As students are registering for the upcoming 2026 spring semester, Utah Tech Student Association student senators at Utah Tech University resources lined up to offer advice and guidance.
During Nov. 10-13, students were able to talk with clubs, academics and other student resources like the Disability Resource Center and the Center for Teaching and Learning outside of class buildings across campus. This gave students an opportunity to map out the upcoming semester before or after registering for classes.
Student senators is a branch within UTSA. Senators represent students and work with the dean of the college that the senator represents. Senators meet with students, gathering feedback or concerns that need to be addressed. Senators then meet with leaders and committees within the university often, bringing up those concerns to improve student experiences at Utah Tech.
Jaycie Tate, a junior chemistry major from St. George and senator over biology and physical sciences, said Academic Rush was planned to be around registration and before finals. That way, students had more visibility into what classes and resources are available to them.
The main goal of this event was to address issues the Student Senate has been receiving about the lack of knowledge of what academic advisers do for students.
Senators and the clubs branch of the Utah Tech Student Association decided to make a more academically-centered Club Rush. This way, students can quickly ask questions and meet with resources to and from classes.
Carly Venable, who was at the Learning Center booth and is a junior marketing major from Worland, Wyoming, said, “Sometimes you don’t really know what resources are available on campus.”
Venable says it is hard for the Learning Center to talk to each student on campus, but having a table out at Academic Rush gives students the opportunity to think and learn about what resources the campus offers and how it can help them best. Seeing the table out this past week can give a mental reminder to students to set up a meeting with their adviser or talk with resources to prepare for the semester ahead.
Faye Jakins, a junior math major from Mapleton, is a part of the Math Club at Utah Tech and was at Academic Rush to bring more awareness of the club.
Jakins says going to Club Rush is beneficial, but as the semester progresses, students often don’t come to clubs as much because of work or school. Having an event like Academic Rush gives students the opportunity to learn about the Math Club and come to more events. It is a refresher for students to go to club events during the final weeks of the semester.
Tate said, “Sometimes, especially if you are in college, and you have your degree already set up, it’s kind of hard to break away from either classes or kind of just the grind and be like, ‘OK let me go to this fun thing.'”
This is the first Academic Rush, and the UTSA clubs and Student Senate are looking forward to creating an event like this in the future. It is still unknown if it will be a semester event or just held in the fall.
Camille Daniels-Brown, the administrator to the vice president of clubs for UTSA, and a senior communication studies major from Olympia, Washington, said, “We are here to represent the colleges; our whole purpose was to get people out and inspire [students].”
