NEWS & EVE NTS
TXWES welcomes back students, faculty and staff to a ‘better than ever’ campus What does a strong return to campus look like at TXWES? Reconnecting students to their community
What does being back and “better than ever” look like for TXWES? The university committed to a strong return in August and each student is playing a vital role in the return process and bringing the vibrancy back to the campus that is so important to each of us. Texas Wesleyan University President Frederick G. Slabach praised the broad response of the campus in the wake of the pandemic. “We have proved to ourselves that we are resilient — that we can respond effectively and quickly to any environment or emergency.” For its ability to respond quickly and begin effectively providing a “rigorous highquality education,” Texas Wesleyan received accolades from a nonprofit higher education organization. TXWES is committed to a Smaller. Smarter. educational experience amid the ever-changing world of communications and technology. Over the course of 2020-2021, the university gained a significant amount of knowledge and experience utilizing various communication and technological programs for the purposes of providing a quality education, whether in person or online. As we moved to return to campus for the fall, President Slabach said, “Our priority is providing a toptier academic experience to our students with individualized attention from engaging educators in intentionally small classes so that students can fulfill their potential. Through our hybrid approach over the last year, we’ve taken our ‘Smaller. Smarter.’ experience to students’ homes, evolving with 4
Wesleyan | FALL 2021
uncertain times. With the help of our invaluable faculty and staff and wider vaccine availability, we have begun to bring our complete “Smaller. Smarter.” atmosphere back to campus.” Dennis Hall, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, has seen many “displays of perseverance and tenacity” in TXWES students over the past year as they showed “their grit by working hard, taking care of business, and continuing their education.” The Office of Student Affairs is hard at work planning in-person programming for students to enjoy in the academic year. Hall says that the student affairs office is striving to foster opportunities for students “to have meaningful, educational and fulfilling experiences … in a safe and healthy manner.” Academics have certainly looked different over the past year. Our academic side has adapted to the changes in stride, collaborating internally to find new ways for students to keep receiving their quality Texas Wesleyan education in the face of adversity. Faculty and staff developed new skills utilizing technology through the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning that will continually be refined to serve the campus community going forward. Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Hector Quintanilla prepared for students to return primarily to in-person instructional delivery with some online and hybrid classes, as opposed to the mainly hybrid model that was utilized throughout 2020-2021. Quintanilla states that his goals for the coming
