[VPAAEtal] Welcome Back: The Work Continues

[Academic Affairs]

[cid:image001.png at 01DC946A.69210C50]

Dear Faculty,

As we move into the first few weeks of a new academic year at East Texas A&M University, I want to thank you for the work you have already done to welcome our students and get the fall semester underway.

As I shared during my recent visits with our colleges, while we are in a period of leadership transition, our mission is not in transition. Every day, students come to East Texas A&M with aspirations for themselves, their families, and their futures. Our responsibility is to help turn those aspirations into opportunities. The work of transforming lives through education continues.

As Acting Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, my commitment is to provide stability and continuity while ensuring that we maintain our momentum. Work already underway-including faculty workload and evaluation, transformative learning, competency-based education, career-connected learning, undergraduate research, and other student-success initiatives-remains a priority.

Becoming a Student-Ready University

You will hear me talk frequently this year about becoming a student-ready university. For me, that means moving beyond asking whether students are prepared for us and asking whether we are prepared for the students we serve.

Are we removing unnecessary barriers? Are we proactive when students need support? Do our programs provide clear pathways to completion and meaningful careers? Are we connecting classroom learning with experiences that prepare students for what comes next?

Becoming student-ready is not the responsibility of one office or division. It requires all of us.

Moving Forward Together

We have much to build upon. Our university has made significant progress in expanding academic opportunities, strengthening student success, supporting faculty development, and creating more opportunities for high-impact and experiential learning. In her final Provost message Dr. Vacha-Haase highlighted many of these accomplishments, along with the importance of continuing the work already underway.

As we settle into the semester, I encourage each of us to remember our why. Behind every enrollment number, retention statistic, and degree awarded is a student whose life-and often the trajectory of a family-can be changed by what happens at East Texas A&M.

Thank you for the energy and commitment you have already brought to this academic year and for what you will continue to do each day to support our students and one another.

Leadership may be in transition. Our mission is not. The work continues, and together, we will continue transforming lives.
I wish you a successful and rewarding fall semester.
Andrea
Andrea Graham, Ph.D.
Acting Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
East Texas A&M University
[cid:image002.png at 01DC946B.91E2BE80]


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20260831/024217f6/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 37450 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20260831/024217f6/attachment-0002.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 4396 bytes
Desc: image002.png
URL: <http://mailman.tamuc.edu/pipermail/vpaaetal/attachments/20260831/024217f6/attachment-0003.png>