On Wednesday, University of Texas System Chancellor James Milliken visited the UTRGV Brownsville campus and met with university officials and student leaders to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the university.
“I’m meeting mayors, I’m meeting the leadership in the Legislature from here,” Milliken said in an interview after the meeting with students, which was not open to the news media. “I’m meeting faculty and students both in Edinburg and in Brownsville.”
“What I’m trying to get out of this is to learn as much as possible during the time I’m here,” he said. “So, when I go back to Austin, I carry a piece of the [Rio Grande] Valley with me and have a real sense from my own experience of what the needs are and the expectations and the dreams are of the people who live here, work here and go to school here. It’s a great opportunity for me early on to just learn.”
The chancellor’s goal is to visit all 14 institutions before the end of November.
Milliken met with 10 students on the Brownsville campus.
He became chancellor on Sept. 17, succeeding William McRaven, who stepped down on May 31.
The Rider askedMilliken what issues or concerns the student body brought up during his visit.
“Well, the kinds of things you would expect, about the challenges of a new institution, newly merged institution and the challenges you might expect with the distance of a university that’s spread over a number of communities,” he replied.
Milliken also said the students expressed the need of transportation and technology to be proportional to student needs.
“Overall, the students were, I thought, enormously positive about the experience they’re getting, the education they’re getting and the increased opportunities that are provided,” he said.
Nursing senior David Sujo, who was among the students who met with Milliken, said he voiced his concerns about the nursing school.
“It was really helpful, he really heard our complaints [and] benefits of this school,” he said. “About the nursing school, I’m a nursing student. So, Edinburg took everything from us, so we need to travel every day and I told him that.”
The Rider also askedMilliken how he will work with UTRGV administration to resolve the university’s accreditation probation under the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
“Well, fortunately, you have a very experienced administrative leadership here,” he said. “The president has had a wealth of experience at really fine universities. We will work to support President Bailey and his colleagues in any way possible, but I have great confidence in them.”
In 2016, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) placed UTRGV under a yearlong probation for failure to demonstrate compliance with several accreditation standards.
In an email to the campus community on Nov. 6, Bailey wrote that although the university is still in probation, it remains accredited.
The email also contains a preliminary assessment of the Oct. 9-12 visit of the SACSCOC Special Committee.
The reports states there is no evidence that the university does not operate with integrity.
It also states that, “the institution (a) is in compliance with its program responsibilities under Title IV of the most recent Higher Education Act as amended and (b) audits financial aid program as required by federal and state regulations.
Bailey’s email states that “final action on the report rests with the Commission on Colleges.”
This morning, Milliken met with students on the Edinburg campus.
