University provides February updates on strategic initiatives

(Feb. 18, 2019) -- In an email sent today to UTSA faculty and staff, President Taylor Eighmy provided updates on the presidential, strategic, tactical and academic initiatives underway to support the university’s strategic vision. 

Campus Master Plan

UTSA held two off-campus forums January 30-31 to solicit feedback from community members and neighbors near both the Main and Downtown Campuses. The forums took place at Magnolia Halle on the northwest side of the city and the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center on the near west side; both were well attended. On February 11, Page consultants returned to campus to discuss feedback from the community forums and share preliminary concept alternatives with the master plan steering committee and the senior leadership team. UTSA students, faculty and staff can share ideas with the task force by emailing masterplan@utsa.edu or texting 830-339-2252.

Classroom to Career

Following a four-month process of inventorying UTSA’s experiential learning programs, reaching out to community partners, exploring resource availability and researching peer models, the task force leading Phase I of the initiative has released a report of its findings and recommendations. Phase II will focus on building a team to implement the recommendations, including continued outreach to faculty, staff and students, as well as community partners to identify opportunities and seek input. In the meantime, questions and feedback on the report may be sent to c2c@utsa.edu.

Research Excellence

UTSA’s Research Dashboard underwent enhancements to include a near real-time Burn Rate module that allows users to monitor the rate at which restricted research funds are expended. Several faculty have recently received notifications of prestigious awards and honors, including one American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow, two Fulbright Core U.S. Scholars, one Humboldt Research Awardee and two NSF CAREER Awardees. On February 18, UTSA will play host to the first of a series of guest lectures by fellows of various National Academies. Academy fellows are among the world’s most distinguished scholars, elected in recognition of their past and ongoing achievements in original research.

Incentivized Resource Management 

The FY20 budget development process is being structured around the new Incentivized Resource Management (IRM) Budget Model. A new IRM governance structure is being put into place to include an Executive Budget Committee, a Support Unit Budget Advisory Committee and a Strategic Investment Review Advisory Committee. The Finance and Budget Modeling task force has transitioned into the IRM Steering Committee, which will periodically review the model to consider possible refinements. 

SACSCOC 2020 – Racing to Reaccreditation

The race to reaccreditation is now full throttle in anticipation of UTSA’s Compliance Certification Report due in September. Internally, all information must be finalized and revisions completed by June 1. In order to meet this deadline, three external reviewers will be providing feedback on the draft report over the next few weeks. The reviewers—all of whom have considerable experience with SACSCOC guidelines—will provide helpful direction to the Racing to Reaccreditation Team.

Data Governance

Membership is set for the initiative’s various data governance groups, including the recently established Data Governance College Leads team. This team will assist college deans in strategic and operational areas by providing them with actionable information and trends for data-informed decisions. The college leads will meet once a month to review institutional and research dashboards, and assess graduate student status in regards to progress and degree completion.

National Security Collaboration Center and School of Data Science

To increase collaboration and share common spaces, the School of Data Science (SDS) and National Security Collaboration Center (NSCC) will be co-located in the same building just east of the Downtown Campus, on a parcel of land that UTSA is in the process of purchasing from the City of San Antonio. UTSA is actively recruiting two executive directors, one for SDS and the other for NSCC, in a hiring process that is expected to conclude this spring.

Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence

Work on the schematic design for the Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence (RACE) continues, with next steps to include incorporating key user group feedback to finalize space needs and optimize workflow and circulation. The building’s design is expected to be set by March 1, with final project pricing due by the end of March. UTSA Athletics, External Relations and the Roadrunner Foundation continue to collaborate on fundraising initiatives for RACE.

Guadalupe Hall (formerly Freshman Residence Hall)

Located in the core of UTSA’s residential district near the Roadrunner Café, UTSA’s new freshman residence hall—newly named Guadalupe Hall—will be presented for approval by the UT System Board of Regents on February 26, 2019. The residence’s schematic design is complete and design development is in progress to emphasize affordability and student success. The hall will feature double occupancy with easily accessible single restrooms and community spaces located immediately outside the rooms. A mini-Sombrilla will provide an outdoor gathering space to foster community. Once built, Guadalupe Hall will increase UTSA’s current on-campus housing inventory by 372 beds.

Residential Honors College

University of Texas Chancellor James Milliken has signed the Project Definition Letter for this project, paving the way to move forward with planning for the 400-bed living-learning residence. Project manager interviews are underway and a team assembled to kick off the programming phase. The Honors Dean’s Advisory Council is considering branding for the residence as part of the overarching strategy for increasing visibility and enrollment.

Human Health

The task force, together with Provost Kimberly Espy, held three well-attended update and Q&A sessions for faculty in late January, providing valuable input for the group’s work. The task force is finalizing a report from its data-gathering phase that will be made available on the website in the coming weeks. The initiative’s second phase is now underway, where findings will be translated into notional proposals for a new health college. The campus community and external stakeholders will then have an opportunity to review the models and provide input. Questions and feedback may be submitted to the task force at healthtaskforce@utsa.edu.

Learn more about the UTSA Strategic Vision.

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