Investment in excellence: New facilities in play for UTSA student-athletes | UTSA Today | UTSA

A vision for the future

While we are grateful for the successes of the past year, it is only the beginning and there is much work to be done. A focus on student-athlete success in the classroom, graduation, and community involvement remains our primary focus, but developments in recent years have caused institutions nationwide to reimagine the relationship between student-athletes and athletic departments.

For example, name, image and likeness, widespread conference realignment, ever-changing rules regarding transfer student-athletes, and litigation across the country will continue to shape the landscape. This presents incredible opportunities for our nearly 400 student-athletes, but also new and unique challenges.

Additionally, we know that state-of-the-art facilities are imperative to attracting and retaining top talent in all of our sports and to providing our student-athletes with premier support in academics, strength and conditioning, athletic training and nutrition. must continue to be an important priority.

As an institution, we benefit greatly from the support of our colleagues and peers who believe deeply in the vision of UTSA Athletics. Since I arrived in 2017, our operating budget for athletics has increased by more than 50 percent, from $30.1 million to nearly $50 million, made possible in large part by institutional financial support.

To remain competitive, we will need to continue to improve our existing facilities and build new ones. In the future, additional university funding for the Athletic Department, beyond that allocated for operating expenses, will be devoted to capital projects. Along with our partnerships with the City of San Antonio and Bexar County, the university’s additional engagement will now focus directly on real estate monetization and university land sales to provide the capital we need to remain competitive.

Thanks to the visionary leadership and support of the President Taylor Eighmy and the university’s leadership team, this significant commitment from the university will be critical in helping us achieve our goal of $57 million in facility improvements and capital projects. Under the direction of the Director of Corporate Development and the Executive Vice President of Commercial Affairs Veronica Salazarthe institution has doubled its financial support for our programs over the past five years.

However, we cannot rely solely on university funding to meet the pressing need to provide diverse opportunities for our student-athletes and build state-of-the-art facilities and programs to serve all Roadrunners. We also need philanthropic support to fully realize capital improvements.

Will you join us in taking a bold step forward for UTSA Athletics?

Your continued support is imperative to our future success, particularly in improving our facilities, aggressive operational goals, and supporting the more than $7 million annual cost of student-athlete scholarships. While today’s announcement will help trigger the start of needed facility projects, it is only the beginning.

A sincere thank you for the support you have shown for our programs and our phenomenal student-athletes. I am incredibly optimistic about our future and look forward to working with you to make this vision a reality.