Murray State University President Ron Patterson on Friday announced a change to the school’s leadership structure, along with the creation of a new role geared toward workforce development and external partnerships.
Patterson said the launch of the new President’s Cabinet took effect on Friday, the same day the initiative was announced to university faculty, staff and students via email. The Murray State president, who assumed the office last year following Bob Jackson’s retirement from the leadership role, said the cabinet members would advise him on key institutional decisions, strategic planning, policy development and daily operations that align with the school’s mission.
Current university leaders that are part of the cabinet include:
- Paul Twigg, provost and vice president for academic affairs
- Don Robertson, vice president for student affairs and student success
- Tina Bernot, vice president for university advancement and external relations
- Nico Yantko, vice president and director of athletics
- Roslyn White, assistant vice president for enrollment management
- Shawn Touney, assistant vice president for marketing and communication
- Cami Duffy, assistant vice president for equal opportunity and Title IX
- Rob Miller, general counsel
Most of the cabinet members already report directly to Patterson under the university’s organizational chart for the current school year created prior to the leadership restructuring.
Additionally, the cabinet also includes two more offices that Patterson, in his campus-wide email, said are currently vacant. One of those is the vice president for finance and administrative affairs – a position formerly held by Laura Foltz. Last month, Patterson announced that Foltz would be “on leave” from the office effective Aug. 7. At a special-called Board of Regents meeting a few days after Foltz’s leave time was supposed to commence, Patterson said he was unable to comment on personnel issues at that time. When asked at that meeting if Foltz had been terminated, Patterson said at that time, she had not been. Foltz’s contract with Murray State runs through June 30, 2027.
Patterson’s Friday email did not clarify how or when a search for a new vice president for finance and administrative services would take place. Foltz, whose hiring at Murray State was announced in January, was one of the first major hirings the university made under the Patterson administration.
The other person who will join the cabinet will be the person who will eventually be hired for the newly-created vice president for workforce and strategic partnerships role.
In his Friday campus-wide email, Patterson said this executive role “leads the vision, strategy, and execution of workforce development programs and external collaborations” with the goal of aligning the university’s education and training opportunities with regional labor needs. The person hired in this role will also be charged with building connections with corporate leaders, industry groups, government agencies and community organizations.
Patterson said Murray State’s search for candidates to fill this new office will take place this fiscal year. First, he said the university will conduct an internal search – making the position available to current, regular full-time and part-time Murray State faculty and staff. If a candidate is not identified through this internal search, Patterson said the position would then be advertised to external candidates. No date was announced for when the internal job listing would open up to eligible Murray State employees.
Murray State will also host a State of the University Address on Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. at Wrather Hall – a discussion Patterson said is part of his commitment to maintaining “visible, transparent open lines of communication” to coincide with the rollout of the administrative redesign. Topics of discussion at this meeting include Murray State’s “shared achievements, current budget realities, legislative priorities, and strategic goals for the coming year.”
