Want to study artificial intelligence? UTSA plans to build a college centered on AI.
The University of Texas at San Antonio recently announced an initiative to build a new college centered on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and computer and data science to meet growing academic interest and workforce needs.
The programs are currently spread across four colleges, UT-San Antonio said in a news release, and nearly 6,000 students are enrolled in them.
UT-San Antonio launched a task force to form recommendations for the college's structure. The complete list of task force members will be announced Wednesday, the website states.
Jonathon Halbesleben, dean of the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, which currently offers bachelor's degrees in cybersecurity, statistics and data science, is co-chair of the task force.
Halbesleben said the new college will be in downtown San Antonio, near the university's corporate partners. He said the new college will organize the school's current offerings around AI and data science, as well as expand research and experiential learning opportunities. It could be expanded as needed.
"The idea is that we bring these groups together, there may be opportunities for innovative new programs that could emerge," he said. "Part of the goal of this college is to position ourselves for the future and for what's coming. UTSA has been really good at that, generally speaking, but this college will be in a unique position to add new programs as new important areas emerge."
UT-San Antonio recently launched two new colleges through a similar process ― announcing plans for the College for Health, Community and Policy in 2019 and establishing the Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design in 2021.
Halbesleben said the initiative is "the next logical step" after the university opened its School of Data Science in 2023 and invested in new locations downtown.
The task force will take the spring semester to form its recommendations for how the college should operate based on national and state workforce needs, the university's current offerings and peer models, Halbesleben said.
"There's not really another college just exactly like this at any other university," he said. "But there have been some that have kind of moved in this direction."
Halbesleben said the goal is for the task force to present recommendations to the provost and president in June. He said there currently is no estimate for when the college will open.
UT-San Antonio has 35,000 students and more than 1,400 faculty members. The university spent $141 million in research in 2022 and has been recognized with Carnegie R1 research status ― a prestigious research designation.
UT-San Antonio's news comes during a wave of interest in AI in higher education, especially in Texas. The University of Texas at Austin designated 2024 as "The Year of AI" and is launching a Center for Generative AI with support from Dell Medical School. UT-Austin is ranked eighth in AI programs nationally by US News & World Report. The Texas Tribune reported earlier this month that AI is used in a third of state agencies.
Given the rapid evolvement and increasing importance of AI, data science and cybersecurity, Halbesleben said he believes the new college will have a "huge impact" at UT-San Antonio.
"This new college really has the power to help us better understand how these things are going to impact our society in the future," he said. "Not only is this exciting, I think it's really needed for us to really continue to get ahead of these emerging technologies, and these advances so that we can make sure that we have a better future."
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: University of Texas-San Antonio wants AI, data science college
