United for RGV Community Agenda

AGENDA FOR Partnership and Transformation UNITED FOR RGV UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY

Call to Action

UT System

We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to chart a new course that will transform the Valley, the state, and the nation by creating the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. UT-RGV will produce graduates who are prepared for life and work as well as catalyze resources to solve critical regional, national and global issues. + The new university will promote affordable and accessible higher education in order to become one of the largest and most successful Hispanic-serving institutions in the U.S.A. + The new university will enable students to experience a truly distinctive and multi-cultural education whose graduates will be in great demand within the global economy. + The new university will house a first class medical school with outstanding undergraduate and graduate medical education, health professional degrees, and clinical research, designed to improve the health of the region. + The new university will serve as a “Gateway to the Americas� and lead to economic and job growth by collaborating with local businesses, organizations, and international partners.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley represents the hopes and dreams of residents of the Valley and across Texas. Partnership with the diverse communities of the region is critical to success of our mission, and only by working together can we build a university of the first class.

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United for RGV

The Lower Rio Grande Valley is a magical valley. It is a place of dreams and aspirations for thousands of people. It is place of wonderful cultures, where people have come for generations to find a new and prosperous way of life, to have a family, and to work hard. For some, this dream of well-being has become a reality. However, for the overwhelming majority of our residents, it remains out of reach. Many families in the Valley live without plumbing, roads, adequate shelter, literacy, jobs, or healthcare—a painful, daily reminder of the poverty and inequality that keeps our region from true prosperity.

Education has always been an important way to empower our communities. Together, the University of Texas at Brownsville and the University of Texas Pan American have historically served as an open door to educational opportunity in South Texas. Now, with the creation of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, the UT System is opening that door a bit wider for the people of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. In addition to providing a 21st century education, the new university promises to be a powerful ally in community change, contributing to the economic, social and environmental development of the region.

Communities and universities need each other. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley will not thrive without the full support of our regional communities and the region can’t thrive without the full engagement and dedication of the university. Our futures are tied to each other and this is the foundation on which partnership is built. The people of the Valley want to help; we want to share our lives, our insight and our passion for this region. In this spirit, United for RGV has joined together with the University of Texas System to achieve a clear mission: to create a community-engaged university and to transform the Lower Rio Grande Valley for all.

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Opportunity

Transformation

On June 14, 2013 the 83rd Texas Legislature approved the creation of the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, a single institution spanning the entire Rio Grande Valley, including facilities in each of the major metropolitan areas of Brownsville, Edinburg, Harlingen, and McAllen. The new university will be home to a school of medicine. When the university opens it will be the second-largest Hispanic-serving institution in the nation. With this comes great responsibility and opportunities for regional, national, and global significance.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley marks an historic moment, offering an unprecedented opportunity. For communities, particularly those of low-income, the new university holds the promise of a powerful ally in positive change. For the university, it must ensure active engagement in the region to succeed as competitive leader in first class higher education.

The new university will combine the resources of the University of Texas Pan American (UTPA), the University of Brownsville (UTB), and the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio Regional Academic Health Center School of Public Health (RAHC) and will be eligible for participation in the Permanent University Fund (PUF). The PUF is a 137-year-old public endowment that provides financial support to eligible institutions in the UT and A&M systems. If allocated wisely, future PUF investment promises to greatly impact the Lower Rio Grande Valley’s social, physical, and economic environment.

Left: Lucero Colonia, RGV

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Our Engaged University

Partnership

The university and the community need each other to succeed. A truly engaged university values shared decision-making with its community and is deeply connected to the day-to-day realities of its geography. By mobilizing the human, financial, and intellectual resources of the institution, the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley can directly tackle community challenges as a core part of its mission to deliver first class higher education. In this foundational moment of planning, a unique opportunity exists to leverage the reciprocal relationship of university and community to achieve these shared goals.

The university’s success will rest largely on its ability to address the challenges of Lower Rio Grande Valley, forge enduring community partnerships, and embed itself within the the region it serves. Municipalities, neighborhoods, schools, and clinics will offer learning laboratories for intellectual activity, research and instruction.

Businesses and companies will provide goods and services, employ students and their families, and offer graduates fulfilling careers. And community leaders will be critical partners in planning for the future and advocating for financial and political support.

