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.
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Come celebrate the doctoral students graduating this commencement season.
H-E-B Student Union Ballrooms, UTSA Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203Celebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203First Friday Stargazing gives anyone free access to the night sky using university telescopes and teaching equipment. Weather permitting, experienced astronomers will provide a handful of telescopes of varying designs, give training on how each operates, and point to various astronomical objects that may appear in the sky for that given time of the year. If you have a telescope and do not know how to operate it, feel free to bring it and get instructions on its use.
4th Floor of Flawn Science Building, Main 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 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.
