Forging a new direction: How UTEP created its own brand of excellence

(UTEP) sits on the border of Mexico and the United States in the middle of the world's largest bi-national metropolitan region. For years, it struggled to compete with top-tier research institutions with far greater resources in a quest to become " Harvard on the Border. " In the late 1980s, new president Diana S. Natalicio wondered what would happen if her institution stopped trying to be something it wasn't and leveraged its distinctive attributes: a high population of bilingual first-generation college students and strong programs in science and engineering .Armed with a new attitude and vision, UTEP has become a national leader on a number of measures of quality in undergraduate education. Here, George D. Kuh talks with President Natalicio about her institution's unique and successful journey. GEORGE KUH: President Natalicio, by many measures the University of Texas at El Paso is a leader in using effective educational practices in undergraduate education. It's the largest institution in the United States with a majority Mexican-American student body, ranking second in the country in bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanic students and twelfth in master's degrees.The National Science Foundation cited UTEP as one of only six Model Institutions for Excellence in science, engineering, and mathematics, and the institution has one of the highest percentages of minority faculty among colleges and universities in the southwestern United States. In 2000,Time magazine featured UTEP for its community out-reach programs; faculty from across campus work with your Center for Effective Teaching and Learning to continually improve their instructional methods, and your Undergraduate Learning Center boasts state-of-the-art technology and multi-media resources. Along with all of that, UTEP's University College is a model in the country, with a nationally recognized student success course and, at last count, more than seventy learning communities.This is an impressive list of achievements, and many observers credit you for much of it.Take us back to the beginning, please, and tell us how you found your way here and what the early years were like. DIANA NATALICIO: A teaching job in linguistics brought me here. I really didn't think I'd stay more than a year; I thought I would be here until I could find something that would be more permanent for me, because my appointment was as a visiting assistant professor.