INSTITUTIONAL ENHANCEMENT
Recruiting, hiring and retaining world-class faculty scholars to advance innovative research, support student success and address the urgent need for an educated workforce while propelling economic development across Texas.
FUNDING REQUEST
$1,788,882 per year; $3,577,764 per biennium
Overview
Institutional Enhancement funding permits UTSA to dynamically address university staffing needs and is part of the base operating budget support. UTSA has leveraged Institutional Enhancement funding to recruit, hire and retain world-class faculty scholars to align with strategic research goals and workforce needs. Assembling the best and brightest faculty, cutting-edge researchers, and dedicated mentors helped UTSA achieve Carnegie R1 status while simultaneously reducing student-tofaculty ratios and reducing time to complete their degrees.
The Challenge
Strategic recruitment of nationally recognized scholars is critical to supporting UTSA’s growth. Equally important is having the resources to retain the talented faculty and staff who are driving UTSA’s recent academic and research successes. Institutional Enhancement funding is a tool that has been used, with great success, to recruit and retain top talent. By leveraging this funding, UTSA has attracted nationally recognized scholars with federally funded research and technology commercialization, strengthened student opportunities, and served as a catalyst for regional economic growth These efforts have fueled innovation, created more job opportunities, and positioned UTSA as a driver of prosperity for San Antonio and South Texas.
The Impact
UTSA’s ability to recruit and retain top-notch faculty enables the university to provide high-quality, transformational academic experiences for students. In the past decade, UTSA has successfully recruited nearly 50 scholars through cluster hiring initiatives in areas related to brain health, cybersecurity, cloud computing, analytics and data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantum information science, virtual and augmented reality, engineering education, human health and other focus areas. The university is currently pursuing additional cluster hires in brain health and artificial intelligence, as well as new focus areas such as: human health; space science and technology; and transdisciplinary materials research.
For More Information
Jason Hassay
UTSA Government Relations
o: 210.458.5102
m: 512.413.9598
jason.hassay@utsa.edu
Albert Carrisalez
UTSA Government Relations
o: 210.458.5138
m: 210.452.7557
albert.carrisalez@utsa.edu
Updated January 24, 2025
