TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini hosted town halls for faculty/staff and student and discussed topics ranging from the success of the football program to plans for the new residence halls.

The faculty/staff town hall meeting began at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday with an announcement that “today is ‘TCU Gives Day.'” The annual fundraising effort for the university helps sustain important programs and people at TCU. It was announced at the meeting that TCU surpassed its goal Tuesday night. Over $1 million has been donated.

Questions arose about TCU’s great football success this season. One staff member asked the chancellor to comment on the potential conference realignment.

“We’re waiting to see who gets the first media deal, the PAC 12 or the Big 12,” Boschini said. “What I think will happen is some people from the one that didn’t get the media deal will merge into the other one. I think we’re going to get the media deal first, but they probably think they are too.”

Due to the football program’s success, Boschini said TCU can expect its enrollment to increase. Admissions is already seeing this happen.

“I think it’s going to be another banner year, which is a great problem to have,” he said.

President search

A staff member asked for an update on TCU’s president search. Boschini said that the committee has narrowed it down to three people they are considering for the position from an “extremely diverse pool.”  It was previously four, but one person chose to not continue with the process.

“Hopefully the person will be hired sometime in December and, depending on who they are, will start sometime in the spring,” Boschini said.

The Quality Enhancement Plan

Boschini also discussed the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP.

One of the Chancellor’s colleagues explained the current status of the QEP. The title of the plan is “Finding Ourselves in Communities” and it emphasizes increasing students’ self-awareness so they can learn how they gained their beliefs and values, and how those things are shaped within our interactions in the community. The plan has the potential to change and improve TCU students’ experience.

New residence halls

A staff member asked for an update on the new residence halls and dining hall TCU is planning to build on the east side of campus.

The chancellor directed the question to Todd Waldvogel, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities and Campus Planning.  Waldvogel said that this project as well as TCU’s new medical school that is currently being built off campus will hopefully be completed by the Fall 2024 semester.

“We’re talking about 292 rooms over there and 550 seats in the dining facility,” Waldvogel said. “We’d be breaking ground in the early spring, probably in the January-February time frame.”

Big raises

Boschini announced that he is trying to give faculty and staff as big of a raise as possible, but what this means is that TCU won’t be able to do a lot of other things like hiring.

“I would just appreciate all of you if you could help me not complain about those little things while you’re getting a bigger raise than normal,” Boschini said. “I think we should invest in our biggest asset, which is us [faculty and staff]. That’s the most important asset. If it means we have to have less of other things, I’m willing to do that.”

Protecting staff facing scrutiny

The discussion turned to how TCU protocol will help protect staff when they face scrutiny from the public.

This past week, TCU hosted a drag show which resulted in backlash from the public. Many TCU staff members received angry phone calls from people who complained about the drag show.

“I love that we had a drag show last week,” said one staff member. “The ugly world came in and TCU staff members were subjected to just very racist, hateful things. I just want to know how we can step up and be there for them any words of wisdom you have?”

Another staff member added, “I just think that we have to find ways to develop those protocols to protect them [TCU staff] so they can continue to do the work for us…we have to do something…but time is ticking.”

The chancellor responded and said, “I don’t have that answer right now. But you’re right. That’s exactly what we need to do.” Boschini then added that if any staff member is being harassed on the phone, they have every right to hang up.

The 150th anniversary

The last major topic that the Chancellor discussed during the meeting was that TCU is looking forward to celebrating its 150th anniversary. He said there are a lot of “neat things” going on for the celebration and it will be a lot of fun. He added that graduating seniors will receive a special diploma to celebrate the sesquicentennial year.

Boschini thanked TCU faculty/ staff for attending the meeting which concluded at 9:27 a.m.. The student town hall began at noon.

Student town hall

Many topics that were discussed in the faculty/ staff town hall meeting also came up during the student town hall including TCU Football’s success, the president search, the new residence halls and the sesquicentennial celebration.

One student asked how TCU can afford to rush the field every game. The chancellor expressed that he wished students would stop rushing the field not only because we get fined every time, but also because it makes us look like it is shocking that we won. He said that we are a good team, so it is not shocking.

Another student asked the chancellor what he is most proud of during his time at TCU. Boschini said he is very proud of the overall growth of the university in many aspects. He said he is proud of how much more diverse TCU is than it was 20 years ago.

A student asked if TCU is going to remain “test-optional” during the admissions process. Dr. Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg, the provost, responded and said that for now TCU will continue to be a test-optional school because they want to observe how this affects enrollment and student experience for the next couple of years.

The meeting concluded at 12:50 p.m.