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NEWS
4 March 11, 2022 Campus Voices | News | Women’s History Month | Engineering | Nursing | Entertainment | Español | Stang Stories THE SEARCH IS OVER!
PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN JuliAnn Mazachek is the sole finalist for MSU’s presidency, Mar. 7.
CECIL WITHERSPOON REPORTER
After a months-long closed search, MSU and the Texas Tech system finally pulled the curtain back to reveal JuliAnn Mazachek as the sole finalist for the position of president. The news first came out during the Texas Tech board of regents meeting Monday morning via teleconference, where the board unanimously approved a vote to name Mazachek as the sole finalist. Fanfare and decorum followed soon after at a reception held in Comanche Suite in Clark Student Center at noon of the same day. Tedd Mitchell, chancellor of the Texas Tech University system, presided over the event and introduced Mazachek, who also spoke.
MAZACHEK’S BACKGROUND
Mazachek, the vice president for academic affairs at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, is leaving Washburn after three decades. Her titles have included dean of the business school, vice president for academic affairs and president and CEO of the Washburn University Foundation.
THE SELECTION PROCESS
Mark Griffin, vice chair of the Texas Tech board of regents and chair of the presidential search committee, said the committee received over 60 applications for the position from candidates across the nation before narrowing the field down to seven finalists. After a round of interviews, the committee agreed unanimously on Mazachek. Mitchell said Mazachek’s experience and business acumen made her stand out as a candidate, and both qualities played a large role in her selection. “So we were looking for someone who would have not only the background in higher education that was necessary for the nuts and bolts of running a university, but if possible look for somebody that had a really good business background as well. Because, as you know, this is a big business. And somebody that has a background in business, in administration and in fundraising. Because a huge part of what the presidency here will be working toward is a very robust fundraising opportunity for not just the Wichita Falls community but for this entire area,” Mitchell said. Griffin echoed the endorsement of Mazachek’s credentials, and said her experience makes her a strong choice. “There’s nothing that’s going to happen here that she probably hasn’t seen or experienced. And she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise, but more importantly, she brings a fervent commitment to this institution, and an inclination to engage in the community. That’s very important to her,” Griffin said. Mitchell said Mazachek’s background as a first-generation college graduate stood out as an example of why she is a good fit for MSU. “If you look at MSU’s history, the tradition here, you’ve got a university that has done a remarkable job not only at serving Wichita Falls and the surrounding community, but serving students, many of whom are first generation who otherwise would not have had an opportunity to access higher education,” Mitchell said, “Dr. Mazachek is also a first-generation college student. So she knows exactly what it’s like to come from a home where you may or may not have the opportunity to go to college. So when you’re looking for that type of leader that can be transformative in young folks’ lives, in offering them opportunities like this, it was one of the things that just really made her stand out.”
CHOSEN FOR MSU, BY MSU
In addition to making sure the choice for sole finalist was a good fit for MSU’s past and future, members of the presidential search committee also stressed the independence of MSU had been, and will continue to be, respected. Nine members of the 12-person committee came from MSU or the greater Wichita Falls community, with the remaining three spots being filled by representatives from Texas Tech. Griffin said both the committee and the entire search process were deliberate in identifying what members of the MSU community felt were the most important challenges for the new president to tackle. He said Texas Tech made sure to listen to that feedback and allow it to guide the search. “We didn’t want to be presumptuous,” Griffin said. “Coming from Tech, I needed the search committee and the constituents on campus and in the community to let us know what the challenges are. We want to grow the enrollment, ok? That was what I heard. We want to expand the educational opportunities. That’s what we heard. Those two things were the preeminent aspects.” Griffin added that, “We’re not going to compromise the integrity of the liberal arts offerings. Not in any form or fashion. What we want to do is grow and expand, and being part of a system like this, we can bring other tools to bear.”
STUDENT REPRESENTATION
Austin Strode, economic senior and student body president, was one of the nine MSU or Wichita Falls-based members who served on the search committee. Strode said as student body president, he tried to make sure the needs of all students would be addressed by the choice for president. “I’d say the biggest thing is just making sure that I felt all areas of the student body were being represented. I mean, that’s a very cliche answer, but at the end of the day, that’s my job, you know? I’ve got to set aside my own beliefs and make sure MSU students are being represented, and every single one of them,” Strode said. Strode said, in trying to accomplish that goal, he encountered little to no pushback from other members of the committee. “I mean, everyone on this committee, when we got into the room and we were doing interviews and meeting and conducting the process, it kind of stripped away everyone’s titles. I mean, you have regent members, doctorates and there’s me in my undergrad here at MSU. But I felt very much that my voice was heard as the student body president,” Strode said. Strode also stressed that Texas Tech gave MSU plenty of leeway in the selection process. “Especially, you know, they hammered home this is very much an MSU, Wichita Falls community search. Everyone’s voice was heard. It wasn’t Tech coming in to put a president. It was we, as MSU and our community, are picking it, and we’re just getting support,” Strode said.
