I am pleased to announce two key appointments in the Office of the Provost to help us advance faculty excellence and student success at UCF.
Dr. Paige Borden, associate provost for Academic Program Quality and associate vice president of Institutional Knowledge Management (IKM), will lead a new Analytics and Integrated Planning Division within Academic Affairs as our associate provost and analytics officer.
In addition, we have hired Dr. Timothy Letzring as senior associate provost for Academic Affairs following a nationwide search. Both Drs. Borden and Letzring begin their new roles on Aug. 1 and will report directly to me.
Dr. Borden’s new division will primarily focus on UCF’s efforts to enhance student success by integrating our analytical insights with actions. The division will support our drive to achieve preeminence, excel at attaining performance-based funding, and promote cross-campus collaboration and planning. It will also help us realize the objectives of our Collective Impact Strategic Plan through informed insights and data analysis.
The new division will include the current IKM office and a new Institutional Analytics Office. The new analytics office will consolidate some analytical functions and add others as we seek to improve our operations and decision-making leading to more impactful processes, policies, and procedures.
Dr. Borden’s latest leadership role furthers a distinguished 24-year career at UCF. Among other professional achievements, she has represented UCF well in multiple roles with the National Association for Institutional Research, as treasurer on the executive board of the Southern Association for Institutional Researchers, and as a two-term president for the Florida Association for Institutional Research. She holds two degrees from UCF: a doctorate in higher education leadership and an MBA. She earned a bachelor’s degree in international affairs at Florida State University.
Several of Dr. Borden’s current responsibilities – which include accreditation and academic program review – will move to Dr. Letzring and his newly created position.
Dr. Letzring arrives from Texas A&M University-Commerce, a public research university in Commerce, Texas, where he was dean of the College of Education and Human Services. At UCF, Dr. Letzring will responsible for the administration of various aspects of academic program development and academic planning, quality, assessment, and other areas within the Division of Academic Affairs.
Dr. Letzring will partner with deans, department chairs, administrative directors, faculty and staff to support curriculum, institutional assessment, academic policies, and program development to improve the effectiveness of the educational experience that UCF provides to students.
In five years as dean at Texas A&M-Commerce, Dr. Letzring oversaw eight academic departments, including Curriculum and Instruction, Higher Education and Learning Technology, Counseling, Nursing, and Health and Human Performance, and Psychology and Special Education. His professional experience also includes 15 years at the University of Mississippi, where he served in various leadership roles, including as chair and professor of higher education in the Department of Leadership and Counselor Education, and as an assistant professor of education law at the University of South Carolina.
Dr. Letzring earned a doctor of education degree from the University of Georgia, a law degree from the Stetson University College of Law, and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Louisiana College.
Please join me in congratulating Paige on her new role and in welcoming Tim to the Knights family.
