Planning for the Future
February 19, 2016
Colleagues,
With the spring semester well underway, I want to thank all of you for your hard work and to provide a brief update on some important initiatives.
School of Medicine’s First Class
The School of Medicine has completed the admissions cycle for its first class, and we are extremely pleased to have received more than 2,700 applications for the 50 openings available in this inaugural class. On February 1, we learned who “matched” for our Class of 2020 and, after extensive interviews, extended offers. Of the 50 who matched, 16 (32 percent) are from the Rio Grande Valley. The final acceptance rate is pending – we won’t know until July exactly who will matriculate – but we are encouraged by the response and obvious interest in the UTRGV School of Medicine. We are particularly excited that so many in our Class of 2020 match are from school districts here in the Valley. We eagerly await the final results and welcome in advance the first 50 students to the School of Medicine.
Campus Carry
Thank you to the Campus Carry Committee for their tireless work on developing recommendations for UTRGV. The Campus Carry Interim Recommendations can be found at www.utrgv.edu/campuscarry. The recommendations are awaiting approval by the UT System Board of Regents later this spring, but we are now in the process of appointing a Campus Carry Implementation Working Group. The group will consist of student, faculty, and staff representatives who represent key university departments. They will work to develop policies, rules, signage, training, and other elements of the Interim Recommendations that are unique to the UTRGV campus environment. While the law does not take effect until August 1, 2016, the goal is to have the rules and policies in place by mid-summer to ensure the timely dissemination of campus carry information to the UTRGV community. Updates will be posted on the campus carry web page as implementation work continues.
Huron Salary Study
Huron and the Offices of Human Resources and Academic Affairs are in the final stages of a UTRGV salary study. The results will include a determination of the competitive status of job titles in comparison to their applicable labor market and peer institutions, as well as a comparison within UTRGV based on internal and gender equity. I look forward to receiving a recommendation later this spring. I am committed to developing a merit policy that rewards our exceptional faculty and staff who have been so instrumental in making UTRGV a success. I am also committed to our ongoing analysis of salaries relative to our market and peer institutions, and am planning to set aside dollars for creating a more competitive salary structure.
Strategic Planning
The Strategic Planning Committee recently had an engaging and very productive all-day retreat. Many of the outcomes from this event can be found at www.utrgv.edu/spc. The Provost and members of the SPC have met with a diversity of groups (i.e., Faculty Senate, Women’s Faculty Network, Academic Affairs Leadership Program, University Leadership Council, etc.) across campus to discuss and engage stakeholders in discussions regarding the development of the UTRGV strategic plan. As part of this process, we will focus on academic, athletic, and campus planning. The latter will take form in the development of a master plan, which we will kick off in the next couple of weeks. Our master plan will build on the existing master plans recently completed at the two legacy institutions.
More News
This semester has also produced many great accomplishments for our university, with many more to come. Below are just a few of our stories:
- UTRGV announces $1M gift from PlainsCapital Bank for scholarships
- Gravitational Waves Detected 100 Years after Einstein’s Prediction
- Father-son student team creates fitness app for gaming enthusiasts
- Book of poetry by UTRGV grad student Amalia Ortiz drawing national praise
- Sen. Juan ‘Chuy’ Hinojosa gifts $50,000 to UTRGV to support his endowment
- UTRGV partners with City of Weslaco and WEDC on entrepreneurial hub project
- UTRGV’s Mathematics and Science Academy expanding to Edinburg Campus in fall
- Vackars give more than $2 million for scholarships, largest gift in UTRGV history
- UTRGV Chess Team makes Final Four, qualifies for President's Cup in 2016
Sincerely,
