A new chapter of the Information Technology Students of America will start in the Brownsville campus giving local students easier access to their workshops, networking and career-building opportunities.
Erick Lanza, a graduate student in the Master of Business Administration program and president of ITSA, said the organization matters in Brownsville because they want to have a community for IT and any majors for them to be able to connect, meet others and integrate technology into their career.
According to him, most of their events happen on the Edinburg campus, which means students off campus can not easily attend in person.
“[ITSA-BTX] brings closer access to those students who normally wouldn’t drive all the way to Edinburg to attend an event held by a student organization,” Lanza said.
He said the ITSA-BTX chapter began during the spring semester, then slowed and resurfaced under new officers, including himself.
Now, with new officers settled into their positions and a new semester, Lanza’s goal for ITSA-BTX is to “give students more opportunities outside the classroom” along with inviting guest speakers and producing workshops.
Regarding opportunities offered by the organization, Lanza said the ITSA-BTX has a planned speaker from Microsoft who is currently the director of data and AI for the University of Texas Systems.
“We have a plan [for him] to be a guest speaker in the first week of November,” he said. “We’re hoping for it to be in person… but if that is unable to happen, we’re going to have him virtually. … We’re already working on that.”
Victoria Huara, an information systems junior and vice president of ITSA-BTX, said the organization seeks to shape the technology community in Brownsville by being open to anyone.
“A lot of people are very intimidated when it comes to IT and how it’s incorporated with their career,” she said. “So, we just want it to be more approachable. A big goal of the club is [that] no experience [is] required.”
Montserrat Valderrama, an international business freshman and member of ITSA-BTX, said she joined because the club needed a graphic designer, so she assisted with logos and graphics for it.
Valderrama said she looks forward to future networking events and technical workshops.
“If you’re interested in coding, if you’re interested in going into IT or cybersecurity, it is a very good club to join,” she said.
Lanza added ITSA-BTX is striving to give students opportunities they would not find in a classroom and is currently finding ways to provide them.
He said he encourages students to explore the organization and participate in any future events.
“Give us any feedback … or any questions or even if they have something that they would like to create, to just let us know,” Lanza said.
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