Texas A&M at Work: February 24, 2025

Texas A&M at Work is a biweekly email designed to keep employees up to date on the most vital and relevant information, news and events across all Texas A&M University campuses.

Many people in the dark holding lit candles

Texas A&M University Announces 2025 Campus Muster Speaker

The Aggie Muster Committee has named Lieutenant General Michael L. Downs ’92 as the keynote speaker for the 2025 Campus Muster ceremony. The event will take place on Monday, April 21, at 7 p.m. in Reed Arena.

Lieutenant General Downs earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Texas A&M University, where he was commissioned as an ROTC Distinguished Graduate in 1992. He was a member of Squadron 15 and the Ross Volunteer Company. Lieutenant General Downs is the Associate Director for Military Affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Washington, D.C. He serves as the military advisor to the CIA director and leads coordination and integration efforts between the CIA and the Department of Defense to maximize the United States’ global advantage.

Find out more about this year’s Muster

Things To Know

VPN Connection

Need to access resources as if you were on the university’s network? Visit the Texas A&M VPN Connect page and follow the instructions for connecting through Windows or Mac. Cisco Secure Connect is Texas A&M’s VPN service provider, and Duo Two-Factor Authentication is required every time you log in to VPN.

Benefits Reminder

Employees experiencing a qualifying life event can make the appropriate change to their benefits within 31 days. Be sure to submit all documentation and Workday actions to Benefit Services within this timeframe. Any other changes to insurance can be made during Open Enrollment in July. Newborns must be enrolled within 31 days of their birth.

A nascar car with Texas A&M branding and a camo color scheme parked in front of Kyle Field

Elevating Texas A&M’s Brand Nationwide

In late 2023, General (Ret.) Mark A. Welsh III, then interim president of Texas A&M, set key priorities to advance our university. Among them was a call for Texas A&M to be a constant in the national conversation to ensure those beyond Texas understand and feel the “Spirit of Aggieland.” The president communicated the charge, and the university’s reformulated central Division of Marketing and Communications has been since taking action — and showing measurable gains, leading the nation in many areas. The Division is committed to helping put Texas A&M in its rightful place in the sun.

The work is only beginning, but the impacts are being seen on mobile devices and computer screens, TV newscasts and heavily viewed sports broadcasts via national recognitions and in major news outlets. For example, views of Texas A&M video content on YouTube, the world’s No. 1 video platform, grew from 311,000 in 2023 to 29.9 million in 2024 (+9,360%), No. 1 in higher education and more than two times greater than the next benchmarked university peer.

By showcasing our faculty, staff, students, various locations and more, the team has shifted its attention externally, focused on captivating storytelling and highlighted our leadership in areas that directly impact outcomes to build a brighter, safer world for the people of Texas, the nation and beyond. As a result, new audiences, particularly those outside the state of Texas, are beginning to see Texas A&M the way Aggies everywhere already do.

Learn more about the collective effort to showcase Texas A&M

A graphic reading " Hullabaloo U, Aggie 1st Year Experience

Deadline For Hullabaloo U Instructors Extended Through March 14

Hullabaloo U is a first-year experience course designed to help welcome and transition new first-year students to Texas A&M. Each section of Hullabaloo U provides a community for approximately 25 students, led by a faculty/staff instructor and an undergraduate peer mentor. Instructors teach a semester-long, zero-credit-hour transition-to-college course that meets weekly for 50 minutes. Curriculum resources are provided, so no previous teaching experience is necessary. Instructors receive a $500 professional development bursary, but most importantly, they are a touchpoint for new students every week throughout their first semester.

Visit the Office for Student Success website for more information, including minimum requirements, an informational video and more. To be considered, complete the Hullabaloo U instructor online application by Friday, March 14. For additional questions, contact Katie Campbell, Program Manager for the First Year Experience, at k_campbell@tamu.edu.