[287]MCPHEE APPOINTS NEW VICE PRESIDENT FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS

Release date: Jan. 30, 2009


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919 or jweiler@mtsu.edu



MCPHEE APPOINTS NEW VICE PRESIDENT FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS AND VICE PROVOST FOR ENROLLMENT SERVICES AT MTSU
Veteran Administrator Sells Accepts Challenges

(MURFREESBORO) — Dr. Sidney A. McPhee announced Monday the appointment of Dr. Debra Sells as vice president for student affairs and vice provost for enrollment and academic services at Middle Tennessee State University.
Naming Sells to the position removes the interim tag from her title. Sells, former associate vice provost for Academic Support Services, replaced Dr. Bob Glenn on an interim basis in August. Glenn left MTSU to become president at Athens (Ala.) State University.
“I am pleased that (Tennessee Board of Regents) Chancellor Charles Manning approved my recommendation to appoint Dr. Sells as our new vice president for Student Affairs,” McPhee said. “She is a highly capable individual who has done a phenomenal job in helping us to transition after the departure of former Vice President Bob Glenn.
“I have been impressed not only by her efficient and positive approach to
her role as a university executive, but also by her keen knowledge of enrollment issues and the Student Affairs area. We look forward to Dr. Sells’ continued leadership here at MTSU.”
This continues the progression up the administrative academic ladder for Sells, a native of Benton Harbor, Mich., who has been at MTSU since 1996, just after earning her doctorate in education from Arizona State University.
“I’m grateful for Dr. McPhee’s confidence in me,” Sells said. “We’ve had six months to really get to know one another. It has been a really good working relationship, and that’s important to me – that we both have trust and confidence in each other.”
Colleagues and faculty alike are excited about Sells being selected the permanent choice.
“Deb brings over 20 years of student affairs experience to this position, and I, along with our students, should be excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for the Division of Student Affairs under Dr. Sells’ leadership,” said Dr. Gene Fitch, associate vice president for Student Affairs and dean of Student Life.
“Working with Deb during her tenure as interim has been a pleasant experience, and I expect she will continue doing a great job of guiding our division as we steer through MTSU’s efforts to continue providing quality service to our students and faculty in the upcoming budget reductions,” said Dr. Sherian Huddleston, associate vice provost for Enrollment Services.
In regard to the current economic and budget situation for MTSU, Sells said the university “will be facing interesting times in the next few months. … Obviously, we have many challenges.”
In saying this, her concern shifts toward the students.
“Number one on our priority list will be, how do we serve our students?” she said. “How do we not only protect but enhance their campus experience even as we deal with the serious budget issues we’re facing? The president always emphasizes ‘positioning ourselves for the future.’ We want to make decisions that will, in the long run, make both in- and out-of classroom experiences at MTSU even better for our students.”
Sells credits a “very good and skillful staff” on one hand and an “exceptionally supportive vice president’s group” on the other, for helping her manage the transition of the past six months. She said her immediate priorities include “top billing for managing enrollment and retention, moving forward with planning and construction on the new student union and support for our sorority and fraternity organizations.”
Sells served as director of Housing and Residential Life at MTSU from 1996 to 2002 before moving into the leadership position for Academic Support Services. She also held several residential life positions at Arizona State.
She earned her bachelor’s in sociology and communications at Hope College in Holland, Mich., in 1981 and her master’s in social work from the University of Michigan in 1983.
Sells lives in Murfreesboro, just a couple miles from campus. In her spare time, she said that she studies meditation, loves to read and recently started running, though she laughs that she “became a runner awfully late in life.”

For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.

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Note: For a high-resolution jpeg of Sells or to schedule an interview with her, please contact Randy Weiler at 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu.