Christiana Guthrie’s background in healthcare management has prepared her to be a leader in a higher education setting and taught her the importance of professionalism, leadership, and ethical standards. All these aspects are truly important to Christiana, not just personally, but as skills to be practiced and honed daily in her position as Director of Academic Affairs. Additionally, she loves meeting and working with people and believes her 14 years of experience in patient care allows her to communicate with and relate to people efficiently.

As Director of Academic Affairs, Christiana assists with planning, implementing, and advancing strategic priorities for the Office of Academic and supports efforts to streamline office operations. Christiana also leads the Office of Faculty Affairs efforts in promoting data-driven and holistic initiatives to improve faculty recruitment and development.

Christiana earned her Bachelor of Applied Arts from Stephen F. Austin State University. She then earned her Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Health Care Administration from the University of Texas at Tyler.

Jaema Krier received her BS in Mathematics from UT Tyler and taught high school before beginning her career at UT Tyler in 2009. She started with the University as part of a NASA-funded Earth science education program for students in grades K-12 (GLOBE). When the grant ended, she transitioned to the University Academy, the university’s K-12 charter school, where she worked for the next 9.5 years under the charter's Superintendent, overseeing all Business/District Office operations as the Director of Administration.  She earned a MS in Human Resource Development from UT Tyler in 2020 and now serves as the School of Medicine's Director of Faculty Affairs, supporting faculty in all aspects of their academic life cycles.