Welcoming a new Provost

A public announcement naming Dr. Mohamed Abdelrahman as UHCL’s new Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost was made earlier this month.

Currently serving Texas A&M University – San Antonio as their Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Mohamed Abdelrahman will begin his position at UHCL starting July 1.

This comes after Dr. Christopher Maynard, the previous holder of these positions, was selected by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents in late August of last year to serve as President of Texas A&M International University in Laredo, Texas.

Since Maynard’s departure from UHCL, Dr. Edward R. Waller, previously Dean of the College of Business, has been serving as the Interim Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.

What does this mean, though?

As the campus’ Provost, Dr. Abdelrahman’s responsibilities may include managing and developing academic policies, handling funding for university departments, and generally watching over faculty.

In other words, Dr. Abdelrahman will effectively be the right-hand man to UHCL President, Dr. Walker.

A bit more about Dr. Abdelrahman

With close to 30 years in the higher education field, Dr. Abdelrahman has amassed an almost equally long list of accomplishments and qualifications.

According to the announcement, Dr. Abdelrahman has assisted in securing over $25 million in assorted funding for academic programs, worked with industry partners to better help students transition into the workforce, and developed partnerships with local community colleges and school districts in the San Antonio area, among other things.

As for personal accomplishments, he’s also co-authored over 100 publications and technical reports, holds three patents, has a Ph.D. in Nuclear Science and Engineering and served as a tenured full professor at Tennessee Technological University, to name a few.

Dr. Abdelrahman’s Aims and the Existing Foundation

We can be reasonably sure that Dr. Mohamed Abdelrahman will make academic performance and research some of his top priorities, based on some of the reasons he laid out for choosing UHCL in the announcement.

With this in mind, continued support for the Student Success Center and related programs seems likely.

In the Provost’s Academic Impact Report for 2024-2025, it was shown that students who had embedded tutors in their classes earned a 15% higher GPA compared to those who didn’t. And the the Writing Center continues to have a steady flow of students coming in for one-on-one consultations, noting a five-year high of around 2,300 consultations this past academic year.

On the research side of things, the Impact Report also listed the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs as already having secured funds just over $11 million to conduct various research projects, including development in expanding services for autistic Houstonians and Engineering advancements in manufacturing and space travel.

With that being said, let us know your thoughts on this or any other subject, any changes you’re hoping for with a new admin coming into the fray, or something you feel that could use some more attention.