Originally published May 29, 2015
By Daniel Perez
UTEP News Service
Growing up on El Paso’s West Side, Victoria Lozano knew that her single mother needed the community’s help in raising Lozano and her sisters. As a UTEP student, she was more than happy to return the favor.
Lozano, a junior organizational and corporate communication major, started working with Latinitas, a nonprofit that helps young Latinas achieve personal and academic success. There, she taught leadership skills as part of a class project about lesson plans.
This was one of the examples used to illustrate how students from The University of Texas at El Paso collaborate with the region’s various entities to enrich the academic process and the area’s quality of life. Those alliances were celebrated during the second annual Community Partner Appreciation program May 21 in the Tomás Rivera Conference Center on the third floor of Union Building East.
“We were able to apply what we learned in the classroom,” said Lozano, whose student testimonial was among those featured in a short video shown during the event. She plans to volunteer as a Latinitas afterschool mentor in the fall. “I want to share life skills and encourage them to go to college.”
University President Diana Natalicio addressed the room filled with representatives from about 150 area organizations from the fields of business, education, entertainment and nonprofit support organizations, and members of the UTEP family. She thanked the community partners for their role in educating more than 8,000 UTEP students, who accrued 808,165 community service hours from July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014, with an estimated value as high as $19 million.
She said a key dimension to the University’s success during the past few decades has been its collaboration with community partners.
“We want to engage in the community’s work,” President Natalicio said. “We want the young people who are educated on this campus to have opportunities to learn while they’re students about the joy, the satisfaction and the impact of engaging with the community (and) participating in a variety of ways in the life of this community.”
The UTEP leader explained that since approximately 84 percent of UTEP students come from El Paso County, they understand the community’s needs and are willing to lend a hand. She said community partners create the channels that enhance learning and facilitate service.
“We could not do what we are doing in the community without your support,” she said.
Each community partner was given a framed certificate of appreciation, but the event also inaugurated a new category of gratitude. Each UTEP school and college picked a Golden Impact Partner that was highlighted during the ceremony. Each was given a shadow box that included items that represented the organization and the college.
“This is all about giving thanks to our partners,” said Azuri Gonzalez, director of UTEP’s Center for Civic Engagement, which organized the event. “Their investment of time and resources has provided our students with a valuable academic experience outside the classroom that has enhanced their education.”
Before the ceremony, Vince Burke, chair of the Department of Art, shared a few words about the contribution by the El Paso Museum of Art, the College of Liberal Arts’ impact partner.
Burke said the art department has a long history of working with the museum staff to place student interns with education curators. Those students return to class with greater focus and a better understanding of the industry.
“Our students receive a broad exposure to the inner workings in the museum field and a number of related careers,” Burke said as fellow attendees enjoyed refreshments and listened to a musical performance by Mariachi Los Mineros. “Museum officials also have offered great support to the (art) faculty whose work is exhibited there.”
Kathleen Curtis, Ph.D., dean of the College of Health Sciences, was there to pay special thanks to the Opportunity Center for the Homeless, which has opened its doors to UTEP students who want to familiarize themselves with issues faced by people who are homeless.
She said UTEP students, with the help of the center, organized three conferences that included community leaders and agencies that serve the homeless population. The lessons learned from this collaboration are being shared in the classroom and through other presentations.
“We plan to continue working with the Opportunity Center and expand the number of programs we have with them in occupational therapy and rehabilitation counseling,” Curtis said. “This is a great way to get students engaged in social issues.”
Dana CassoLopez, marketing manager for Teacher’s Federal Credit Union (TFCU), was grateful for the special acknowledgement by the College of Education, but was more pleased with the impact of the financial literacy program developed by education students and TFCU for high school seniors-to-be.
The collaborators developed curriculum and hands-on activities that UTEP students presented twice a week for five weeks in the Education Building. She praised the Miners who ran the program and served as mentors to the secondary students.
“We believe in people helping people,” CassoLopez said.