THE NEXT STEP
Texas state law requires that new university presidents must wait at least 21 days before taking office as a review period. Mazachek will be eligible to begin her new role in late March, but no official date was announced at the event for when she will assume the role of president.
5
West College of Education gets new gym
Space was repurposed in Bridwell Hall to create a gym for the West College of Education, Mar. 10.
PHOTO BY COLIN STEVENSON | THE WICHITAN
JAVIER CONTRERAS REPORTER
Anew gym was built on the first floor of Bridwell Hall as an instructional setting for kinesiology and physical education majors. This is the first semester that the gym is open to students and instructors. In the past students would have to go to the Don Flatt Gym in the D.L. Ligon Coliseum, but now those students can attend class in the West College of Education while still maintaining a gym-like environment. Stacia Miller, associate professor of kinesiology, said that the gym’s main use will be to teach students concepts that are crucial to their respective fields. “The idea is that this would be a place where we can model best practice in the field of physical education and coaching and demonstrate those things with our students so that they see those kinds of things before they actually go out into the field,” Miller said. Miller said that the primary reason the gym was built was to give teachers and students a place to practice skills and model what a real physical education class might look like. She said it was difficult to do this in the Don Flatt gym because that gym had to be shared with other groups such as cheer. “There was a need for us to be able to model the environment that the kids in the k-12 schools have. We needed a space where we could do modeling and best practice, where students could actually put their own stamp onto the space. So that whenever we’re doing teaching methods and pedagogy kind of things, students can be in a space that is exactly like what they are going to see and use in the real world,” Miller said. Construction for the gym began in spring of 2021 and this is the first semester that it is open to the MSU community. Supply shortages have been a problem that many construction projects across the country have run into during the pandemic. Miller said that this project was no different. “I can specifically say that the floor was something we had to wait on. The facility itself was on time as far as the walls and the ceiling. That kind of stuff was on time but we did have to delay because getting the wood floors took more time because wood was kind of hard to come by,” Miller said. The gym is still considered incomplete because it is lacking a projector and a few other technological aspects but Miller said those things are on their way. The gym has been released over to the West College of Education instructors but with the limitation of not having the proper technology for classes. “Nowadays, as teachers we are required to model technology and then our students, as teachers, are required to use technology and integrate it into the learning. That is an important piece of best practice, is that we come in here and I show them, not just tell them what technology looks like, but show them what it looks like in the physical education and sport world. To me it’s still incomplete because we don’t have that key piece,” Miller said. Although the gym was built for the students and faculty of the West College of Education, it can be used for other classes or activities as well. Miller said anyone that wants to use the gym will be able to schedule a time as soon as the missing technology comes in. “It is a classroom space just like any other classroom on campus so it will be in the system to get booked like a classroom,” Miller said. Shawnisay Millar, sport and leisure junior, said that in the past having class in the Don Flatt gym was difficult due to having to share it. Millar said the new gym will be a great help in avoiding those kinds of interactions and is grateful for that. “Sometimes that would be quite hard because sometimes it would clash, so sometimes the cheer would come in and we would still be in class and we would either have to leave or the cheer would have to wait. I’m quite grateful that we have that space over at Bridwell so that none of that occurs,” Millar said. Millar has had the opportunity to use the gym for her elementary physical education class. Millar said that the new gym provides an atmosphere that you can’t get in a regular classroom. “When we used it our teacher taught us a lesson that she planned for a third grade class and we would have to identify the organizational structures that she used during her lesson plan and stuff like that. So I believe that it’s a really good resource for students and teachers to explore because sometimes in a classroom you can only do so much so when we have that extra space we can really use that to our advantage,” Millar said. Danielle Hardin, English education senior, works in the dean’s office in the West College of Education. She overheard a lot of the planning that was going on for the gym. “It’s definitely going to provide hands-on practice for these students. Before they were having to walk all the way across campus, all the way to the wellness center, to do those practical, hands-on skills. Now it’s in the comfort of their own home, kind of,”
