DART News Release
Aug 13, 2018 | General
UTA/DART Transportation Leadership Academy celebrates successful inaugural year
|  Media Relations Contact: August 13, 2018 UTA/DART Transportation Leadership Academy celebrates successful inaugural year The UTA/DART Transportation Leadership Academy commemorated the program's successful inaugural year Thursday night with a celebration at the Dallas Tower Club.  From left, Gary Thomas, DART president/executive director, Ashley Purgason, UTA associate vice provost in the Division of Student Success, and Rose Youngblood, assistant vice president for Institutional Advancement, attended the UTA-DART Transportation Academy's inaugural reception. "DART's partnership with UTA continues to be instrumental in developing today's students into tomorrow's leaders in the transportation industry," said Gary Thomas, Dallas Area Rapid Transit president/executive director. "We welcome the opportunity to guide this next generation of engineers and planners to build lasting relationships that will prepare them for limitless opportunities and bright futures." The UTA/DART Transportation Leadership Academy aligns with the University's aggressive Strategic Plan 2020 Bold Solutions | Global Impact, which focuses on fostering sustainable urban communities around the world while guiding the emergence of the Dallas/Fort Worth region as a megacity. Additionally, this partnership with DART is among the many steps that UTA is taking to ensure greater alignment and synergy between the University and the community it serves. Lolin Martins-Crane, director of the Lockheed Martin Career Development Center at The University of Texas at Arlington, said she appreciated the hands-on experiences the students received. "The students were given the ability to understand and experience various leadership styles, gain invaluable insights on strategic thinking, and learned about the challenges and rewards of leading and evolving such a successful organization. This hands-on opportunity gave the students a once-in-a-lifetime chance to engage and learn directly from DART executive leaders in group and one-on-one sessions" Martins-Crane said. "In addition, during these sessions the students were exposed to all the functional areas within DART that consistently work together to ensure DART success. This exposure and understanding will be invaluable when these students migrate to the workforce." In addition to emphasizing key themes, the academy addresses a guiding aspiration of UTA's strategic plan: to provide a meaningful internship to each student prior to graduation. Officials are adding a paid summer DART internship to the academy's plan in its second year. Martins-Crane said these internships will advance the academy to the next level. "The internships will be a complete immersion into the organizational culture and day-to-day operations. It also will help students better understand true work experiences," Martins-Crane said. "It accentuates that hands-on approach to learning. It completes the depth of what we're trying to accomplish with this academy, by developing technical and non-technical workforce skills." Delia Jasso, DART consultant and originator of the academy, said, "College seniors who are job-ready at the end of their four years will find they are more valuable to industry." The academy has been popular with students, too. Arnav Garg said he enjoyed the activities that the students did as a group. "As a computer science major, I usually deal with only engineers and so I have a particular way of thinking," he said. "Having to discuss the problem with other students from other majors helped me broaden my thinking and come up with better ideas." Another student, Kristen Landers, said she enjoyed DART officials talking about improving facilities while juggling societal challenges. In addition, UTA has partnered with industry or agency leaders, including:
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