Fellowships has proven success in guiding all St. Edward’s students in the Fulbright application process.  

In addition to the top producer recognition, St. Edward’s University was named a Fulbright HSI (Hispanic-Serving Institution) Leader in 2021, the inaugural year of this designation from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. St. Edward’s was one of 35 HSIs to receive this distinction nationally, and one of three in Texas. The other Fulbright HSI leaders in Texas are Texas Tech University and the University of Houston.

About the Fulbright 

The Fulbright Program was established over 75 years ago to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Fulbright is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange program. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. 

Fulbright is active in more than 160 countries worldwide and partners with participating governments, host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States. Many of these organizations also provide direct and indirect support. ECA sponsors the Fulbright program, and several nonprofit, cooperative partners implement and support the program on the Bureau’s behalf. For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit eca.state.gov/fulbright.

Join the Office of Information Technology (OIT) as we welcome back alumni of the OIT Student Ambassador Program! In this panel, we discuss what skills our panelists learned while working for OIT as students, how those skills set them apart in the job market, and what advice they have for current students at St. Edward’s University.

The OIT Student Ambassador Program is a professional development program that prepares college students for their post-graduate careers by giving the ambassadors meaningful, hands-on work where they interact with full-time OIT staff on a day-to-day basis. OIT Student Ambassadors act as advocates for OIT's initiatives and provide the top-quality support and assistance that keeps the university running.

Let's meet our panelists!

Please tell us who you are, where you're from, why you chose to go to St. Edward's, what you studied while you were here, what you did for OIT and where you are today.

Celestina Macareno, Support Engineer at Atlassian (she/they):

Hi, I'm Celestina. I'm from Houston, I moved to Austin for college to go to St. Edward's, and I stayed here for work. I got my degree in Interactive Game Studies (now called Video Game Development).

As part of the OIT Student Ambassador Program, I worked in Support with the Help Desk. That job really helped me get me where I am now. I currently work as a Support Engineer for Atlassian for the products of Opsgenie and status page.

That sounds exciting. Tell us what you were working on just recently. I love to hear that you were raising some funds earlier this year.

Macareno:

Yeah, so my company is very big on giving time or money to donate. They give us a ton of volunteer hours, and they bring up a lot of volunteer opportunities.

Atlassian actually has a gamers team, and all of us got together to do a 24-hour stream with Extra Life to raise money for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Atlassian actually price matches any eligible contribution. So, that fund-raising counted as an eligible contribution, and it got doubled. That was really fun, and that's why my hair is short. During the livestream, I did challenges like eating BeanBoozles, doing the one chip challenge or cutting my hair every $100 donation mark we hit.

That's wonderful to hear. Edeliz, please go ahead and introduce yourself.

Edeliz Perez, Self-Employed Voiceover Artist (she/her)

Hi, I'm Edeliz, and I'm from South Texas. I decided to go to St. Edward's because I really wanted to be in Austin, I was looking to get a film degree, and I wanted to go to a smaller school. So I got a communication degree with a focus in media broadcast journalism, and I minored in English, which has actually come in handy.

I started working for OIT as a communication associate during my junior year, I believe. I learned a lot doing that. I did a lot of event planning and copywriting. Then, I transferred over to the Digital Media Center, which was a much better fit for me because I was more into doing videos and audio. So, luckily I ended up getting a job after college as a sound designer for Mood Media, and now I am a voiceover artist.

Can you talk a little bit more about some of the projects you're working on as a voiceover artist?

Perez:

I got my job as a sound designer at Mood Media about a year and a half after graduating. They do the messages you hear in stores, like when you go to a retail store, like T.J. Maxx or a Walmart. I was somewhat skilled in doing voice work during college, and it ended up coming in handy for this job. So now I do the voice for stores like Walmart, T.J. Maxx, Sketchers, Home Goods... So when you hear that voice in a store that says, "Hello, shoppers!"... that's what I do now.

Throughout the OIT Student Ambassador Program, we're trying to make sure we put students in the roles they will enjoy and thrive in. Could you speak about some of the skills you picked up in your roles with OIT and how they helped you transition into the roles and projects you're working on now?

Macareno:

I felt like the Ambassador Program really helped me transition my skills to be more digital. I used to work retail, so it was a lot of in-person customer service. I hadn't really done a lot of customer service via phone, web, or chat, and I ended up staying in support after graduating. So I feel like my role working for OIT helped me translate my customer service skills from in-person to digital.

Now, I know how a ticketing system works, the different parts of the ticketing system, how to talk to a customer via the web or via phone. I had a lot of digital customer service training both with OIT and then with my first job out of college, which was with Box. I also learned a lot of other skills with OIT, like, reimaging Macs. I don't work a lot with hardware now— my past two jobs have been software— but I was able to bring that up in my job interviews to show how I was willing to learn things that I wasn't familiar with. I also knew a ton of different software programs working for OIT because we had to learn a bunch of different programs, not just one. So, that made me familiar with Box, and that's how I got my job at Box. As a result, I translated everything I've gathered from both jobs to Atlassian. So, I keep adding to my little tool bag of skills.

