UTRGV moving some classes to Brownsville campus to reduce commute times
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The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is working to bring more classes and resources to its Brownsville campus, cutting down the commute for students in the lower Rio Grande Valley.
Many students at the Brownsville campus currently make the trip to the Edinburg campus for certain courses. For some, that means waking up before 5 a.m. and spending hours on the road just to attend a single class.
Emma Rodriguez lives in Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville. She is a junior in the nursing program at UTRGV and said last semester she had to travel to Edinburg for just one class.
"And it started at 8 a.m.," Rodriguez said, adding that the nursing program left little flexibility for scheduling.
"The classes are all at the same time, so everyone moves together and everyone advances together, so there's only one class in the whole day," Rodriguez said.
To make it on time, she often stayed at a friend's house the night before and woke up before 5 a.m. to catch the morning shuttle.
UTRGV and Brownsville officials released a report last week from their joint task force that focuses on improving student life and expanding programs on the Brownsville campus.
The university used student shuttle data to track why students were traveling between campuses. Officials found that many students were making the trip from Brownsville for engineering courses.
"It was those early numbers that showed us that most of the students traveling were for engineering, so that's why we quickly acted to set up that infrastructure," UTRGV spokesperson Patrick Gonzales said.
Starting this fall, third-year engineering courses will be offered in Brownsville. Fourth-year courses are expected to follow by 2027. The university has also added 3,000 more course seats to the Brownsville campus.
Rodriguez said any step that helps students spend less time on the road is a step in the right direction.
"I think it's so much better so students don't have to travel over there," Rodriguez said.
UTRGV said the report is just the first step. The task force will continue tracking student needs and looking at possible future growth in areas like housing and recreation.
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