District 1 Commissioner Nurith Galonsky hosted a focus group last Wednesday composed of UTRGV students and graduates to hear their concerns about problems the Brownsville campus faces and how to resolve them.
Galonsky, who asked for the discussion and identity of the participating students to remain confidential, said the purpose of the focus group, held at the United Way of Southern Cameron County in Brownsville, is to gather information on how city commissioners can work with UTRGV.
“I heard that some of the biggest concerns were the lack of communication or transparency,” she said after the meeting. “Maybe it’s just a matter of connecting people. … It’s a natural human thing to not communicate very well, and so, if anything, this session reemphasized how important it is to have good communication.”
Galonsky said the biggest statement that stood out to her from the discussion was that students feel the Brownsville campus is second to Edinburg and that UTRGV in Brownsville is second to Texas Southmost College.
“That was very eye opening to me,” she said. “We need to try to find a way to improve that. The city might not be able to help out with everything, but I like how some of the solutions provided were if the city commission could provide some sort of example of leadership. That is something we could definitely do.”
At-Large “A” Commissioner John Cowen also attended the focus group session.
Cowen said the No. 1 concern from students is having their voices heard.
“Having a platform [for students] to convey what issues need to be addressed [is important] and I think [that involves] creating a better student life on campus, having to do everything, from restaurants to transportation to activities, you know, making it more of a vibrant place and, I think, whatever the city can do to help with that, I’m on board.”
Asked how she plans to address the concerns raised during the meeting, Galonsky replied she first hopes to host more focus groups.
“This is just the first of, hopefully, many other conversations,” she said. “We pinpointed some of the bigger issues and we pinpointed some of the strategies we will use to find solutions. Now, it’s a matter of flushing it all out and actually making things happen. Hopefully, we’ll have another meeting before the Christmas holiday. Maybe connect some of the people who can address these problems and create solutions with us and actually work together to solve these problems.”
The District 1 commissioner said she is grateful for everyone who attended the focus group session.
“I’m so glad that this happened, and I thank everyone for taking their time out and for making the effort to come out here and to make sure their voice gets heard. I hope that it continues,” Galonsky said.
