University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
EN-10: Community Partnerships

The South Texas Environmental Education and Research (STEER) Program at The UTRGV School of Medicine has been selected to receive the university’s 2017 Community Engaged Scholarship Champions Award. Designed for current and future health professionals, STEER transforms students by providing a community-based educational experience that allows them to make the connection between the environment, public health among low socio-economic communities and medicine. Enrollees are from throughout the United States, as well as from Africa, Eastern Europe, Central America, Canada and Mexico. Community partners in the STEER program include: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Border Patrol; Bayview Detention Center; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture; And the Brownsville Community Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). http://www.utrgv.edu/en-us/about-utrgv/news/press-releases/2017/february-09-lutrgv-med-students-spend-month-in-the-field-engage-with-underserved-population-/ http://www.utrgv.edu/som/steer/

Since HESTEC (Hispanic Engineering, Science, and Technology) Week began more than a decade ago, the program has spread ideas about sustainable development to more than 7,700 educators, more than 37,000 students, about 2,000 college students each year at the Career Expo, and an estimated 50,000 members of the South Texas community annually through Community Day. The Hispanic Engineering, Science, and Technology (HESTEC) Week has become a nationally recognized model for promoting science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers among young people in our under-served and demographically underrepresented region, with an ever-present emphasis on real-world change for a sustainable future. In 2016, HESTEC was named a “Bright Spot in Hispanic Education” by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. “To have HESTEC recognized as a Bright Spot in Hispanic Education speaks volumes about the significant imprint this program has made in higher education and across STEM fields,” said Veronica Gonzales, UTRGV Vice President for Governmental and Community Relations. Through HESTEC, the University addresses the issue of the lack of STEM graduates and worker shortages, and brings together students, teachers, parents, corporate and congressional leaders to develop new approaches, grow student interest, and provide support for under-served populations. This program highlights the resources, talents and achievements of its university and promotes higher education in the Rio Grande Valley by reaching out to secondary students, university students, and the community. HESTEC is a great initiative that has been replicated in other communities. U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge (OH-11), who represents the Cleveland-Akron area of Ohio and attended HESTEC at the invitation of U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (TX-15), sent a delegation from her district to HESTEC 2016 to learn more about the weeklong event. Ohio core committee member Pamela Smith said their conference will be called NEO STREAM (Northeast Ohio Science, Technology, Recreation, Engineering, Art and Mathematics). Link: http://www.utrgv.edu/en-us/about-utrgv/news/press-releases/2016/october-03-congressional-delegation-from-ohio-takes-in-hestec-first-hand-to-replicate-at-home/index.htm Through collaborations with partners, different activities are held to further educate students and get them excited about the possibilities for them in STEM fields at regional, national, and global levels. Speakers from outside and within the university engage and interact with students to educate them on the importance of STEM and its applications to better serve humanity and our planet. Efforts from the Office of Community Relations ensure that speakers and activities focus on an aspect of sustainability, whether that be environmental, economic, or social. Past speakers have included Kelly Rayner of Last Chance Forever: The Bird of Prey Conservancy, and Philippe Cousteau, explorer, social entrepreneur, environmental advocate and the grandson of famous explorer Jacques Yves Cousteau. Cousteau, who co-founded the nonprofit environmental education program EarthEcho International with his relatives, showed video clips of stories he did for CNN on the deteriorating health of the coral reefs off the coast of Key West, Fla. and how one community in Haiti began gardens to provide food security to their neighborhoods. He encouraged the teenagers to look into innovative ways to help their communities and not listen to naysayers. "Don't ever make the mistake to think that you can't do anything you want to do," he said. "Never buy into the lie that destroying the environment for short-term gain is ever the right thing to do." An ongoing research study takes the form of surveys conducted by the UTRGV Office for Community Relations, measuring fields such as pre-and-post event knowledge of STEM, interest in engineering, and engagement; the surveys also serve as a way to involve participants into decision-making, so that adjustments are implemented for the following year. Each day of HESTEC targets a different, underserved demographic, outlined below. Educator day - Educators, administrators, and superintendents visit the campus and sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley to participate in workshops, keynote speakers and the Distinguished Panel on STEM Literacy, centered around presenting best