The 2030 Strategic plan lays out the university’s vision, and how it plans to grow the campus over the next 10 years. It was created in 2020 after President Heather Wilson was appointed the 11th president of UTEP. 

It is a vision into the future of UTEP but what is in store for America’s top leading Hispanic- serving University? 

“In 2020, campus leaders worked on a strategic planning process intended to help our campus community identify and assess viable strategies to advance our mission and have an even greater impact on the students and community we serve. We carefully evaluated our strengths and the needs of the community we serve and presented our findings to the UTEP and El Paso community in April 2021,” said Andrea Cortinas, Vice President and Chief of Staff and the Co-lead of the Strategic Plan Implementation Council There are four goals for the plan which include the following: 

The main objectives of the first goal titled teaching, learning and the student experience is to strengthen recruitment in our primary region 19 market, expanding our primary recruitment market beyond region 19, and lastly to prioritize target secondary markets. It also includes leveraging our place, and strengthening our ties to our community, and redesigning our core curriculum, starting with the highest-enrollment courses. Increasing internships, co-ops, and employer-sponsored professional development programs is also a priority among other objectives to improve the miner student experience on campus.  

Goal two is comprised of advancing discovery on campus. UTEP will begin to enhance support for research and scholarship across all disciplines, leveraging areas of strategic strength and potential for growth and distinction for research.  The goal is to create a more advanced environment for future research programs. UTEP will put in the effort to expand their successful research teams and centers through development and strategic recruitment of faculty and staff. The last initiative of goal two is to expand Ph.D. programs and to increase research experiences.  

Community impact and public service is the third goal. The main initiatives include increase cultural and educational activities that enrich community life, establishing the UTEP Business Engagement Center, and deepening the university’s partnerships with health care providers to meet the needs for talent and advance collaborative research.  

The university will produce meaningful artistic, cultural, scientific and educational events involving our students and faculty, produce high-quality intercollegiate athletic events and will develop and strengthen KTEP, our campus-based public radio station, as an engaged learning and information platform to tell the stories of our region. The KTEP radio station was given a 2-million-dollar gift in order to provide scholarships to dozens of undergraduate students every year. The donation was given by the estate of the late Margaret O. Herman.  

Funds will be distributed to both the radio station and an NPR affiliate housed in the Cotton Memorial building. The UTEP Business Engagement Center will build and manage relationships with industry to develop co-curricular educational experiences for current students and employment for graduates.

The last goal is shaping the future of higher education. Advancing the development and application of knowledge to improve higher education for underrepresented students and under-resourced regions is the main initiative of this plan. Researching and teaching bilingualism is also top priority for this goal.  

“While every Vice President is responsible for leading their divisions as we implement the Strategic Plan and key initiatives, we have established a 12-member Strategic Plan Implementation Council comprised of representatives across different divisions, who will share information, advance implementation, and provide updates to ensure we continue our momentum.  Our first report on results and progress on implementing the Strategic Plan will be released later this year,” said Cortinas.  

To learn more about the 2030 strategic plan and its initiatives visit the website at https://www.utep.edu/strategic-plan/.  

Alyson Rodriguez is a contributor and may be reached at [email protected]; @alyson_rod1127 on Twitter.