Alexis Bernal

Along with the final town hall in celebration to the 23-24 academic year, President Emily Messer, will be inaugurated as Texas Wesleyan University’s 21st president on Friday, April 26, 2024. She is the first female president at Texas Wesleyan.

A Town Hall meeting was held on April 16, which covered the growth Texas Wesleyan has made over the 23-24 academic year and the plans for the following year. 

This was the final Town Hall meeting of the spring 2024 semester. The Town Hall was conducted by Texas Wesleyan’s President Dr. Emily Messer. 

“Town Hall provides the opportunity for faculty and staff to come and hear updates and ask any questions they may have,” Messer said. “[On Tuesday]  we ran over time because we have so many great things going on campus and many wonderful updates.” 

The meeting opened with a presentation about University Engage 2025 plan from Dr. Hector Quintanilla, vice president of academic affairs and provost. 

“The six goals map to our University Engage 2025 plan were developed with the academic deans,” Quintanilla said. “I believe we are making significant progress in: better capturing data on student engagement, second, providing more opportunities for student engagement, and making curricular changes to benefit our students.” 

Department representatives shared their plans, including updating buildings throughout campus, growing technology resources for studies, addressing student parking and using Open Education Resources to help with no-cost or low-cost course materials. In 2023, 10 classes helped save students $24,000. The addition of using Open Education Resource materials for more classes is expected to save students $100,000 in the coming year. 

“With the cost of higher education nationally increasing at exponential rates. We are doing the opposite, we’re saving our students money,” said Messer. 

There were many members of the university and the community in attendance, one of them was Bertie Gardner, assistant director of student diversity and inclusion Programs. 

“I like getting updates about what’s happening, especially about the new resources that we’re putting together for our students in different areas,” Bertie said. “For example, one of my favorites topics, mentioned today, is updating our technology and facilities, knowing we’re aware of these issues and working on them, was really reaffirming to hear.” 

For any questions regarding the Town Hall meeting, contact the Marketing and Communcations office at [email protected].