Provost's Message: Welcome to a new academic year at UTSA!

Dear colleagues, 

As we begin this academic year at UTSA, I am pleased to welcome you to the new journey ahead. This season brings fresh opportunities to innovate, collaborate and renew our commitment to advance research and foster student success. Every new year at UTSA is a chance to build on our successes and embrace the opportunities that will advance us toward even greater heights.

Exciting Growth

As you heard last week, we are thrilled to combine our complementary strengths with UT Health San Antonio to build a world-class university for our city and all of Texas. We remain fully committed to preserving UTSA’s unique identity and vibrant culture. Collectively, we will create greater capacities for academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, recruit and retain even more top-tier faculty and staff, develop innovative services and programs, and elevate transdisciplinary research. I look forward to discussing this further during the upcoming town hall meetings with your respective units and I encourage you to visit the UT System’s integration landing page for the latest updates.

Welcoming New Faces

I’m especially pleased to extend a warm welcome to the 90+ new full-time faculty members joining us this fall, a group that brings with it a wealth of knowledge, experience and a commitment to excellence. With their arrival, our faculty now numbers 1,500 strong, all dedicated to advancing UTSA’s academic and research excellence.

This new cohort is not just significant in size, but also in caliber. Among this fall’s 40 incoming tenured and tenure-track faculty, an impressive 83% hold terminal degrees from Carnegie R1 institutions and 58% earned their degrees from the Association of American Universities (AAU) member institutions — an indication of the high standards we uphold in our hiring practices. 

Innovative New Programs

In addition to new faces, we also start the fall with several new degree programs. These innovative offerings reflect our commitment to providing cutting-edge education that prepares our students for success in rapidly changing industries. Additionally, UTSA has launched its first international dual master's degree program with Mexican university Tec de Monterrey. This strategic partnership demonstrates how innovative collaboration and a focus on academic excellence and can help us expand our academic offerings to meet the evolving needs of our students and the demands of the global workforce.

By expanding our academic offerings, we provide our students with the knowledge and skills needed to meet the growing demands of our workforce. We have also launched the Global Career Accelerator program this fall, administered by our Global Initiatives division. This fully online program allows students to collaborate with peers from over 50 colleges across the U.S. and work on real-world projects with leading companies and non-profits in coding, data analytics, or marketing.

Continuing our Charge

Planning continues for our new college focused on artificial intelligence (AI), cyber, computing, and data science. Phase I (Data Gathering) and Phase II (Design) were completed last spring, and the Task Force delivered its recommendations report in June. This fall, we will begin Phase III with discussions involving faculty, staff and other stakeholders. Faculty and staff will be surveyed to share their input on the college’s organizational structure and name. More updates will follow as we progress.

This year, UTSA will reapply for the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, a designation we’ve proudly held since 2015. A core team within Academic Affairs is collaborating with partners across UTSA to document our deep, integrated community engagement efforts, and we’ll submit our reclassification application with this data in the spring. Learn more about UTSA’s Carnegie Community Engagement Reclassification effort and let the core team know if you’d like to be involved. 

We continue our commitment to preparing Career-Ready Roadrunners by equipping our students with the skills and experiences essential for career success. Our new Classroom to Career landing page features information and a series of videos that showcase our students, programs and the impact of these experiences. I encourage you to explore these resources and share them with others, as they highlight the value of our programs in fostering career readiness.

New Priorities

As we continue to elevate UTSA’s standing as a leader in education and research, Academic Affairs will focus on three strategic initiatives. These initiatives align with UTSA’s strategic destinations and will play a pivotal role in our collective success this year:

• Enhancing Well-being: The well-being of our students is essential to our success as an institution. This year, we will place a stronger emphasis on wellness by expanding resources and programs designed to support a balanced and healthy lifestyle. By prioritizing wellness, we aim to create an environment where every member of our community can thrive both personally and professionally. While efforts will focus on student well-being, we fully expect to identify programs that could be scaled for the benefit of our staff and faculty.
  
  Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Students LT Robinson and Senior Vice Provost for Student Success Tammy Wyatt will oversee this effort.
  
  
• Advancing Open Educational Resources (OER): We will launch a Task Force dedicated to integrating OER materials into all core curriculum courses. This initiative is not just about reducing costs for our students, but also about enhancing the accessibility and quality of educational resources, ensuring that our instructional materials reflect the most current and diverse perspectives in every discipline.
  
  Vice Provost and University Librarian Dean Hendrix and Vice Provost for Academic Innovation Melissa Vito will co-chair this task force.
  
  
• Expanding Peer Mentoring and Leadership Programs: Recognizing the value of mentorship and leadership in our students’ academic and professional growth, we are committed to broadening the scope of our peer mentoring and leadership initiatives. These programs will empower our students to share knowledge, build strong networks, and develop the skills necessary to lead with confidence in an evolving academic landscape.
  
  Senior Vice Provost for Student Success Tammy Wyatt and Vice Provost for Honors Education Jill Fleuriet will lead this initiative.

These initiatives demonstrate our commitment to creating a supportive and enriching environment for our Roadrunner students. As they develop over the fall and spring semesters, I look forward to sharing more details and working with you to achieve these goals.

Looking Ahead

While our new initiatives aim to enhance student success, we are equally committed to supporting the growth and development of our faculty and staff. As we embark on this new academic year, I encourage you to take full advantage of the resources, tools, and training UTSA offers. Your professional growth is vital to the continued success of our institution, and we are dedicated to providing the support you need to excel in your roles.

UTSA's National Impact Travel Awards (NITA) program continues this year, supporting travel to valuable professional development opportunities for faculty and staff. We encourage you to take advantage of this program to enhance your expertise, showcase UTSA’s contributions to scholarly knowledge and help bring greater visibility to our university.

Starting this fall, all faculty should use Simple Syllabus to streamline syllabus creation and ensure compliance with Texas HB 2504 for accessible and public undergraduate syllabi. With around 1,000 syllabi still pending and courses open, faculty should use training and resources provided via the Academic Innovation Simple Syllabus website and UTSA Faculty Center calendar to complete their syllabi now and learn more for future academic years.

Faculty can benefit from the many resources provided by Faculty Success, Academic Innovation, and the Office of Research to enhance teaching methodologies, foster interdisciplinary collaboration and excel in your respective fields. 

For all employees, People Excellence offers the Employee Success Center, a central hub for information about professional development, wellness, employee perks, and many other resources. I encourage you to take advantage of these resources to enrich both your professional and personal journeys and support a balanced, healthy lifestyle.

Let’s continue to cultivate a spirit of collaboration and excellence within our community. Your dedication is what makes UTSA a model of innovation and impact. I look forward to celebrating our achievements this year and to the many ways we will continue to advance our mission. Thank you for your unwavering commitment and contributions to our UTSA community. Let's begin this academic year with optimism, enthusiasm and a united sense of purpose.

Wishing you a rewarding and inspiring fall semester ahead!