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Advisory Board

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Paul Dipp

Paul Dipp is an El Paso native who graduated from UTEP with a Bachelor of Business Administration with a double major in Real Estate and Management. Dipp, a third generation grocer, has served as President of Economy Wholesale Grocers since 1996. He is also Partner in Plaza Properties, formed in 1973, an asset management firm. Dipp has actively served in the Young Presidents Organization, St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital – El Paso Chapter, Sacred Heart Parish Strategic Planning Committee, The Institute of Real Estate Management, the College of Business Administration Advisory Board, and UTEP Centennial Committee. In 2019, he was honored with the UTEP Gold Nugget Award from the College of Business.

Richard Adauto

Richard Adauto

Ricardo Adauto III served for thirty-two years in former President Natalicio’s senior administrative team at The University of Texas at El Paso. In his role as Executive Vice President for Administration and Oversight, he supported the President in the management and daily operation of the university. Mr. Adauto managed the Division of Administration and Oversight.

Mr. Adauto served as the institutional liaison for the Texas Legislature managing information delivery, testimony and hearings, and was the university’s point person with the El Paso Legislative Delegation. Mr. Adauto represented UTEP on the U.T. System Governmental Relations Advisory Council and was the liaison on all legal matters with the U.T. System Office of the General Counsel. He oversaw all business contract and personnel agreements that are prepared for U.T. System Board of Regents action and was the liaison with the General Counsel to the Board of Regents. A native El Pasoan, Mr. Adauto earned a B.S. in psychology from The University of Texas at El Paso and a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. He began his UTEP career in 1988 as Officer of the Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Office and was named Assistant to the President in 1989. He was named Vice President for Institutional Advancement in 2000 and Executive Vice President in 2006.

Ida Almanza

Ida Almanza

Ida Almanza was raised in Ft. Hancock, Texas in a small farming community. After high school, she moved to El Paso, Texas to attend the University of Texas at El Paso. She received a B.S. in Medical Technology which is now Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) in the College of Health Sciences. She is Board Certified as a Medical Technologist and Specialist in Microbiology by the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP). She has had the opportunity to work in number of positions in reference and hospital laboratories. She retired in July 2020 from Vitalant as the Director of Shared Technical Services.

Celeste Alvidrez

Celeste Alvidrez

Celeste Alvidrez is an Alum from the University of Texas at El Paso. She received her undergraduate degree from UTEP with a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion with a minor in Community Health in 2019. Celeste also became a Certified Health Education Specialist in 2019. She is currently a graduate student in the Master of Public Health program at UTEP. She is also employed with the El Paso Department of Public Health as a Disease Intervention Specialist (DIS). As a DIS, Celeste works to help stop the spread of HIV and STD’s through counseling, testing, prevention and education.

Salvador Balcorta

Salvador Balcorta

Salvador Balcorta is the CEO of Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe Inc. (La Fe) — one of the US-Mexico Border region’s leading community-health organizations. Since 1992, Balcorta has spearheaded La Fe’s transformation from a grassroots clinic into an internationally renowned, comprehensive health and human-services nonprofit and the region’s largest Federally Qualified Health Center.

He has served on advisory panels addressing communicable diseases, substance abuse, HIV/ AIDS, teen pregnancy, gangs, incarceration, community-economic development, immigration, US-Mexico Border health, and other social-justice issues. Balcorta is the recipient of many recognitions including the prestigious UTEP Gold Nugget Award.

Orlando Bejarano

Orlando Bejarano

Mr. Bejarano pursued an OT education and earned a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy at 50 years old in 1998 --he was the oldest OT student in the program history. In 2004, Mr. Bejarano started a therapy service business from scratch in his own home in the suburb of Houston. With hard work, passion and dedication, his business has grown to serve over 600 patients a week and employ nearly 40 therapists. Despite his successes over 800 miles away in Houston, he has never forgotten the city he grew up in and the school that helped him to reach his dreams. He established the "Ignacia Aguilar Bejarano Annual Scholarship" in honor of his mother. This scholarship supports an OT student who is in need and is also a single parent, like his mother. Mr. Bejarano provides a role model to our OT students. He has demonstrated a shining example of how one can overcome obstacles to reach your goals with hard work, determination, and graciousness.

