Maintaining student enrollment and success post-COVID:

HCAP leads the way

Alberto Cordova, associate dean for undergraduate student success in HCAP, was awarded a five-year, $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to improve student success rates at UTSA.

The Title V funding, La Reforma: FRoM COVID-19 to Graduation, will enable HCAP to provide students with financial fluency, improved mental health and well-being, and will increase persistence and retention rates, particularly among UTSA’s Hispanic population. “Student success and well-being go hand-inhand,” Tammy Wyatt, vice provost for student success, said. “At UTSA, we have adopted a comprehensive and holistic approach to supporting our Roadrunner community to help students build a foundation for healthy living and academic success. I am excited about the additional opportunities this funding will allow us to explore.”

When it entered the post-pandemic phase of education, UTSA identified three key barriers to student success: financial management, mental health and academic performance. Students — particularly first-generation students — indicated that lack of experience and resources left them unprepared to balance family, work and school demands.

Moreover, many students experienced exacerbated mental health conditions, including symptoms caused by stress from financial difficulties and family dynamics, hunger and other acute crises prompting increased feelings of hopelessness during the pandemic.

Through this grant, HCAP and the university plan to supplement and strengthen services specifically for at-risk students by implementing three programs designed to address each key barrier.

“The funding from the U.S. Department of Education will help HCAP launch many programs to improve students’ experiences while at UTSA and their prospects of finishing the degree program, with the necessary skills to succeed in their careers,” said Lynne Cossman, dean of HCAP. “We are very proud of Dr. Cordova for landing this funding and look forward to scaling HCAP’s programming to benefit all UTSA students by the end of the grant’s funding period.”

To address students’ financial management skills, HCAP will build and offer a series of financial fluency sessions that progressively build on previous content, so that students can move from financial literacy to fluency. The La Reforma Grant will partner with the Office of Financial Success, local financial institutions and other individuals with subject matter expertise to provide the best possible content for students. Workshops will focus on relevant student needs such as budgeting, student loan repayment, building credit, and more.

As part of this series of courses, the college will identify financial ambassadors: part-time wage earners with the responsibility of reaching out to peers and connecting them with relevant services. For example, ambassadors may be placed at the UTSA's Whataburger Resource Room, a key touchpoint for students in need of support.

In addition to the financial fluency sessions, HCAP plans to bolster UTSA’s mental health efforts by bringing additional well-being and mental health training to students. Many students are unaware of the many mental health and wellness resources available at UTSA. The grant will bolster the opportunities for HCAP students seeking help, as well as instill more confidence when calling upon those services. Offices such as Wellbeing 360 offer a 24/7 hotline through My Student Support Portal and peer counselors to reach out to for assistance. By raising the frequency the students hear of these resources, the more likely they will be comfortable to use them, and then share with others their positive experience.

The final aspect of the grant funding will address academic support to increase retention. The college plans to re-engage “stop-out” students – students who temporarily withdraw from school – caused by the pandemic by increasing support via peer mentors and tutors, well-being certification counseling and data tracking.

“This grant will allow us to draw on our experiences and expertise to further serve our students,” Cordova said. “This grant will continue the collaborative work we invest in our students to help them thrive.”

Since the grant was awarded, the team has hired Lisa Vigil as research program manager. Vigil came to HCAP from the UTSA Career Center and is well-versed in student needs.

“There is so much possibility in this position,” Vigil said. “HCAP students are really engaged and want to improve their communities.”

Vigil was part of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) through Career Engaged Learning previously, and intends to use the knowledge gained in this next role. Through an increase of availability and accessibility of experiential learning opportunities for students, Vigil hopes to fulfill the three foci of the grant: financial readiness, wellbeing, and career readiness.

While data on the grant’s success won’t be immediately available, early indicators of success are present through an increase in applications for the Ambassador positions for summer and fall.

“Thanks to Dr. Cordova and his vision, we will be able to scale our group and reach our HCAP students at large,” said Vigil. “We have highly capable, motivated students who just need an extra push towards their goals. I’m overjoyed to be on board for this adventure.”

–Amanda Cerreto

Harnessing the power of community collaborations amplifies HCAP’s ability to foster a healthier San Antonio, continue to address health disparities and achieve a healthcare system that is truly responsive to the needs of the people it serves.

“Partnering is key to HCAP’s mission as we are focused on improving the health and well-being of those around us,” said Lynne Cossman, the inaugural dean of the College for Health, Community and Policy. “This cannot be accomplished in an academic vacuum but requires us to work with community agencies, UTHealth as the local medical school, and the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. We have spent the first several years of the college’s existence building these relationships.”

One of HCAP’s most exciting partnerships yet came with the November 2021 University of Texas System Board of Regents approval of plans for a new collaboration between UTSA and UT Health Science Center San Antonio. The project, the UT School of Public Health San Antonio (UT SPH), will support the UT System in San Antonio as a public health leader and community partner in South Texas.

San Antonio is a majority-minority city with a large and growing Hispanic population, which reflects the demographic future of the nation. Until now, San Antonio was the largest city in the U.S. without a school of public health.

