Texas A&M interim president Tommy Williams posted a letter on his website this month (November 20) that included adding faculty, a retirement of a longtime administrator, and an update on the search for the university’s next permanent president.
Williams announced that the flagship is getting $25 million dollars from the board of regents to launch what is titled the “Foundation For Good” faculty hiring program. The addition of nearly 170 new faculty positions will place a particular emphasis on addressing instructional and research capacity in the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math. There will also be an undisclosed number of new faculty in departments with high student to faculty ratios, and in undefined strategic research disciplines. The additional hirings will take place during the current and the next academic year. Williams says deans will soon share specifics with their respective schools and colleges.
Williams also announced the retirement of chief of staff Tim Scott, who spent the last six months in that position serving Williams and former president Mark Welsh. Before that, Scott was vice provost, and for 11 months he was A&M’s interim provost (chief academic officer). After Scott graduated from A&M in 1989, his 37 year career included teaching in the biology department and spending 16 years as an associate dean in the college of science. The interim president has named the university’s chief strategy officer, Michael O’Quinn, as interim chief of staff until a new permanent president is hired.
Williams update on the president’s search stated that the 16 member committee has started meetings with unidentified key stakeholders. On October 3rd, board of regents chairman Bob Albritton of Fort Worth said there is no timeline to choose what he said “is the exact right person”.
