UT Regents in El Paso: How UT Investment Management Co. is doing, range of services for student veterans, and more
Read below for news releases from the UT Board of Regents meeting in El Paso this week. Watch video from Nov. 6 morning meeting at http://bit.ly/1GuserL
UTIMCO reports strong performance for 2014
Endowments benefiting institutions in The University of Texas System and Texas A&M University System posted a 15.1 percent return for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, keeping on trend with a decade of positive performance by The University of Texas Investment Management Company, the entity that manages endowments for the two largest public higher education systems in the state.
In a report to The University of Texas System Board of Regents today, UTIMCO CEO and Chief Investment Officer Bruce Zimmerman highlighted the 15.1 percent return for the Permanent University Fund, as well as a 14.7 percent return for the General Endowment Fund. The General Endowment Fund includes the Long Term Fund and the Permanent Health Fund.
“I am pleased to report such strong investment returns for the previous fiscal year, which generated approximately $4 billion in additional financial resources for the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems,” Zimmerman said. “Over the past decade, investment returns have surpassed $15.5 billion.”
Zimmerman said the strong investment returns can be attributed in part to UTIMCO staff delivering $219 million of additional value over a passive investment strategy due to its active stewardship of the investment funds. Since 2004, UTIMCO staff has been responsible for delivering approximately $4 billion of added value.
Regent Jeff Hildebrand, chairman of the board’s Finance and Planning Committee and member of the UTIMCO Board, said that the state’s Permanent University Fund and the wise investments made by UTIMCO continue to give Texas a competitive edge on the national landscape.
“The investment returns from these endowments are a significant factor in our ability to keep our state’s higher education university systems among the very best in the nation,” Hildebrand said.
The $17.4 billion Permanent University Fund was established in 1876 for the benefit of the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems. Over its lifetime, it has received $9.4 billion in contributions from oil and gas royalty revenue, has made $11.9 billion in distributions to be spent by the two university systems, and has benefited from $19.9 billion of investment returns.
About The University of Texas Investment Management Co.
UTIMCO is a 501(c)(3) investment management corporation whose sole purpose is the management of investment assets under the fiduciary care of the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System. Created in March 1996, UTIMCO is the first external investment corporation formed by a public university system in the nation. It invests endowment and operating funds in excess of $34 billion. UTIMCO is governed by a nine-member Board of Directors. The UTIMCO Board of Directors includes three members of The University of Texas System Board of Regents, two members selected by The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, the Chancellor of The University of Texas System, and three outside investment professionals appointed by the UT System Board of Regents.
UT System institutions provide range of services to student veterans
University of Texas System institutions are dedicated to providing a variety of unique services and resources to veterans and active duty service members, said the presidents of four UT institutions that serve high numbers of students affiliated with the military.
As the nation prepares to celebrate Veterans Day next week, UT Arlington President Vistasp Karbhari, UT Austin President Bill Powers, UT El Paso President Diana Natalicio and UT San Antonio President Ricardo Romo led a discussion at Wednesday’s Board of Regents meeting about how their institutions support student veterans.
Roughly 8,500 veterans, active duty service members, spouses and dependents are served by UT institutions. Because student veterans can face added challenges transitioning to college, all UT institutions provide a range of support geared specifically to them, including advising, tutoring, mentoring, priority registration for classes, counseling and mental health services, job placement services and student organization.
Several campuses have dedicated on-campus student veteran centers that serve as a central place to access services and resources as well as a physical location where veterans and their families can gather for social events and outreach programs.
“Having a one-stop-shop is probably the most important thing to provide,” said Powers, whosecampusis ranked the fourth best college in the nation for veterans byU.S. News & World Report. “It’s a place for students to go and be welcomed by and discuss issues with other student veterans. It’s also a road map for a complicated university as well as mental health, financial aid and academic services.”
TheMilitary Student Success Centerat UTEP – which is designated a “Best for Vets” campus by theMilitary Times– offers a workshop called Green Zone to familiarize faculty and staff with issues that are specific to student veterans.
“This provides our own faculty and staff with a greater awareness about military students and the challenges they may be facing and how best to be helpful to them,” Natalicio said. “The Green Zone training is designed to enable faculty members, for example, to recognize certain issues that might develop and to make referrals in a timely manner.”
