Dean's Note

Welcome to our third edition of Engage, which highlights the people and the events that make HCAP successful in enriching the lives of San Antonians, South Texans, Texans, Americans and even global citizens.

In this issue, you’ll see many stories. Our stories about current students tell you about community engagement via the arts, how we have kinesiology students who are interning for the NFL, and UTSA’s quarterback Frank Harris. We also tell you about alumni who are pursuing careers in health who come from each and every program in HCAP (and there are nine!). You will also read about incredible new partnerships – with the Department of Education and with Judge Nelson Wolff, for example. Other exciting events are happening across the college and I want to bring your attention to a few of them.

I am basking in the glow of another successful Dean’s Community Lecture Series. This time we honored Fernando Guerra who was the longest serving director of MetroHealth. In the spirit of the HCAP Dean’s Community Lecture Series, we partnered with Metro Health and the UT School of Public Health in San Antonio to bring former mayor Henry Cisneros, a former colleague at Metro Health, Theresa De La Haya, and Dr. Guerra’s cousin, Father David Garcia, together to reminiscence about his contributions to San Antonio. Dr. Guerra embodied what HCAP is all about: understanding the root causes of health and wellness and creating a context in which the citizenry can be healthy and happy. This particular Dean’s Community Lecture Series, which we hope to continue each April in Public Health week, is one of many partnerships that will be emerging with our new school – the University of Texas School of Public Health San Antonio. This School of Public Health is highlighted in these pages and is a unique collaborative effort between UT Health and UTSA in conjunction with our colleagues at MetroHealth.

We completed another Giving Day at UTSA and nearly three dozen donors gave almost $10,000 to the college. We appreciate your support of our efforts and give a special “shout out” to Methodist Health Ministries whose own gift represented half of our total! Making a gift is just one way that you can get involved with HCAP. We would love to have our alumni and community members working together with our students. There are so many ways you can get involved. We have an Alumni

Leadership Council you are welcome to join. We have students thirsty for experiential learning opportunities—most typically in the form of internships. We would love to have you in attendance at our Dean’s Community Lecture Series events, which are STRONGER precisely because they bring staff, faculty, students, alumni and community members together to think carefully and discuss thoughtfully the very complicated social problems we all face. I tell our graduates at each commencement that we have trained them to be agents of change—it is on all of our shoulders to practice what we preach and to show them as role models that we are all lifelong learners who are interested in making our communities better and stronger together.

Dean’s Advisory Council

The Council’s mission is to drive strategic direction while promoting the college’s mission to community partners and stakeholders. The vision of the Council is to offer support and collaborate through local, regional and nationally recognized experts across the community, health and policy sectors.

Ian M. Thompson, Jr., MD

President, Santa Rose Foundation and the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio Foundation

Jaime Wesolowski

President and CEO, Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas

Chiquita A. Collins, Ph.D. Associate Vice President, Inclusive Excellence and Health Equity, UT Health San Antonio

Vice Dean for Inclusion and Diversity, Chief Diversity Officer, Long School of Medicine

Phil Beckett, Ph.D.

CEO, C3 Health Information Exchange

Dr. Ana “Cha” Guzman Consultant, Strategic Partnerships, Inc.

Esteban

Market

William McManus

Chief of Police, City of San Antonio

Janie Martinez Gonzalez

President, CEO and Digital Engineer, Webhead

Senator Leticia Van de Putte

Co-Founder and President, Andrade-Van de Putte Consulting

President and CEO, San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Ted Terrazas

Sr. Vice President of Medical and Business Services, Chenega Corporation