UTSA President Taylor Eighmy speaks before the San Antonio City Council.
(Oct. 18, 2018) – The San Antonio City Council today unanimously approved the transfer of two parcels of land to expand the UTSA Downtown Campus. The collaboration is a major component in UTSA’s 10-year vision to accelerate the development of the Downtown Campus as an exemplary urban serving university that produces highly skilled professionals, advances economic development and creates prosperity in San Antonio.
The City of San Antonio properties transferring to UTSA include 2.5 acres at the intersection of South Santa Rosa and Dolorosa Streets and one acre on Dolorosa near South Flores Street. They would be the sites for the National Security Collaboration Center and the School of Data Science.
“Today’s vote by City Council is a terrific illustration of the power of collaboration,” said UTSA President Taylor Eighmy. “The land transfers will accelerate UTSA’s ability to serve as a driver of economic development and social mobility in our city, and together we are shining an even brighter spotlight on San Antonio for national cybersecurity leadership.”
President Eighmy, UT System Regent Rad Weaver, several San Antonio business leaders and UTSA cybersecurity student Heila Shahidi went before the City Council today in support of the land transfer, calling it a game changer for downtown San Antonio. Mayor Ron Nirenberg reinforced that description.
“UTSA’s expansion will accelerate San Antonio’s ongoing central city resurgence and provide a transformative boost that enhances economic opportunity for generations to come,” said Nirenberg. “These initiatives will have a profound effect on our growing technology sector in addition to UTSA’s drive to become a nationally recognized research university. San Antonio is second only to the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area when it comes to federal cyber defense assets. Already, San Antonio’s academic institutions are a big part of the cyber technology landscape.”
Former HUD Secretary and mayor of San Antonio Henry Cisneros spoke as a government official who studied the relationships between universities and cities, particularly universities located in downtown areas, and, also, as a longtime resident of the westside of San Antonio.
“This is a powerful plan,” Cisneros said. “Universities can be powerful, powerful guiding forces to a city’s economy.”
He confirmed San Antonio is on the same successful tract as Austin, San Francisco, Washington D.C., New York, and Phoenix, that all received an economic boost from major downtown university campuses.
UTSA and the city are also actively exploring the joint development and management of the former Continental Hotel on West Commerce Street as housing for faculty and other urban professionals. The project will involve the renovation of the existing hotel and construction of a new building on the hotel’s former parking lot.
UTSA is concurrently in discussions with Bexar County for the potential transfer of 2.6 acres of property, conjoining the city parcels.
Learn more about the UTSA Downtown Campus 10-Year Plan.
Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Community input is central to developing a well-conceived roadmap for the next 50 years of the ITC. To date, the visioning process has included opportunities for public input and ideation through two rounds of Community Conversations that sought input from a wide variety of ITC stakeholders.
Virtual EventPlease join us Thursday, July 7th, 2022 for a discussion with Colonel (ret) Michael Davis, MD, FACS, FRCS (Hon), former Director of the U.S. Combat Casualty Care Research Program. Dr. Davis will discuss how to best identify strengths at UTSA that can be effectively leveraged for funding proposals to the Department of Defense.
Business Building (BB `2.06.04,) Main CampusEducators will develop strategies that can be implemented to stimulate, guide, and build capacity of diverse student populations.
UTSA Downtown CampusParticipants will be introduced to applications included in Adobe Creative Cloud, a tool that is free for all UTSA faculty, staff, and students. Attendees will be able to complete short projects that will give them the opportunity to produce artifacts that they can use to improve digital literacy in their courses
Virtual EventThe Innovation Academy is an 8-hour online hybrid course designed to introduce faculty to a variety of educational ideas, best practices and resources for becoming more comfortable in teaching in different modalities. This academy will run July 18 – August 21. Upon completion of all activities, faculty will receive a one-time incentive of $1,000
Virtual EventLearn how to design surveys that are scientifically valid and are inclusive of diverse populations. Anchored in culturally and linguistically competent practices, this interactive workshop will explore and apply concepts related to the lifecycle of survey development from design to implementation.
Virtual EventThe virtual conference will bring together information professionals and academics to discuss current research, ideas, insights, and best practices that advance STEM research and education.
Virtual EventThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.