College Update – September 2023

Congrats! | New faculty | Academic affairs

Dean’s Team Updates

Congratulations!

2023 Association of Former Students College-Level Teaching Award

This award honors teachers who maintain high expectations of their students and ensure academic rigor in their courses. Distinguished teachers recognize their responsibility in motivating and contributing to the overall development of the student. In our College, the recipients are:

• Dr. Senarath Dharmasena, instructional associate professor, AGEC
• Dr. Christopher Kerth, associate professor, ANSC
• Dr. Karen Beathard, instructional associate professor, NUTR
• Dr. Katherine Carson, instructional assistant professor, SCSC

Promoted Faculty

• Dr. Kathrin Dunlap, instructional professor, ANSC.
• Dr. Vishal Gohil, professor, BCBP.
• Dr. Gabe Hamer, professor, ENTO.
• Dr. Rick Harwell, associate professor of the practice, HMGT.
• Dr. Tatyana Igumenova, professor, BCBP.
• Dr. Russ Jessup, professor, SCSC.
• Dr. Leslie Kelso-Winemiller, instructional professor, ECCB.
• Dr. Jessica Light, professor, ECCB.
• Russell McGee, instructional associate professor, BAEN.
• Bill McKinley, instructional professor, HORT.
• Dr. Max Menzies, instructional associate professor, AGEC.
• Dr. Chad Nelson, instructional associate professor, ALEC.
• Dr. Elizabeth Jane Pishko, senior lecturer, BCBP.
• Dr. Juliana Rangel-Posada, professor, ENTO.
• Dr. Carey Satterfield, professor, ANSC.
• Dr. Endang Septiningsih, professor, SCSC.
• Dr. Susanne Talcott, professor, FSTC.
• Dr. Jason West, professor, ECCB.
• Dr. Lanying Zeng, professor, BCBP.
• Dr. Yvette Zhang, professor, AGEC.

Promoted and/or Tenured Faculty

• Dr. Courtney Daigle, associate professor with tenure, ANSC.
• Dr. Andrea Ettekal, associate professor with tenure, HMGT.
• Dr. Maria King, associate professor with tenure, BAEN.
• Dr. Dzmitry Kurouski, associate professor with tenure, BCBP.
• Dr. Amanda J. MacFarlane, professor with tenure, NUTR, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Institute for Advancing Health through Agriculture.
• Dr. Joshua Perkin, associate professor with tenure, ECCB.
• Dr. A. Catharine Ross, professor with tenure, NUTR.
• Dr. A. Peyton Smith, associate professor with tenure, SCSC.
• Dr. Courtney Suess-Raeisinafchi, associate professor with tenure, HMGT.
• Dr. Isabel Vales, associate professor with tenure, HORT.
• Dr. Dara Wald, associate professor with tenure, ALEC.
• Dr. Alex Wong, professor with tenure, PLPM, Institute for Advancing Health through Agriculture, Texas A&M AgriLife Research.
• Dr. Zhihong Xu, associate professor with tenure, ALEC.

Welcome to New Faculty Members!

• Dr. Wen Chang, assistant professor, HMGT.
• Dr. Po-Ju Chen, professor, HMGT.
• Dr. Connor Clark, assistant professor, HMGT.
• Dan Eichler, assistant professor of the practice, HMGT.
• Dr. Huy Gip, ACES assistant professor, HMGT.
• Dr. Mary Katherine Gonder, professor and dept. head, ECCB.
• Dr. Shradde Hegde, assistant professor, RWFM (converted to tenure track).
• Dr. Wenzhe Jiao, ACES assistant professor, ECCB.
• Dr. Kashi Kafle, assistant professor, AGEC (converted to tenure track).
• Melissa Koff, lecturer, BCBP.
• Dr. Seockmo Ku, assistant professor, FSTC.
• Dr. Rafael Landaverde, assistant professor, ALEC (converted to tenure track).
• Dr. Marissa Lepper, assistant professor, AGEC.
• Dr. Liqing Li, assistant professor, AGEC.
• Dr. Emiliano Lopez Barrera, assistant professor, AGEC (converted to tenure track).
• Dr. Erica Macon, assistant professor, ANSC.
• Dr. Clay Mathis, professor and dept. head, ANSC.
• Dr. Grace Melo, assistant professor, AGEC (converted to tenure track).
• Dr. Kelsi Opat, instructional assistant professor, ALEC.
• Dr. Reza Ovissipour, assistant professor, FSTC.
• Dr. Humberto Perotto, associate professor, RWFM.
• Dr. Simon Somogyi, professor, AGEC.
• Dr. Kathryn Szerlag, assistant professor, SCSC.
• Dr. Babak Taheri, professor, HMGT.
• Dr. Ty Werdel, assistant professor, RWFM.
• Dr. Ziteng Xu, assistant professor, POSC.

