With the announcement of the ACU president-elect only two days away, the Presidential Transition Team is in place to secure a smooth transition of university leadership.

“We’re just really trying hard to keep people informed and make sure they are in the know,” said Sharron Drury, member of the Board of Trustees and Presidential Transition Team co-chair.

The purpose of the Transition Team is “to ensure that information needs, social functions and substantive issues surrounding the presidential transition at ACU are conducted systematically and with thoughtful consideration of both the departing and incoming presidents,” according to an e-mail sent to the ACU community Feb. 1.

There are 17 members of the Presidential Transition Team, including trustees, faculty and staff. Divided into subcommittees, the group’s responsibilities range from communication with the ACU community, planning for celebratory events for Dr. Royce Money and the president-elect, fundraising opportunities and orientation of the new president once he is in office.

Drury said the magnitude of the upcoming change is one reason the Transition Team is necessary.

“If Dr. Money was just horrible at what he does, there wouldn’t be much anxiety there,” Drury said. “But he is great at what he does.”

The Transition Team wants to celebrate Money’s presidency as well as welcome and build excitement for the new president. The group is planning many events, formal and informal, on and off campus, to honor Money, Drury said.

“He is treating each as an opportunity to come and say thank you,” she said.

The Transition Team also wants to ensure the president-elect begins to form relationships with students, faculty, staff and the Abilene community in the months leading to his inauguration.

“We’ve got to get them out in our main market so they can hit the floor running when they get into office,” Drury said.

Students can look forward to participating in many of the events for Money and the president-elect. The communications subcommittee plans to update the ACU community regularly through email and the Transition Team Web site, said Jason Groves, associate vice president for marketing in Operations and communications subcommittee chair.

“One of our goals is to try to help the new president connect with groups on campus,” Groves said. “Right now, I think the most important thing is the student body unify and rally around whoever is selected.”

The subcommittee wants to implement social media as much as possible, said Groves, updating Facebook, Twitter and the ACU Today magazine blog on a regular basis.

Many communication specifics will be ironed out after the Feb. 19 announcement of the president-elect.

“A lot of it depends on who the president is,” Groves said. “We don’t want to say the same approach is for everybody.”

Drury and Groves agree prayer is an essential piece of student involvement in the transition process.

“We just hope that the students will pray for the person that’s not chosen, as well as the person that is chosen,” Drury said.

Whatever the outcome, Groves said the Transition Team wants students to feel engaged in the process and comfortable communicating with both Money and the president-elect.

“Right now, I think the most important thing is the student body unify and rally around whoever is selected,” Groves said.