(Jan. 24, 2019) — In an email sent today to UTSA faculty and staff, President Taylor Eighmy provided updates on the presidential, strategic and tactical initiatives underway to support the university’s strategic vision.
Working with consultants from Page,the task force is hosting two off-campus forums to solicit feedback from campus neighbors and community members. Work is underway with a transportation sub-consultant to analyze traffic patterns, parking distribution and multi-modal parking strategies at both the Main and Downtown campuses. UTSA students, faculty and staff can share ideas with the task force by emailing [email protected] or texting 830-339-2252.
The Classroom to Career task force is finalizing its draft report and recommendations, which will soon be available for review by the campus community and external partners. In the meantime, and reflecting a key recommendation of the task force, UTSA is working to hire an Assistant/Associate Vice Provost of Career-Engaged Learning to support campus units in growing and tracking their current experiential learning offerings, plus creating new ones.
UTSA submitted its 2019 report on Institutional Commitment to Improving the Academic Performance of Underrepresented Studentsin response to annual reporting requirements for the National Research University Fund (NRUF). Data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) confirms that UTSA is well above Texas 2015 and 2030 benchmarks. Faculty support also remains a focus, with strategic programming launched to support applications to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellows Program and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER), both recognized as scholarly awards utilized by the THECB in assessing quality of faculty for NRUF designation. A new website launched this month with information about UTSA’s membership in the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity.
This spring, UTSA Campus Services is again offering a free shuttle to transport public policy and architecture academic pathway students between the Main and Downtown campuses Monday through Thursday in alignment with their blocked class schedule. Discounted VIA Metro bus semester passes are available for purchase at Roadrunner Express stores at either campus. Student housing options for the fall are available on the Housing & Residence Life website. Lastly, the task force is seeking three students who are passionate about the Downtown Campus to join the group this semester. Interested students may contact Elvira Leal at [email protected].
Several task forces are hard at work advancing the goals of the Data Governance initiative. The Risk and Compliance task force is identifying institutional Compliance Performance Indicators (CPIs) and developing an Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework. A Data Governance College Leads task force has been established to serve as data stewards, facilitating operational awareness through college-level metrics. The Data Governance Technical task force has been working on Banner revisions, Peoplesoft/Hyperion financial model development, and an upgrade to 25Live. This task force is also overseeing the implementation of Salesforce and FM Interact, ensuring the necessary data flow connections among these critical platforms constituting the foundation for most of UTSA’s business processes. Additional members will be added to the Data Governance Council to represent UTSA’s three new vice presidents (VPIMT Kendra Ketchum, VPBA Veronica Mendez and VPIE Myron Anderson).
National Security Collaboration Center and School of Data Science
The Main Campus bridge location for the National Security Collaboration Center (NSCC) continues to secure external collaborations, with recent additions from the Air Force 59th Medical Wing and Sierra Nevada Corporation. To date, the NSCC has secured more than 30 individual partners, of which 12 government and corporate entities have co-located on the UTSA Main Campus. Since opening in October 2018, UTSA has secured over $2.5M in research funding in support of the NSCC’s mission.
Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence
As the summer 2019 target date approaches to begin site work for RACE and a student-athlete support building at Park West, regular planning meetings are taking place between UTSA Athletics, UTSA Roadrunner Foundation, architects Populous/Mormon Monk, contractor Joeris and other university stakeholders. Populous is preparing a promotional video for the project, and the development of the facility’s schematic design is in progress.
An effort is underway to secure approval from UT System to start this project, which will create a 400-bed hall with facilities that will support traditional and co-curricular learning experiences and a vibrant honors residential college community. The selection process for a design firm begins this month.
This initiative launched with a working-group kick-off meeting in mid-January. Preliminary reviews and discussions centered on peer model and other university student success centers examples, especially their size and programming. Over the next month, the working group will convene to develop recommended student success center programming centered on creating an exceptional on-campus experience for our students. Design work is underway for the temporary academic advising modular complex (a stepping-stone to the Student Success Center) scheduled to open next fall.
A Human Health Planning Advisory task force has been formed to explore college structures to leverage strengths in human health and better serve UTSA students, the local community and state workforce needs. Currently the task force is examining health-related programs and scholarship at UTSA, best practices at peer institutions, market trends and potential partnerships. Beginning tomorrow, Provost Espy and the task force will hold Q&A sessions for faculty. In Phase II, findings will be translated into notional proposals for a new health college, which the campus community and external stakeholders will have opportunity to review and provide input.
