Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Dear Maverick Community,

At The University of Texas at Arlington, fostering collaborative partnerships in our community is something that I see in action with the work you do every day. We have a responsibility to support the communities we serve. One way we do that is by ensuring there are opportunities for Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) to do business with UTA. When we promote full and equal procurement opportunities for small minority- and women-owned businesses, we are contributing to the prosperity of the communities we live and work in.

I am committed to UTA increasing the number and value of business transactions with HUB firms, consistent with our own and the state’s goals. To achieve this, it will take all of us. Remember, every time you make a purchase, you can create an opportunity for a HUB. Our HUB team works to identify and encourage HUBs to make products and services available to UTA. I encourage you to work with our HUB Program and become champions for this initiative by making a good-faith effort to seek and select HUBs.   

Our Division of Business Affairs has put together useful guidance and information below that will assist you in achieving our goals. I look forward to seeing the progress we can make together.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Cowley, Ph.D.
UTA President

Meeting and exceeding statewide mandatory HUB goals continues to be a campuswide priority.

UTA and the UT System have outlined policies to maximize opportunities for HUB firms to support our mission and operations. The state of Texas has also established statewide goals for our institution. UTA’s policy can be found here, and additional information on HUBs can be found on the Division of Business Affairs website here.

For purchases below bid requirement, leveraging HUBs via campuswide contracts and Mav eShop is mandatory.

Ways faculty and staff can improve UTA’s HUB performance include:

UTA has worked with Mav eShop suppliers to expedite the delivery of goods. UTA encourages faculty and staff making requests or who have purchasing authority to plan ahead in order to fully provide opportunities to HUB suppliers. Now that Dell is requiring all orders be processed through Mav eShop, planning is imperative. Exceptions should only be given in extreme situations and will be monitored.

UTA’s FY22 HUB annual performance:

In this chart, you can see the state HUB goals and how UTA did for FY22 (last column). We have several opportunities for improvement, and we look to you to help us in reaching every goal this next fiscal year.

UTA’s HUB Office

The HUB Program has a dashboard that can be used to provide departmental achievement comparison toward the state of Texas goal. Please work with the HUB Office to utilize the dashboard to monitor your department’s HUB performance.

Mario Ramirez, our HUB manager, can assist you with questions and searches for HUB opportunities. He can be reached at mario.ramirez@uta.edu.