Message from the President and EVP and Provost
March 24, 2023
Dear Campus Community,
Monday (March 20) was the official start of spring — the time of year that traditionally symbolizes new beginnings and starting over.
At UTRGV, this entire spring semester has felt like a fresh start. We are happy to report that our spring enrollment of 29,246 is not only higher than it was last spring but the second-highest spring enrollment ever at UTRGV. Additionally, our first-year, fall-to-spring retention rate of 92.24% is the highest we have had since 2019.
At a time when the value of a higher education is being questioned, UTRGV is thriving and returning to pre-pandemic levels of success sooner rather than later. And as we have said many times before, we want to thank our students, faculty and staff for their resiliency and perseverance the past few years. We are in this terrific position because of you.
MORE STUDENT SUCCESS
We also want to share an analysis with you that demonstrates just how successful UTRGV has been at educating our students.
Although there is much about the U.S. News and World Report rankings of universities that we do not like (primarily because most of the data for the ranking is based on inputs rather than outcomes), there is one feature of the rankings we find very revealing. Every year U.S. News calculates an expected graduation rate for each institution based on the characteristics of the student body (i.e., percent on Pell Grants, average SAT scores, etc.) and then compares the expected to the actual graduation rate. U.S. News then calculates an over-performance or under-performance score for each institution.
By clicking this link, you can view a table that shows this analysis for every public national university in Texas, the U.S. News category to which we belong. As the table indicates, our over-performance in graduating students is just not the best in the state, but it is twice as good as the next best institution. In fact, our over-performance is in the top 10 in the U.S.
The long and the short of it is that you — our faculty, staff, and administrators — are doing an incredible job of educating our students. This is not something we inherited; this is something that you all have worked hard to accomplish. When it comes to the primary purpose of a university (and the first goal of our strategic plan), we have not only been successful, but we have been the absolute best.
SPRING SEMESTER EVENTS
As we begin to wind down the spring semester — remember, final exams start May 5 — we want to provide some updates and highlight some of the numerous events UTRGV has hosted or participated in so far this semester. It is truly an impressive list, and we hope that you are as proud as we are of the strides we have made this semester in boosting our campus and community engagement throughout the Valley.
- We hosted the inaugural Equity in Engineering Summit in South Padre on March 23-25.
- We hosted the 2023 National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies Tejas Foco Conference in Brownsville on March 23-25.
- On Wednesday, in Brownsville, Academy Award-winning actress and activist Marlee Matlin opened our Spring 2023 Distinguished Speaker Series.
- Last week, our School of Medicine's fourth-year medical students celebrated Match Day in Edinburg. Overall, 45 members of the Class of 2023 and four from the Class of 2022 matched to medical residency programs.
- On March 9, after years in the making, our Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center hosted the grand opening of the eBridge Center in Brownsville.
- From March 1-3, we continued our annual tradition of celebrating Employee Appreciation Week and Day. Employees were given several tokens of appreciation – including discounts, free admission to UTRGV baseball games and free breakfast tacos – which were distributed in Brownsville, Edinburg, Harlingen and McAllen.
- Throughout March, we have celebrated Women’s History Month with several events in Brownsville and Edinburg.
- Our annual Festival of International Books and Arts (FESTIBA) started on Feb. 23 and finished on March 4, with a wide array of events hosted in Brownsville and Edinburg.
- From Feb. 18-25, we continued our annual tradition of celebrating Charro Days in Brownsville by hosting Charreada and partaking in community events, including Sombrero Fest and parades. Ballet Folklórico Tizatlán; Travis Bush, head football coach; and John Simmons, director of football operations and administration, represented UTRGV at the Illuminated Parade. Dr. Janna Arney, EVP and Provost; Dr. Michael B. Hocker, dean of the School of Medicine and senior VP for UT Health RGV; Jonathan Dominguez, SGA president; and Ballet Folklórico Tizatlán represented UTRGV at the Grand International Parade.
- On Feb. 18, we hosted the 59th annual UTRGV Rio Grande Valley Regional Science and Engineering Fair in Edinburg. This event traditionally has been hosted in Brownsville, but the event committee decided to alternate the event between Brownsville and Edinburg each year.
- On Feb. 16-17, we hosted our second National Manufacturing Expo and Exhibition in Edinburg.
