In a survey conducted among the faculty in the college of business (COB), 62 percent of participants opposed moving the COB to the Downtown Campus. Fifty-six full-time faculty and nine part-time faculty participated in the survey, which was sent to all faculty in the COB.
UTSA announced a new COB building in September after receiving several grants to expand the Downtown Campus. Currently, 6,700 students are enrolled in the COB at the Main Campus, and lack of space is a growing issue. Construction of the new building is set for 2020.
Out of the full-time faculty who participated, 35 opposed the new building and 12 supported it, while four part-time faculty opposed it and five supported it. Additionally, the survey asked faculty to list perceived advantages and disadvantages for students, faculty and the COB itself.
The perceived advantages and disadvantages for students that faculty voted for involved were difficulty in moving students back-and-forth between campuses (especially for non-business classes), parking and traffic issues downtown, UTSA’s identity as a commuter university, decreased enrollment and potential partnerships with downtown San Antonio.
For perceived advantages and disadvantages, faculty listed a worse commute, loss of research productivity and research environment, parking issues, potential downtown partnerships and safety.
For the COB, they listed potential partnerships with businesses located downtown, negative impact on research productivity and reputation, declining enrollment, increased visibility for the COB and the claim that the downtown area is not a business hub and that there are more businesses located near the Main Campus.
With major opposition from the faculty in this survey, junior cyber security major Johnny Guerrero gave his input on the new business building being built at the Downtown Campus.
“I think it would be kinda dumb because [UTSA] already has a business building here on the Main Campus,” Guerrero said. “So, having the main courses be [located] downtown but then having the [cyber security] lab on Main Campus seems like splitting it up for no reason.”
Since completing the survey, faculty suggested obtaining students’ input on the new COB building and taking their opinions into consideration.
