Highlights from the February 2023 board meeting

Dear Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you well as the semester kicks into high gear with spring activities.

The Texas Woman’s University System Board of Regents held its latest quarterly meeting last Thursday and Friday on our Denton campus, and I am pleased to share highlights.

The most exciting report came from Institutional Research and Improvement on student persistence. Drs. Hamner and Stankey shared how for three consecutive years, Texas Woman’s posted no statistically significant difference in first-year persistence between Black, Hispanic, and White entering cohorts of first-time-in-college students. Over a ten-year period, first-year persistence for Black students increased by 17 percentage points and 12 points for Hispanic students, closing the achievement gap by race and ethnicity and bucking a trend that continues in state and national data.

Dr. Stankey included findings about the impact of the pandemic on Black and Hispanic students, and was able to explain much of the variance by patterns in on campus housing. It is a story with more complexity, and you can hear the full details if interested at the 1:06:00 mark of the recording.

What makes these data so reassuring is that there is no one thing and no amount of money we can throw at this problem to solve. Institutions have been trying that for decades. It takes a culture shift and long-term efforts, with all of our arrows more or less shooting in the same direction. It is one thing to have diversity in our student body as we have, but ensuring all our diverse students are successful regardless of background is the holy grail of educational statistics. We—all of us—are moving the needle through our many intentional efforts to serve our students. Now, we have to keep up this momentum through graduation.

Dr. Javier Flores shared an update on our enrollment, which took a slight dip for the second consecutive spring semester. Graduate enrollment decreased most notably. Despite the enrollment losses, he noted only a 0.7% dip in the total semester credit hours generated. He also shared a lot of optimism about the fall enrollment.

Many of you have offer praise for the new signage and wayfinding project—one that is near to my heart—that is taking shape after years of planning and design. Rob Ramirez, senior associate vice president for Facilities Management and Construction, reported that the project is about half finished. He also gave an update on the Blagg-Huey Library façade repairs. He sought approval for a new climate-controlled warehouse, which will serve as a swing space for the women’s wrestling team while Brackenridge Hall undergoes renovations.

In one of its action items during the two-day meeting, the board approved the hybrid delivery of existing degrees in Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies (PhD), and Mathematics Teaching (MS); online delivery of existing degrees in Political Science (MA), History (MA), and Accountancy (MS); and a new, hybrid-delivered Bachelor of Science in Public Health, as well as a new bachelor’s degree in music.

In concluding the first day of meetings, Dr. Young-Hoo Kwon, a professor in the School of Health Promotion & Kinesiology, dazzled the regents with a tour of his biomechanics lab. He demonstrated his operational model, which relates a golf swing analysis service with research, education, and fundraising. His YouTube channel @DrKwonGolf is an international sensation.

There is a saying that sports are the front porch of a university. At Texas Woman’s, our student-athletes continually demonstrate outstanding character on and off the field or court — always leaving a strong, lasting impression. In the most recent semester, our student-athletes earned a collective 3.468 GPA. Fifty-two student-athletes earned a perfect 4.0 GPA, and an additional 59 made the dean’s list. Artistic Swimming earned the top team spot for the term with a team average of 3.949 — 9 of their 11 athletes earned a perfect 4.0.

And for those of you who might not have heard, our basketball team is nearing the end of an historic season, already having broken the record for most wins in a season (23). The team shot to the No. 3 spot in NCAA Division II women’s basketball and has solid prospects for a successful postseason. I encourage you to support all of our student-athletes.

Lastly, I want to express profound gratitude to three regents whose terms expired this month, Board Chair Kathleen Wu and Regents Jill Jester and Bernadette Coleman. These dynamic women repeatedly have demonstrated exceptional leadership, and their professionalism and passion have helped propel Texas Woman’s to new heights. I am most grateful for their service and look forward to working with the existing and new board members.

In closing, I want to reiterate how these board meetings are successful not by will or words but by your actions. Thank you for all you do to make board meetings two days of joy! 

With a pioneering spirit,

Carine M. Feyten, Ph.D.
Chancellor and President

Page last updated 11:58 AM, February 21, 2023