- On Feb. 15-16, we hosted the sixth annual STEM Education Conference, on South Padre Island.
- On Feb. 6-11, we had another fun and spirit-filled Homecoming Week, with multiple events in Brownsville and Edinburg, including our traditional campus parades.
- Starting Feb. 3, our Ballet Folkórico presented its annual dance production, Alegría 2023, in Edinburg. They will close the production run at 7:30 p.m. March 26 at TSC’s Performing Arts Center in Brownsville.
- Throughout February, we celebrated Black History Month with several events in Brownsville and Edinburg.
- From Jan. 26-29, before the 88th Legislative Session began, we participated in the Legislative Tour of the Rio Grande Valley, hosting and meeting with state legislators in Brownsville and Harlingen.
- On Jan. 18, UTRGV and the McAllen Independent School District broke ground on the new UTRGV-McAllen ISD Collegiate Academy.
- On Jan. 17, we began the Spring Semester with Welcome Week, a week devoted to multiple events in Brownsville and Edinburg to commemorate the new semester.
- On Jan. 16, we had students commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day by volunteering their time for National Day of Service. Click here to view a recap video.
CONSTRUCTION/DEFFERED MAINTENANCE UPDATES
We also want to provide updates on major construction and deferred maintenance taking place at UTRGV.
In Brownsville, we continue construction on the new Center for Human Genetics Building, which will provide research and office space for our Department of Human Genetics and our South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute. Construction also continues to expand the Interdisciplinary Academic Building. This new two-story addition will support our Department of Health and Human Performance. Both projects are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
As for future construction in Brownsville, our top priorities are a new STEAM Building, which will provide new space and resources for our students in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. We are requesting funding for this STEAM Building from Capital Construction Assistance Projects at the current Legislative Session.
In Edinburg, construction continues on the new UTRGV-Edinburg CISD Collegiate High, Soccer and Track and Field Operations Center, and the Quad Drainage Project, which will include installation of a new underground drainage system, new sidewalks, landscaping, barbecue pavilions and a stage. Both these projects are expected to be completed by the end of May.
As for future construction in Edinburg, our athletics department soon will announce plans for the Vaquero Performance Center, which will house the football program and be used by multiple sports. Completion is expected by fall 2025. We are also expanding the swimming pool area at the Recreation Center, adding a new five-lane lap pool that will be heated and covered to help ensure it can be used year-round for classes and recreation. This will provide an additional on-campus swimming option in Edinburg as we move to repurpose the indoor swimming pool (HPE1) into a practice gym.
As these new facilities come online it is important that our campuses have independent energy plans to support this future growth without stressing the current aging and shared infrastructure. Therefore, we are also installing new cooling plants in Brownsville and Edinburg.
In McAllen, construction continues on our new Cancer and Surgery Center and the UTRGV-McAllen ISD Collegiate Academy.
In Port Isabel, as our Coastal Studies Laboratory continues to expand, we are finalizing plans to build new permanent facilities that will provide more academic and research space.
Overall, the total costs of new construction and deferred maintenance for academic facilities alone is more than $400 million.
MARCHING BAND AND NEW DRILL TEAM
We also are hard at work preparing to field our first marching bands. Remember, we will have two marching bands – one in Brownsville and one in Edinburg – that will serve their respective campuses and regions at different events. The two bands then will come together for bigger performances, such as halftime of the football games and marching band competitions.
We launched our initial marching band recruitment campaign March 7 and, so far, we have received 192 marching band interest forms — 133 from current UTRGV students, 57 from high school students, and two from transfer students. It’s great to see so many current students interested in an opportunity that wasn’t previously available to them. If you know of anyone who is interested in joining UTRGV’s inaugural marching bands, please share this recruitment website with them.
Finally, when it comes to expanding our spirit programs, which already include our talented coed cheer, dance, and mascot teams, we are happy to announce that we are adding a new drill team to our Brownsville Campus.
As many of you know, drill teams are very popular and competitive among high schools throughout the Valley, and we are thrilled to add this new campus involvement opportunity for our current and prospective students. Be on the lookout for future emails regarding UTRGV’s inaugural Drill Team.
Again, thank you for everything you do for our students: you are making a real difference in their lives. We hope you have a great ending to the Spring Semester.
Sincerely,
Guy Bailey
President
Janna Arney
Executive Vice President and Provost