New Pittsburg State president introduces himself to the university
(Pitt State) — The next president of Pittsburg State University introduced himself and his wife to the campus and the community Monday afternoon in a formal address at the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts.
Thomas Newsom, who for the past six years has been the president of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, was selected by the Kansas Board of Regents on Friday.
“I plan to build on the momentum you’ve built here in the past few years,” he said. “We’re looking forward to being a part of the amazing things happening here.”
He and his wife, Vicky, said they experienced warm hospitality since arriving Saturday morning, just as they did when they “secretly visited” Pittsburg in March before deciding he would apply for the position.
“We felt very welcome here,” he said. “We truly understand now what it means to say Once a Gorilla, Always a Gorilla. It’s truly a great day to be a Gorilla.”
The couple spent time Saturday evening with former President Steve Scott and his wife Cathy, and received a letter and book left by recently departed President Dan Shipp. Soon, Newsom plans to reach out to former President Tom Bryant.
Priorities
In outlining his priorities, Newsom plans to work closely with the administrative team, faculty, and staff, to rely on their strengths, but also plans to ask tough questions and think strategically.
He wants Pitt State to be a “student-ready university that understands that students come from different perspectives and different frames of reference, meets them where they are, and finds resources and the capacity to give them what they need to be successful.”
Newsom also wants the university to continue to be a great partner to the city, the region, local school districts, and other colleges.
He plans to bring with him a strategic enrollment plan he’s had success with at other institutions, and to provide resources and tools to faculty and staff so they are successful.
And, he said, he believes in a university becoming adaptable to the changing needs of a regional workforce.
“The economy is evolving, and higher education hasn’t perhaps kept up,” he said. “We need to be flexible enough to meet the demands of a changing market.”
Above all, he wants the university to focus on students and their long-term success — not just success they have while on campus.
“Our true measure of success will be what our students do when they leave Pitt State,” Newsom said. “The success they have in life, and how that carries over to the people they touch throughout the rest of their lives.”
In introducing Newsom Monday, Blake Benson, the incoming chair of the Kansas Board of Regents and a Pittsburg resident, said the Regents “have no doubt that he is the perfect person to lead our university.”
A native of Sherman, Texas, Newsom earned a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of North Texas, a Master’s in higher education from A&M-Commerce, and a Bachelor’s in business administration from Austin College.
Prior to his role at Southeastern Oklahoma State, Newsom served as vice president of student success and dean of students at Texas A&M-Commerce. There, he oversaw the development of new student success initiatives and led the university’s student affairs.