The Student Fee Advisory Committee heard presentations from several departments on why they were requesting funding for Fiscal Year 2021.
UTRGV Athletics Director Chasse Conque presented for the AES Athletic Revenue program, requesting $8,713,193 for FY 2021 and said there are currently 288 student athletes and 16 sports.
Conque said one of the goals for the Athletics department is “graduating champions.”
“The academics and being a student always comes first,” he said. “Our programs, our coaches, recruit really quality young people and we always talked, from day one, about graduating them, but at the same time we want to win championships.”
Conque said they want to use their success to “Rally the Valley,” and it starts with student engagement and meaningful campus partnerships.
“We want Athletics to be a vehicle, a platform, for the institution to strengthen our brand, grow our brand,” he said.
Conque said budgets for Division 1 college athletics are all over the board. He said it is important to engage both campuses.
“As enrollment continues to grow at the institution, it’s our hope that Athletics is able to proportionally grow with the enrollment,” Conque said in a phone interview last Thursday.
The funding will be used to cover student athlete scholarships, department operations, travel, recruiting, student athlete nutrition and other basic functions.
Funding will also help expand athletics to the Brownsville campus.
“We’re looking at moving a couple of games and matches to Brownsville, starting as early as April and that will carry into the fall as well,” Conque said. “Our Brownsville activity this spring, I think, has been really strong. I think it’s been a good starting point for us, and obviously, that takes resources and, so, some of the new resources that we’ve asked for will help contribute to bringing those matches and those games to Brownsville.”
Dr. Stanley Fisch, associate dean for Student Affairs, presented for the School of Medicine. The projects he presented on were the Medical Student Special Projects, for which funds requested totaled $120,000; the school’s Medical Student Government Association, for which funds requested totaled $30,000; and a new request of $57,422.25 for the school’s Careers in Medicine. All three fall under the Fiscal Year 2021 requests.
Careers in Medicine is a four-year comprehensive program to teach students about the various specialties in medicine, according to Dr. Fisch. They have basic training in core disciplines such as family medicine, internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics and psychiatry.
“Our medical school, like all medical schools, like the university as a whole, has to go through an accreditation process,” he said. “The liaison committee and medical education, the LCME, the agency that credits medical school, … one of their requirements is that medical schools provide career counseling.”
Special Projects encompasses research and community service opportunities. Dr. Fisch said the funding for the programs is diverse with some offering stipends to students to help cover for travel and housing.
For the Medical SGA, he said the funds being requested are going to be used to support special interest groups that students have created to become familiar with various specialties.
Students in the Sustainable Campus Community Initiative, which serves to create a sustainable community on campus, presented about the organization and its need for funding. It requested $43,617.24 for FY 2021 and $31,279.84 for a one-time request in FY 2020.
They plan to use the funds for community outreach and staff expansion to the Brownsville campus. They would also use the operating costs for a farm plot off campus in Edinburg that is owned by UTRGV.
Student Activities discussed their program and the Spirit Programs, which are requesting $329,660 and $215,522 respectively for FY 2021.
Cindy Mata-Vasquez, director for Student Activities, said that as the student population grows, the department is finding it hard for events to grow with that population. Some of the events they host are Best Week Ever, Week of Welcome, the Charreada and UTRGV Homecoming.
The department wants to increase attendance of the events and the number of events hosted. It is asking for additional funds this year for events and civic engagement such as voter registration drives. The department would also like to create a memorial event to honor students, faculty and staff that have died.
Douglas Stoves, associate dean for Student Rights and Responsibilities, presented on the Student Food Pantry, which is requesting $59,016 for FY 2021, and the Superhero Project, an Active Bystander program, which is requesting $37,750.
Stoves said the mission of the Student Food Pantry is to assist students who may find themselves in need, either short or long term, of basic food necessities. Between both campuses, the pantry has served 893 students so far.
The Superhero Project is an Active Bystander program started in 2015 that promotes “the idea that individual Vaqueros have the power to prevent high-risk behavior and harm,” according to its website. One of its goals is to hire additional staff.
Stoves said The Superhero Project is requesting funds for student salaries.
Chess Coach Bartek Macieja presented on the Chess Program, which is requesting $527,452.
Macieja presented the team’s accomplishments as well as comparisons of members between UTRGV and other universities.
The funds will be used for recruiting grandmasters, international masters, and for travel as well as paying for U.S. Chess Federation Memberships. Macieja also said the program is trying to add a women’s team because the U.S. Federation is trying to organize a new competition for women.
Alexandra Smith-Macias, a student representative in the committee, said the SFAC received the information they wanted.
“I think for us, when it comes to deciding who will get that money, we want to make sure we have all the information that we need to make that decision,” Smith-Macias said. “I think when you have a presentation of the ones that, you know, they ask for a lot of money it allows you to see what they’re doing with that money.”
She said that although she knew the Chess program was recognized on a national level, she was not too familiar with them.
“I think it just, it allowed me to understand, ‘Well, they’re not just going to competitions. This is what it takes to build a team,’” Smith-Macias said. “Those are the cool things you get to see.”
She said she hopes the next meeting goes well.
Marcy De Leon, a university representative for the committee, also said that the questions the committee had were addressed.
“It’s important to hear the supplemental information in case maybe something is unclear in the requests that were submitted,” De Leon said. “Also, if it’s a brand-new request that has not been funded in the past, we usually request for a presentation. If the amount requested is of substantial value … we need to know what these funds are going to be used for.”
She said she enjoys the committee because she gets to work with students.
“They’re very involved,” De Leon said. “I’m pleased, just, with their involvement and with their knowledge. … Overall it’s one of my favorite committees to be in because I get to work with the students and because they have a say in how the funds are spent.”
The next SFAC meeting will take place from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Friday in Life and Health Sciences Building 2.604 on the Brownsville campus.
