Announcements
Message from the Provost: Office of the Provost/VPAA
September 4, 2012
As we move through the transition, there will be on going changes to our administrative organization to reflect new responsibilities and efforts to reduce costs. I am pleased at this time to announce several organization changes in the Office of the Provost/VPAA. These changes will provide more clarity to our organization and will allow us to better serve campus needs now and as we evolve into an autonomous four year institution, separate from Texas Southmost College.
Dr. Janna Arney has been appointed as Associate Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs. Dr. Arney will continue to work with the deans, chairs, and faculty on academic issues as she has for the past six years but will now assume an enhanced role in operational oversight of the Division of Academic Affairs. In addition to this role, Dr. Arney has been chosen to represent UTB on the Transition Task Force charged with dealing with TSC on a wide variety of Transition matters. She will work closely with Vice President Irv Downing on these matters and meet regularly with TSC .
Dr. Ruth Ann Ragland will continue to serve as Associate Provost for Community Outreach and Special Projects. Dr. Ragland will focus her energies on cultivating collaborations and Partnerships with our regional high schools while continuing to oversee our Office of Dual Enrollment and serving as our liaison with the Brownsville Early College High School. Dr. Ragland brings expertise in both marketing and institutional advancement making her an ideal person to lead our efforts in identifying the target student markets for UTB 2.0.
Prof. Ethel Cantu will continue as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs but will also assume duties as Dean of University College. Prof. Cantu will focus her energies on student success initiatives with a special focus on freshmen. She will also continue her oversight of the Academic Advising Center, the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Center for Civic Engagement, Title V Program, QEP and other academic support units housed in University College.
Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs/Finance and Budget, Karla Mongeon-Stewart, will continue her excellent work in managing our budgets, working closely with chairs and deans and will continue to streamline and institute best practices that will be critical in our evolution to autonomous status. Among these efforts, she will be creating an Academic Service Center that will serve all Colleges. This Center will be set up in stages during the coming year with the goal of having it fully operational by next fall.
In addition to the above changes, the Office of the Provost and the Office of Academic Affairs have been consolidated. Linda Ufland has been appointed as Director of Operations. She will now oversee all administrative activities and operations for the office and staff while continuing to work closely with the Provost and the Academic Affairs administrators on several important initiatives including transition and the streamlining of business processes. Maria Yanez Conde will support the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs as Senior Executive Assistant and will continue to focus on all faculty related issues . Liza Dimas will now serve as Special Projects Coordinator. In addition to supporting the Office of Governmental Relations, she will now oversee all special events for the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs.