There have been some administrative changes in the Office of the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Dr. Don Coker stepped down as A&M-Commerce provost and vice president for Academic Affairs in late August. He has returned to teaching and is spending time this fall at Navarro College in Corsicana as part of the A&M-Commerce initiative at that campus. Serving as interim provost/vice president for Academic Affairs is Dr. Vicki Davis, who had worked in this office as associate vice president for Academic Affairs. Davis is a longtime employee of the University who began her career teaching in the department of home economics in the 1970s.

Coker is teaching a graduate course in math for elementary school teachers and a graduate level research course at Navarro College “My return to full-time teaching after seven years as an administrator has not been as difficult as I thought it might be. However, considerable study and preparation for classes has been required in order for me to adjust to the significant developments in the field that have occurred in the past few years,” he said. “Along with the students in my classes I have become a learner and, to me, that is the essence of being a teacher,” he commented.

Enrollment in the A&M-Commerce-Navarro partnership has jumped from about 120 students last spring to approximately 400 this fall, Coker noted, adding he is pleased to be participating in the University’s effort to make higher education more accessible to residents in the central Texas region. Coker stepped down as provost/vice president because of the time and energy demands of the job as well as a health problem. His health is improving, the A&M-Commerce educator says. “My work as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs was one of the best experiences of my professional life. This positive experience was made possible by the support and assistance I received from other administrators, faculty, and professional staff,” Coker commented. Davis became head of A&M-Commerce’s home economics department in the 1980s. With the phasing out of this department in the 1980s, she became an associate professor in the department of counseling. Davis also worked as director of the Freshman Success Seminar from 1990 to ’92. She went to work in the Academic Affairs Office directed by then Vice President Donna Arlton in 1992.

Joining the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs Office this fall is Dr. Gwyn Boyter. Boyter is serving as interim associate vice president for Academic Affairs and will work closely with Davis. An A&M-Commerce employee since 1996, Boyter has held several posts including teaching in the department of educational administration and serving as interim assistant dean in the College of Education. This former public schoolteacher and superintendent is project director for the Regents Initiative for Excellence in Education on the A&M-Commerce campus.