Dean’s Open Office Hours

• Dr. Jeffrey Savell and Dr. Patricia Klein are hosting office hours in September. Sign up by Friday, Sept. 15. Please contact Jill Lee if you have any questions regarding the Open Office Hours.

Upcoming Deadlines and Dates

• Due Friday, Sept. 15: National Science Foundation Alan T. Waterman Award nominations.
• Due Wednesday, Sept. 20: Faculty Development Leave applications to the College.
• Due Monday, Oct. 2: Dr. R. H. Cintron University Professorship for Teaching Excellence.
• Fall semester schedule.

Promotion and Tenure

Promotion and Tenure Weekly Zoom Hour with P&T Chairs and Staff takes place Wednesdays 2-3 p.m., via Zoom. 

Faculty Affairs

• Faculty Development Leave
  • If you are planning to submit a faculty development leave application, please make sure to submit by your departmental deadline — these vary but are usually before mid-September.
  • Dr. Linglin Xie is our College representative on the university’s Faculty Development Leave Committee. Feel free to reach out to Dr. Xie at [email protected] if you have any questions about the application.

• The Center for Teaching Excellence has a new formal Faculty Mentoring Academy to promote a culture of mentoring within and across Texas A&M University. For more information, visit the center’s page for the academy.

General Academic Affairs

• iClicker is now free for instructor and student use in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Get instructions online, and email Brendan Baruth at [email protected] for any further assistance. 
  • iClicker Groups is a new way to poll students to promote peer instruction and build group consensus.
  • Enhanced Quizzing allows you an easy way to provide randomized, pre-graded quizzes in class using iClicker.  
  • Install iClicker Cloud version 5.5 on your PC to run Groups and Enhanced Quizzing in the classroom.

• Disability Services Testing Center: Instructors should complete the testing agreement for a student needing testing accommodations as soon as possible and send exams to the testing center at least three days before the exam. Learn more at Texas A&M Disability Resources.

• Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 9-10: Fall break.

• Thursday, Oct. 12: enGENEering Our Future: A Multi-Sector Endeavor, the sixth annual Texas A&M University Genome Editing Symposium, will take place at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center.
  • Register online for the symposium, lightning talks and poster sessions.
  • Visit the symposium website for more information.

• The fall 2023 Graduate Advisor Workshop will take place Thursday, Sept. 21, 9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. Click here to learn more and register. 

• If you are a staff or faculty member working with graduate and professional students, stay informed by subscribing to the Graduate Advisors Listserv.

• University Police Department active shooter training for AGLS will be available to employees Tuesday, Sept. 26, 1-2:30 p.m. in AGLS 129 and Friday, Sept. 29, 9–10:30 a.m. in PLPM 207. To reserve your seat please sign up here. 

Student Success and Development

• Mark your calendars for the upcoming AGLS Career Fair on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 21 and 22.
  • The Texas A&M Career Center has specialized career advisors for every college and school. Find the AGLS Career Services Team in AGLS 517. Career advisors work with students to develop career readiness through skills such as resume writing, job search strategies, networking and interviewing.
  • For more information about Career Services resources, workshops and events, email Caitlin Dartez, associate director for Career Services, at [email protected].

• Applications for the Agricultural and Natural Resources Policy Internship Program, ANRP, are now open for both the spring and summer 2024 semesters. Know a great candidate for the program? Please encourage them to visit anrp.tamu.edu to download the application and get started!

• The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has an embedded licensed professional counselor. Ms. Molly McCann will dedicate her time to the wellness of students in AGLS, with an office located in the heart of west campus, at BCBP 103C. Contact her at [email protected] or 979.845.5032.

Resources for Graduate Students

• The Texas A&M Career Center is searching for an AGLS graduate assistant (non-teaching). Students should search for Job ID 260452 when searching for part-time opportunities. For any questions, email [email protected] or call 979.845.0686.

• The new Academic Requirements Completion System, ARCS, launched on Friday, Sept. 1. ARCS is designed to streamline students’ ability to track and fulfill graduate degree program academic requirements. Learn more at the Texas A&M page for ARCS.

• If you would like to have support for your writing, consider joining a POWER Writing Studio and/or a POWER Writing Group. Fill out a request form online.

• The Graduate and Professional Student Government is recruiting senators for the 2023-24 Graduate and Professional Senate. Please visit the GPSG website for more information.

