By Jacob Beltran
Updated May 3, 3:00 p.m.
Provost Brent Snow announced the Texas A&M Board of Regents and the office of the chancellor gave final approval Thursday on all tenure requests submitted by Texas A&M-San Antonio.
Snow said in an email circulated this morning he is pleased to announce that “faculty members were approved for tenure and/or promotion in rank at the BOR meetings earlier this week.”
The following faculty were awarded tenure and promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor in the School of Arts and Sciences: history professor William Bush and criminology professor Durant Frantzen; in the School of Business: professor Judy Lewis; and in the School of Education and Kinesiology: professor Debbie Vera and professor Jennifer Wilson.
Two faculty members received promotions. In the School of Business Dr. Tracy Hurley and Dr. Carolyn Green were promoted from associate professor to Professor.
Updated May 2, 5:oo p.m.
Original Story, April 29:
The Texas A&M-University System Board of Regents will meet this week to consider several agenda items for A&M-San Antonio including fee consolidation, hiring and promotion approvals, and the renaming of Main Campus Building.
The board, a governing body that oversees all 11 universities in the A&M-System, will meet 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 1-2 at Texas A&M University-College Station on Gene Stallings Boulevard.
This is the second of five scheduled regular board meetings for 2013. Administrators from this university regularly attend meetings with other members of the System.
President Maria Hernandez Ferrier; Provost Brent Snow; Ken Mitts, vice president for finance and administration; and Melissa Mahan, vice president for student affairs are attending the meeting. Snow provided The Mesquite a list of attendees via email last week.
Proposal to consolidate fees
The committee on finance agenda will meet to review a request from A&M-San Antonio to consolidate the student services fee into the university services fee. Justification was submitted by the university prior to the meeting outlining the goals. (Excerpt below. For more information, see Agenda: 7.3)
“For FY 2013, Texas A&M University-San Antonio (TAMU-SA) received approval to
combine all existing mandatory fees, with the exception of Student Services Fee and
International Education Fee, into one consolidated University Services Fee. For FY 2014,
TAMU-SA is requesting to additionally roll the current Student Services Fee into the
University Services Fee, thereby, eliminating the Student Services Fee. The University
Services Fee would then be used to cover expenses currently justified under the fee and,
additionally, those currently covered under the Student Services Fee. As such, the
University Services Fee would be increased by $14.30/SCH, the amount currently charged
under the Student Services Fee.”
Proposal to rename school heads to deans
Snow said the university is also proposing a university-wide change of an administrative title; school heads will be renamed deans. Items 50-52 on the agenda address the appointment of three deans, which will be discussed in executive session. The appointments include the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences; dean of the School of Business; and dean of the School of Education and Kinesiology.
VP for Student Affairs approval
Also listed on the agenda is the university’s proposed approval of the appointment of vice president for student affairs. Student affairs administrator Melissa Mahan began employment in early April, but according to the office of human resources, her appointment does not formally begin until final approval is granted by the board of regents.
Tenure Approval
Seven faculty names and supporting documentation are listed under the agenda’s promotion and tenure section.
Faculty span the university’s three schools. In the School of Arts and Sciences: history professor William Bush and criminology professor Durant Frantzen; in the School of Business: professor Judy Lewis; and in the School of Education and Kinesiology: professor Debbie Vera and professor Jennifer Wilson.
Awarding of honorary doctorate
The administration has submitted a proposal to award an honorary doctor of letters degree to Alonso Ancira Elizondo, president and chairman of the Board of Altos Hornos de Mexico.
The nomination received the unanimous support of the A&M-San Antonio executive team. After authorization from the board, the degree will be awarded during the May 17 at Freeman Coliseum.
Elizondo founded the Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together Foundation (MATT), a San Antonio-based organization that helps bridge the gaps of understanding, quality and life between Mexico and the United States.
Renaming Main Campus Building
The board will also consider a request to rename the Main Campus Building to the Madla Building after the late Senator Frank L. Madla, Jr.
The item includes a letter of support from Ferrier requesting the name change offering several reasons including his support for the university. She wrote, Madla “filed and successfully passed Senate Bill 800 creating a general academic teaching institution in his beloved South Side of San Antonio,” which is now A&M-San Antonio.
The board agenda can be found here.