Ellie Fenton

Ellie Fenton

Ellie Fenton was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico. She attended Northwestern University where she got a BS in Bus. Admin majoring in Marketing. She met her husband Tom in Mexico City and they moved to El Paso in 1970 where Tom was a Journalism Instructor at UTEP and Ellie taught accounting at IBC (Int. Bus College)

They left El Paso when Tom joined the Associated Press to become a foreign correspondent. They returned to El Paso in 1986 when Tom was named Editor and Publisher of the El Paso Times. They left again in 1993 when the Freedom Forum (formerly the Gannett Foundation) sent Tom to Zurich Switzerland.

At that point Ellie had become a CPA and worked for Deloitte Touche in Zurich. They returned to El Paso in 1995 to launch El Paso Inc., a weekly business journal. Today Ellie is the controller for El Paso Inc. and for PDX Printing, the commercial printing company that prints Inc and many other weekly and monthly newspapers.

Anna Gonzalez

Anna Gonzalez

Anna Gonzalez, is a 22-year-old El Paso native. She is a first-generation college student with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work received from UTEP in 2020. As a proud miner, she is continuing her education to pursue a master’s in Social Work. Currently, she is working as a Graduate Teacher Assistant and Case Investigator for the Texas COVID-19 Statewide Contact Tracing Project. She also a board member for the Student Association of Social Workers and an advocate for our community with over 8 years of volunteering experience in Ciudad Juarez and El Paso.

Tasha Hopper

Tasha Hopper, MSN, RN, NE-BC, FACHE

Tasha Hopper is the Chief Executive Officer at The Hospitals of Providence (THOP) Transmountain Campus. This facility is Tenet Healthcare’s first new teaching hospital.

Tasha served as COO at THOP Transmountain Campus. Prior to coming to Transmountain Campus, Tasha served as COO and Assistant Chief Nursing Officer at THOP Memorial Campus.

Tasha is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). Tasha is a certified nurse with over 20 years of experience. She received both her Bachelors of Nursing Degree and her Masters of Science in Nursing Administration from The University of Texas at El Paso.

Judge Bill Moody

Judge Bill Moody

Judge Bill Moody is currently the presiding judge for the 34th District Court in El Paso County. He was first appointed to the court by then Texas Governor Mark White in 1986. At the age of 36, he was one of the youngest judges ever appointed to the bench. Judge Moody’s 34 year tenure as judge makes him only the third El Pasoan to serve for over 30 years in elected service. He has devoted his life to serving his country and his community.

One of Judge Moody’s finest endeavors is to support Maggie, his wife, in establishing and continuing support to GiGi’s Playhouse, a place that offers educational, therapeutic and career development programs for children and adults with Down syndrome. It only further demonstrates how dedicated Bill Moody is to the community and to all of its citizens. No undertaking is too great for him in order to insure that everyone is represented.

It has been proven time and again that Judge William “Bill” Edward Moody is a great humanitarian, a great El Pasoan, and a great Miner.

Sue Mottinger

Sue Mottinger

Sue Glover Mottinger completed her undergraduate studies at Texas Western College (now UTEP) in 1965 with a BA in Physical Education. She began her career as a teacher in school districts around El Paso, Texas and parts of New Mexico. Mottinger then continued her studies, receiving both Master’s and PhD degrees from Texas Woman’s University. The basic principle of access to opportunity, ingrained in Dr. Mottinger during her academic career, was integral in shaping her development and preparing her for her future roles as a change agent in the world of physical education and a champion for women’s equality in the classroom and in sports competition.

During the late 1980s, Sue Glover Mottinger marched in the streets of Washington, D.C., and lobbied for successful passage of the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, which restored equal opportunities for women in education and included amendments to Title IX regulations that prohibited gender-based discrimination. UTEP’s mission to provide access to excellence in higher education for all residents of the Paso del Norte region still resonates strongly with Mottinger. In 2013, she created the Sue Glover Mottinger, Ph.D. Endowed Scholarship to support students majoring in Kinesiology and to provide access to enriched educational experiences for future generations of UTEP Miners.

Jerry Romero

Jerry Romero

Jerry Romero serves as Vice President/ Community Development Director Greater Texas/Western Border at Wells Fargo Bank Texas, N.A. He has had the honor to have been appointed to five State Agencies by the current and two previous Governors of the State of Texas.

