[VPAAEtal] Provost Update - 2/28/24

[Academic Affairs]

[cid:image003.png at 01DA6A36.FEB7AF40]

Good morning, Academic Affairs!


The semester is well underway and I am proud of all the hard work going into supporting our students and initiatives.

  *   Thank you to everyone who has sent me examples of how they are innovating the classroom experience to meet student needs. Please continue to send these to me! Below are just a few examples of some of this outstanding work by our faculty:
     *   Faculty in EDL have been going above and beyond for their students, both in the classroom and through partnering with outside sources to provide the best learning experiences.
        *   Dr. Kemp-Graham has revised their Principal Prep Test Prep Course and co-authored with Drs. Ballenger and Jiang to publish a guide for their graduate students going through the Texas Principal Certification Exam. This effort required obtaining additional certifications and negotiating with software companies for student-friendly pricing.
        *   Drs. Pruitt, Kemp-Graham, Morton, and Powell also revised their federal grant budget to support an additional 30 first-gen students with free textbooks, laptops, and tutoring. This is a great example of how we can make strategic and meaningful changes that give students in need the basics to succeed.
     *   Dr. Charles Woods in LitLang and his graduate students in ENG 611: Writing with Digital Media launched Becoming a Soundwriter Network in which students get real hands-on experience producing soundwriting projects and sharing them with the world. If you're interested in learning more, feel free to visit the webpage<https://becomingasoundwriter.weebly.com/about.html>. It is always great to see our students obtain real-world experiences through the classroom.
  *   We have more orientations coming up regarding SACS (additional info forthcoming), and I encourage everyone to attend. Additionally, we have a quality enhancement plan (QEP) awareness video<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=636t3s2o2gs> that is a great introduction to our new plan set to launch this fall. This is all in preparation for the SACS team revisiting our campus from March 24th-27th. Depending on their questions, some of you may be asked to come speak with them based on your respective expertise. In the meantime, I want to remind everyone that while we do transform lives, our mission statement is officially "Educate. Discover. Achieve." Thank you to Dr. Dobbs and his team for diligently working on this front.
  *   I am pleased to share that earlier this month, the Office of International Programs (OIP) joined the Division of Student Affairs so that we can capitalize on the outstanding services offered to our students. As a part of Student Affairs, the support provided to our students will not only be coordinated with other aspects of student success, but also help to ensure seamless assistance for members of our Lion Family. The Office is now under the supervision of Jayson Douglas, Executive Director of Student Access and Success.
  *   Thank you to everyone who attended the CHSSA and the beginning of CASNR dean search forums. I was pleased to see so many great interactions and questions for our candidates. As a reminder, we have two more CASNR candidates on campus this week (one today) and the Honors College candidates visiting the following week. Please mark your calendars for 2:30-3:30 pm for each of the below dates to attend the open forums. As a reminder, for each college there will be identified time for faculty, staff, and students to meet with candidates in smaller group settings. You can find each candidate's CV and letter of interest on the Ongoing Dean Search webpage<https://inside.tamuc.edu/aboutus/administrativeOffices/academicAffairs/ongoing-dean-searches1/default.aspx>. Following each candidate's time on campus, there will be a survey for you to share your feedback. Your insights and perspectives will be invaluable in this critical decision. I look forward to seeing you at the open forums!
     *   CASNR
        *   Dr. Mark Kistler

           *   2/28; Ambition A&B
        *   Dr. Jason Apple
           *   3/1; Ambition A&B
     *   Honors College
        *   Dr. Erin Webster Garrett
           *   3/4; Pride Room
        *   Dr. Linda Tredennick
           *   3/6; Pride Room
        *   Dr. Karen Roggenkamp
           *   3/8; Pride Room
  *   I want to remind everyone about my open-door meetings this semester. I would love to learn more about your research goals and interests, your teaching, ideas for campus improvement, or whatever else might be on your mind. I have set aside Tuesdays from 4-6 pm and Wednesdays from noon to 1 pm for these meetings. Other times are available upon request. Please email Cynthia.Rhodes at tamuc.edu<mailto:Cynthia.Rhodes at tamuc.edu> to schedule a 30-minute appointment.

I don't have to tell you that this is a busy time for our campus, especially amid so many new and exciting changes. I thank everyone for your continued dedication to our institution, students, and each other.
tvh
Tammi Vacha-Haase, PhD

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs









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



[cid:image004.png at 01DA6A36.FEB7AF40]

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20240228/76369802/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.png
Type: image/png
Size: 37093 bytes
Desc: image003.png
URL: <http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20240228/76369802/attachment-0002.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.png
Type: image/png
Size: 4932 bytes
Desc: image004.png
URL: <http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20240228/76369802/attachment-0003.png>