Frequently Asked Questions

In early August 2023, at the direction of General (Ret.) Mark A. Welsh III, then interim president, a small team was charged with leading a quick-look assessment on The Path Forward. The team, led by Joe Pettibon, vice president for planning, assessment, and strategy, conducted more than 100 listening sessions with key stakeholders to gather feedback on the successes and opportunities for adjustment, as warranted, for major initiatives of The Path Forward.

Then Interim President Welsh assigned leads and deadlines for decisions finalized in the Quick-Look Assessment Report published on Oct. 4. Learn more about the decisions, associated team leads, deadlines, and status updates related to each item within the final report.

The undergraduate degree in biomedical sciences will return to the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS). The transition plan must include stipulations on advising, enrollment caps, course availability to meet demands, and thoughts on expanded collaboration with the School of Medicine.
Lead: Alan Sams, Texas A&M Executive Vice President (EVP) & Provost | Deadline: Dec. 15, 2023
Status Updates:
Dec. 9: The committee held its final meeting on Dec. 7. BIMS advisors will move from the Academic Building to the VMBS during the week of Dec. 18. All faculty that migrated to the College of Arts & Sciences will return to the VMBS. Communication plans are in place to notify current BIMS students of the move. The BIMS curriculum committee is now active and revisiting the curriculum. The Biology Department will provide anatomy and physiology course needs for BIMS for the next four years. In addition to revisiting the curriculum, the committee is reviewing the carrying capacity of BIMS to prevent historic bottleneck issues. A memo summarizing the work of the committee will be routed to the EVP & Provost prior to the end of the year.
Nov. 11: The committee met on Oct. 26. Subcommittees are now studying course needs, advising loads, and bottlenecks. Findings will be presented at a Nov. 16 meeting. Advising move is planned between the fall and spring semesters. Ongoing discussions about APT faculty lines moved to Biology are occurring. Clarity on course needs from Biology and faculty lines will come from subcommittee work.
Oct. 26: The EVP & Provost is working with the appropriate deans to make this transition, including building the appropriate transition and collaboration plans.

The Texas A&M Path Forward is a strategic plan for carrying out the university’s mission and vision. The Path Forward, as written by President Banks, is a continuation of the Vision 2020 roadmap created by Aggie leaders in the late 1990s. You can find The Path Forward document in its entirety here.

Months of surveys, interviews, and research were performed by an outside consulting firm. The report is posted in its entirety, including appendices with data, within the MGT Report [PDF].

A Strategic Implementation Committee was established with oversight of 41 working groups. The committee and working group membership, as well as their reports and implementation memos, are also posted on The Path Forward website.

Yes, the VMBS had representative members on multiple working groups. These representatives included student representation.

Yes. Specific courses on your degree plan are still offered through the VMBS. Your academic advisors are aware of these course choices and will continue to convey them in a timely manner during preregistration academic advising.

Yes. The university has a campus-wide mechanism for course creation. New courses are approved through the curricular review and approval system and include a review by college and university-level curriculum committees. As an interdisciplinary program, BIMS has approved coursework that is interdepartmental and intercollegiate on the Texas A&M campus.

No. Biomedical Sciences does not have an approved BA degree option on the “Degree Program Tables.” New degree options, including a BA, would have to be approved through the university curricular process and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Each year Texas A&M publishes the Undergraduate Catalog. Each student is assigned to a catalog based on the year they enter Texas A&M. The Texas A&M core curriculum and required coursework, or equivalents as determined by college and university curricular review, are published in the catalog. Therefore, the move to the College of Arts & Sciences did not change your degree plan requirements. Please note that approved course substitutions may not appear in the catalog, but your advisors are aware of these and will communicate all changes and new opportunities to you and help guide you through your options.

Your catalog can be found on the Texas A&M Catalogs page. There is a link to the current “Undergraduate Catalog,” as well as “Archives” for all previous years. The Texas A&M core curriculum offerings can be found here. Select the appropriate catalog year for accurate course information.

No. The degree requirements for your major remain the same. In select instances, to facilitate enrollment management, change in the availability of a required course, or to ensure adequate time-to-degree, your major advisors may communicate an alternative course option to you. The alternative course will have been approved by a curriculum committee in consultation with the department offering the course.

All degrees on campus undergo review yearly, with changes published in the new catalog. The BIMS degree is currently undergoing a more extensive curricular review process. Input will be solicited, under an approved IRB, for submission to a committee, with oversight through the Texas A&M Center for Teaching Excellence and a BIMS Curriculum Committee comprised of faculty and students. Any changes will be approved through the university’s required curricular review and approval process, followed by publication in the undergraduate catalog. More information can be found on the Office of the Registrar Curricular Services page.

No. The diploma will have the degree (BS) and your major (BIMS) listed. The name of the college is not on the diploma.

Yes, your academic advising team is the same. In fact, it will be expanding soon, providing more availability and scheduling options.

Your advisors are in Suite 123 of the VIDI (#1813) Building in the Veterinary & Biomedical Education Complex (VBEC).

Weekly emails are sent to students with advising options. They are a mix of drop-in advising, standard appointments, and informationals (Degree Planner Palooza, for example), that will assist you with your academic advising needs. See options here.

BIOL 319 and 320 are Integrated Anatomy and Physiology course series. The recommended Anatomy and Physiology combination your advisor is making depends upon your catalog and potentially your professional goals. All students entering the university in the Fall of 2019 and forward require an anatomy and physiology series, as well as physiology II. As communicated through the academic advising office to students, most students graduating by May 2023 will take VIBS 305/VTPP 423/VTPP 427. Students may also take BIOL 319/BIOL 320/VTPP 427 as a course combination.

Yes. VIBS 305 is being taught as a Biomedical Sciences Directed Elective with a new syllabus.

Yes, VTPP 427 is a required course for all students. Students will take VIBS 305/VTPP 423/VTPP 427 OR BIOL 319/BIOL 320/VTPP 427

BIOL 319 and 320 are an integrated anatomy and physiology courses with topics from both subjects across a two-semester series. Therefore, a portion of the physiology content is in the fall, and a portion in the spring, making a “whole” across the series. All students must subsequently complete an applied physiology prior to graduation. This course, VTPP 427, builds upon the content of BIOL 319/320 (or VTPP 423). To help with naming confusion, VTPP 427 is being re-titled “Applied Biomedical Physiology.”

Yes. These are expanded options for W course credit in the BIMS degree.