News Release | Community
Edith Rodriguez, a student career advisor, poses in the IRIS Pod in the Career Center at the ESTAC Building on the Edinburg Campus. Another pod is located in the Career Center on the Brownsville Campus. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Community, Around Campus, Student Life, Alumni
By Tawny Turner
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – APRIL 30, 2024 – The UTRGV Career Center is helping prepare students for a successful future through a variety of resources.
In Spring 2024, the Career Center introduced an innovative resource called IRIS Pods, a photo booth designed to provide the UTRGV community with the chance to get quick and easy professional headshots.
The IRIS Pod is available to student, faculty, staff and alumni who wish to have a professionally lit photograph for use on websites and in resumes. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)
The pods, which produce high-quality headshots for students, staff, alumni and faculty are located on the Brownsville Campus in BINAB 1.105 and on the Edinburg Campus in ESTAC 2.101. They are available for use during the regular Career Center hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Individuals are able to use the pod free of charge by entering a valid email address, accepting the terms of usage and following the remaining instructions. No appointment is necessary.
Professional headshots are important for a variety of uses, including:
As a result of UTRGV’s new partnership with Sam’s Club, the company has provided substantial funding to support initiatives such as student career support, student computer lab support and student competition support, all to benefit UTRGV students. The Sam’s Club monetary contribution contributed to the purchase of the IRIS Pods. 
The simple procedure allows for several poses and emails the images directly to a valid email address. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)
UTRGV Career Center Director Kamara Jackson said acquisition of the two IRIS pods supports the mission of UTRGV to position students to be global leaders.
“Having access to this technology helps students to present themselves in this ever-changing and competitive professional environment,” Jackson said. “Students will have the opportunity to develop their brand presence with this high-quality equipment.”
For more information, visit the Career Center on the Edinburg or Brownsville campus or contact the Center at careercenter@utrgv.edu
ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.