AUGUST 16, 2023 — This week, members of the Strategic Planning Refresh Subcommittee shared their final recommendations regarding the UTSA strategic plan. The report is a culmination of a yearlong refresh process to affirm the university’s three strategic destinations, apply insights learned from surveys and listening sessions, and continue advancing UTSA toward becoming a leading Hispanic Serving, public research university.
One year ago, the committee was charged by President Eighmy to undertake a refresh process that would celebrate the university’s successes, hone its approach to meet its three strategic destinations and align its resources to ensure continued forward momentum.
“Last year, at the midpoint of UTSA’s 10-year strategic plan, I charged the steering committee to facilitate a refresh to assess the progress we’ve made and evaluate how we might further evolve our destinations,” said UTSA President Taylor Eighmy. “Thanks to their leadership and our community’s participation, we can affirm that our three destinations are the right ones going forward and that we can remain focused on becoming a university of the future in the city of the future.”
At the onset of the process, the committee reflected on the work the university has accomplished at its midpoint, including completing many strategic initiatives and moving the needle on important key performance indicators. It then applied four steps—reflect, survey, listen and summarize—to gather insights from the campus community. Approximately 3,000 members of the campus community collaborated at each stage, sharing proposed ways to make UTSA an even better place to learn, work and discover.
“All of UTSA’s accomplishments and milestones of the past several years, such as our Carnegie R1 classification and Seal of Excelencia certification, were achieved because of the talent and dedication of our Roadrunner faculty, staff and students,” said UTSA Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Steering Committee Chair Heather Shipley. “Engaging these audiences was key to a successful refresh effort to inform new ideas that will help us reach our strategic destinations.”
Based on responses from faculty, staff and students, the committee developed four recommendations for President Eighmy and university leadership’s consideration including affirm UTSA’s mission, vision and values; affirm Destination 1; modestly refine Destinations 2 and 3; and update UTSA’s peer models of excellence.
Other findings include recommendations on key opportunities to advance the university such as facilitating growth and evolution at scale, investing in key faculty and staff, adopting efficient and innovative practices and further enhancing campus communication and collaboration.
“Over the past year, the UTSA community has contributed some great ideas and inspired suggestions for the future. What emerged is a clear consensus that UTSA is on the right track and building momentum,” said UTSA Senior Director for Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the President Lisa Jasinski. “My colleagues said it best: This is such an exciting time to be at UTSA.”
In the coming months, President Eighmy and university leadership will use the committee’s final recommendations to help develop UTSA’s long-range financial plan that will be presented to the UT System Board of Regents in November 2023. Updates on content to the strategic plan will continue to be communicated to the campus community as well as updated on the strategic planning website.
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.
In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn to setup an EndNote library, save references and PDFs, and automatically create and edit a bibliography. Attendees are encouraged, but not required, to have EndNote already installed on a personal computer.
Virtual EventJoin this annual community celebration of Mexico’s independence sponsored by the Avenida Guadalupe Association. UTSA’s Westside Community Center—located at the parade’s starting location at Guadalupe and Brazos Streets—will be open to visitors for the duration of the event.
UTSA Westside Community Center, 1310 Guadalupe St, San Antonio, TX 78207Don’t mind the writing but hate formatting citations and bibliographies? Working on your thesis or dissertation, or even a long paper this semester? Citation managers such as Zotero® can help you store and organize the citations you find during your research. Take part in this session about using Zotero®.
Virtual EventDid you know the library offers much more than books and study spaces? Our librarians can also support your research and publishing and strengthen your instruction. Join us for a one-hour workshop about all that UTSA Libraries offers.
Virtual EventAre you interested in learning more about incorporating digital methods into your research? This workshop will introduce you to approaches and tools that can help support your research. Through hands-on activities, you will learn about text analysis and digital mapping and how these methods can enrich your projects.
Group Spot B, 2.01.22, John Peace LibraryLearn to use the simple but powerful features of EndNote®, a citation management tool. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn to setup an EndNote library, save references and PDFs, and automatically create and edit a bibliography.
Virtual EventAproduction of the Gudalupe Cultural Arts Center, Rio Bravo showcases the vibrant music and dance traditions of the Texas-Mexico border region. Featuring the Guadalupe Dance Company and Mariachi Azteca de América, the performances will be filmed live both nights, courtesy of UTSA's College of Liberal and Fine Arts.
UTSA Downtown CampusThe 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.
