[VPAAEtal] Provost Update - 9/6/23

[Academic Affairs]

[cid:image001.png at 01D9E0CD.D86FE6B0]



Good afternoon, Academic Affairs!


First and foremost, welcome back. I hope you all had a good summer and are ready to take on the fall semester! If the first week back was any indication, I know we are in for an incredible upcoming academic year.


  *   I am happy to announce that the Provost Office is now back in the McDowell Administration Building. So, you can now head to McDowell 280 for my open-door meetings on Tuesdays from 4-6 p.m. and Wednesdays from noon to 1 p.m. As always, I would love to learn more about what's on your mind and learn about all you are doing. Please contact Cynthia Rhodes at Cynthia.Rhodes at tamuc.edu<mailto:Cynthia.Rhodes at tamuc.edu> to schedule a 15-30 minute time. (And if Tuesday or Wednesday isn't good for you, let Cynthia know and she'll find another day that works).


  *   To ensure that I am keeping up with faculty's interests, thoughts, needs, and concerns, I'll also be doing Listening Lunches starting this semester, which will serve as an additional way for faculty and me to communicate. These will be scheduled monthly with a few faculty at a time. Overall logistics are still being finalized.


  *   I'm happy to report enrollment numbers look great for ACUE and Investing in Us. I'm delighted to see so many of you taking advantage of these great opportunities. As one of the A&M University System campuses participating in the Scaling Instructional Excellence for Student Success Initiative, our institution has certified 56 faculty in Effective Teaching Practices, credentialed over 100 course participants, and has about 60 people registered for ACUE. For Investing in Us, we currently have over 250 faculty, staff, and alumni registered for this fall's variety of interesting courses<https://inside.tamuc.edu/aboutus/administrativeOffices/academicAffairs/InvestinginUS.aspx>. Thank you to the faculty teaching these courses, and to Dr. Laura Isbell and Dr. Carrie Klypchak for directing and organizing these opportunities and continued dedication to our institution.


  *   Our new Artificial Intelligence Initiative has been working hard on gathering useful resources and setting up workshops. Please take a look at the website<https://www.tamuc.edu/artificial-intelligence-initiative/>, which will also host a calendar for upcoming events in addition to further information to aid our institution. This is an extremely exigent topic and I encourage everyone to join in this discussion for best practices and looking at the integration of artificial intelligence and higher education. Please reach out to Dr. Sal Attardo or Dr. Benton Pierce to join the committee or any of the important subcommittees.


  *   I am excited to announce that the first Provost Fellows cohort has begun their work in our office. Dr. Tammi Morton, Dr. Mark Mereno, and Dr. Meifang Xiang all bring expertise and insight into our office to work on projects in identified areas, building and sustaining close relationships among colleges, departments and programs, while providing an opportunity for faculty to hone their leadership skills and make connections with other divisional leaders in areas such as athletics, student affairs, and enrollment management.


  *   As you know, we are beginning external searches for dean positions in the Honors College, CHSSA, and CASNR. I want to thank our committees and chairs for their continued hard work. We are working with AGB Search on these nationwide searches, and they will serve as an excellent partner in our efforts. As we move forward, we'll be reaching out to ensure that you have plenty of opportunities to participate in helping us find the next leaders of these colleges. We will also be implementing a web page starting in October with information and updates for each college's search.


As always, I appreciate all you do for our students and this institution. I look forward to seeing all the successes this semester will bring. Go Lions!

tvh
[cid:image002.png at 01D9E0CD.D86FE6B0]
Tammi Vacha-Haase, PhD

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs









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



[cid:image003.png at 01D9E0CD.D86FE6B0]

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20230906/d8dd2b21/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 173028 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20230906/d8dd2b21/attachment-0003.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 16304 bytes
Desc: image002.png
URL: <http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20230906/d8dd2b21/attachment-0004.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.png
Type: image/png
Size: 6448 bytes
Desc: image003.png
URL: <http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20230906/d8dd2b21/attachment-0005.png>