We are the Office of the Associate Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Studies

Welcome to this blog, dedicated to sharing the extraordinary and varied work that happens in the areas that make up the Office of the Associate Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Studies. We’ve created the blog to share snapshots of this beehive of activity with the campus community. We look forward to sharing our initiatives, triumphs, attempts and data with you.

In the beginning of its fourth year, our unit has coalesced into a force with the good of the university and success of its students at its heart. As it has developed, Undergraduate Studies includes the Student Success Center (SSC), the Thompson Center for Learning and Teaching (TCLT), the Faculty Mentoring Program (FMP), Undergraduate Admissions, the Honors Program, Institutional Analysis (IA) and the General Education Program. Other responsibilities for the office include Undergraduate Program Review and institutional accreditation through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). I also represent our campus, along with associate provosts from the other public institutions of higher education in Michigan, as the prospect of becoming an Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) LEAP (Liberal Education and America’s Promise) State is considered. The Governing Faculty of UM-Flint has voted in support of this initiative.

During the past two years the Council of Deans, various faculty committees, the Faculty Council and the campus community became informed about the new open Pathways system we will be engaging in for continued accreditation through the HLC. I am happy to say that there is a Quality Initiative accepted and endorsed by the Governing Faculty. We applied to and were accepted into the Academy for Student Persistence and Completion, and chose to use it as our required Quality Initiative. A team composed of Aimi Moss, Amelia Biehl, Krista Hansen, Kazuko Hiramatzu, Rob Montry, Sarah Rosaen, Fawn Skarsten, Steve Turner and I will lead our campus initiatives during the next four years. Most of us will attend a roundtable in St. Charles, IL in a couple of weeks to begin defining our work.

The units that make up Undergraduate Studies are scattered across campus. Currently you will find my administrative assistant, Lyndsae Raleigh, and me in 200 University Pavilion, down the hall from Human Resources. We will move later this fall to a space shared with the Thompson Center for Learning and Teaching. Both will be located in 134 Thompson Library. We eagerly anticipate the move!

Best,

Chris Waters
Professor of Art and
Associate Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Studies