Dustin Vickers

According to Cybersecurity Ventures, 3.5 million jobs are open in the realm of cyber security and data science, which highlights that UTSA announced a new initiative on Jan. 19 to reshape its academic structure by opening a brand new college dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, computing and other related disciplines. This initiative aligns with the university’s commitment to innovation and academic excellence while positioning itself to lead the rapidly evolving landscape of advanced technologies. 

“The convergence of AI, data science, computing and cybersecurity signifies a very forward-looking endeavor as we embrace the fifth industrial revolution, now especially propelled by AI advancements,” UTSA President Taylor Eighmy said. “These disciplines will remain intertwined for the foreseeable future. With an escalating demand for emerging technologies, their applications, and the demand for a skilled workforce, this new college will greatly accelerate UTSA’s economic and workforce impact here in San Antonio, across Texas, and nationally.”

UTSA’s enrollment in the AI, cybersecurity, computing and data science-related tracks has increased by 31% since 2019, with the total now being nearly 6,000 students. In the 2022-2023 academic year, UTSA graduated over 1,000 students in these programs, which are currently distributed throughout the university’s current four colleges. 

AI has contributed to unprecedented advancements across industries like health care, finance and manufacturing as companies and organizations try to streamline processes and drive innovation. Amidst this movement, the need for professionals in AI, as well as cyber security and data science, has greatly increased. 

According to Cybersecurity Ventures, 3.5 million jobs are open in the realm of cyber security and data science, which highlights the need for experts in safeguarding digital assets and extracting meaningful insights from vast data sets. 46,000 of those open positions are in Texas, according to Cyberseek. 

In the future, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 36% increase in data science jobs and a 35% increase in cyber security jobs nationally over the next decade. Texas also has impressive projections, with a 26.5% increase in AI and data science jobs. 

Heather Shipley, the Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, announced in an email to faculty and staff about the creation of the AI, Cyber, Computing and Data Science Planning Advisory Task Force to lead planning exercises to establish the new college. This task force will be in charge of surveying student interest, exploring multidisciplinary research opportunities and finding a college organizational structure that aligns these programs to enhance student success, career readiness and transdisciplinary research. 

“Ensuring UTSA students are well-prepared for their chosen careers in the dynamic transdisciplinary workforce is our most important responsibility,” Shipley said. “This initiative is driven by our commitment to fostering innovation, advancing research and delivering educational excellence across related disciplines. More specifically, it seeks to amplify synergies among academic and research domains, fostering the transdisciplinary collaboration that is critical to developing our students’ ability to tackle complex, multifaceted challenges as the future leaders in these fields.”

Jonathan Halbesleben, Dean of the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, and Jianwei Niu, Interim Dean of University College, will serve as the task force chairs and David Mongeau, Founding Director of the School of Data Science, will guide external benchmarking, outreach and the surveying of the best practices at peer and aspiring institutions. Task force membership will be announced later this month and is expected to deliver its final report by June 2024. Discussions with potentially impacted faculty and other campus and external stakeholders will follow in Fall 2024. 

UTSA has been a pioneer in the fields of AI, cyber security, computing and data science since the establishment of the School of Data Science in 2018. This is the only school of its kind at a Carnegie R1 U.S. Hispanic Serving Institution. The school’s milestones include a $2.1 million award for student training and research programs, hosting the National Academic Data Science Alliance annual meeting in 2023, and designing a new certificate program in data engineering, which will be offered for the first time this summer. The School of Data Science, located at the downtown campus in San Pedro I, has over 1,000 students and researchers.   

Veronica Salazar, UTSA’s chief enterprise development officer and senior vice president for Business Affairs, talked about the strategic alignment of this initiative with UTSA’s investment in downtown San Antonio and the city’s tech corridor. 

“Through this initiative, we are not only investing in the intellectual capital of our students but also contributing to the growth and vibrancy of downtown San Antonio,” Salazar said. “This initiative is a testament to UTSA’s dedication to providing a dynamic hub in our city’s core for education, research and engagement, further solidifying our role as a key player in San Antonio’s development.”