Continuing Our Momentum This Year - September 18, 2026

Dear Faculty, Staff and Graduate Assistants,

I’m excited to begin a new academic year with you.  This semester is already off to a great start, and we have set several new records including a six-year graduation rate of 73.07%, up 2.17 percentage points from last year, and a four-year graduation rate of 62.22%, an increase of 4.13 percentage points.  About 102 more students graduated because of your commitment to student success, and these milestones reflect your dedication to providing our students with a life-transformative education.

Our record graduation rates are also a testament to the tremendous collaboration taking place across our campus.  Your work supports our students’ success, and I want to thank you for the role you play in helping our students achieve their goals.  I especially want to thank the Mission 6-Year Graduation Task Force, the Graduation Pathways Working Group, the Student Success Steering Committee and Student Success Teams within each college, and the many faculty and staff who had a hand in providing these students with the support they needed to excel both inside and outside the classroom.

With the recent launch of the third phase of 150 Forward Reaching Higher, we will continue to focus on furthering student success, advancing research excellence, enhancing our status as an employer of choice and strengthening our impact across Arkansas and beyond. As we “Reach Higher” this semester, the university has created additional initiatives that support our goals of an 80% graduation rate and $500 million in research expenditures.  These initiatives include ensuring all undergraduate students are proficient in AI and have participated in experiential learning before they graduate.  We also aim to increase graduate enrollment by 2,000 students through evaluating our current portfolio of graduate degree programs and expanding online course offerings.

Additionally, to support our entire research enterprise and the needs of our state and nation, we have defined five research priority areas that will require coordination across disciplines, and my office is partnering with the Division of Research and Innovation to increase support for scholarship in the humanities and social sciences.

To support the activation of 150 Forward Reaching Higher, the university has created the Transformation Management Office (TMO), led by Director Kevin Hall. The TMO will collaborate with each college and unit to provide support, offer guidance, track milestones, and remove barriers that may affect our progress.   You will be hearing more on our efforts on our Reaching Higher plan in the coming weeks.

This semester, I will host coffees to engage with faculty and discuss how my office can facilitate faculty success. I also plan to visit each college and unit throughout the year to learn about your accomplishments, the challenges you’ve experienced, and how I can support the important work you do every day.

Looking ahead, everyone has a role to play in helping the university achieve our goals.  We can’t advance our land-grant mission or “Reach Higher” without you.  Thank you for your many contributions to our institution, and I’m excited to see what we’ll accomplish together this year.

Best regards,

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