Functional Integration

Three working groups have been established to focus on key priorities:

• Strategic Research Initiatives: identify and align research programs across both campuses. This effort is designed to strengthen collaboration.
• Research Administration & Operations: assess, align, and integrate administrative and operational functions that support research activities across both campuses. This initiative aims to build cohesive and efficient service models, optimize the use of institutional resources, and ensure consistent delivery of high-quality support to faculty and research staff.
• Innovation & Strategic Partnerships: enhance and unify efforts that advance research commercialization, industry collaboration, and strategic alliances across both campuses. This initiative focuses on fostering a cohesive innovation ecosystem that accelerates technology translation, expands partnership opportunities, and amplifies the economic and societal impact of institutional research. Through this effort, we will align programs, leverage shared resources, and strengthen the infrastructure that supports a dynamic and collaborative innovation enterprise.

Five working groups have been established to focus on key priorities:

• Executive Support & Special Projects: evaluate current VIP services, donor & visitor concierge, and event support, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and recommending future service models.
• Executive Communications: evaluate current executive-level communications in the Office of the President, including an assessment of roles and responsibilities to ensure aligned effort across divisions, while recommending structures, processes, and frameworks to strengthen and scale these efforts.
• Administration & Operations: evaluate current administrative and operational support, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and recommending streamlined processes and systems.
• Presidential Initiatives: evaluating current support for Presidential initiatives, communications, and strategic projects, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and recommending future processes for alignment and delivery.
• SEVP Engagement & Support: evaluate how the Office of the SEVP for Health Affairs and Health Services coordinates with institutional leadership and future frameworks to strengthen collaboration, including an assessment of roles and responsibilities to ensure alignment with the Office of the President and the development of structures that enhance strategic coordination across the enterprise.

Twelve working groups have been established to focus on key priorities:

• Brand Identity Strategy & Governance
• Integrated Marketing & Campaigns
• Social Media Marketing & Engagement
• Creative Services
• Content Strategy
• Media and Public Relations
• Digital Experience
• Executive Communications
• Clinical Marketing
• Reputation & Thought Leadership Strategy

During FY25, seven working groups identified strong foundations and highlighted remaining work to be done within Office of Legal Affairs systems and procedure development. To complete the remaining work, new cross-functional groups focused on key priorities are being established to support a fully integrated, client-centered legal function.

• Texas Public Information Act (TPIA): ensure continued compliance with TPIA requirements, recommend future processes, cost recovery models, systems, and metrics that improve efficiency and service.
• Litigation & Professional Liability Claims: ensure ongoing support for litigation and clinical claims and recommend future processes that enhance client advocacy, procedural efficiency, communication, and records management.
• Third Party Agency Investigation: ensure effective institutional response to third-party agency investigations and recommend future processes to minimize disruption, support resolution, and improve coordination across stakeholders.
• Internal Investigations: ensure timely and effective legal support for internal investigations and recommend future processes and KPIs that enhance cross-functional coordination and internal case resolution.
• Transactions & Contracts: ensure contract and transactional support continues and recommend future processes, prioritization models, and potential incentives that enhance legal value and operational efficiency.
• Outside Counsel & Compliance (OCC): ensure proper engagement and oversight of outside counsel and recommend future compliance practices, engagement criteria, and systems for tracking legal services and institutional knowledge.

Four working groups have been established to focus on key priorities:

• Service Delivery: articulate how internal audit services will be delivered and communicated across the integrated institution by identifying and evaluating processes, workflows, and protocols.
• Roles & Culture: evaluate internal audit’s organizational structure by reviewing team roles, assessing skills and compensation, and recommending any realignments needed to support integration.
• Standardization: develop a unified audit strategy by standardizing audit tools, systems, and templates for consistency.
• Governance & Strategy Review: develop a unified audit strategy byidentifying relevant policies, governance bodies, and regulatory requirements affecting Internal Audit, as well as defining metrics and reporting standards for the integrated audit function.

Five working groups have been established to focus on key priorities:

• Administrative Operations: develop and implement administrative processes and practices in the office that are efficient, comply with institutional policies, and ensure oversight, accountability, and sustainable over the long-term.
• Advocacy & Relationship Building: develop a strategic plan to guide and strengthen UT San Antonio’s advocacy efforts at the local, state, and federal levels, and key campus stakeholders. The purpose is to design an approach that cultivates and maintains strategic relationships to advance the university’s mission, priorities, and reputation before elected officials, staff, and key government offices. The working group shall include an approach that establishes OGR as the trusted resource to the campus community on emerging issues, legislation, and regulations. Recommend roles, workflows, and tools needed to support the plan. The resulting plan will align with the UT San Antonio’s strategic plan, mission and values.
• Early Knowledge & Communications: develop an Early Knowledge System to monitor, gather intelligence, and analyze local, state, and federal governmental activities and policy shifts that have the potential to impact the university’s strategic goals.  Recommend roles, workflows, and tools needed to sustain the system and ensure leadership receives timely, forward-looking intelligence for proactive decision-making.
• The Future of Westside Community Center: review the future of the Westside Community Center and, in collaboration with the Office of Research and Innovation and appropriate academic units, develop a plan to determine the best approach to advance the university’s priorities.
• Metrics & Key Performance Indicators (KPI): design a comprehensive performance framework for the Office of Government Relations (OGR) that defines key outcomes, benchmarks best practices, and develop balanced metrics. Recommend data collection methods and establish reporting processes to provide leadership with regular, actionable insights for accountability and continuous improvement.