To: John Sharp, Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System and James Hallmark, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for the Texas A&M University System
Open Forums for Students, Faculty, and Staff to Interact with Presidential Finalists
An Open Letter to Chancellor John Sharp and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs James Hallmark of the Texas A&M System
The faculty of Texas A&M University-Kingsville is proud of the institution’s deep roots in South Texas as the oldest continuously innovative establishment of higher education in the Tejas borderlands and one dedicated to an ever-increasing culturally and linguistically diverse student body, faculty, staff, and leadership. Moreover, as South Texas’ greatest Hispanic Serving Institution, we embrace and enact that tradition’s respect and dedication for excellence in our educational and research practices across diverse and expanding disciplines within the Arts, Education, Engineering, Mathematics, Sciences, and Technology.
Because of the above, we therefore regard the position of President of our beloved University as a partner who collaborates with students, faculty, and staff, shares our vision, and carries our message forward. We frame our President as a warrior for all that is right and just and humanly good in the spirit of strong shared governance, as a leader grappling, talking and thinking aloud with us about how to solve short and long-term challenges as we continue to grow and prosper as individuals, committees, centers, departments, colleges and—as it were—communities within communities in our great University.
No less important are our individual and collective voices and our participation in the process of selecting our next President of Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Therefore, in the spirit of shared governance, we respectfully request of our Chancellor and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs to include in the TAMUK Presidential selection process open forums on our TAMUK campus where faculty, students and staff have opportunities to interact with each of the top three-four candidates prior to the final selection of one candidate by Texas A&M System officers.
The faculty of Texas A&M University-Kingsville is proud of the institution’s deep roots in South Texas as the oldest continuously innovative establishment of higher education in the Tejas borderlands and one dedicated to an ever-increasing culturally and linguistically diverse student body, faculty, staff, and leadership. Moreover, as South Texas’ greatest Hispanic Serving Institution, we embrace and enact that tradition’s respect and dedication for excellence in our educational and research practices across diverse and expanding disciplines within the Arts, Education, Engineering, Mathematics, Sciences, and Technology.
Because of the above, we therefore regard the position of President of our beloved University as a partner who collaborates with students, faculty, and staff, shares our vision, and carries our message forward. We frame our President as a warrior for all that is right and just and humanly good in the spirit of strong shared governance, as a leader grappling, talking and thinking aloud with us about how to solve short and long-term challenges as we continue to grow and prosper as individuals, committees, centers, departments, colleges and—as it were—communities within communities in our great University.
No less important are our individual and collective voices and our participation in the process of selecting our next President of Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Therefore, in the spirit of shared governance, we respectfully request of our Chancellor and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs to include in the TAMUK Presidential selection process open forums on our TAMUK campus where faculty, students and staff have opportunities to interact with each of the top three-four candidates prior to the final selection of one candidate by Texas A&M System officers.
Why is this important?
The TAMUK Presidential Search Committee will notify Chancellor John Sharp of 3-4 finalists on Thursday, September 13. There is no plan to bring the unranked finalists to campus to have them meet in Open Forums with faculty, students, and staff as happens at other state universities.