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Right: LRGV residents share what is unique or special about the region

great weather

pride

culture [spanish + english]

every resource

beauty + forgotten

loveable place

people

hardworkers + creative

money+ baseball

strong sense of family

unified opportunity community

education community of children involvement

inspiration

strength of relationships

we are all in

potential hope

leadership

willingness

south padre island

future of children

hardworkers leadership

people

food

people are motivation, hospitality passionate eager to go celebration about goals forward of culture

opportunity courage will for preserve education

new changes

parks but lack of devlpmnt.

potential [social, historical, health]

family

commited educators

work for the capacity to valley develop

get things done

opportunity + challenge

hospitality

no traffic

optimism

hope, energy, respect

human capital

hardworkers + drive for success

education for better future

opportunity

passion, energy, hope

education

grass roots we feel part community of this place

love, support, faith

parents work for future

smart

relationships

bringing education to the beach the LRGV

education for better future

resilience

family

potential to grow

committed personal connections to helping

culture [spanish + english]

committed to helping

culture of unity

shared goals for children

hope

opportunity history of to raise activism + good kids work

make nothing opportunity out of something

people

unity

change is possible

passion

helping opportunity community

potential

United for RGV

Community

Nearly 30% of all residents of the Lower Rio Grande Valley live below the poverty level, almost three times greater than the national average. Low-income communities are deeply invested in the improvement and advancement of the region and are critical partners in creating a transformational new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

United for RGV is a coalition of low-income leaders and organizations from across the Lower Rio Grande Valley that formed out of a desire to support, inform, and influence the development of a truly engaged university. In partnership with the UT System, United for RGV works to assure that low-income residents of the Valley are active participants in university planning processes and prepared to be effective partners into the future.

In a first-of-its-kind, university-community planning process in South Texas, United for RGV spearheaded a campaign to mobilize low-income communities to participate in the historic efforts to create the new university. United for RGV conducted extensive organizing and outreach across the four counties of the Lower Rio Grande Valley: surveying over 1,500 low-income residents, training 30 community leaders, and engaging over 250 residents in educational workshops and focus groups.

The campaign culminated in a day-long, community-university dialogue, gathering over 100 low-income residents, non-profit and civic leaders, university officials, and national experts to discuss and envision ways to transform the Valley. The Forum on Community Engagement—co-hosted by the UT System and held on November 8, 2013 in Weslaco, Texas—highlighted the needs and resources of the low-income communities, identified shared goals of the university and the region’s low-income communities, and developed concrete proposals for partnership to address the region’s most important challenges.

United for RGV marshals the collective power of low-income communities in the Rio Grande Valley to support the creation of an engaged university and promotes equitable development and increased prosperity for all.

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2012 2013

Surveying Over 1,500 community members from Cameron, Hidalgo, Star, and Willacy Counties surveyed to determine RGV needs

Focus Group #1 Focus Group #2 Focus Group #3 Focus groups identified critical issues for low-income LRGV communities and trained community leaders for UT System engagement.

Workshop #1 Workshop #2

Local Partners + A Resource in Serving Equity [ARISE] + CDC of Brownsville [CDCB] + La Union Del Pueblo Entero [LUPE] + South Texas Adult Resource and Training [START]

Workshops informed community leaders about opportunities associated with the new University and medical school and shared national examples of engaged university models.

Technical Assistance + buildingcommunityWORKSHOP + Educate Texas + Public Architecture + U3 Ventures National Advisors + Kevin Barnett + Sarita Brown + Jose Calderon + Steve Dubb + David Maurrasse + Richard Pettingill + William Plater + Jessica Rothschild + John Saltmarsh + Rupal Sanghvi + John Syvertsen + Nancy Thomas + Casey Tsui + James Votruba

Forum on Community Engagement 2013 2014

The Forum established university community partnership and developed a structure to promote innovative strategies for university and regional growth.

Agenda for Partnership and Transformation Agenda for Partnership and Transformation is a platform for community change intended to guide collaboration between the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the lowincome communities of the region.

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AGENDA FOR Partnership and Transformation

Action

The Agenda for Partnership and Transformation is the result of the dialogue that took place between the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and United for RGV on November 8, 2013. The Agenda is a 5-point platform for community change, each point with a set of action ideas for immediate and long-term partnership. It outlines the areas of greatest mutual concern --partnership, education, health, economic development, and regional planning--shared by the UTRGV and the low- income communities of the Rio Grande Valley. The Agenda is intended to guide collaboration and to support the development of a truly engaged regional university in South Texas.

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Agenda

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Partnership Engaged Low-Income Communities: Mobilize the resources of low-income communities in the Rio Grande Valley to build an enduring institution that supports regional transformation and well-being.

Mutually Beneficial Partnerships: Identify and develop partnership opportunities between the institution and the low-income communities of the Rio Grande Valley that address shared goals and mutually beneficial outcomes.

Shared Decision-Making: Ensure successful partnerships and achievement of outcomes by committing to inclusive leadership, shared decision-making, transparent communication, and accountability.

