A p r il 7 - A p r il 1 4 , 2 0 2 6
Est. 1981
Vol. 72, Issue 10
THE PAISANO
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio Community
@ThePaisano
@paisanomedia
@paisanosports
@paisanosports
/paisano-online.com
San pedro II grand opening downtown
Marisela Cruz/The Paisano
Center: Founding Dean of the College of AI, Cybersecurity and Computing Jinjun Xiong cuts ribbon for San Pedro II building downtown at grand opening on Monday.
By Itzy Ruiz Sepulveda
U
Contributor
T San Antonio held a grand opening for the San Pedro II building located downtown on Dolorosa Street. The event brought together university leaders, donors, faculty and students to celebrate the opening, marking the expansion of UT San Antonio’s downtown presence. UT San Antonio President Taylor Eighmy commenced the ceremony. “The newest home of our College of AI, Cyber and Computing and a really, really powerful symbol of where our great institution is going,” Eighmy said regarding the facility. The San Pedro II building is a $130 million world-class 180,000 squarefeet facility designed to aid students in immersive experiential learning and professional development opportunities. The building will house students majoring in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, computing and data sciences. Students will have the chance to learn about the fields through internships, community engagement and research opportunities. Along with San Pedro I, San Pedro II will serve as a catalyst for economic and community investments in San Antonio. UT San Antonio and the College of AI, Cybersecurity and Computing have partnered with Valero, USAA and Najim Charitable Foundation for this project. “We don’t even consider this a corporate partnership, our continued investment and partnership with UT San Antonio is an investment into our neighbors, in our community and in the future of our great city,” Head of Corporate Impact at USAA Jenna Saucedo-Herrera stated during her speech. “UT San Antonio is a vital institution for providing employers like USAA with the talent that we need to
thrive.” The building reflects these partnerships through specially-named spaces, designed to support collaboration and innovation. The Harvey E. Najim Innovation District will be used for community engaged projects that connect theory to practice. Valero Engagement Center will hold meetings, conferences and showcases for students and faculty. Both centers are located on the first floor. The second floor holds the USAA Student Success Center, which will support students with mentoring and career preparation. The Paisano spoke with the Founding Dean of the College of AI, Cybersecurity and Computing Jinjun Xiong, Ph.D., to discuss the grand opening. “We need students to come here and learn about new technology, about AI, cyber and computing,” Xiong shared. “It is most important to learn all of those technologies in a way that connects to the local cities and the local communities. San Pedro II is a wonderful place to do all of this.” His remarks emphasized the university’s focus on combining technology education with community impact, a point repeated throughout the event. San Pedro II seeks to aid students in making connections and getting the hands-on experience that students seek. “With the USAA partnership, I think there is going to be more student engagement and more opportunities,” freshman UT San Antonio student Devin Rodriguez explained. “We are trying to have more internships, more careers and I think that will be here.” The opening of San Pedro II is an expansion of UT San Antonio’s Downtown Campus and offers wider opportunities in technology-focused fields. Students and faculty feel the new facility will support further learning and research.
UTSA Pres. Taylor Eighmy delivers speech to attendees present at grand opening.
President Eighmy announces new research initiative UT San Antonio’s new research initative aims to achieve top 20 research university status
By Hallie Lott Web Editor
UT San Antonio President Taylor Eighmy announced in a letter to faculty that the university will launch the Strategic Planning Initiative, an expansiondeveloping plan set to take place over the next decade. The plan aims to guide UT San Antonio to be a “world-class” university and a top 20 research institution and health system. UT San Antonio is a Tier One Research institution, meaning the university produces “very high research spending and doctoral production.” The strategic plan will be divided into two five-year plans. Over the next calendar year, the first planning initiative will proceed in three steps. During the first step, UT San Antonio will set a high-level strategic framework to guide the planning process. The university will then refine the plan before establishing the framework amongst the UT San Antonio colleges,
institutions and centers. The first fiveyear plan is set to be finished by October and presented to the University of Texas System Board of Regents in November. The planning process aims to improve four areas of excellence, or destinations. The four areas are transformational student access, learning and success; world-class health system; world-class research university; and innovative places to learn, work, discover and practice. The strategic planning process will be co-chaired by Provost and Senior Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Heather Shipley, Ph.D., and Senior Executive Vice President for Health Affairs and Health System Francisco Cigarroa, MD. Eighmy hosted a university-wide town hall on March 19 in the Holly Auditorium at the UT Health campus to officially launch the initiative. At the town hall, Eighmy and other members of UT San Antonio leadership highlighted that the university
has a strong foundation for these goals to build on. Shipley emphasized that UT San Antonio has a record enrollment, 90% licensure pass rates in the health profession schools and hosted the largest freshman class in fall 2025. Cigarroa stated that UT Health has also seen a 76% growth in total revenue, 68% growth in clinical revenue, $1 billion in capital investments and its outpatient care footprint has grown by 50%. The university is inviting members of the UT San Antonio community to submit questions related to the planning initiative before the working sessions begin. The Qualtrics survey can be found at tinyurl.com/4ttr567z.