• Academic deadlines and dates for graduate and professional students:
  • The Graduate and Professional School Calendar.
  • The Graduate and Professional School’s Dates and Deadlines information page.
  • International student important dates.
  • Texas A&M University Academic Calendar.
  • List of contacts at the Graduate and Professional School.

• Texas A&M University Graduate and Professional School 
  • The Grad School Calendar.
  • The Grad School’s Dates and Deadlines information page.
  • International Student important dates.
  • List of contacts.

• Center for Teaching Excellence English Language Proficiency, CTE-ELP, programs provide training and testing for international students. Current teaching assistants who are not language certified are required to participate with the CTE-ELP program. Click for more information.

• The fall 2023 Teaching Assistant Institute will be held in BLOC 102 on Tuesday, Aug. 15, Wednesday, Aug. 16, Thursday, Aug. 17, and Saturday, Sept. 9. Click here for the schedule.

• Responsible Conduct of Research, RCR, training: All graduate students participating in research must complete online CITI RCR Training.
  • Graduate students participating in externally funded research (NIH, NSF, USDA-NIFA, external companies, etc.) must also complete four hours of face-to-face training. For more information regarding the face-to-face workshop training options and to register, please visit Workshop Information – Division of Research.
  • Learn about your RCR responsibilities.
  • Learn about and link to TAMU CITI training.
  • Sign up for virtual and in-person RCR workshops.

• Graduate Resources and Development for Aggies, G.R.A.D. Aggies, offers professional development programming. For more information, visit the G.R.A.D. Aggies webpage.

• Graduate Mentoring Academy: See the Texas A&M GradConnect page for session schedules and to register.

• CIRTL@TAMU is a thriving community dedicated to developing the next generation of teachers, instructors and faculty. We hope you become involved! For information, email [email protected] or visit online.

• Graduate student travel: Need additional funding support for travel for conferences or research? Check out the RAP Travel Award at Texas A&M.

• Texas A&M’s International Student and Scholar Services is updating its immigration case management system. Visit https://global.tamu.edu/sunapsis for more information.

• Graduate student well-being
  • The MySSP student support app allows students to text, call, and video chat with professional counselors.
  • Texas A&M Counseling and Psychological Services, CAPS, is offering events focused on mental health for graduate and professional students. Click here for the schedule. 
  • Dr. Esther Wright at CAPS is trained in graduate student issues and concerns. Graduate and professional students may make appointments with Dr. Wright via the CAPS appointment portal system.

Student Recruitment

• Prospective students can register for an information session and a tour of west campus at visit.tamu.edu.

COALS Council

• Follow us on social media!
  • Facebook: Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Student Council
  • Instagram: @coals_tamu
  • Website: www.tamucoalscouncil.com

Save the Dates!

Administrative Services

Professional Development

• LinkedIn Learning resources are free to all Texas A&M AgriLife employees. Some courses to check out this month:
  • Speaking Confidently and Effectively.
  • Crisis Communication.
  • Microsoft Teams Essential Training.

• Online courses on communication, customer service, performance management, safety and technology are available from the Texas A&M University Division of Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness.

AgriLife Employee Wellness

• HEB Onsite Flu Vaccine Clinics in College Station
  • Wednesday, Sept. 20, AGSV, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
  • Thursday, Oct. 5, TAMFS Headquarters, Conf Rm. 1105, 2-3 p.m.
  • Monday, Oct. 9, TVMDL Room 101B, 9-10 a.m.
  • Thursday, Oct. 12, Richard and Patsy Wallrath AgriLife Extension Bldg., Rm. 175, 9-10 a.m.

• Thursday, Oct. 5, 10 a.m.: A Breast Cancer Awareness webinar will be hosted by Cindy Quinn, Texas A&M Wellness Coordinator, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. Sign up online to join the webinar on Teams.

• Monday, Oct. 16-Friday, Oct. 20: The Benefits of Improving Your Credit. Lunch and Learn events, various locations on Texas A&M west campus. See the schedule and sign up online.

• Work/life solutions are available to Texas A&M AgriLife employees, including professional and personal training resources, through ComPsych GuidanceResources.
  • Website: http://www.guidanceresources.com.
  • WEBID: TAMUS.

Update from Digital Education

Investing in People and Planting Seeds for the Future 

We are excited to share that a new employee development platform will launch this fall.  

We are actively working on building an environment for employees to learn and grow. Our focus is to improve training and professional development opportunities and set the foundation for a strong future across the organization.

More information is coming soon! 

Our Mission in Action

Visit AgriLife Today to read about faculty, staff and student accomplishments in research, teaching and service!

Have a story idea for AgriLife Today? Reach out to Texas A&M AgriLife Marketing and Communications.

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