Offices open in person or online to students

Even though classes were moved to virtual for the first two weeks of school due to “the emergence and rapid spread of the Omicron variant,” students will still be able to use the campus resources at UTRGV.

Michael Foster, associate director of the Learning Center, described the services the center offers to students.

“We offer tutoring services for undergraduate courses [math, science, liberal arts and business],” he said. “We offer one-on-one tutoring and we also offer peer collaborative learning.”

Foster explained that during the first two weeks, their services will be online from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“But after the first two weeks, they can make an appointment to meet

face-to-face with a tutor,” he said. “Or,they can simply go to our webpage and see a tutor online immediately.”

For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit its website.

“The Learning Center is here to assist students,” Foster said. “We will be available from day one of the semester and we will offer all of our services.”

University Recreation

Kimberly Rottet, director of University Recreation, said the center has resumed

its regular hours of operation since classes started on

Jan. 18.

“So they’re going to change, but they’re going to change back to normal–let’s put it that way,” Rottet said.  “When class is not in session, and or the university is on a slightly altered schedule, we do traditionally go to modified hours.”

The UREC is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. The Texas Southmost College Recreation Center in Brownsville is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, according to its website.

“We are still offering virtual classes, like fitness classes,” Rottet said. “If you are interested in virtual personal training, we have facilitated that over the actual closure of when we were closed for COVID.”

She said by using the UTRGV University Recreation app available on Apple and Android devices, students can stay informed about the center.

“We like to tell ourselves and challenge our staff to make sure we are the cleanest gym in the [Rio Grande] Valley,” Rottet said. “We are here [and] we are still trying to do everything that we do.”

Counseling Center

Christopher Albert, director of the UTRGV Counseling Center, said the center offers its services to students in person and online.

“We help students to talk through their emotions and to learn coping skills to help them to better their life as well as improve their experience as a student [at] UTRGV,” Albert said.

He said students have the option to schedule an appointment online or in person.

Students can call the center’s office in Edinburg at 665-2574 or in Brownsville at 882-3897. They can also send an email to counseling@utrgv.edu. The center is located in University Center 109 on the Edinburg campus and in Student Union 2.10 on the Brownsville campus.

Albert said another resource students have is the Vaqueros Crisis Line (665-5555).

“Our office is open 8 to 5 Monday through Friday,” he said. “But we do have the Vaqueros Crisis Line, which is 24/7. Students can access it to talk to someone to get through

a difficulty.”

Albert said the Counseling Center tries to make services as accessible as possible by having both in person and online.

U Central

Vanessa Maldonado, director of the Student Services Center, said the center assists students with a variety of enrollment issues.

“So, some of the resources that we offer are pretty much the front-facing area for the registrar’s office, for financial aid, for admissions and for bursar’s [office],” she said. “So, any type of questions or issues that you might have about your account, anything related to enrollment.”

U Central is located in the Student Services building on the Edinburg campus and in Main Building 1.100 on the Brownsville campus.

Beginning today, U Central will return to its regular hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Friday. On Tuesday, it is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information, visit its website or email ucentral@utrgv.edu.

University Library

Joel Chirinos, head of research and instructional services  for  the University Library, said the library offers a variety of resources to students and faculty.

“We have research services, we have textbook, textbook affordability services,” Chirinos said, adding that students can review a list of courses marked by the instructor as a Zero Cost Materials Course by visiting its website. “We have access to computer labs [and] access to media resources. We are going to be offering throughout the semester a variety of different classes and workshops that are going to be aimed both at the student level and at the faculty level.”

The library is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon to 10 p.m. Sunday on

the Brownsville and Edinburg campuses, and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday on the

Harlingen campus.

“We are asking everyone to take care of themselves, to take care of the staff when they come in,” Chirinos said. “In the sense of, you know, practicing social distancing.”

For more information, visit the library’s website.

Parking Services

Pablo Aguilar, director of Parking Services, said the department is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday on both campuses.

The office is located at Police and Parking & Transportation Offices, Room 135, on the Edinburg campus and at Vaquero Plaza-A, Room 1.101A, on the Brownsville campus.

For more information, email parking@utrgv.edu or visit its website.