UT System-funded Institutional Projects

In February 2017, the University of Texas System Board of Regents approved $10 million to be awarded to University of Texas academic universities.

Through a competitive process, the UT's academic institutions prepared grant proposals in response to a Request for Proposals. Grants were evaluated by higher education experts outside of Texas as well as UT System leadership.

Proposals were evaluated based on the case they made for momentous change, that is, projects that would take bold, outcomes-focused, data-driven, and sustainable approaches to student success with new or scaled-up initiatives with proven track records. Additionally, all proposals addressed one or more of three research-identified pillars that form the foundation of the System's student success framework, focused on Finances, Advising, and Belonging.

The University of Texas at San Antonio received two awards: $635,909 for Project LEAD/Leadership, Engagement, Academics, and Dedication: Onboarding and Bridging to Improve Student Success, Retention and Graduation; and $2.97 million for the UTSA Emporium Math Core Curriculum Redesign and Scale-Up: STEM and Business.
The University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley received $1.6 million for Focusing on Student Success: College-Based Success Teams and Student Compacts.
The University of Texas at Tyler received $803,234 to support OnCourse: A suite of course-level supports to increase first-year GPA and retention of first-time, full-time freshmen at UT Tyler.
The University of Texas at Dallas received $1 million for Student Engagement through Collaboration, Mentorship and Service Learning.
The University of Texas at El Paso received $1.2 million to implement a new Post-Traditional Holistic Advising Model.

Graduation Help Desk Keystone Project

As part of the $10 million allocated by the Board of Regents, each of UT System's eight academic institutions also received funding to support Graduation Help Desks, which are one-stop shops (virtual or brick-and-mortar) for students who encounter barriers in the path to timely graduation and have nowhere else to turn.

A total of almost $1.7 million was awarded to fund dedicated staff and infrastructure to help students graduate on time by connecting them to the right people and resources across campus. Modeled after a successful program at The University of Texas at Austin, these centralized help desks allow institutions to identify barriers to graduation that might not otherwise be recognized by individual departments or colleges.

Learn more about each institution's Graduation Help Desk below: