The UT System Board of Regents met with UTA President Jennifer Cowley and other stakeholders to discuss updates to UTA’s Campus Master Plan, the new University Center, UTA West funding and more during its Wednesday and Thursday meetings. The board approved the updated Campus Master Plan after a presentation from Cowley. The Campus Master Plan helps UTA re-examine physical campus improvements every 10 to 20 years and prioritize near, medium and long-term capital improvements. UTA has been following a road map to revise the master plan since fall 2023, using community feedback, data and analysis. Cowley said the plan is tightly aligned with UTA’s strategic plan, which leads to five main campus initiatives: enhancing the sense of place, aligning the student experience and mission, investing in academic and research space, building infrastructure and connecting with North Texas and beyond. The university is seeking funding for three near-term initiatives: a performing arts center, more student housing and an improved library mall. Cowley said the Fine Arts Building’s orchestra performance space isn’t big enough to fit UTA’s orchestra. Building a performing arts center is an “urgent need” that would address deferred maintenance and provide modern performance spaces, she said. The new library mall aims to reimagine the space as a plaza with outdoor gathering areas and a shade structure. “The spaces between our buildings, they create living rooms across our campus, and so we’re focused on the library mall,” Cowley said. With the growing need for student housing, she said she hopes to present a project to the board in the fall adding 770 apartment beds. “We need to have a mix of both the residence hall style [housing] and apartments to support our student needs,” Cowley said. The updated master plan also focuses on improving deferred maintenance for aging buildings, which for the main campus brings an estimated cost of more than $136 million. Replacing outdated buildings often improves energy efficiency, according to Cowley’s presentation. “Deferred maintenance is something we have to pay attention to, so a number of the buildings I talked about are ones that are reaching that point. It’s time for major renewal,” she said. Cowley also displayed a map highlighting the oldest buildings. The most at-risk structures are those on the immediate west side of the University Center such as Woolf Hall, the Earth and Environmental Sciences building and Science Hall. Later in the meeting, the board approved the new University Center project after Cowley presented key details surrounding the $175 million building. The oldest parts of the building will be demolished and replaced with a larger addition, she said. The building will have about 148,562 gross square feet demolished, with 96,220 gross square feet undergoing renovations and 166,444 gross square feet in new construction. The new addition will include meeting and event spaces, a computer lab, shared dining and common spaces, enhanced student engagement spaces and collaborative spaces. “This is helping to advance our goals around student success, making sure that we’re helping support a positive student experience and promoting community engagement,” Cowley said. On Thursday, the regents approved the City of Fort Worth’s $4 million reimbursement to UTA for the various infrastructure improvements resulting from the incoming UTA West campus. Two million dollars will be provided within 90 days of the contract being signed and the remaining $2 million within 90 days of UTA providing a copy of the Final Completion Report showing the completion of infrastructure work. @PMalkomes news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

With their 2025 home opener set for Friday, the Dallas Wings are rolling into the summer with several changes in the works: a new staff, a rebuilt roster and one final year at College Park Center before relocating to downtown Dallas. The Wings began their partnership with CPC after relocating from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and have called Arlington home for the past nine seasons. Pending approval from the WNBA, the team will move to Dallas for the 2026 season, set to play in the heart of the city at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas. The Wings struggled to find success early in their tenure in Arlington. Despite having advanced to the semifinals in 2023, the team has yet to make it through the playoffs with a positive record. With a vast roster rebuild, the team hopes to revert to winning ways. During the off season the Wings introduced Chris Koclanes as the new head coach and Curt Miller as the new general manager and executive vice president. Koclanes was previously the defensive coordinator for the Connecticut Sun and an assistant coach at the University of Southern California. Under Koclanes, the Connecticut Sun ran a bolstering defense, leading the league in defensive scoring average and defensive field goal percentage in 2021. The coach also helped the team reach the 2019 and 2022 WNBA finals. Miller is the first general manager for the team since they moved to Arlington. He served as the Los Angeles Sparks head coach for two years and worked with Koclanes as the Connecticut Sun general manager and head coach for seven seasons. “It’s fantastic being back with Curt. He’s been a tremendous mentor for me and to have that support system there, someone who’s lived this and breathed this,” Koclanes said. The two share a vision for the team and staff. Koclanes said Miller is consistently available for guidance without overstepping, and is an invaluable resource for him and the staff. The Wings also drafted five players to the roster this preseason, including No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers. DiJonai Carrington, Tyasha Harris and NaLyssa Smith have joined the team as free agents. The Wings also obtained the reserved rights to Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, who joined as part of a four-team trade. The Wings have maintained three members from the 2024 roster: Teaira McCowan, Arike Ogunbowale and Maddy Siegrist. Ogunbowale joined the Wings out of University of Notre Dame in 2019 and became a staple for the team’s success. “I think people are catching on, and I think the players we have are gonna embody that type of style and grace and just support the city, and just put the city on the map, so I’m excited for that,” Ogunbowale said. Koclanes said he’s focused on flexibility to build a game plan that fits the roster and reflects the team’s strengths. Players already have strong chemistry, and he expects it to keep growing. The team has an autonomous dynamic, and he said he believes accountability and leadership will develop organically. Bueckers said that the team has acknowledged the challenges of a young team and is prepared for growing pains. “You never want to get used to losing, but you want to get used to learning from good games, learning from lessons, and moving forward and taking whatever you learned from the last game, the last practice, the last whatever to continue to make you better for the future,” she said. With the team’s final preseason game in the books, the Wings open up their season against the Minnesota Lynx at 6:30 p.m. Friday at College Park Center. @kaleivie_ sports-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

Tre’s Bar-B-Q doesn't go about things the traditional way. In the back of the Maverick Dining kitchen, executive sous chef Austin Banks and his crew use an indoor smoker to slowly cook 18 to 22 briskets each night for next-day service. “We put in a system in place to where we always want to be ready for the next day,” Banks said. The setup was years in the making for Banks and Maverick Dining. Banks used to bring his own barbecue pit to smoke meat for catering events on campus, he said. After receiving positive feedback and hosting a few sold-out events, the concept slowly baked into a full-fledged campus restaurant in January 2025. Now, Tre’s Bar-B-Q looks to establish a unique experience among Arlington’s ever-growing barbecue scene — teaching student workers how to cut meats, offering vegetarians alternative options like baked potatoes with beans, corn or other toppings and introducing international students to the vast world of barbecue. “It's something that brings all cultures together,” Banks said. For sous-chef David Patton, these conversations with students opened his mind. “I can recall just a quick story of seeing international students and they're asking me questions where I'm like, ‘Oh you don't know what coleslaw is?’” Patton said. “But then having to backtrack and be like, ‘You know what? Maybe this person doesn't know what coleslaw is. They’ve never ever seen it.’” These interactions are what shape Tre’s Bar-B-Q’s flavors as it grows into its space within the university. The restaurant looks to bring barbecue to all parts of campus and do so with care. To do so, they also add something traditional. “We put love,” Banks said. “It's all about the love and what you put into it.”