practices and successful strategies to encourage underrepresented Hispanic students to pursue STEM fields of study. Student Leadership Day - Secondary level students are introduced to a wide range of career opportunities in the STEM fields through motivational speakers and breakout sessions. Latina Day - Female students and mothers throughout South Texas are brought together to participate in hands-on workshops and hear inspiring stories of prominent minority women from different walks of life and industries. As double minorities in STEM, Hispanic and Latina girls benefit greatly from the exposure to strong female role models and careers they might never have considered before. Robotics Day - Teams compete in obstacle courses that integrate STEM concepts, providing them with a first-hand learning experience on the fundamentals of engineering and commercialization. As reported through surveys, HESTEC was the first opportunity many of the students participating in Robotics Day had to seriously consider robotics as a career option. A UTPA (legacy institution) graduate, Heriberto Reynoso, spoke to Robotics Day students about how a childhood interest in robotics grew and took off. An early scholastic interest in robotics changed not only his life, but the region’s, as an internships at NASA preparing him to launch a thriving business called Reybotics, which produces robots and other robotic equipment in the Rio Grande Valley. HESTEC has partnered with the GreenPower USA Foundation to host the very first Texas GreenPower USA Challenge electric car competition in Texas in 2018. U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge - The goal of this event is to spark students' interest in science and math, so that they become inspired in pursuing a higher education and aspire to be a part of our next generation of engineers and scientists. Middle School Challenge - Middle school students participate in hands-on workshops and attend engaging educational exhibits centered on STEM. The Department of Energy, USDA, and the Office for Sustainability host exhibits that feature native plants, alternative energy, and a food and agricultural research component. GEAR UP students from Region 1 ESC attend HESTEC at least once through their high school career, allowing more students to have the experience. The GEAR UP program serves local middle and high schools, offering support services to cohorts of students from low-income families through high school graduation and their first year in college. Community Day - HESTEC Community Day is a festival of science, engineering, and technology that features celebrated artists, educational presentations, interactive exhibits, and live musical performances by internationally recognized musicians. Tens of thousands of visitors attend Community Day, making it one of the most popular and highly attended events held on the campus and South Texas. UTRGV Fall Career Expo - Representatives from corporations and government agencies showcase their organization, interview students for internships and recruit prospective graduates for future employment. While the focus is on careers in STEM fields, the expo is open to all majors and all areas of study. http://www.utrgv.edu/hestec/

The CRA engages with rural communities through community based participatory research, academic service learning and outreach and technical assistance, while providing students with experiential learning and employment opportunities. The Center for Rural Advancement is part of Community Engagement at the university and through grant proposals managed to create a number of rural programs, projects and initiatives that focus on rural economic and business development, direct-marketing of farm produce, specialty crop research, and USDA program outreach. Some of these programs and initiatives include: • The Subtropical Organic Agriculture Research partnership (SOAR), a UTPA legacy institution program, continues to link together students, researchers, and organic farmers in South Texas, thanks to funding from the USDA-NIFA-Organic Research Transitions program. Organic farmers in South Texas, and those interested in transitioning to organic production, face many challenges, including extremely intense pest pressure and uncertainty with changing climate and water availability. Especially since the 2011 closing of the USDA-ARS Subtropical Agricultural Research Center in Weslaco, Texas, there has been very little research support available to these growers, in one of the most important agricultural regions in Texas. Strategically situated in subtropical south Texas, the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley will build upon its status as a USDA-designated Hispanic Serving Agricultural College and University (HSACU) by engaging students in rigorous, well-designed research projects designed to address real-world problems faced by organic farmers in South Texas. Using a participatory research approach, the project team will identify pressing research needs by interviewing farmers, agency staff, and organic inspectors. Students will help design and carry out supervised research studies based on these findings. This practical field research experience will be at the center of an innovative experiential learning emphasis that will prepare students to become effective scientific researchers and will raise their awareness of the ecological benefits of organic farming. The project will also provide an research-based educational program to inform growers, extension agents, and others about organic requirements, certification, marketing, processing