UTRGV President Guy Bailey named Chief Executive HR Champion

Award includes $24,000 in donations that will be used to provide scholarships for employees pursuing a degree

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS– UTRGV President Guy Bailey has received the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) 2024 Chief Executive HR Champion Award, given in recognition of his commitment to the employees of the university.

The award honors a president or chancellor of a higher education institution or system who has demonstrated significant support for the institution’s human resources.

Under Bailey’s leadership, UTRGV launched an accredited Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration program, offered at no-cost to eligible faculty and staff. The program prepares those who aspire to leadership positions in key college or university administrative areas with the required knowledge, skills and competencies needed to enter such positions.

Bailey said he is honored to accept the CUPA-HR award, and reinforced his commitment to creating and providing opportunities and options that help improve quality of life for the more than 7,000 employees who work at UTRGV.

“The master’s program is an important part of the university’s succession planning strategy,” Bailey said. “We have great people here at UTRGV and we want to support and reward their dedication to this university. I am humbled and deeply grateful to Segal for this recognition.”

The HR Champion award includes an $8,000 donation to UTRGV from Segal, an association specializing in human resources consulting. Additionally, Bailey and his wife, Val La Mantia, each will match this amount, raising the total contribution to $24,000. The funds will be utilized to offer scholarships starting this fall, supporting employees who wish to pursue further education.

Nicole Englitsch, organizational development manager at UTRGV, said that with Bailey’s support, the master’s program in Higher Education Administration increased the number of program scholarships from 50 to 100, and he served as instructor of record for the program’s Finance in Higher Education class.

In addition, Bailey has approved funding for several human resources employees to become certified leadership coaches, and to allow for additional certification in emotional intelligence assessments and 360-degree assessments, so those services can be offered to faculty, staff and student leaders.

“Dr. Bailey shows that he wants to create a climate that promotes a welcoming, inclusive and nurturing campus climate,” Englitsch said. “He values engagement, shared governance, leadership, inclusion and well-being. It is not just lip service. His actions over the years – and especially his most recent funding for large, people-development projects – show he is willing to put resources behind his strategic priorities for staff and faculty development.”

ABOUT CUPA-HR

CUPA-HR is higher ed HR. The firm serves higher education by providing the knowledge, resources, advocacy and connections to achieve organizational and workforce excellence. Serving more than 36,000 HR professionals and other campus leaders at nearly 2,000 member institutions and organizations around the country and abroad, the association offers learning and professional development programs, higher education salary, benefits and demographic data, extensive online resources and just-in-time regulatory and legislative information.