UT SPH will build upon HCAP’s and UT Health San Antonio’s combined expertise in such areas as data science, epidemiology and biostatistics, behavioral science, finance and business administration and implementation science. The venture will prioritize the health care needs of a 38-county region that includes several urban markets and majority-minority cities, and a number of communities that the U.S. Health and Resources Administration has identified as underserved rural areas.

“UTSA and UT Health San Antonio are urban serving universities that are deeply committed to meeting the unique health needs of South Texas’ diverse population,” said UTSA President Taylor Eighmy. “This new School of Public Health will be a gamechanger in preparing our region’s next generation of public health leaders and advancing transdisciplinary research solutions that create healthier communities.”

Public health faculty at UT Health Science Center and at UTSA have been working together to design the Master of Public Health (MPH) curriculum and will continue to collaborate to build two doctoral programs. While much of the infrastructure will be located on the UT Health Science Center campus, students will take classes from faculty on both campuses. The continued collaborations will intentionally bring together faculty who will have combined research interests as well, increasing the potential for funded work to better understand public health in San Antonio—and to develop solutions.

“Our collaborative UT School of Public Health will leverage cooperation, alliances and teamwork across multiple stakeholders and regional institutions to impact public health in San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas over the coming decades,” said Vasan Ramachandran, M.D., inaugural dean of UT SPH. “We anticipate that the UT School of Public Health will emerge as a national leader that addresses major current and future public health challenges, partnering with and empowering our communities with the overarching goal of reaching and sustaining health equity.”

UT SPH will begin accepting students in 2024, offering advanced graduate degrees. The location on the Greehey Campus of UT Health San Antonio will provide optimal access to the region’s major medical and academic health facilities. Through its coursework, it will provide a unique public health education by integrating advanced health research, collaborating on new academic programs to serve a diverse population and building public health leaders who understand and are dedicated to `finding positive interventions to mitigate our greatest public health challenges. The first doctoral students will be admitted in 2026.

HCAP and UTSA have also expanded their partnership with Metro Health, a City of San Antonio agency that provides public health services in the city and unincorporated areas of Bexar County. Claude A. Jacob, Metro Health Director, has led the department since July 2021 and is responsible for setting public health priorities and guiding the overall activities of Metro Health in consultation with city leadership and community stakeholders.

Metro Health is a nationally accredited agency as recognized by the Public Health Accreditation Board and has received local, regional and national acclaim for its model practices and innovative policies. The agency provides an array of services in foundational areas of public health, including environmental monitoring, health code enforcement, chronic disease prevention, clinical and laboratory services, immunizations, maternal care, communicable disease control, health education and community outreach and emergency preparedness.

In response to lessons learned from the pandemic, Metro Health launched SA Forward in April 2022. SA Forward is a multi-year strategic plan to protect and strengthen public health capabilities while addressing conditions that impact the quality of life of area residents. In November 2022, Metro Health also received funding through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Strengthening U.S. Public Health Infrastructure, Workforce and Data Systems grant, one of 100 grantees from across the country.

“Improving our public health system heavily relies on enhancing crosssector partnerships on the ground,” said Jacob. “Through SA Forward, our current collaboration with UT Health San Antonio and UTSA, coupled with this one-of-a-kind grant from federal funders, allows Metro Health to prepare our workforce and operate as a health department for the twentyfirst century. I am thankful to our dedicated staff, city leadership, and steadfast partners who support us as we address the conditions for all those who live, learn, work, play or pray in this local community.”

Through the years, Metro Health has partnered with UTSA in a variety of ways, from sponsoring interns and presenting in career fairs to partnering on grants and research projects.

HCAP also has a long history of collaboration with Metro Health in research. HCAP researchers have partnered with Metro Health to acquire funding for research projects from agencies such as the CDC, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and most recently the Office of Minority Health. These projects have included studies on sodium reduction initiatives, sexual health education, community health and health equity outreach and COVID-19 and health literacy initiatives.

“The partnerships between HCAP and Metro Health have generated research publications and grant dollars while bringing valuable resources to San Antonio to improve health equity,” said Erica Sosa, associate dean for research success and professor of public health. “This partnership is a great example of how applied research can improve lives and extend research capacity locally. With the new UT School of Public Health, we are excited about the increased opportunities and capacity for innovative research that improves health of all communities.”

Most recently, HCAP and the collaborative UT School of Public Health San Antonio joined together with Metro Health for an installment of the HCAP Dean’s Community Lecture Series to celebrate the life and career of Dr. Fernando Guerra, longtime director of Metro Health. Panelists Henry Cisneros, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Theresa De La Haya, former senior vice president of community health/clinical preventive programs and Reverend David Garcia, retired priest, gathered together to discuss Dr. Guerra’s legacy and the future of public health in San Antonio. Moderated by Dr. Ramachandran, the panel emphasized how much groundwork Guerra laid so that we were better prepared than many communities entering the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the city moves forward from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need for qualified health professionals both inside and outside of medical settings continues to increase, these partnerships are more critical than ever. By continuing to foster these partnerships, city residents will benefit from comprehensive, patient-centered care provided by a workforce familiar with the challenges and opportunities unique to San Antonio.

–Amanda Cerreto