Education Community-Centered Learning: Embrace the unique local and regional culture, provide education and support services to students and their families, and involve the greater community in student education to increase achievement and promote multi-generational, lifelong learning.

Strong Educational System: Improve outcomes for low-income students by supporting local efforts to strengthen the regional educational system. Improve access to and achievement at all levels of education, create economic opportunity for students, and enhance regional economic competitiveness.

Health Regional Community Health: Address the region’s distinct and pressing health concerns. Build upon successful community-based, health initiatives to promote an approach to health that includes the physical, social, mental, economic and environmental aspects of well-being.

Access to Healthcare: Create equitable access to health resources and implement innovative strategies for providing healthcare to underserved populations.

Economic Development Education and Economic Opportunity: Increase access to education and promote student achievement by offering economic opportunities such as financial aid, work-study, internships, and employment for students.

Local Jobs: Increase employment opportunities for low-income residents through direct institutional hiring, entrepreneurial training and support, student employment, and procuring goods and services from locally owned businesses.

Employment in Healthcare: Create a comprehensive, community-based system of health education and healthcare services that enhances the healthcare sector and provides a broad range of employment opportunities to low-income residents of the Rio Grande Valley.

Regional Planning Sustainable Communities: Promote sustainable and equitable regional development and the improvement of low-income communities in the Rio Grande Valley. Invest in creating healthy, safe and walkable campuses and communities with a variety of affordable housing, transportation, education, employment, service, and recreation options.

Public Transit and Transit-Oriented Development: Encourage the creation of efficient, affordable, regional public transportation systems. Support transit-oriented development that provides safe, reliable, and economical transportation choices.

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Action

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PARTNERSHIP What How

Engaged Low-Income Communities: Mobilize the resources of low-income communities in the Rio Grande Valley to build an enduring institution that supports regional transformation and well-being.

Institutionalize the principles and practices of community engagement in the fabric of the new university.

Develop community driven indicators of success for university planning efforts and use these to guide future planning decisions.

Require a strong ethic and practice of community engagement in all areas of study.

Require community participation in the university planing and review process.

Create a vision statement that will guide university community engagement practices.

Invite all institutional Presidential candidates to visit low-income and colonia communities as part of the presidential selection process.

Create a Vice President of community engagement position within the University that has a direct line of communication to the President.

Create university-community partnership centers in low-income communities to serve as extension facilities of the institution and to build capacity amongst community groups.

Require presidential candidates to conduct town hall meetings in low-income and colonia communities.

Conduct a regional listening and learning tour for university leadership.

Support immigration reform.

Mutually Beneficial Partnerships: Identify and develop partnership opportunities between the institution and the low-income communities of the Rio Grande Valley that address shared goals and mutually beneficial outcomes.

Develop long lasting university-community relationships that promote collective decision making.

Offer workshops and informational sessions to train community leaders for partnership opportunities.

Create a colonia council of governance to strengthen relations and dialogue between colonia residents, educational institutions, and elected officials.

Launch a university-community partnership campaign, “We’re in it together.”

Promote unity between UTB and UTPA.

Shared Decision-Making: Ensure successful partnerships and achievement of outcomes by committing to inclusive leadership, shared decision-making, transparent communication, and accountability.

Develop a bottom-up approach to UTRGV planning that includes input from community members, local officials, and UT faculty and staff.

Invite low-income and colonia residents and non-profit organizations serve on advisory committees to the university.

Create a steering committee of parents, students, community organizations, and educators to inform UTRGV planning process.

Develop community informed communication strategies that utilize appropriate technologies for university-community dialogue.

Define community informed “wins” for the new university president.

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EDUCATION Community-Centered Learning: Embrace the unique local and regional culture, provide education and support services to students and their families, and involve the greater community in student education to increase achievement and promote multigenerational, lifelong learning.

Redefine what it means to be an engaged university by institutionalizing communitydriven learning at all levels.

Celebrate the strengths, culture, and spirit of the LRGV community and embrace its identity as an regional asset.

Engage local institutional and community leaders to provide an education that is relevant to place.

Locate university satellite centers in lowincome neighborhoods to serve as an extension of the institution.

Require postsecondary students to spend a certain percentage of their academic career working with community stakeholders to address local challenges while earning credit hours needed to graduate.

Develop skill training and career development programs in partnership with institutions, communities, and businesses that address community challenges.

Pair university students with internships in community non-profit organizations to address organizational needs such as business, marketing, and strategic plan development.

Offer free community courses in English and Spanish.

Offer college and career counseling, informing students and their families about the benefits of higher education and the application process.

