By Courtney Klaus, Editor-In-Chief
Board of Trustees Chair Teresa Hall Bartels was named by the board as “officer in charge” of Newman University after longtime President Noreen Carrocci announced over the summer that she would be retiring in December.
Bartels, who lives in Illinois and works as a consultant for nonprofit organizations, will fly to Wichita each week and spend two to three days working out of the president’s conference room, she said. She’s been serving in her new role since July 1.
Carrocci has been president since 2007.
“What we determined is that Dr. Carrocci’s last six months roughly were best served for her to focus on fundraising and to be the university’s champion in the external community,” Bartels said.
Bartels said she will be working with the university cabinet to implement the new three-year strategic plan.
“The way that I am approaching it is to work with the cabinet and others to identify internally what we need to be doing so that we can be financially sustainable and focus on people and take care of the campus and technology needs,” Bartels said.
Over the summer, Bartels said, the Board of Trustees established two task forces: One was focused on expense control and the other was focused on income generation.
The search for a new university president to fill Carrocci’s position has not yet officially begun, Bartels said. It is likely that the university will appoint someone to serve as interim president starting in December while the university searches for a permanent replacement.
“The way that we understand the academic cycle, generally, is somebody who would be likely to take on the presidency would likely not be available until July,” she said. “It would be pretty unheard of I guess in academia to start a search process and hire somebody in just a couple of months.”
The Board will discuss its options for finding a replacement as well as the ideas of both task forces at it’s next meeting on Sept. 20.
PHOTO: Courtesy Photo, University Relations
