Overview of My First 100 Days - Nov. 20, 2025

Dear Faculty, Staff and Graduate Assistants,

Since July, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and engage with each unit across campus and hear directly from you. Through town halls, leadership meetings and conversations with various groups throughout the university, I’ve learned about your points of pride and the challenges you face.  This information has been incredibly valuable in guiding where I will place my focus and what I’ll prioritize over the next year.

I greatly appreciate you sharing your thoughts on what the university does well and where we can improve.  Your feedback is instrumental in shaping our strategy, and your dedication to student success and research excellence drives our progress as an institution.

During the town halls this semester, I asked you to tell me a point of pride before sharing your questions, comments and concerns. The points of pride I heard were similar in each town hall, which reinforces that we all share the same goals and take pride in the same things across campus.

You spoke about your shared commitment to student success, research excellence and societal impact.  I also heard about the many programs throughout the university that rank among the best in the nation and about the strength of our alumni and donor networks, whose support enriches our campus community.  These strengths help create an environment where our employees can excel and thrive and our students can access an education that changes their lives. I’m deeply grateful for the work you do every day in support of the university and our land-grant mission.

From our discussions, I also identified ten areas where we can improve. I will provide regular updates on our progress in each of these areas:

1. Research infrastructure and processes
2. Graduate assistant and international student support
3. Research recognition
4. Faculty and staff workloads and evaluations
5. Space utilization amid enrollment growth
6. Hiring process and career advancement
7. Undergraduate research and experiential learning
8. Emergency preparedness
9. Digital ecosystems and data availability
10. Interdisciplinary programs and collaboration across units

Looking ahead, the University of Arkansas has many opportunities to build on its success and further its land-grant mission of providing education to Arkansans and contributing to the expansion of research, innovation and collaboration within our community.  You, our faculty, staff, and graduate assistants, continue to lead the way in creating transformative educational experiences that prepare students for careers in Arkansas and beyond.

Thank you for your continued contributions and commitment to our university.  I look forward to working with you to move the university forward and achieve even greater success.

Best regards,

Indrajeet Chaubey, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Distinguished Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering