As one of the largest Hispanic-serving institutions in the U.S., UTRGV is in a unique position to create models of higher education that best serve Hispanic students – an emerging dominant demographic group across the country – as well as non-Hispanic students. Student success is at the heart of UTRGV and the center of our core priorities; it is also one of UT System’s Quantum Leaps...
Affordable, geographically accessible, and culturally-relevant educational opportunities are critical to prepare a diverse workforce for the 21st century. UTRGV will expand such educational opportunities for residents of the Rio Grande Valley, spanning from pre-K to postdoctoral education, and directly addressing the UT System’s Quantum Leaps of Student Success, The American Leadership Program, and the Texas Prospect Initiative...
UTRGV is positioned to be a model of a distributed research university with a broad base of excellent faculty; a community of primarily Hispanic and first-generation college students (a community that is representative of a significant and growing population in the U.S.); a network of facilities across the RGV; leadership in population health and community engagement; and characteristics of a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant institution (although it is not officially designated as such)...
Being healthy, meaning a state of physical, mental, and social well-being in addition to the absence of illness, is an essential part of human welfare on an individual and societal level. The RGV is home to a unique population that, historically, has had limited access to healthcare, contributing to health inequities and health outcomes below national and state norms...
The distinct profile of UTRGV as a distributed university in a region of great economic vibrancy, but also great public need, demands that community engagement be embedded in the UTRGV culture. The UT System’s Quantum Leaps clearly call for institutions of higher education to adhere to the highest standards of academic excellence while transforming the region they serve...