A Topic-Based Support Directory for Faculty and Staff
Last updated August 10, 2026

Use this guide when you know the type of assistance you need but are unsure which College of Sciences office should be your first point of contact. Begin with the shared account or functional area whenever one is listed; the detailed sections explain the matters each team supports.

Area Start Here Common Needs
Faculty Success cos.facultysuccess@utsa.edu Promotion, annual review, workload, teaching support, awards, and development
Research & Scholarship Associate Dean for Research Research planning, grants, facilities, partnerships, and compliance
Transdisciplinary Research Assistant Dean for Transdisciplinary Research Development Research teams, large-scale funding, and strategic initiatives
Undergraduate Programs COSUndergraduateStudies@utsa.edu Curriculum, advising, student support, and academic policies
Graduate Programs cosgraduatestudies@utsa.edu Graduate curriculum, recruitment, thesis/dissertation, and funding
Communications Marketing & Communications Request Form News, media, web, social media, events, marketing, and branding
Finance / HR BSC via ServiceNow Purchasing, travel, budgets, hiring, payroll, and personnel actions
Dean's Office dean.cos@utsa.edu College-level strategy, commitments, advocacy, climate, and resources

ROUTING NOTE: The COS Faculty Success Team is the interface for communications with the Office of the Provost and Senior Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA). Departments should route communications and memos intended for VPAA through the COS Faculty Success Team.

Start Here

cos.facultysuccess@utsa.edu
Chris Gamblin, Associate Dean for Faculty Success — Truman.Gamblin@utsa.edu
Terri Matiella, Assistant Dean for Instruction, Assessment, and Faculty Development — Terri.Matiella@utsa.edu
Mostafa Fazly, Assistant Dean for Faculty Support — Mostafa.Fazly@utsa.edu
Ana Laredo, Faculty Support Operations Manager — Ana.Laredo@utsa.edu

ⓘ COS Faculty Success Resources

Promotion and Career Advancement

  • Tenure and promotion for tenured and tenure-track faculty
  • Promotion for fixed-term-track faculty
  • Third-year review
  • Continuing Periodic Evaluation (CPE)
  • Emeritus status review

Faculty Evaluation and Workload

  • Annual reviews
  • Digital Measures and activity reporting
  • Faculty workload assignments

Faculty Opportunities

  • Endowments and named positions
  • Faculty awards and recognition
  • Faculty Development Leave (FDL)
  • Professional development opportunities
  • Leadership development

Teaching Support

  • Instructional development
  • Teaching effectiveness resources
  • Mentoring and faculty success programs

The Employee Success Center serves as a central hub for information and resources for UT San Antonio employees.

Check out the Employee Success Center

Start Here

Elizabeth Sooby, Associate Dean for Research — Elizabeth.Sooby@utsa.edu
Elizabeth Tilley, Senior Research Administrator — Elizabeth.Tilley@utsa.edu 
Monica Trevino Mendez, Senior Grant Development Manager — Monica.Trevino3@utsa.edu
Anthony Vallejo, Director of Lab Safety for UT San Antonio — Anthony.Vallejo@utsa.edu
Kurt Schoessler, Director for Research Integrity for UT San Antonio — Kurt.Schoessler@utsa.edu

Research Support

  • Research planning and development
  • Research partnerships and collaborations
  • Undergraduate and graduate research initiatives

Grants and Contracts

  • Grant preparation
  • Proposal review
  • Budget development
  • Grant administration
  • Post-award management

Facilities and Infrastructure

  • Research facilities
  • Laboratory and shared-equipment issues
  • Space allocation and research operations

Compliance

  • Research compliance
  • IRB and IACUC questions
  • Responsible Conduct of Research

Start Here

Leslie Neely, Assistant Dean for Transdisciplinary Research Development — Leslie.Neely@utsa.edu

Building Research Collaborations

  • Identifying collaborators across departments and disciplines
  • Developing interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research teams
  • Connecting faculty with researchers across the university
  • Facilitating partnerships with external organizations and institutions
  • Expanding research networks and strategic collaborations

Large-Scale Funding Opportunities

  • Center, institute, and program project grants
  • Multi-investigator proposals
  • Federal funding opportunities requiring interdisciplinary teams
  • Strategic funding initiatives
  • Team science proposal development

Proposal Development

  • Identifying funding opportunities
  • Developing competitive research concepts
  • Proposal planning and coordination
  • Building research teams for major submissions
  • Facilitating proposal development workshops and retreats

Strategic Research Initiatives

  • Emerging research areas
  • Research cluster development
  • Grand challenge initiatives
  • Cross-college and cross-campus research programs
  • Strategic investments in research growth

Research Capacity Building

  • Strengthening research competitiveness
  • Expanding interdisciplinary scholarship
  • Faculty networking opportunities
  • Research development programming
  • Mentoring for large-scale grant development

Start Here

COSUndergraduateStudies@utsa.edu
Hector Aguilar, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies — Hector.Aguilar@utsa.edu
Lauren Hoffmann, Senior Program Manager for Undergraduate Studies — Lauren.Hoffmann@utsa.edu
Gail Taylor, Associate Program Director for Undergraduate Research — Gail.Taylor@utsa.edu
Daniel Ramirez-Escobedo, Student Success Center Director — Daniel.Ramirez-Escobedo@utsa.edu

Academic Programs

  • New courses
  • Curriculum changes
  • Program modifications
  • Catalog questions

Student Support

  • Academic advising
  • Undergraduate research
  • Student success initiatives

Academic Policies

  • ADA accommodations
  • Academic misconduct
  • Grade appeals
  • Academic grievances
  • Student academic concerns

