UT System Regents Approve $478M Allocation for UTRGV

by Gail Fagan/UTRGV

AUSTIN, TEXAS – The University of Texas System Board of Regents for the first time included The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in its operating budget for the 2016 fiscal year.

During its meeting Aug. 20-21, the board approved a $478 million budget for Texas’ newest public university and the UTRGV School of Medicine.

The regents also approved a number of items that will allow UTRGV to move forward on serving its projected 28,000 students and to reach its goals to promote student success, provide educational opportunity, establish quality medical education and pursue research on issues that impact the region.

“As we move forward and approach the first day of classes, our priorities remain firm, and first and foremost is the success of our students,” said Guy Bailey, founding president of UTRGV. “Our purpose is to be a university for the entire Rio Grande Valley. I appreciate the support of our Chancellor and the Board of Regents.”

The Board approved the design development and appropriation of funds and authorization of expenditure for a $54 million, 102,500-gross-square-foot Academic Building for the university’s Brownsville campus. The new space – which was approved for PUF (Permanent University Fund) funding in 2013 – will support general academics, music instruction and recitals, math and language labs and science teaching labs. Its construction will support the latest teaching pedagogies with group study rooms, flexible classrooms, and teaching labs with the latest AV and IT technologies.

Two other buildings, approved by the 84th Legislature for Texas Revenue Bond funding, were placed on the Capital Improvement Plan by the Board, which allows the project to proceed for design development and the hiring of architects.

• A 77,000-gross-square-foot, $36.7 million Interdisciplinary Engineering and Academic Studies Building approved for the Edinburg campus will include a 250-seat lecture auditorium, two 150-seat lecture halls, five 60-seat classrooms, and offices. The project also will include an outdoor pavilion for use as a gathering or study space.

• The other building, a 67,400-gross-square-foot, $36.4 million multipurpose academic center in Brownsville, will add needed classrooms and labs for physics, general purpose classrooms and computer labs.

Additionally, the Board of Regents also approved the acquisition of land planned for future campus expansions. The proposed purchases include 53 acres owned by Norquest Family Holdings Ltd., at the southeast quadrant of North Sugar Road and West Chapin Street adjacent to the current campus in Edinburg. The sites in Brownsville include eight unimproved lots in University Park Subdivision totaling 7.56 acres and approximately one acre at 2701 E. Tyler Street.

The new budget includes $10 million of PUF in FY 2016 to be used for eligible capital expenses associated with the start-up of the UTRGV School of Medicine. The School of Medicine, which is scheduled to open in fall 2016, in 2012 had received $100 million, approved by the Board for expenses related to initiating the School of Medicine.

Dr. Francisco Fernandez, inaugural dean of the UTRGV School of Medicine, said he is excited about the academic growth this allocation will help foster.

“The UT Regents have been extremely supportive of our goals for the new university and the School of Medicine, and in the short and long term, the Valley’s students and the community overall benefit from this investment.”

The proposed new seal for UTRGV, which is modeled as required of UT System academic institutions on The University of Texas System seal, also was approved.

The seal includes the Latin phrase “Disciplina Praesidium Civitatis,” which means a “cultivated mind is the a genius of democracy,” and an open book symbolizing an institution of learning, as well as the star representing the state of Texas.

The first day of classes for UTRGV was Monday, August 31. More than 28,000 students will be taking classes at several campus locations. More than 3,000 are new freshmen.