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Jaguar leap is a bimonthly newsletter which reports audacious initiatives, projects and highlights from Texas A&M University-San Antonio faculty and staff.
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Strategic Plan
The University's Strategic Planning Committee has met multiple times this semester to further the process of updating A&M-San Antonio's core values, vision, mission and strategic plan. Faculty and staff are invited to a second Strategic Planning Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, April 20 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Vista Room to participate in a review of the preliminary mission, vision, values and priorities. This two-way conversation will be critical to the future of our great University.
Over the past 6 weeks, the Strategic Planning Committee has made a tremendous effort to summarize and analyze the feedback from the first Town Hall Meeting, historical University data and internal and external focus groups. A research subcommittee was appointed to help identify and summarize our areas of need, strengths, promise and opportunities.
This process of discovery has provided an opportunity to connect the dots for our great institution and more importantly, will prepare us for the revision of our University's core values, vision and mission. The committee will share a draft with the campus community at the Town Hall Meeting, along with our strategic goals, position and driving forces that will guide us through the next period of transformative growth. Your voice is needed!
As part of the shared governance process and organizational culture of transparency, faculty and staff are encouraged to participate; this work will continue through December 2016. Additional information about the strategic planning process and a full list of committee members are available on the Strategic Planning webpage. You may also submit feedback on the strategic plan via the form on the website.
The President is focused on ensuring our campus processes are as inclusive and participatory as possible. The diversity of our voices form the long-lasting integrity and wisdom for our University.
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Master Plan
The University Master Planning Steering Group and New Facility Planning Committee met recently to finalize the programming scope and budget of the new Science and Technology building. Requests for qualifications to select a building design team have been issued by System and a design team will be selected in July. Requests for proposal for a construction firm will be issued in early May. Construction is expected to begin in late May or early June of 2017 with building completion in time for spring 2019 classes. The committee will continue working with master plan and programming consultants in the weeks and months ahead and are planning an A&M-SA community update prior to the end of the semester.
Additionally, the committee is working with our consultants to review space utilization for Comprehensive Expansion for summer and fall 2016. All existing classroom and office space is being evaluated for efficiencies in order to meet the overall space needs for incoming students, staff and faculty. The goal is to limit the number of office moves as much as possible during this transition and the opening of the Science and Technology building. Our focus throughout this process will be to maintain a productive working and educational environment for our campus community. We anticipate to have to space projections completed by early May.
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Engineering
The University Engineering program plan is being developed consistent with the A&M goal of 25,000 engineers by 2025. We will leverage our regional workforce needs and the unique advantages of Texas A&M-San Antonio, with extensive collaboration across the Colleges of Education, Business, and Arts and Sciences. This will ensure that all the disciplines are integrated into the multi-disciplinary focus of the program planning.
Working with Dr. James K. Nelson, Director of Engineering Academic Initiatives in the Office of the Vice Chancellor and Dean of Engineering for the Texas A&M University System, a plan is underway to develop a four-year Bachelor of Science in Multidisciplinary Engineering at A&M-SA, which will be offered in concert with one or two other campuses of the A&M system that currently do not offer engineering programs. The design will include partnering with high schools and the Alamo Colleges to create an eight-year engineering pathway. The first step will be to create a pre-engineering pathway to be available to students at A&M-SA in fall 2017, which will coincide nicely with the new Science and Technology building in 2019.
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Faculty Development Plans Underway
The Office of Academic Affairs is currently working on creating a schedule of faculty development activities for the summer. The Summer Faculty Development series is scheduled to start on July 5, 2016, and will run through Friday, August 12, 2016. This six-week series will help prepare new faculty for the University's comprehensive expansion. Faculty development sessions will take place in the morning to allow new faculty to work with their colleagues in the afternoon to develop curriculum and course materials for the fall 2016 semester. All faculty are welcome to attend any of the sessions. Topics will include an orientation to A&M-San Antonio, human resources issues, teaching first-year students, diversity and cultural awareness in the classroom, use of academic technologies, high impact practices and student and academic support resources.
In addition, a faculty development short course will be offered from August 1 to August 13, 2016. This short course will be designed for current faculty and for new faculty who are unable to start on July 1, 2016.
Between July 5 and the start of classes, we will establish a mentoring program and be pairing continuing faculty with new faculty in their discipline. When we have more of the new faculty confirmed, the Provost Office and Deans will be discussing faculty participation and support with everyone.
Faculty development activities will include presentations from our own on-campus experts as well as guest speakers on selected topics. The summer faculty development series represents the start of a more comprehensive faculty development program that will continue throughout the academic year. A search is currently underway for a Director for Teaching and Learning. Additional information, including a schedule of all of the sessions, will be available by May 1, 2016.
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Leadership Initiatives
There is great optimism as we near the final phase of selecting an Executive Director of Experiential Learning. In addition, the search for a Provost is underway with the assistance of AGB, an executive search firm. The committee's search is underway and we will hear more about the finalists in late April.
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Budget/URC Updates
The University budget process is currently underway. The President and the University Resource Commission are working together and have established four overarching goals which include:
- Academic and student success initiatives
- Compensation plan for merit, compression and equity
- Increased cost for utilities, maintenance and outsourced contracts
- Scholarship programs or tuition discounts
The budget consists of two phases. Phase I is the initial budget which has been submitted and will be presented to the A&M System Board of Regents for approval on April 26,
2016. Phase II of the budget process entails detailed departmental items. Presentations to the URC will be held Friday, April 29, 2016 at 9 a.m. The goal is to have the Fiscal Year 2017 budget finalized by late May 2016.