facilities, enterprise budgets, and production methods. The ultimate goal of the project is to make South Texas organic producers more competitive by meeting some of their most urgent research needs and by publicizing research findings widely. Several past projects have looked at integrated pest management strategies, cover cropping, and sustainable weeding. By incorporating annual flowering plants into organic kale systems, we identified multiple host plants that can attract beneficial insects as well as potentially repel Green Peach aphids. We also tried four species of cover crop that are relatively new to the valley and assessed their influence on soil fertility. Student-led projects have looked at relationships between tomato varieties, inter-cropping, yield, and biological control of whiteflies, while future studies will investigate the use of repellent plants in managing leafcutter ants. Stakeholder Advisory Group members support the SOAR partnership by offering their expertise to the growers and researchers in our project, generally at no charge. Current members involve individuals from the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Plantation Produce Company, Recycling Organics International, TX Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association, Earthwise Organics, TAMU Uvalde Research Center, as well as Cameron County Horticulture Agents, Texas A&M Extension Specialists, Texas A&M Extension Entomologists, and State Conservation Agronomist. http://www.ncat.org/soar/soaring_0315.html http://www.utrgv.edu/agroecology/research/soar/index.htm • The Texas Rural Cooperative Center (TRCC) provides advocacy training and technical assistance to rural cooperatives, cooperative members and member businesses in rural Texas with an emphasis in South Texas. The TRCC collaborated with more than 25 local community members and agricultural producers at a workshop at the food bank about the benefits of using high tunnels to expand their crop production and growing season and how to install a hoop house. They also learned information about the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) technical and financial assistance programs to help them with their agricultural operation. Through NRCS, the Food Bank acquired a $2,500 grant in 2014 through the Strikeforce for Rural Growth and Opportunity Initiative that helped expand their Valley Community Garden. The funds were also used to purchase garden tools and supplies to add a 50 x 35 foot garden plot to the existing garden. This year through Strikeforce, NRCS provided financial assistance through the Texas/Mexico Border Coalition (TMBC), a community-based organization, to the food bank to acquire the seasonal high tunnel for this workshop training. Texas is one of 21 states within this national initiative. The community garden and high tunnel are excellent examples of how the initiative provides assistance to communities in persistent poverty areas in an effort to improve their quality of life and create conservation opportunities in rural communities and tribes across the nation. “This event is a great example of how a local partner, a community-based organization, a university program, and a federal agency can collaborate to benefit not just one location, but also the producers who got hands-on training,” said Aisha Cruz, project director with TMBC. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/tx/home/?cid=NRCSEPRD412834 • The Direct Marketing Initiative for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers (DMI) which provides training and hands on assistance to beginning farmers and ranchers and focuses on the small scale production of fruit and vegetable crops. This university initiative delivered 23 trainings to beginning farmers and ranchers and was responsible for launching 9 new direct marketing farms in the community. http://bfrdp.farmanswers.org/ProjectReport?ID=7772a027-7241-47b0-ba60-e6bfd5401e91 • The Risk Management Education for Small Hispanic Producers in South Texas which provides agricultural producers with risk management education to improve financial management, drought mitigation, strategies and economic decision making to enhance long term sustainability. http://www.utrgv.edu/en-us/research/services/economic-development/rural-advancement/index.htm

The City of Edinburg has joined BikeShare Rio Grande Valley, a bike sharing program initiated by UTRGV students for a class project and now in use on the university’s Brownsville, Harlingen and Edinburg campuses, and in the cities of Brownsville and Harlingen. The Edinburg City Council approved an agreement to join the program at its Jan. 3, 2017, meeting. Edinburg will provide four more bike stations to accommodate those wanting an alternative to driving an automobile. Link: http://www.utrgv.edu/en-us/about-utrgv/news/press-releases/2017/february-06-edinburg-joins-valleywide-bikeshare-program-active-on-utrgv-campuses/index.htm ________________________________ The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s College of Education and P-16 Integration reached out to districts to explore better ways to educate students from a variety of cultural, economic and social backgrounds, to work together to ensure the success of Valley students. UTRGV brought together administrators from school districts across the Valley to brainstorm about initiatives they have implemented to improve student achievement and better educate an ever-growing and diverse group of students, including English-language learners and students from low-income households. Link: