Our bold new strategic faculty hiring program
Colleagues, To support and accelerate progress toward achieving our three strategic destinations, we are excited to announce UT System’s recent approval for the creation of the Regents’ Research Excellence Program at UTSA.UT System has allocated $55 million across all four of its Emerging Research Universities (ERUs)—UT Arlington, UT Dallas, UT El Paso and UTSA—to dramatically grow national research prominence and federal funding opportunities. We anticipate the allocation to translate to approximately 40 new faculty positions over the next five years. The intent is to attract competitive groups of mid to senior-level faculty scholars to expand expertise and enable true transdisciplinary innovations. These funds will enhance competitiveness, increase federal funding opportunities and advance UTSA's capacity to meet the goals outlined by UT System and the Texas Legislature.This investment will continue to support the growth of our R1 culture while developing new and existing emerging research specialties. In February, Academic Affairs and the Office of Research will launch a call for Clustered and Connected Hiring proposals (CCP) to encourage collaboration among existing faculty. The CCP process is designed to facilitate the recruitment and hiring of some of the brightest minds of diverse scholarly backgrounds with expertise in select fields to join in efforts to address some of today’s most significant challenges. Beyond recruitment, the funding will also expand federal funding and endowment opportunities for the university’s research enterprise. Importantly, this new program will allow us to better align our capabilities with federal priorities and further facilitate collaboration among the full range of our faculty, who are central to our ability to achieve our strategic vision. Together, we look forward to the many opportunities that will come from this new program to continue building our thriving research enterprise at UTSA.Respectfully,
Taylor Eighmy
President
Heather Shipley
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
