On mornings when students and faculty travel between UT San Antonio’s Main Campus and its growing downtown footprint, Jinjun Xiong, PhD, founding dean of the College of AI, Cyber and Computing, is thinking about the same journey.
Xiong spends much of his day navigating the road and transitions — between campuses, disciplines and the college’s future — as he works to position it at the center of San Antonio’s growing tech corridor.
As faculty and staff prepare to move into new classrooms and offices in both San Pedro I and San Pedro II this summer, Xiong sees downtown San Antonio as more than just a new address. He views the relocation as an opportunity to place students and faculty at the center of government, business and community partnerships as well as at the heart of the ideas and innovations that are shaping the future of technology.
Working together to establish a vision
Since arriving at the college on March 1, Xiong, who holds the Microsoft President’s Endowed Professorship, has met with faculty and staff for an open dialogue about the transition and his vision for the college.
“The college has a lot of energy,” he said. “It’s a new college, and people feel both excited and nervous about this integration and these new changes. The college faculty and staff are open-minded to the changes. People want to be heard and to have a channel to share their opinions and concerns.”
What he learned from engaging with colleagues reinforced his vision and helped shape the college’s priorities:
- Completing the downtown transition
- Strengthening partnerships with UT Health San Antonio
- Advancing UT San Antonio’s role as a leader in cybersecurity
- Reimagining how AI and computing can be used in the classroom
- Growing the college’s reputation and research impact
“The most exciting part is doing things new,” he said, adding that he sees the transition as an opportunity to create something new while helping advance the university’s broader goals as an R1 institution pursuing membership in the Association of American Universities.
Collaborating across disciplines
Xiong also wants to foster a deeper collaboration with UT San Antonio’s academic health center, UT Health San Antonio, by exploring how they can further integrate cybersecurity, applied AI education and computing through transdisciplinary connections. For example, the Department of Statistics and Data Science has launched consulting office hours with the School of Nursing and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, while faculty are collaborating with the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine and the Kate Marmion School of Public Health.
He said the college is encouraging faculty partnerships that incorporate AI and computing to advance health sciences research and discovery.
“I would like to do this more systematically and more broadly — bringing our experts onto other campuses and colleges to show that we are here to support your mission and build this collaboration,” Xiong said.
Evolving the college’s reach and reputation
Building on UT San Antonio’s strength in cybersecurity, Xiong wants to see the cyber program continue to evolve and become more robust.
“I’d like to see how we can elevate our reputation, our history and our legacy and strength in this area,” he said.
Xiong also wants to shape the future of AI education. He said the college is reevaluating curricula and instructional methods to ensure that students develop meaningful knowledge and skills while learning alongside AI. This effort is part of a broader college initiative to adapt education to a future where AI plays a larger role in the classroom.’
Fostering a connected ecosystem
Xiong measures success for the college in the lives of three key stakeholders — students, faculty and the San Antonio community.
By strengthening connections with the broader community, Xiong says the college can work together to make a tangible difference for a better San Antonio by supporting local needs and fostering civic engagement.
“I feel like we’re making a difference for the city of San Antonio, with our presence downtown and how we connect to the community,” he said. “We welcome more ideas from the community so that we can do more.”
For students, success means expanding opportunities that prepare them for careers through academic and real-world learning experiences.
At the same time, Xiong recognizes that dedicated faculty are essential to the college’s mission and invests in their development and support so they can thrive in the classroom, in research and in their careers. Resources to recruit leading faculty members are top of mind for Xiong.
“We’d love to grow our college in terms of the number of faculty members so that we can be more prominent on the national and international stage and compete with others,” he said.
Now, as founding dean for the College of AI, Cyber and Computing, Xiong is focusing on building connections with faculty, UT San Antonio leadership and external partners and donors.
“I see a lot that has to be done collaboratively,” he said, adding that promoting student and faculty success will be the driving force behind every decision made as the college grows. “Amazing work is happening here.”