http://www.utrgv.edu/en-us/about-utrgv/news/press-releases/2016/september-14-utrgv-college-of-education-p-16-integration-hosts-critical-issues-leadership-conference/index.htm Sustainable Development Goal 4 Quality Education _______________________________________ UTRGV will house the South Texas Industrial Assessment Center (STIAC), the only Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) in the UT System. The center will conduct energy assessments, at no cost, to local small- and medium-size enterprises identifying opportunities to improve productivity, reduce waste and save energy. Through the provision of these industrial assessments, the STIAC has the potential of helping manufacturers save millions of dollars each year in energy, productivity and water management costs. This program is also designed to benefit graduate and undergraduate students with knowledge and skills in the energy field. The team for this project is made up of COEC professors and colleagues including Dr. Alexander Domijan, dean of the UTRGV College of Engineering and Computer Science (COEC), who serves as principal investigator for the project. In addition to Domijan, project consultants are Co-PI and STIAC Associate Director Dr. Hiram Moya, assistant professor of manufacturing and industrial engineering; Co-PI Dr. Chu-Lin Cheng, assistant professor of civil engineering; Co-PI Dr. Younggil Park, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; Co-PI Dr. Jamie Ramos, associate professor of electrical engineering; Marianella Franklin, Chief Sustainability Officer; Henry Oh, director of the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center. Link: http://www.utrgv.edu/en-us/about-utrgv/news/press-releases/2016/december-15-utrgv-coec-awarded-125m-doe-grant-to-establish-industrial-assessment-center/index.htm Sustainable Development Goal 4 Quality Education, Goal 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, Goal 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, Goal 17 Partnerships for the Goals ____________________________________________ UT Rio Grande Valley, the City of Weslaco and the Weslaco Economic Development Corporation have signed an agreement to redevelop a building that will house the university’s Center for Innovation and Commercialization and a new business incubator. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley has partnered with the City of Weslaco and the Weslaco Economic Development Center (WEDC) to help support the university’s ongoing efforts to enhance its entrepreneurship infrastructure and strengthen the economic viability of Valley communities. The collaborative partnership will expand the UTRGV College of Business and Entrepreneurship’s existing Center for Innovation and Commercialization (CIC) and develop a mixed-use business incubator to include classroom space, student services and start-up business support functions. The mutually beneficial goal of the partnership is to broaden UTRGV’s presence in the Mid-Valley and help boost economic, business and educational opportunities for the area. Link: http://www.utrgv.edu/en-us/about-utrgv/news/press-releases/2016/january-29-utrgv-partners-with-city-of-weslaco-and-wedc-on-entrepreneurial-hub-project/index.htm Link: http://www.valleybusinessreport.com/recent-news/utrgv-receives-240000-to-help-small-businesses/ Link: http://www.utrgvrider.com/innovation-in-rgv/ Sustainable Development Goal 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, Goal 17 Partnerships for the Goals _______________________________________________________ Healthcare officials and epidemiologist representing 11 states from both sides of the United States-Mexico border met at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley this week to plan a pilot program aimed at monitoring mosquitoes capable of spreading viruses such as Zika as a preventive measure. This initial workshop was meant to plan the process in which six UTRGV students will survey three areas in McAllen and one in Edinburg where the county has already identified a high number of vectors, or mosquitoes, capable of carrying and spreading viruses such as dengue, chikungunya and zika. The participating U.S. states were Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California, and on Mexico’s side these included Baja California North and South, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. LINK: http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/reps-from-u-s---mexico-border-states-gather/article_0af1aec8-eff5-11e6-8f18-a3ba9c7e2d2c.html _____________________________________________________ Officials from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District on Feb. 15 celebrated the launch of the future site of the district’s Early Head Start campus. Dr. Hilda Medrano, professor in the UTRGV College of Education and P-16 Integration, is principal investigator and director of an almost $41 million, five-year grant, received in 2016 by UTRGV from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Early Head Start grant provides full-day, full-year comprehensive child care services to 372 children from 6 weeks of age to 36 months, from low-income families in two high-poverty concentration areas. Dr. Medrano partnered with the PSJA school district for this project. LINK: http://www.utrgv.edu/en-us/about-utrgv/news/press-releases/2017/february-17-utrgv-psja-isd-celebrate-ongoing-renovation-of-early-head-start-center/index.htm SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL: Goal 1 No Poverty, Goal 4 Quality Education, Goal 10 Reduced Inequalities Goal 17 Partnership for the