[VPAAEtal] Provost Update - 3/19/2025

[Academic Affairs]

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Good morning, Academic Affairs!

Welcome back from spring break; I hope you had a relaxing week! I have a few quick updates for you:


  *   This semester has been busy with a number of committees working on identified priorities. Below is the latest information on two:
     *   The Faculty Workload Policy Committee, chaired by Dean Ray Green and Dr. Alex Williams, has been busy reviewing workload procedures from multiple universities, including most universities in the A&M System. The committee is now in the process of working on the first draft of the revised procedure and foresees completing a draft by the end of March. Once the first draft is completed, the group will begin to share it with stakeholders (e.g., Faculty Senate, Department Head Council, etc) to get feedback and thoughts for edits and revisions.


     *   Since December, the Review of Learning Platforms working group, chaired by Dr. Carrie Klypchak, has been researching the usage and benefits to students, faculty, and staff of several different online platforms that have recently been used at ETAMU. Specifically, the group has been conducting a thorough review of Adobe Creative Cloud, LinkedIn Learning, Coursera Career Academy, and Google Certificates. They have just completed a campus-wide survey of students, faculty, and staff to gain broader perspectives on these platforms. The group anticipates offering their findings to upper administration for consideration later this month or early April.


     *   In addition to the above, we have the following committees:
        *   D2L Improvement (Basic Template) - Lanee Dunlap (Chair)
        *   SB 25 - Ricky Dobbs and Jennifer Schroeder (Co-Chairs)
        *   Development of Graduate Programs - Jennifer Schroeder (Chair)
        *   Review of Class Schedules - Ricky Dobbs (Chair)
        *   Summer Pay Model - Joe Romero and Venu Cheriyath (Co-Chair)
        *   Open Educational Resources (OER) - Flavia Belpoliti

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to the chair of the committee with any questions.


  *   I would like to call to your attention the current Faculty Handbook<https://inside.tamuc.edu/aboutus/administrativeoffices/academicAffairs/handbook/default.aspx>. Led by Dr. Eric Branscome, we are hard at work completing much-needed revisions, and a newly designed handbook should be ready for distribution by the start of the Fall 2025 semester. The goal is to redesign the handbook to create a resource that is useful, informative, user-friendly, and effective in communicating campus-wide policies, procedures, and resources to new and returning faculty. Among the many new features will be a link for readers to provide input into the handbook and an established mechanism to provide ongoing review, update, and distribution of the new Faculty Handbook to ensure it remains a living document, integral to the life and culture of faculty and student success.


  *   It is time again for institutional feedback to be collected through 360 evaluations for the leadership at East Texas A&M. Surveys requesting your input will be sent out late March through mid-April, with the first email serving as an initial invitation to complete the survey, followed by two reminder emails. Vice Presidents will be evaluated by all full-time faculty and staff; four deans, including Deans Dunlap, Graham, Green and Schroeder, will be evaluated by the faculty and staff in their units. Thus, you should expect multiple emails, one for each person you are being asked to evaluate. The emails will come from Dan Su but with the Qualtrics server suffix, it will appear as noreply at qemailserver.com<mailto:noreply at qemailserver.com>. As always, participation by faculty and staff is voluntary, and data is kept confidential. No individualized data will be used, as results will only be shared in an aggregated format. A summary report of the results will be shared for the individual being evaluated and his or her direct supervisor to review. Please reach out directly to Dr. Dan Su or Dr. Ricky Dobbs with any questions.


  *   I want to remind everyone that the job listing for Assistant Vice Provost closes at the end of March. This full-time job works closely with the Senior Vice Provost, Dr. Dobbs, and will focus on the strategic leadership of the Student Success Center, coordinate with other divisions, develop ideas and initiatives for student success, and much more. I encourage you to take a look at the profile<https://tamus.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/ETAMU_External/job/Commerce-TX/Assistant-Vice-Provost-for-Academic-Affairs-Student-Success_R-081869> and apply if you are interested!

On a final note, I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for all that you do each day to support our students and contribute to the success of our campus community. Your dedication, hard work, and passion make a meaningful difference in the lives of our students, helping them grow, learn, and achieve their goals. It is because of your efforts- both seen and unseen- that we continue to transform lives through an environment of academic excellence. As we move through the week ahead, I hope it is smooth, productive, and filled with moments of success and fulfillment. Please know that your work is valued and appreciated.

Take care, and be well, Lions!
tvh
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