University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
AC-5: Immersive Experience

UTRGV has immersive sustainability focused summer programs, such as the summer abroad programs. These programs take students outside their home environments and introduce them to other countries/cultures. This study program enabled students at both the graduate and undergraduate level to travel abroad to countries like the UK, Peru, Costa Rica and the Pacific Rim: Rehabilitation Services (REHS) UK study abroad- Students from the UTRGV School of Rehabilitation Services and Counseling enhanced knowledge of their future career field, during a study abroad course to the United Kingdom. Students observe, compare rehabilitation services and counseling in the U.S. and U.K.. Costa Rica study abroad UTRGV students participate in a summer two-week study abroad trip to Costa Rica are seen here after a day of tree climbing. This course is on English composition, “Living, Reading, Writing Nature.” The students live at the Hacienda Barú Wildlife Refuge and Lodge, covering 830 acres which was reclaimed from a cattle ranch and now dedicated to local conservation and education. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley students have the unique opportunity to witness first hand Costa Rica’s abundant and diverse wildlife. PUERTO RICO / EUROPEAN STUDY ABROAD - Graduate students from UTRGV’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders travel to places outside the continental USA for a study abroad course, ‘Seminar in Speech Language Pathology: Culturally and Linguistic Diverse Populations,’ which focuses on increasing student exposure to the essential diversity that exists in varying populations. The class focuses on increasing student exposure to the essential diversity that exists in varying populations, it has been previously conducted in Puerto Rico, Dublin, Ireland and Rome, Italy. A number of other programs are also provided at UTRGV: Office of Global Engagement / Office for Sustainability Seminar - The Office of Global Engagement worked with the Office for Sustainability to encourage students to network and build connections with students from other countries while experiencing sustainable development in practice over the course of two weeks, through numerous special lectures, field trips around the state of Texas (visiting both historical and environmental sites), class discussions, and group research and projects. NOTE: This seminar will be offered in two formats-- a workshop open to non-UTRGV students, and a for-credit summer course for UTRGV students. Sustainability Course/Seminar- This 12-day seminar considers the practical application of sustainable development to wind and solar energy, waste management, habitat conservation, natural resource preservation, food systems, business and industry, transportation, water management, and architecture. An emphasis will be how each of these sectors have assessed, planned, and implemented innovative sustainable practices to addresses the needs of the environment, economics, society, and culture. This program expands on the success of the Trans Atlantic Sustainability Seminar first organized by legacy institution UTPA in 2013, and twice more in 2014 and 2015. The cooperative effort between the Office for Sustainability, the College of Business Administration, and Leuphana University (Lüneburg, Germany) allowed students to learn and address sustainability initiatives in terms of energy, waste/water management, public policy, and transportation. Students were required to propose research topics and develop sustainability-related strategies. On the final days of the seminar, students present their research findings and strategies to faculty members from each university, official speakers from the local community, and agencies such as The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.