Goals ____________________________________________________________ More than 75 local community leaders, students and faculty visited UTRGV in Edinburg recently to participate in a community dialogue and presentation on the U. S. Census’ newest campaign, called The Road to 2020. The UTRGV Office of Community Engagement collaborated with representatives from the U.S. Census Bureau-Denver Region to host the gathering, held at the Community Engagement and Student Success (CESS) building. The community dialogue was designed as an opportunity to contribute thoughts and ideas on ensuring an accurate population count in the Valley. Participants learned strategic methods, and participated in table conversations on themes that included challenges and opportunities, messaging and outreach methods, student engagement, and technology. The Road to 2020 campaign will be launched in 2018 to bring awareness to the upcoming census in 2020. The information the census collects helps determine how more than $400 billion of federal funding is spent each year on infrastructure and services like hospitals, job-training centers, schools, senior centers, bridges, tunnels and other public works projects, and emergency services. LINK: http://www.utrgv.edu/en-us/about-utrgv/news/press-releases/2017/march-14-utrgv-s-office-of-community-engagement-partners-with-u-s-census-on-newest-campaign-the-road-to-2020/index.html ____________________________________________________________ A partnership between two Rio Grande Valley entities are teaching elementary students the importance of eating healthy. Donna ISD and the University of Rio Grande Valley Border Health Office partnered up to form the CHECK Plus! Program, which stands for Creating Healthy Eating Choices for Kids. All 14 Donna ISD elementary schools have built gardens and approximately 1,200 4th grade students were part of the effort. Link: http://www.krgv.com/story/35046410/garden-project-teaching-donna-isd-student-healthy-habits Sustainable Development Goal 4 Quality Education, Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, Goal 15 Life on Land, Goal 17 Partnerships for the Goals ____________________________________________________________ Center for Border Economic Studies (CBEST) In cooperation with local, state, national and international entities, the CBEST works to promote economic development through its policy oriented research and analysis. The primary objective of this unit is to focus on interdisciplinary research in support of sustainable economic development, publish articles, monographs, books and reports that examine the economic, social and political issues in the border region and make this information readily available to policy makers, business leaders, government officials, academics, students and the border community, and to create strategic partnerships with private sector, foundations, government agencies, research scholars and non-profits to further policy relevant research that leads to border area economic development. The CBEST is part of the College of Business Administration and publishes a quarterly publication at the University that focuses on articles centered around the community. The boards and research associates consist of professors from within the university and outside of the university, as well as business leaders from the community. ____________________________________________________________ Students at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley have access to a newly established initiative several years in the making – the All In Internship Program, established in Brownsville in 2011 through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to be administered by United Way of Southern Cameron County. The All In Internship Program is a strategy to incentivize students to continue postsecondary education, graduate and obtain work experience related to their degree leading to a career in a high demand occupation. Juan Andres Rodriguez-Nieto, director of the UTRGV Career Center, accepted a check from United Way in the amount of $54,250 to remove barriers to educational access, improve persistence and credential attainment in high-demand career pathways, and assist Brownsville to leverage economic opportunities vital to the city’s future development. The partnership includes leaders from 13 businesses and organizations (including Brownsville Economic Development Council, Brownsville Chamber of Commerce and Workforce Solutions Cameron) united to create a shared agenda and strategic plan to strengthen and build partnerships, engage the local community to raise awareness about postsecondary completion rates, and remove barriers preventing students from enrolling, continuing and completing college, and gaining living wage employment. The pilot program will engage three cohorts over three semesters, providing 90 internships – 45 to students at UTRGV and 45 to students at Texas Southmost College. Each semester-long internship position will provide meaningful work assignments and a learning component related to the students’ academic majors. Link: http://www.utrgv.edu/en-us/about-utrgv/news/press-releases/2017/february-07-all-in-internship-program-provides-hands-on-training-in-high-demand-occupations/index.htm

UTRGV’s community partnerships work toward the sustainability developmental goal of quality education, reducing inequalities, sustainable communities, and partnerships for the goal by addressing sustainability challenges in the community through formal partnerships with school districts, government agencies, and non-profit organizations.