Celebrating Your Achievements This Fall - November 12, 2024

Dear Faculty, Staff and Graduate Assistants,

As we near the end of the semester, I want to take a moment to celebrate you and the ways your work is instrumental to the university’s land-grant mission. You have continued to pursue research excellence and enhance student success in the important work you do. Through your scholarship, groundbreaking research and support of our students, you make a difference and elevate the U of A among our peers, in our state and across our nation.

This semester, our faculty have received numerous awards and accolades, including Emmy nominations for their contributions to television and documentary filmmaking. This past year, our staff in University Advancement helped raise more than $211 million in new gifts and existing commitments.  In addition, one of our graduate assistants was selected to participate in the U.N. Climate Change Convention. These are just a few examples of the successes of our faculty, staff and graduate assistants.

In addition to thanking you for your tireless efforts to support our mission, I want to update you on two important projects: 

• Since January, the Provost’s Office has led a campus-wide space use study with SmithGroup, a consultant specializing in space and design planning. We are nearing the end of this study and have received valuable information from campus on how we utilize our instructional, research and administrative spaces. We will receive recommendations from SmithGroup in the coming months and will work collaboratively with units across campus on how we can maximize our current space and accommodate our future space needs as we continue to grow.
• I also formed an AI Task Force this summer — chaired by Chase Rainwater, professor of industrial engineering — with representatives from every college as well as many units across campus to evaluate how our faculty, staff and GAs utilize AI, determine what training needs they may have, recommend policy or procedural changes, and establish what tools the university should provide to support the campus community as it relates to AI. The AI Task Force will provide initial recommendations to leadership by the end of this semester.

Finally, the search for the next provost is underway. I will continue to serve as provost through the end of June 2025 and will provide support to my successor to ensure a seamless transition.

Thank you for your contributions to advancing the U of A’s land-grant mission. I can’t wait to see what the spring semester has in store and watch you continue to move the university forward in new and meaningful ways.

Best regards,

Terry Martin, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Professor of Electrical Engineering