Start Here

cosgraduatestudies@utsa.edu
Lorenzo Brancaleon, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies — Lorenzo.Brancaleon@utsa.edu
Edward Johns, Senior Program Manager for Graduate Studies — Edward.Johns@utsa.edu

Graduate Education

  • Graduate student recruitment
  • Program requirements
  • Graduate curriculum
  • Graduate student policies

Thesis and Dissertation

  • Thesis procedures
  • Dissertation procedures
  • Committee formation
  • Graduation requirements

Funding and Professional Development

  • Graduate assistantships
  • Fellowships and scholarships
  • Professional training opportunities
  • Career development resources

Start Here

Marketing & Communications Request Form
Ryan Schoensee, Associate Director of Communications — Ryan.Schoensee@utsa.edu
Christina Calvo, Administrative Associate — Christina.Calvo@utsa.edu
Patty Ramirez, Web Specialist — Patricia.Ramirez@utsa.edu

ⓘ COS Communications Guidelines

News and Storytelling

  • Faculty achievements and awards
  • Research discoveries and publications
  • Grant awards
  • Student success stories
  • Alumni success stories
  • Department news and announcements
  • Faculty profiles and spotlights

Media Relations

  • Media interview requests
  • Press releases
  • Expert commentary opportunities
  • Newsworthy research findings
  • Crisis communications coordination

Digital Communications

  • College website updates
  • Faculty profile webpages
  • Department website content
  • News articles for the college website
  • Social media promotion
  • Event promotion

Marketing and Outreach

  • Recruitment materials
  • Promotional campaigns
  • Brochures and print materials
  • Program marketing
  • Community engagement and outreach
  • K–12 and STEM outreach publicity

Events

  • Public lectures
  • Research symposia
  • Conferences and workshops
  • Award ceremonies
  • Ribbon cuttings and special events
  • Photography and event coverage

Brand and Visual Identity

  • Use of university logos
  • Branding guidelines
  • Marketing templates
  • Graphic design requests
  • Digital signage and promotional graphics

Start Here

Business Service Center via ServiceNow
Monica Palomo, Assistant Dean for Fiscal Administration — Monica.Palomo@utsa.edu
John Strubelt, Associate Director for Fiscal Administration — John.Strubelt1@utsa.edu

ⓘ COS Business Service Center (BSC)

Purchasing and Finance

  • Ordering and procurement
  • Travel reimbursements
  • P-Cards
  • Cost centers and budget questions

Human Resources

  • Hiring processes
  • eForms
  • Payroll questions
  • Position requests
  • Personnel actions

Start Here

dean.cos@utsa.edu
Stephanie Santorico, Dean, College of Sciences
Mary Kate Otaneda-Patullo, Assistant to the Dean — Mary.Ontaneda@utsa.edu
Veronica Castellanos, Administrative Services Officer — Veronica.Castellanos@utsa.edu
Olivia Schneider, Development Coordinator — Olivia.Schneider@utsa.edu

ⓘ COS Dean's Office

Dean-Level Matters

  • Strategic initiatives that shape the college’s mission or programs
  • External partnerships requiring college-level commitments
  • College-wide concerns about policy, climate, or resources
  • Matters needing advocacy with university leadership or external stakeholders
  • College-level leadership development and faculty recognition

Administrative Services

  • Facilities, space assignments, office moves, building access, and keys
  • Coordination of staffing and college-level administrative requests
  • Liaison support with Facilities, HR, the BSC, Research, and other university partners
  • Operational support for college-level projects, assets, and special initiatives

Executive and Development Support

  • Executive scheduling and communications on behalf of the Dean
  • Fundraising, donor relations, and external engagement campaigns

Faculty Champions provide discipline-based peer support for teaching, faculty development, and college initiatives.

Check out the COS Faculty Champions 

Academic Innovation provides instructional design and Canvas support for College of Sciences faculty.

Name Email Role Support Provided
Jasmin Gomez Jasmin.Gomez@utsa.edu STEM Instructional Designer Academic Innovation — instructional design and Canvas support

Department chairs and Administrative Services Officers are the primary contacts for department-specific academic and administrative matters.

Department Name Email Role
Biology, Health, and the Environment (BHE) Katrin Gaardbo Kuhn Katrin.GaardboKuhn@utsa.edu Department Chair
Cheryl Negrete Cheryl.Negrete@utsa.edu Administrative Services Officer
Chemistry Zachary Tonzetich Zachary.Tonzetich@utsa.edu Interim Department Chair
Melissa Schafer LeFevre Melissa.Schafer@utsa.edu Administrative Services Officer
Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS) Saugata Datta Saugata.Datta@utsa.edu Department Chair
Laurie Gay Laurie.Gay@utsa.edu Administrative Services Officer
Mathematics Stephen Wirkus Stephen.Wirkus@utsa.edu Department Chair
Iliana Salazar Iliana.Salazar@utsa.edu Administrative Services Officer
Molecular Microbiology and Immunology (MMI) Astrid Cardona Astrid.Cardona@utsa.edu Department Chair
Laura Earleywine Laura.Earleywine@utsa.edu Administrative Services Officer
Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology (NDRB) Jenny Hsieh Jenny.Hsieh@utsa.edu Department Chair
Janice Marshall Janice.Marshall@utsa.edu Administrative Services Officer
Physics and Astronomy (P&A) Arturo Ponce-Pedraza Arturo.Ponce@utsa.edu Department Chair
Mildred Herrera-Rosales Mildred.HerreraRosales@utsa.edu Administrative Services Officer

Directory maintenance: Please send additions or corrections to cos.facultysuccess@utsa.edu.