All UT academic institutions have staff trained specifically to work with military students. At UT Arlington, also a “Best for Vets” campus, the initial point of contact for student veterans is theVeterans Assistance Center, which provides tutoring and mentoring and assistance completing college, financial aid and GI Bill applications. A collaborative effort between UT Arlington and the Department of Veterans Affairs also means a full-time, experienced vocational counselor is available.
“The Veterans Assistance Center serves as an initial point of contact to guide students to other resources that exist on campus,” Karbhari said.
About 10 percent of UTSA’s student population – about 3,000 students – is affiliated with the military, Romo said, andthe campushas earned five consecutive awards fromGI Jobs Magazineas one of the nation’s top Military Friendly Schools. UTSA also provides $10 million in tuition assistance to military-affiliated students through the state’s Hazlewood Act, which is one of the highest amounts in the state, Romo said.
“UTSA is committed to the students in the armed forces by providing student services for veterans and enriching their whole academic experience,” Romo said.
At the conclusion of the discussion, Regents’ Vice Chairman Steve Hicks directed the UT System Office of Academic Affairs to work with UT Austin to explore additional ways for more student veterans to gain acceptance to the flagship campus.
“Veterans are an important part of the student body and we need to do whatever we can to smooth the pathway for them,” Hicks said.
UT System will leverage technology to improve care for diabetic patients
The University of Texas System is committed to leading the nation in developing technology aimed at transforming the way health care is delivered to diabetes patients.
The UT System Board of Regents voted today to allocate $5 million to fund the first phase of Project DOC, which stands for Diabetes Obesity Control. The goal of Project DOC is to use big data and technology – whether social, mobile or cloud – to improve the health of diabetes patients by enhancing access to care, empowering better self-management and promoting healthier living.
Because almost 30 percent of South Texans are diagnosed with diabetes – one of the highest rates in the nation – Project DOC will initially target the lower Rio Grande Valley region. However, the technology will be designed so that it can be implemented in communities across Texas and the United States, said Lynda Chin, M.D., who is spearheading Project DOC through her role as aUT System Chancellor’s Health Fellow. However, the technology will be customized for a specific community so that it is culturally and socially appropriate.
“It is important that we understand the community and the population we want to serve, so that the needs of the patient will dictate the technology, not the other way around,” said Chin, who is chair of Genomic Medicine at UT MD Anderson. “A core principle guiding Project DOC is our focus on patient outcome. Technology alone does not deliver health outcomes, even if designed properly. It has to be adopted and effectively used by the patients and medical providers, so there will not be a generic, one-size-fits-all solution.”
The technology developed through Project DOC might, for example, use a mobile app to send reminders via a cell phone to patients to take and track medication. But in order to design the app for the right users – who may or may not be the patients themselves – and for the app to be effective, technology developers must understand cultural and language preference in a community, as well as other social needs.
“This technology will enhance the ability of medical providers to practice preventative medicine, which is critical for diabetic patients. Project DOC has the potential to dramatically improve the health care delivery system by getting care to the people who need it the most,” said Rose Gowen, M.D., a practicing physician and Brownsville city commissioner. “We need to empower patients to self-manage their care, and, given the severe shortage of physicians in South Texas, we need to give health care providers more tools to deliver the best possible care.”
Understanding the culture of a community, addressing the medical and social needs of patients and developing technology that will change the way people manage their health in a sustainable way will be a tremendous challenge, but it’s one that the state can’t afford not to tackle, Chin said. In 2012, $18 billion was spent on health care for diabetes patients in Texas.
“We’re assembling an interdisciplinary team of industry leaders to work together to address a major public health issue,” said Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., the UT System’s executive vice chancellor for health affairs.
Project DOC will begin in the city of Brownsville, leveraging the community programs and a decade-long cohort study being carried out under the leadership of Susan Fisher-Hoch, M.D., and Joseph McCormick, M.D., ofUTHealth School of Public Health Brownsville Regional Campus, Greenberg said.
In addition to collaborating closely with the newly-establishedSouth Texas Diabetes & Obesity Instituteat UT Rio Grande Valley, Project DOC will work with theUT System Research Cyberinfrastructure, theInstitute for Transformational Learningand UT System institutions to explore ways to use Project DOC technology and data to accelerate research and innovation.
“This initiative will enhance both the research and educational missions of the UT System,” Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., said. “But most importantly, it is targeting a devastating and deadly disease and, as a result, has the potential to dramatically improve the health of millions of Texans.”
Source: University of Texas System