Mr. Romero is an experienced financial services professional, with a demonstrated history of working in the Banking Industry. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Budgeting, Commercial Lending, General Banking, Volunteerism, Community Development, Compliance & Regulations and Coaching. He is a strong community and social services professional focused on Housing, Small Business and Financial Health with an emphasis on serving our most vulnerable communities.

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Sandra Terrazas

Sandra Terrazas is a physical therapist and owner of Spectrum Therapy Consultants. She is a 2003 graduate of UTEP CHS. The licensed physical therapist and personal trainer opened her El Paso-based company in 2006 and has overseen its growth while also serving as an adjunct professor at UTEP and other area institutions of higher education intending to make a difference in students that will eventually be colleagues by serving as a mentor.

Terrazas pursued her Master of Science in kinesiology from UTEP so she could continue to serve as an instructor. The first-generation college student also has a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy and an MBA from other institutions. “I want to help today’s students become good colleagues who combine technical skill with a personal touch,” said the businesswoman, who was instrumental in introducing the Spanish competency requirement to UTEP’s Doctor of Physical Therapy degree plan. “I want them to understand the culture of the community.”

Maria Zampini

Maria Zampini

Maria Zampini is the Chief Operating Officer at University Medical Center. She serves as highly effective healthcare leader with over twenty five years of experience. Offering an array of skills in strategic vision implementation and development, business/financial acumen, recruitment, leadership, and performance analysis as well as overall leadership, management, and vision necessary to ensure hospital has proper operational controls, administrative and reporting procedures and people systems in place to effectively grow the organization and operating efficiency. She is responsible for all facility renovation and bond construction projects, real estate acquisitions, clinic operations, ancillary services (pharmacy, rehabilitation, imaging, and laboratory services), perioperative services (operating rooms, endoscopy, and interventional labs), and all support services. Successfully completed on time and below budget over $500M in expansion projects as well as opened several large outpatient healthcare centers.

Briefing Book

Dean’s Message

On behalf of the faculty, staff, and students at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) College of Health Sciences (CHS), I thank you for accepting our invitation to serve on the inaugural CHS Advisory Board. We are extremely pleased that you have honored the College by being part of its inaugural Advisory Board. You will help guide our College’s VISION of leading the preparation of future health and human service professional to improve the quality of life and eliminate health disparities in the Paso del Norte region and beyond. Your efforts will help us to:

  1. Create transformative educational experiences;
  2. Cultivate a climate of pluralism and the knowledge/skills to succeed in an interconnected and culturally diverse world;
  3. Nurture collaboration and foster and inter-professional and interdisciplinary academic environment;
  4. Promote applied and translational research efforts to address significant societal problems; and
  5. Build lasting relationships with CHS alumni through initiatives that enable participation, create opportunities and foster dedication to the strategic direction of the College.

We are honored and thrilled to have such a distinguished group of leaders to help advance our efforts in preparing the next generation of health and human service professionals to improve the quality and conditions of life in this region, and provide outstanding care with compassion and competence.

Go Miners!
Shafik Dharamsi, PhD Dean, College of Health Sciences
Charles H. & Shirley T. Leavell Endowed Chair

Strategic Plan

Organizational Chart

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Membership Roster CHS-Advisory-Board--Contact-Information-PPP.jpg

Roles & Responsibilities

Roles/functions as a member of the Advisory Board:

  • Provide advice on the overall strategy and direction of the College, particularly in terms of issues such as strategic direction, market needs and opportunities
  • With focus on student success, consider recommendations and offer advice on a broad range of issues relevant to the College’s work, including research activities, program and curriculum development, academic standards and faculty development
  • Help establish and develop the College’s position, where appropriate and practical, within your areas of professional practice, expertise, and experience
  • Champion the College, build the College’s brand locally, nationally and internationally by communicating key strategic messages, create awareness for existing and new program initiatives, and showcase both the College’s and student achievements
  • Connect the Dean and members of the College’s leadership team to the broader community and regional networks in regards to building brand and awareness, as well as partnership opportunities
  • Assist in the creation of internship opportunities for students and research partnerships for faculty
  • Advise on fundraising activities, including identifying opportunities most relevant to the focus areas of the College
  • Provide guidance on enabling the College to be an impactful asset to our communities during challenging times

Connect With Us

The University of Texas at El Paso
College of Health Sciences
Health Sciences and Nursing Building
500 W. University Ave.
El Paso, Texas 79968

E: healthsciences@utep.edu
P: (915) 747 – 7280
F: (915) 747 – 7207