January 15, 2015
TO:All Students, Faculty and Staff
FROM:Diana Natalicio, President
SUBJECT:Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs


2015 promises to be another exciting year on the UTEP campus. After a highly successful Centennial year, during which we commemorated UTEP’s distinguished past and the national recognition that we’ve earned for successfully fulfilling our public university mission, we are now well positioned to build on the strong foundation of UTEP’s authenticity, core values and commitment to quality, as we continue pursuing our access and excellence mission.

The U.S. higher education context, and UTEP’s landscape more specifically, are undergoing rapid changes. This major inflection point in our history offers us an excellent opportunity for thoughtful analysis and planning to achieve our vision of serving as a model public research university. To that end, we have begun a process to review and refresh our strategic planning to achieve excellence in such areas as undergraduate student success, graduate education, research, technology infrastructure, and operational policies and practices. This work will be undertaken in a context of SACSCOC accreditation, a Texas legislative session and a major leadership change at the UT System.

Changes will be occurring on the UTEP campus in 2015 as well, the first of which is the departure of Provost Junius Gonzales, who has accepted a position with the University of North Carolina System. We thank him for his contributions to UTEP over the past four years and wish him continued professional success.

I am very pleased to announce that Senior Executive Vice President Howard Daudistel has been named Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs effective January 15. Dr. Daudistel’s wealth of experience over more than 40 years as a UTEP faculty member and administrator, together with his clear understanding of and strong commitment to this university and the students we serve, will be of enormous benefit as we transition into our second 100 years of service to this region, fostering the aspirations of its residents and contributing to their prosperity and quality of life.

During this time of administrative transition, we will remain resolute in our dedication to UTEP’s vision, re-focusing on the core values that have made this institution the success story it is today. With the unfaltering dedication of our faculty, staff, alumni and donors, and the talent and determination of our students, we will continue UTEP’s progress toward becoming the first national research university with a 21st century student demographic.

Go Miners!!