With the departure of Dr. Allison Garrett, former executive vice president, three more administrators began reporting directly to Dr. Phil Schubert, president of the university, on Jan. 1.
Garrett was named president of Emporia State University in the fall and began the job earlier this month, leaving a void in the upper administration. And after looking at the university’s structure, Schubert decided not to immediately fill the position. Beginning Jan. 1, Kevin Campbell, chief enrollment officer, Steven Holley, chief financial officer, and Dr. Chris Riley, vice president of student life, started reporting directly to Schubert.
Schubert said among Garrett’s accomplishments was preparing Campbell, Holley and Riley for the added levels of responsibility.
“In some ways, Allison was successful enough that she worked herself out of a job,” said Schubert. “We didn’t feel like we needed another layer of management and leadership between my role and these folks. I was very impressed with her team and their level of talent, ability, leadership and performance in several areas and am confident these individuals will perform exceptionally well in their roles.”
Before Garrett was appointed as executive vice president, Schubert served in that position. Instead of immediately moving to replace Garrett, Schubert and his team wanted to evaluate key players in upper administration and move forward accordingly.
“Any time you have a transition, I always think it’s a great time to reevaluate,” Schubert said. “I don’t want to step into an immediate decision to reestablish things as they were.”
Riley said he is adjusting well to the new leadership structure.
“I’m enjoying the opportunity to work directly with Phil, and I think it provides opportunities for student issues to be one step closer to the president,” Riley said.
Additionally, some of Garrett’s previous direct reports now report to Campbell, Holley and Riley in this leaner structure of administration.
Anthony Williams, chief business services officer, reports to Holley. Jason Groves, chief marketing officer, reports to Campbell. Susan Gore now works as executive assistant for Riley. Sherita Nickerson, former executive for Riley, works full time as the university’s deputy anti-harassment coordinator and director of compliance for Student Life.
