Bailey: UTRGV is developing programs to keep our best and brightest right here in the RGV

MISSION, Texas – Keeping students in the RGV region after graduating was a key point addressed during a panel discussion about higher and public education.  

The discussion was part of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership’s 2025 RGV Legislative Tour, held at Wonderful Citrus in Mission. 

The four participating panelists were UT-Rio Grande Valley President Guy Bailey, Texas State Technical College System Regent Lizzy De La Garza Putegnat, Edinburg CISD Trustee Letty Garcia, and South Texas ISD Superintendent Marco Antonio “Tony” Lara. 

Moderator Veronica Gonzales, senior vice president at UTRGV, asked Bailey about new degree programs being offered and what this means for keeping students at home in the RGV after graduation.

“Well, as you know, since we opened the institution we’ve been adding new programs,” Bailey answered.

He said within those new programs are medical school courses.

“And, by the way, we are hiring back students who graduated from our medical school and have gone elsewhere to do their residencies so that’s a wonderful thing,” Bailey said.

He also emphasized the residency programs available in the RGV.

“We have seven residency programs here in the Valley that we oversee. We also have the only school of Podiatric Medicine in the state of Texas and that’s absolutely crucial for doing things like managing diabetes,” Bailey said, adding the importance of podiatrists in preserving limbs.

Bailey also mentioned a new school of physical therapy due to open in the fall in Harlingen as well as a school of occupational therapy that is already proving a success.

“We have some innovative PhD programs in human genetics,” Bailey said. “There are only a couple at medical schools but that’s extremely important because remember, diabetes is partly a matter of diet and partly a matter of genetics and understanding that balance is one of the keys.”

Bailey said UTRGV has also established a number of other programs at the master’s and undergraduate level such as cybersecurity and business analytics. 

“We’ve tried to do every program we’ve developed; we’ve looked carefully at the job market and what the state of Texas needs and what the Rio Grande Valley needs. We’ve been very careful in doing that to provide opportunities for our students,” Bailey said.

One complaint from parents, Bailey commented, was that once those students graduate, they leave the region and do not come back.

“We’re trying to take that seriously and develop programs that can keep our best and our brightest right here,” he explained.

Bailey also said that a new program was recently approved.

“Yesterday, they (the Texas Higher Education Coordination Board) approved a Doctorate in Optometry for the Rio Grande Valley,” he added. “The University of Houston worked closely in establishing this. We have a huge shortage of optometrists along the border and in the rural counties of Texas and we’ll begin filling that need very quickly. A lot of those students will come from right here in the Rio Grande Valley.”

Bailey predicted the students will have good professional jobs and they will be able to make a difference for their family and for the counties they live in.

Guy Bailey, Letty Garcia, Marco Antonio “Tony” Lara, Veronica Gonzales, and Lizzy De La Garza Putegnat. (Photo: RGG/Steve Taylor)

About UTRGV’s planned Doctorate in Optometry

---

From the UTRGV public relations department:

The Texas Higher Education Coordination Board has endorsed UT-Rio Grande Valley’s proposal to launch a new School of Optometry and a Doctor of Optometry (OD) degree.

The endorsement marks the second step in a lengthy development process that will require further approvals from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education.

UTRGV anticipates welcoming its inaugural class of the School of Optometry as early as Fall 2027, becoming only the second public optometry school in Texas.

UTRGV President Guy Bailey remarked on the importance of this approval, allowing local students to pursue their dreams within the region.

“The THECB’s decision is a crucial step forward in our efforts to advance healthcare education in the Rio Grande Valley,” Bailey said. “This program will open new educational opportunities and increase access to specialized treatments for our communities.”

Bailey added the School of Optometry will enhance UTRGV’s ongoing diabetes research and care initiatives in the region. Students will gain hands-on experience in specialty optometric services, including surgical care, diabetes management, dry eye treatment, myopia control, vision therapy, neuro-optometric care and special populations. The UTRGV School of Medicine and the South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute will collaborate in these research and clinical activities. 

“We are dedicated to building pathways for our students while addressing healthcare shortages in the Valley,” Bailey added. 

The proposal received initial approval for the program from the UT System in May 2024. UTRGV has since appointed Dr. William L. Miller, an accomplished clinician, educator and researcher, as the inaugural dean of the School of Optometry. 

Miller has decades of experience in optometric education, serving at three previous institutions of higher education. He has served as a tenured faculty member at two of those institutions holding administrative positions including Clinical Service Chief, Chair of the Clinical Sciences Department and of late the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.

“I am excited to see UTRGV achieve approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for the next step toward opening a School of Optometry,” Miller said. “The steps forward will include achieving accreditation with the goal of welcoming students in Fall 2027. 

“In my short time at UTRGV, it is apparent that the university has laid the foundation through intentional planning and support to achieve success. I look forward to serving the Rio Grande Valley community and providing eyecare and future eyecare providers to the area.”

The school plans to enroll about 40 students per cohort and will require approximately 15 full-time faculty members, including both research-active and clinical faculty. 

The new OD program will be a four-year, 189-credit-hour curriculum modeled after the top five optometry programs in the U.S. for national board examination pass rates.

The post Bailey: UTRGV is developing programs to keep our best and brightest right here in the RGV appeared first on Rio Grande Guardian.