Functional Integration

Vice Provost for Global Initiatives and Senior International Officer at UT San Antonio Lisa Montoya, PhD, has been named as the functional leader for Global Initiatives and International Services effective January 1.

• Functional Integration Team (FIT) launched, members include Claudia Delgado, Siobhan Fleming and Anthony Francis.
• 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.

• Functional Integration Team (FIT) launched, members include Chelsea Trotter, Reuben Amaro, Mary Anthony, Derrick Ozuna, Vanessa Lofton, Carol Lizcano, Georgina Martinez, Teresa Sandoval, Travis Brown, Emily Bettancourt, Kathryn Keeton, Matt Scott, Bob Neuhard and Kimberly Maldonado.
• 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.

• Functional Integration Team (FIT) launched, members include Jennifer Bittle, Beth Hubbert, Anne Peters, Joan Duncan, Joe Izbrand, Monica Taylor, Sylvia Geedman, Lety Laurel, Lizette Yanes, Jennifer Horton and Kimberly Maldonado.
• 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
• The team has begun collecting and analyzing organizational models from peer and nationally recognized institutions. Work informs best-in-class structures that can scale to meet the needs of the new university.
• Wave 1 of five working groups—Organizational Structure, Executive Communications, Internal Communications, Web, and Social Media—has launched. These groups are conducting discovery, mapping current-state practices, and identifying opportunities for alignment and improvement. Waves 2 and 3 launching Q3FY26 and Q4FY26.
• Senior leaders from the department will participate in a tailored change-leadership learning series. These sessions are designed to build capacity, strengthen leadership effectiveness, and ensure teams are well supported through a period of significant transformation.
• A regular meeting cadence is now established to coordinate progress, share updates and advance deliverables. Cross-disciplinary collaboration and shared technology platforms are being used to keep multiple workstreams aligned, on task and on schedule.

• Functional Integration Team (FIT) launched, members include Sadie Basllesteros, Cara Bennett, Kathleen Blanton, Corina Castillo-Johnson, Virginia Galloway, Laurie James, Kris Kwolek, Terii Lopez, Natalee Marion, Jason Pirruccello, Sarah Pryor, Kristi Salazar, and Erika Valladares.
• 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.

• Functional Integration Team (FIT) launched, members include Kimberly Weber, Sam Babajide, Paul Tyler and Laura Buchhorn.
• 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.