[VPAAEtal] Provost Update - 11/27/23

[Academic Affairs]

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Good morning, Academic Affairs!

Welcome back from the Thanksgiving break! I hope everyone enjoyed their time away.

It is hard to believe that it has been over a year since I first began meeting with many of you, department by department, to better understand your experiences at TAMUC. You might recall me asking questions such as, what brought you to the university, what keeps you here, and how you envision our future. In addition, I shared my commitment to representative thinking as a model for team leadership and decision-making. I hope you also remember my invitation to hold me accountable when I come back to you with emerging patterns across our division and, most importantly, the identification of next steps.

One of the consistent remarks I heard throughout the 25 department meetings I joined was questioning our university's identity, often connected to our institution's future. That is, "Who are we?" and "Where are we going?"

I suspect many of you would agree that there are numerous ways to interpret the above, and many directions to go in answering. As I reflected on this, it became clear to me that one way of clarifying our identity and future path is through the process of refreshing the University Strategic Plan, which will wrap up later this semester. Through this process, I believe we will continue to clarify not only our mission and vision, but identify specific ways to move forward with clear metrics in which to measure our success. I am grateful that many of you have shared your input over the past several months with those given the charge to lead the revision process. At this point, the current timeline includes the committee finishing their work by the end of the current semester, with the president sharing the refreshed strategic plan early next year, outlining the next steps and implementation.

As we work to support this university-wide plan, we must also embrace how we, as the Division of Academic Affairs, can best serve the university. This involves increasing clarity of our priorities, embracing innovation, making decisions supporting our students, implementing effective budgeting strategies, and providing professional development opportunities for our faculty and staff.
As a division, it is crucial we maintain a proactive and adaptable approach to support the University's platform of educational excellence. We must continue toward the achievement of positive outcomes in today's volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment. To do this, we must first have a vision supported by clear expectations guiding our division, effectively driving the necessary changes and promoting the rising profile of TAMUC. Based on the work started by the Deans Council this past summer, our division statement has evolved and currently stands as:
Texas A&M University-Commerce's Division of Academic Affairs oversees administrative support and results-based accountability to ensure academic excellence and nurture a sense of belonging.  Our mission is to empower individuals to explore and pursue their passions, transforming their lives for the better.  We achieve this by investing in an array of teaching, classroom experiences, research, service, partnership, and professional development initiatives that encourage innovation. We strive to create a conducive environment where our faculty and staff can prepare students with the necessary skills and behaviors to become career-prepared graduates of the 21st century.  Through our collaborative efforts, we aim to add value and impact to the Northeast Texas region.
The Deans Council has also embraced specific core values and competencies for the Division of Academic Affairs. These are the values and competencies that guide us; everything we do across the colleges and throughout multiple levels of our division should be explored within this framework. The Core Values and Competencies of our division are as follows:
Core Value                                                     Related Core Competency
Results-Based Accountability                         Assures Accountability
Empowerment                                                Drives Engagement
Excellence                                                      Drives Vision and Purpose
Access                                                            Customer Focus
The attachment to this email outlines and offers insight into the above, as well as our division's Seven Clear Expectations, which will drive our work over the next several years. I invite you to take some time to review the attached information. Through this document, you will gain increased clarity of the direction we are taking and how we can collaborate to achieve our goals throughout the Division of Academic Affairs. As you can see, the seven guiding areas that will help to drive change in our division include:

  *   Enrollment Management
  *   Developing a Culture of Mentoring
  *   Optimizing Work Processes
  *   Ensuring Innovation and Relevance
  *   Strengthening Human Resources
  *   Building a Sense of Belonging
  *   Academic Platform for Dallas (8750)
This semester, each dean has been working with his or her leadership team to build a college blueprint, which is a set of quantifiable goals and action items for each of the seven areas. These will continue to guide the college or unit, establish rubrics for annual evaluations for leaders, and reflect opportunities for "proof points" that goals have been reached.
Our values, competencies, and clearly identified expectations will continue to serve the Division of Academic Affairs by supporting our institution's upward trajectory, increasing profile, and never-ending commitment to transforming lives. Together, we will drive forward with these foundational values, competencies, and expectations as they position us for strength and continuity during any transitions of leadership, external forces, or challenges.
I look forward to having further discussions with all of you. As promised, I am happy to meet with any of you during my open office hours, through a scheduled meeting, or with an invitation to attend one of your department meetings. I want to make it clear that as a division, we will use our core values and competencies, as well as the Seven Expectations, to support the University Strategic Plan. By implementing the above, we can best contribute to the university's mission and identified strategic priorities and goals.
Thank you all for your continued hard work and commitment. It is wonderful to be a Lion!

tvh

Tammi Vacha-Haase, PhD

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs









Texas A&M University-Commerce<https://www.tamuc.edu/>



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