[phas-faculty_staff_others] Official news on possible (probable) name change and other rumors

[Kurtis Williams]

President Rudin talked at with the department heads yesterday, finally, to address the rumors regarding the university name change.  The delay in official news was blamed on vacations and holidays.  I will summarize Pres. Rudin's main points here, I am sure you will here more about this from the president in August.


  *   The proposed name change has been driven by the Board of Regents and Chancellor Sharpe, who swore Rudin to secrecy.
  *   The proposed name change will be to Texas A&M  University-Dallas.  No other qualifiers e.g., not A&M-Dallas at Commerce.  East Texas A&M was considered and rejected.
  *   The board has not approved the name change yet.  Their next scheduled meeting is August 1, however the board controls their own agenda and can do what they want.  They could hold an email vote tomorrow if they want, or they can wait until scheduled meetings (August, November, March).
  *   Commerce will remain main campus.  Our other sites (8750 in Dallas, Mesquite, Navarro, dual credit agreements, etc.) make up our "system," and Hunt County is considered part of the Metroplex by federal government, so we are already "in Dallas."
  *   Damage control is being aimed toward alumni right now to try and bring them onboard.

So there you go.  My opinion, for what it is worth, is that the name change is a done deal, the question is when.  For now, we are still A&M-Commerce for the purposes of affiliations and so forth.

Next: Regarding the Office of Academic Technology (D2L support) - Although 7 people were let go out of the nine in the office, 3 temporary workers have been hired to maintain support during the search for new leadership.  The new job descriptions are still being discussed. The job of reorganization has been given to Dean Dunlap (library), and OAT will now be under the library dean's purview.  The timing of this reorganization has nothing to do with the name change.

Finally: Regarding the Closure of the Children's Learning Center - it is closing because it is not making money.  In my opinion would be that childcare is not about making a profit but providing a needed and affordable service to students, faculty and staff, but I was not involved in this decision and it will not be reconsidered in the near term.  This decision was also not related to the renaming of the school

So, there you go.  If you have any questions or concerns, please communicate those directly to me.  I will try to get answers when I return to the US next week.

Cheers,
Kurtis
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