Foster a college-going culture and increase educational attainment expectations of peers, family, and trusted adults.

Utilize media (TV, internet, radio, social media) to promote postsecondary education.

Promote the completion of postsecondary education in family business, and educational communities.** Promote parental engagement for driving success among university students.

Teach students techniques on how to balance school and life.

Strong Educational System: Improve outcomes for low-income students by supporting local efforts to strengthen the regional educational system. Improve access to and achievement at all levels of education, create economic opportunity for students, and enhance regional economic competitiveness.

Align elementary school, middle school, high school, and postsecondary curricula to ensure student readiness and to increase retention rates.

Offer standardized test taking preparation courses and career, college, and financial aid counseling at secondary and postsecondary institutions.

Develop partnerships between the University and local secondary schools.

Create bridging programs and partnerships between secondary and postsecondary institutions and employers to create educational and employment pathways.

Create student shadowing/adoption program to expose high school students to college life and academic programs.

Create partnerships between the university and prekindergarten programs and offer early education math, music, and art programs.

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Recruit highly qualified faculty and staff at all levels and support professional development through externships and continuing education courses.

HEALTH Regional Community Health: Address the region’s distinct and pressing health concerns. Build upon successful community-based, health initiatives to promote an approach to health that includes the physical, social, mental, economic and environmental aspects of well-being.

Provide health education extension programs for the community focusing on nutrition, behavior, family planning, and career development.

Support community engaged research that addresses health challenges that disproportionately affect LRGV populations.

Offer community health certification classes that enable leaders to teach others about healthy behaviors and can be applied towards university credit.

Create a community health alliance.

Create health clinics in low-income communities that provide health education, preventative services, and medical care.

Create health promotion centers focusing on interdisciplinary planning, public policy, the built environment, and research-based health interventions.

Partner with local hospitals to develop a regional health needs assessment to inform an implementation plan that directs hospital, university, and partner investment to address the root causes of poor health.

Partner with agricultural resources to encourage community gardening, co-ops, crop sharing, and local farming.

Design public spaces and parks to encourage frequent use by people of all ages, interests, and ability level.

Partner university students, interns, and funding sources with the community to design and build parks, bike, and pedestrian trails.

Alter school lunch menus to include healthy options.

Promote physical activity in the school day.

Access to Healthcare: Create equitable access to health resources and implement innovative strategies for providing healthcare to underserved populations.

Leverage university resources, students, and faculty to provide free or reduced cost medical care to low-income and undocumented populations.

Utilize innovative strategies such as mobile clinics, satellite campuses, and traveling health professionals to increase access to medical services for those populations who live in isolated areas with limited transportation options.

Leverage technology to maximize community awareness about available health services and events.

Provide free information that teaches individuals about their health challenges and the ways in which they can be improved.

Leverage technology and media outlets to increase awareness about health promotion and preventative care.

Offer medical services and workshops at times that are accessible for the community to attend.

Create a hospital for people ailing from life threatening illnesses and chronic diseases such as cancer.

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Education and Economic Opportunity: Increase access to education and promote student achievement by offering economic opportunities such as financial aid, workstudy, internships, and employment for students.

Create work and learn internship programs that enable students to earn credit hours while gaining career experience and earning a modest income.

Provide loan forgiveness or reductions for postsecondary graduates who continue to live and work in the LRGV for a minimum of five years after graduating.

Support technology and scheduling that enables businesses and universities to employ flexible hours that allow students to attend school while working and vice versa.

Conduct a valley wide 100% FAFSA completion campaign and event providing application assistance and counseling.

Identify ways to reduce the cost of postsecondary education through university cost-sharing volunteer and employment opportunities.

Local Jobs: Increase employment opportunities for low-income residents through direct institutional hiring, entrepreneurial training and support, student employment, and procuring goods and services from locally owned businesses.

Promote local hiring of individuals and businesses at the institutional level.

Employ certified professionals with Mexican citizenship who live in the LRGV.

Identify industry sectors that align with university specialities and recruit them to the LRGV if not already present.

Require that internships be mandatory for all university students.

Create employment opportunities in lowincome communities in cooperation with residents that utilize local skill sets such as childcare, construction, and gardening.

Create a social enterprise incubator and support the achievement of local talent.

Offer skill training and development classes for community residents.

Create local jobs and attract industries to the LRGV to enable families to earn enough to assist their child with university tuition.

Create living-wage jobs.

Employment in Healthcare: Create a comprehensive, community-based system of health education and healthcare services that enhances the healthcare sector and provides a broad range of employment opportunities to low-income residents of the Rio Grande Valley.