Perez:

During my time working at the Digital Media Center, I learned the ins and outs of Premiere Pro thanks to guidance from OIT staff. I also worked with cameras, equipment and lighting while filming campus events. So after I graduated, I had those skills, and I used them to get jobs and internships. But really, the wide range of work I did, everything from copywriting to video editing, ended up helping me later on.

I would think that you consider yourself kind of like an entrepreneur. Could you speak to some of the skills that helped you transition from working for a company to moving into self-employment?

Perez:

Yeah, a lot of tact, I guess. Even when I was in school, I knew that I wanted to be self-employed at some point. I really didn't think that it would end up being what I do now because I sort of fell into voiceover and fell into the job that I have now. In terms of the skills, I think having a ton of skills, instead of just having one thing that you focus on, is something that I took away from my time in college. So now, I can offer my clients a range of things. For example, not only can I do voice work, but I can also do podcast editing, or sometimes they need video editing for something on Instagram.

Think back to where you were as a student in OIT. What advice would you give yourself when you were a student?

Macareno:

Just go for it. Any job you see that you're interested in, even if you don't think you're qualified for it, just apply if you check off most of the boxes. The job postings aren't always made by the team that's hiring. It's usually the HR team or the recruiting team. The hiring team might give them certain criteria, but then the hiring manager or the recruiters might add some stuff.

Also, if you think you can learn something on the job posting, just apply. That's what I ended up doing. I didn't feel confident when I applied to Box. I was like, I fit most of that, but I feel like they won't hire me because I'm missing X, Y, and Z. But I applied anyway, and I got through the whole interview process and ended up working there. So, my advice is just apply. Give it a chance.

Applying to jobs is good practice, anyway. It's all worth it. Even if you think you're not going to make it, you'll get at least something out of it.

Perez:

My advice would be to try everything once or even a few times. So, my advice is to be open. You might end up doing something different than what you anticipated. When you try a little bit of everything, you get a broader range of skills. Also, something I did in college a lot was volunteer for festivals, which really helped me develop my socializing skills, which is hard once you leave college.

Celestina, you mentioned going to interviews to get practice, even though you don't feel like you fit that role. Reflecting back, do you think having mock interviews before you go into the workforce would be something you would have liked to do?

Macareno:

I actually did some interviews while I was an Ambassador. We had the opportunity to interview other students who would be taking over our roles once we left. I thought that was super helpful because we got to see both sides, interviewee and interviewer.

That skill translates into many aspects of the workforce. For example, your team might put you on their interviewing panel or suggest that you do the interview training that their company offers.

Can you talk a bit about prepping for interviews or applying for jobs? What resources did you use at St. Edward's to help you prepare for applying for jobs?

Macareno:

I used the Career and Professional Development Office to tweak my resumé. I went to them a lot for revising and to ask questions. Also, I took a class where we did mock interviews, and we reviewed each other's resumés and cover letters.

I also made myself a playlist to hype me up, so I recommend doing that. Make a hype playlist that makes you feel like you're the best and you're on top of the world, and you'll go into that interview feeling pretty confident.

Perez:

In terms of interviewing, I'd like to add that you're interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. So I think we go into interviews, especially if it's one of our first times interviewing, and we don't feel very confident. Keep in mind that you have something to offer these people, and they are interviewing you for a reason. They need you as much as you might need them.

So, just remember that the ball is in your court and be careful to not be taken advantage of because that can happen in your early 20s when you're first trying to get a job.

Macareno:

And you have options, you can say yes, or you can say no. You might have multiple job offers, and at that point, you have a lot of power.

If you could go back in time and change anything about your college experience, what would you change?

Perez:

If I could go back and tell my college self something, it would be to have faith in myself and have a lot of patience. If you don't get a job in the field you studied, sometimes it's for the best and can lead to many other opportunities. I would also like to add that TikTok is an incredible resource for anything. For example, I went on TikTok and looked up how to write a cover letter. It's just a one-minute video, so if my 20-year-old college self had had TikTok or just like a quick resource, I feel like I would have done so much better.

Also, there are so many people who are in this with you. I think it's easy to feel very alone at this time in your life, especially after just graduating. So, know that you're not alone and that things will get better. You will succeed, even if you don't do it immediately.

Macareno:

I wouldn't change anything. I think I'm very happy with how things turned out. I wouldn't change my major. I wouldn't change opportunities. I don't think I was in the best headspace to take on more internships or projects when I was in school. I knew my limits. So I guess that's the advice I would give is: know your limits, and if you need help, ask for help.

Thank you to our panelists for sharing their insight with St. Edward's students. OIT wishes you the best of luck and cannot wait to see where life takes you next.

Keep up with Edeliz and Celestina by staying connected with them!

Celestina Macareno: LinkedIn

Edeliz Perez: Instagram: @edelizvo | TikTok: @edelizard