A message from president Westbrook:As we begin Spring Break and look forward to the last half of the semester, I wanted to provide you a brief update on the work underway relative to our transition into The University of Texas System. The legislation that will enable our university's affiliation has been filed in the Texas Legislature and will be working its way through the legislative process over the coming weeks. I have been in Austin numerous times since the start of the year (with much more to come) and can report that there is very good support for our decision and the required legislation.
Even while the enabling legislation works its way through the approval process, work preparing for the transition is well underway. As I let you know a few weeks ago, an Executive Transition Steering Committee was appointed by me and UT System Chancellor J.B. Milliken. Provost and Executive VP Lorenzo Smith and VPFA Gina Oglesbee are the SFA members of that steering committee while Dr. Archie Holmes, UT System Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and Jonathan Pruitt, UT System Executive Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs, are the system members. This steering committee has since appointed an SFA/UT System Core Transition Support Team that is composed of various subject matter experts from both SFA and the UT System office. This SFA/UT System Core Transition Support Team will be meeting on a regular basis to enable a transition that is as seamless as possible. To that end the Team has been establishing functional work groups to address specific topical transition items as needed.
Several of the key over-arching transition areas being addressed are listed below. I have also listed the SFA Core Transition Support Team members that are working with their counterparts at the system office to provide oversight to each.
Academic Affairs, (Marc Guidry)
Student Services, (Carrie Charley)
Legislative/Governmental Relations, (Charlotte Sullivan)
Fiscal Affairs, (Gina Oglesbee)
Information Technology, (Mike Coffee)
Personnel and Human Resources, (Judi Kruwell)
Facilities, (John Branch)
Business Operations and Administration, (Kay Johnson)
Communications, (Graham Garner)
Advancement, (Jill Still)
I want to say a big Thank You to everyone who is a member of the Core Transition Support Team and/or those folks who are already participating on a work group within one of the areas listed above. These are exciting times with a lot of positive work underway.
We have launched a website where you can stay tuned at
www.sfasu.edu/ut-system. I will also continue to update you with emails over the remainder of the semester.
Have a great break!!
Axe'em!!
Steve