Amber Esparza
Managing Editor
Texas A&M University-San Antonio’s Faculty Senate talked about faculty performance reviews, campus construction updates, and traffic and parking woes in their Feb. 2 meeting.
Here are the key takeaways from their February meeting:
Provost looks to update and standardize annual performance reviews for faculty.
University Provost Mohamed Abdelrahman told the Faculty Senate the university is looking to update and standardize annual faculty performance reviews for the next cycle.
Abdelrahman said he is working with college deans to figure out how annual faculty evaluations will tie into faculty merit raises. He also said department chairs will perform the evaluations while deans “assign the dollar amount (for raises) based on what the chair passes to them.”
Armando Tejeda, a lecturer in the college of education and human development, said he’d “never seen a dean or anyone assign any dollar amount on whether or not you got ‘exceeds’ on your evaluation or not.”
“Shouldn’t that be the case, though? If you are meritorious, or not, shouldn’t that be tied to what you actually get on merit?” Abdelrahman asked.
Dr. Ochoa discusses construction around campus and what that means for future traffic situations.
Ochoa pointed out the inevitable congestion to affect A&M-San Antonio’s only two entry and exit points that will come with the construction and openings of the University Health hospital, the VIDA communities, the EduCare and rec center buildings and Southwest ISD’s plans to build a K-8 school near Jaguar Parkway.
“If you think parking is a problem, this may even be a bigger headache for us,” Ochoa said.
Ochoa said he’s focusing on connecting the road that leads from Lot 3 to Maurman Road for people to use as a third entry and exit point for campus and has plans to advocate to the city for Jaguar Parkway to meet Roosevelt Avenue.
Other updates from the Feb. 2 meeting:
- The university’s final exam schedule has been updated for the spring 2024 semester. The time allotted for final exams has been shortened from their original 2-hour time slots to 1 hour and 50 minutes beginning on the hour.
- Construction of the university’s student recreational center is on target to finish by June 14.
- The second student housing building is on track to be completed this summer and will open this fall.
- The VIDA San Antonio home community will start phase three of its construction plan next year, which will bring an additional 6,200 residences near A&M-San Antonio’s campus.
- A&M-San Antonio is now part of the Texas A&M system’s Pathway Program, also knows as the Program for System Admission, allowing students to transfer to Texas A&M University-College Station after attending a participating Texas A&M system school for one year, if accepted into the program.
Check back in with The Mesquite this semester for more coverage on these topics and A&M-San Antonio’s Faculty Senate.