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Comprehensive Expansion
The National Model of Student & Academic Success Working Group (Super Group) is focused on completing the High Impact Practices & Student Pathway to Success Plan as part of our comprehensive expansion and journey to a national model for student and academic success. Several high impact practices are underway to enhance orientation, bridging and ultimately student retention for first-year students and transfer students. The Super Group is finalizing Phase III of the comprehensive expansion plan which wraps up on May 15th. These audacious initiatives were highlighted at the April 8 faculty breakfast. Below is more information about some of the specific programs in the final stages of development. You may see all the reports on the Comprehensive Expansion page.
JagX Announced
The Develop Bridge Program is now called JagX- shorthand for the Jaguar Experience. The name change was made to better resonate with students, faculty and staff. The goal is to contribute to retention efforts by introducing students to University expectations and culture through an emphasis on professional, intellectual and life skills that will enable participants to be successful University students.
JagX Phase III Tasks Completed:
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The five-day JagX program will include daily JagX Studio sessions, which will assess students' intellectual engagement with social issues. "Engaging Social Issues as Scholars" invites students to build an in-depth understanding of a social issue, analyze this issue, brainstorm potential interventions and write a personal statement of civic responsibility describing their role in responding to social issues both on and off campus. The social issue selected for this summer will be online harassment.
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All JagX sessions will integrate mindset and technology.
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E-Portfolios will be introduced in JagX.
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An overview of the five-day program and a sample daily schedule are available. Please request an electronic copy from the JagX Committee.
JagX Phase IV Tasks:
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Determine keynote address parameters in Phase IV.
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Fully develop Student Choice sessions.
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Determine assessment of JagX.
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Identify facilitator guidelines.
Jaguar Tracks Program
The goal is to create the structure and curriculum for the four Jaguar Tracks courses, including but not limited to defining the audience of each course course, writing learning objectives, determining course topics, creating major course assignments, writing curriculum inventory change proposals, creating detailed syllabi for consistency across course sections and other duties as assigned.
Jaguar Tracks Phase III Tasks Completed:
Jaguar Tracks Phase IV Tasks:
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Draft course assignment descriptions.
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Finalize academic rubrics.
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Weight course assignments for each Jaguar Tracks course.
IT Applications Program
The goal of the IT subgroup is to acquire state-of-the-art software to support the success of faculty, staff and students at A&M-San Antonio. An E-Portfolio bid is posted on the state website. Campus forums will be arranged so that top contenders can present to the University community.
IT Applications Phase III Tasks Completed:
IT Applications Phase IV Tasks:
Orientation
The goal is to develop an engaging, interactive and informative orientation program that is tailored to the unique needs of first-time, full-time freshmen, transfer students and their families.
Dates for new student orientation, transfer student orientation and family orientation dates have been announced.
Orientation Phase III Tasks Completed:
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Orientations will follow a two-day, face-to-face format and are mandatory for first-time, full-time freshmen.
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Transfer New Student Orientations are mandatory for students with a cumulative GPA of 2.2 or below.
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Online Orientations are available for transfer students with a GPA of 2.21 or higher.
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Family Program is offered as a one-day program on day two of any Freshman/Transfer New Student Orientation.
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Draft schedule includes sessions on Title IX, rec sports, advising, ID cards, experiential learning, student activities, traditions/history, student rights and responsibilities, University Police Dept., IT business services and more.
Orientation Phase IV Tasks:
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Refine faculty involvement at orientations.
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Further develop Tower Walk tradition.
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Review session suggestions - "How to Support Your Student" bilingual options.
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Develop Student Panel sessions.
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Develop Orientation assessment process.
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Faculty & Staff Hiring Program
In preparation for our continued growth, the University must select and hire the new faculty and staff. The University undertook a series of faculty searches throughout the fall and spring semesters
to ensure that the new lower division classes are staffed by the highest quality faculty available. Thus far, the University has hired 21 new faculty, virtually all of whom already hold the terminal degree in their respective discipline (some will complete their terminal degree studies this summer) and all of whom have teaching experience and are committed to outstanding instruction. Faculty have been hired in the fields of Accounting, Biology, Chemistry, Criminology, English, History, Mathematics, Management, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Spanish and Sociology.
All of these new faculty will be integrated into the colleges and teach at the upper division, and, at the graduate level for programs with advanced degrees
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A number of searches for some additional faculty are underway, as are searches for new Department Chairs in Kinesiology and Counseling, Educational Administration and Science.
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Learning & Wellness
The Office of Human Resources, in collaboration with ITS - Academic Technology Manager, have developed an employee development and wellness model for the campus. This model links
programs, workshops, activities and events directly to learning and wellness objectives as well as to Dr. Bill Hettler's Wellness Wheel.
Learning & Wellness through its new initiative Learning for Effectiveness And Distinction (LEAD) has established seven tracks into which workshops, activities and events will be programmed. The tracks identified are: Technology Development, Customer Service, Navigating through A&M-SA, Essentials for Supervisors, Managers & Chairs, Academic Technologies, Diversity & Inclusion and Wellness (Jaguar Strong/Get Fit). Tracks are generally open to all A&M-SA staff, administrators and
faculty. LEAD workshops are interactive and engage participants in a variety of learning styles.
Registration for LEAD workshops is through Single Sign On and TrainTraq. It is important to note that there is no charge to LEAD participants. Recognition through a Certification of Completion will be awarded to current A&M-SA employees attending five or more LEAD workshops including wellness activities and events.
Upcoming LEAD events are announced through the HR eBlast and a summer schedule will be announced in mid-May.
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