MSU's interim leader settles in as TTU works out details of presidential search

Dr. Keith Lamb, interim president of MSU Texas, was surprised like everyone else about Dr. JuliAnn Mazachek's sudden departure earlier this month from leading the university.

But now Lamb is focused on looking ahead with the rest of the team at Midwestern State University.

“I’m settling in well here in week two," Lamb said in a Jan. 23 phone interview. "We have a lot in front of us right now."

High-level strategy is ongoing, MSU is up for re-accreditation this year and this is the university's first legislative session as a member of the Texas Tech University System. And Midwestern needs a permanent president.

"We are still working through the details of the upcoming presidential search," Scott Lacefield, spokesman for the TTU System Chancellor's Office, said.

"As soon as we have more information to share, we will be providing that to our MSU Texas campus community stakeholders and with the Wichita Falls and surrounding area media as well," Lacefield said.

The question naturally arises as to whether Lamb is interested in applying for the job. He has served MSU for 23 years and has been in various leadership roles.

"I just don’t know yet. I think I need to be in this a little longer to get a feel for it," Lamb, who holds a Ph.D., said.

Regardless of what happens, he said he has faith the TTU System will get the best fit for MSU's new leader, and he is excited to see what happens.

On Jan. 11, the TTU System announced Mazachek's exit from MSU to return to Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, where she worked 30 years before coming to Midwestern.

The same day, Washburn was publicly welcoming her back as president-to-be in Topeka. Mazachek, who holds a Ph.D., will become the first woman to lead that university and its 15th president. Her duties officially begin Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Even though Mazachek was gone less than a year from Washburn, she told the Topeka Capital-Journal she still appreciated the time and leadership experience at MSU.

“I wouldn’t have written the story that way, but it ended up being a great story," she told the newspaper, "and it gave me an opportunity to appreciate Washburn more than I already did.”

In the meantime, Lamb hasn't encountered any concerning morale in the wake of her sudden departure.

"Dr. Mazachek did a number of good things in her time here, and one of the, I think, really good things she did was establish a leadership group, which is roughly 30 individuals around campus,” Lamb said.

The group includes deans, a number of MSU's directors, athlete representatives and others from critical areas at MSU, he said.

When Lamb was appointed interim president, he was serving as chief strategy officer at MSU. He is excited about working with the group to establish strategy for the university.

Strategy to move MSU forward includes ensuring the university is a place where people want to work and where they are engaged and committed, he said.

“Part of the strategy is enrollment," Lamb said. "Now that we are post-COVID essentially, the enrollment landscape has changed, and how are we adjusting our strategy? How are we differentiating ourselves so that we are engaging the right market for enrollment?"

An immediate concern is obtaining re-accreditation for the university, Lamb said. Accreditation, for instance, impacts MSU's access to federal student financial aid and whether Midwestern's courses can transfer elsewhere.

"It's critical to the life of an institution," he said.

So Midwestern has been going under the microscope of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges for the involved process of winning 10-year accreditation from the regional body.

“MSU has always done very well with that and is in very good shape for this. We’ve already had our off-site review," Lamb said.

The on-site review is coming up in March.

"We just need to make sure we're ready," Lamb said.

At an annual conference in December, SACSCOC will formally vote on the accreditation, he said.

Lamb had a full slate before he was appointed interim president Jan. 11. Besides chief strategy officer, he had been serving as vice president for enrollment management and student affairs.

“Last week was pretty intense with everything that’s going on in the different positions," he said.

"We are now starting to work on internal structures to redistribute some of that workload that I was doing, so that I can fully focus as the interim president and make sure the university is getting the leadership out of this position that it needs during this time," Lamb said.

He said the MSU community deserves someone who is all present in the position, and that is the goal.

"It’s an honor to be able to serve in this capacity an institution that means so much to all of us,” Lamb said.

Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: As Lamb leads, TTU working out details of search for new MSU president