Oct. 22, 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.
Guided by the experiential learning criteria developed by the workgroup over the summer, efforts are now underway to ensure appropriate tracking and recording of experiential learning opportunities and to develop an Experience Transcript as an additional tool for students to showcase themselves to future employers.
FY19 was a very successful year for UTSA researchers pursuing and administering sponsored projects. The year closed out with record high research expenditures, directly supporting efforts to achieve the university’s goals for Carnegie R1 and NRUF designations. Total R&D expenditures reached $80.6M—over $50M of which was external/restricted—representing an increase of nearly 16% from FY18. Notably, UTSA faculty and staff submitted more than 1,000 proposals in FY19 and received nearly 400 awards totaling $83M, representing a 12% increase in proposal and 27% increase in award activity.
Preventing Sexual Assault and Misconduct
This semester the task force is focusing on student prevention programming and awareness campaigns. Long-standing events formed new collaborations, such as Take Back the Night joining the Homecoming lineup for the first time this year. Several new events are taking place this semester, such as UTSA Peace Center’s upcoming screenings of At the Heart of Gold with Courage First on October 24. LT Robinson, Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Students, launched a cross-functional group to work on increasing student completion rates of UTSA’s online prevention modules.
SACSCOC 2020 – Racing to Reaccreditation
UTSA’s Compliance Certification Report is under review with the SACSCOC Off-Site Peer Review Team. UTSA will host a SACSCOC staff advisory visit by Michael Hoefer, SACSCOC Vice President, on December 2-3. During his visit, faculty and staff engaged with the reaffirmation of accreditation effort will have the opportunity to explore issues and ask questions. Particular attention will be focused on UTSA’s Quality Enhancement Plan, the feedback from the Off-Site Peer Review Team and components of the On-Site Committee visit scheduled for March 16-19, 2020. A meeting for deans, associate deans and department chairs is also planned to review ongoing requirements for substantive changes.
National Security Collaboration Center and School of Data Science
The School of Data Science (SDS) recently received recognition as a National Security Agency (NSA) “Data Science Partner.” The partnership will help build data science capacity at UTSA and firmly establish San Antonio as one of the largest national hubs for data science and cybersecurity. In partnership with the MITRE Corporation, the SDS and VPREDKE Office are helping 10 UTSA faculty members across multiple disciplines to incorporate hands-on artificial intelligence lessons on data management, analysis and visualization into their courses. UTSA is also starting a new campus-wide initiative around Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be introduced during the university’s inaugural AI Summit on Monday, November 11.
Construction fences for Guadalupe Hall are in place in Resident Lot 2. Following the partial closure of this lot, student residents successfully transitioned to the new Resident Lot 5. While upcoming construction for the RACE facility will impact Brackenridge Lot 3, Campus Services continues to see many available commuter parking spaces in a variety of locations.
Last week, UTSA announced its intent to stand up a new College for Health, Community and Policy. A search for the inaugural dean has been launched, with the assistance of the executive search firm Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates. The new college will “go live” in January 2020, but the full transition process will continue throughout this academic year in preparation to enroll students beginning in Fall 2020.
Campus departments are encouraged to continue taking advantage of the Strategic Faculty Hiring Programs offered through Academic Affairs. Currently open opportunities include the Accelerated Hiring of Nationally Recognized Faculty Program, including the Special Opportunity Hire Mechanism for scholars capable of making unique and exceptional contributions to UTSA’s mission, the Accelerating Faculty Diversity Hiring Program and the Dual Career Academic Partners Hiring Program. Hiring for the four clusters competitively selected last year through the Clustered and Connected Hiring Program (CCP) is ongoing, and a call for new CCP proposals will be issued in Fall of 2020.
Expanding Business Education & Career Engagement
The programming process for this initiative will be launched after more time has been dedicated to exploring various funding mechanisms for the new business building at the Downtown Campus.
San Antonio Workforce Initiative
The task force, consisting of members from UTSA and the San Antonio community, kicked off its first meeting last month. The group will focus on the multiple modalities needed to meet the workforce needs of the current “Fourth Industrial Revolution” and on developing strategies and action plans to build a variety of audience-based postsecondary pathways.
Learn more about the UTSA strategic vision.
Celebrate UTSA’s 50th Anniversary and share social media posts about the 50th using the hashtag #UTSA50.
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The Secular Student Alliance is proud to present guest speaker Dave Troiano, Board Secretary for the Greater Houston Chapter Americans United for Separation of Church and State. This event will emphasize how reproductive health care is intertwined with separation of church and state.
Student Union, Willow Room (2.02.12), Main CampusThis event will acknowledge graduating seniors from the McNair Scholars program at UTSA before inducting the new cohort of scholars into the program.
North Paseo Building (NPB 5.140), Main CampusAt this memorable celebration, UTSA graduates will be introduced one-by-one to cross the stage and accept their doctoral degrees.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusRoadrunner Walk is an event for graduating students to have a memorable walk on campus to celebrate an important milestone and their achievements. Graduates will walk along the Paseo while being celebrated by the UTSA community, friends, and family members.
Student Union Paseo, Main CampusJoin us for a tribute to Willie Velásquez, honoring the legacy of Willie Velásquez, a pivotal figure in shaping the history of Latino and Hispanic participation in the American voting process. Delve into his life and contributions as a champion of Latino voting rights. Moderated by UTSA's Teresa Niño, the event will feature influential voices, including Jane Velásquez, María Antonietta Berriozábal, Dora Oliva, and Anthony Gonzales.
Buena Vista Building, Gregory Luna Room, Downtown CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of College of Education and Human Development, College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Sciences and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.Celebrate the accomplishments of Alvarez College of Business, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.The 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 promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