Increase understanding of health career opportunities and offer courses of study that relate to the medical profession beginning at the elementary school level and continuing through postsecondary education.

Create a local hiring agreement whereby LRGV health care employers commit to hiring a certain percentage of workers locally.

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Create health professional job shadowing and internship opportunities for middle, high school, and postsecondary students.

REGIONAL PLANNING Sustainable Communities: Promote sustainable and equitable regional development and the improvement of low-income communities in the Rio Grande Valley. Invest in creating healthy, safe and walkable campuses and communities with a variety of affordable housing, transportation, education, employment, service, and recreation options.

Partner university students with local nonprofits to help construct homes in colonias and assist homeowners in obtaining the paperwork necessary for home ownership.

Create affordable housing options for students, faculty, and staff.

Conduct innovative research about the intersection of the built environment, policy, and health outcomes and apply it to the LRGV. Support the creation of an active living environment.

Link low-income and colonia areas with economic development opportunities.

Catalyze dense, centric mixed-use development that incorporates mixed income housing, retail, and community spaces.

Support efforts that work to create dignified communities including affordable housing, proper infrastructure, utilities, and public spaces.

Leverage technology and Big Data (GPS, twitter, street light cameras, etc) to harness information about LRGV behavioral patterns, distribute information regarding development efforts, and collect public feedback.

Promote access to wireless internet connections for LRGV areas that are currently under or unserved.

Invite university faculty and staff, public officials, and community members to visit the colonias to get a feel for what the colonias are like during different times of day and year.

Public Transit and Transit-Oriented Development: Encourage the creation of efficient, affordable, regional public transportation systems. Support transit-oriented development that provides safe, reliable, and economical transportation choices.

Expand public transportation routes to include colonia and low-income neighborhoods.

Leverage technology to understand existing transportation patterns and create shared public transit options that directly connect riders to their destination.

Support a regional multi-modal transportation system that efficiently accommodates pedestrians, bikers, buses, and motor vehicles.

Support transit oriented development (TOD) into regional planning.

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Forum Participants

Leaders

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Amparo Martinez Ana Maria Gonzalez Blanca Castillo Emma Alaniz Eva Carranza Gris Gonzalez Griselda Vazquez Guadalupe Sotelo Joanna Lopez Josue Lopez Karla J. Reyna Leticia Prieto Lety Parra Lupita Alaniz Marcela Quezada Maria Elena Pena Maria Eva Garcia Maria Gomez Maria Luisa Lucatero Maria Reyes Maria Romero Mary Sandoval Mary Vazquez Norma Aldape Norma Perez Olivia Ortega Rucio Antonio Sofia Perez

Local Partners

Eva Soto Julia Reyna Lourdes Flores Nick Mitchell-Bennett Cristella Rocha Daniel Diaz Esther Herrera Juanita Valdez-Cox Marta Sanchez

Local Experts

Bonnie Gonzalez Rose Benavidez Arturo Cavazos Chris Coxon Danny King Gloria Casas Luzelma Canales Tina Atkins Traci Wickett Lisa Mitchell-Bennet Lizette Pacheco Sister Phyllis Peters Fernando Martinez Maribel Contrerast Norma Zamora Rodney Gomez Tom Logan

UT System

UTB UTPA

Carl Mica Jenny LaCoste-Caputo Jim Noffke John Hayek Julio Leon Kevin Lemoine Michael Putegnat Pedro Reyes Priscilla Cortez Stephanie DeLeon

Irv Downing Juliet Garcia

Cristina Trejo-Vasquez Robert Nelsen

Students

Diana Lucio Rosa San Luis Roxanne Ramirez Steve Taylor Adrian Guerrero Evan Brough Hector Rodriguez Anayancy Gonzalez Israel Herrera Johnny Quintanilla Lucy Almaguer Paola Marisol Pena Sandra Yzaguirre Tania Chavez Yesenia Ontiveros

Advisors

Sarita Brown Brian Phillips Casey Tsui John Syvertsen Jose Calderon Rupal Sanghvi Steve Dubb Jessica Rothschild Jill Kurth Kevin Barnett David Maurrasse Richard Pettingill William Plater John Saltmarsh Nancy Thomas James Votruba

Facilitators

Technical Team

Adelaida Castillo Brenda Amitrani Francene Phoenix Judy De La Garza Mark Whiteley Tim Swanson Whitney Gray Melanie Kuhl Alex Feldman

Brent Brown Elaine Morales Diaz Evan Todz Hugo Colon Julia Lindgren Lisa Neergaard Omar Hakeem John Peterson Julie Leadbetter Alex Feldman

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UNITED FOR RGV