University System of Maryland names next Towson University president

By: Cody Boteler, Senior Editor, Carley Milligan, Editor-in-Chief and Sam Shelton, News Editor

The University System of Maryland Board of Regents has appointed Eastern Michigan University administrator Kim Schatzel as the next President of Towson University, according to a Dec. 4 campus-wide email from USM Chancellor Bob Caret.

Schatzel, who currently acts as EMU’s interim president, provost and executive vice president of academic and student affairs, will fill her new position effective Jan. 25, 2016.

“The more I learned about Towson, the more I thought it was a great fit,” Schatzel said in an interview with The Towerlight.

In an interview, Caret said some determining factors in the selection were Schatzel’s “high energy” and “unique background.”

“She’s been in the private sector and academia,” Caret said. “It’s both worlds, which we like.”

According to Caret, the selection process was difficult.

“Everyone you see, you like,” Caret said.

According to the statement, current Interim President Timothy Chandler will return to his previous position as Towson’s provost and vice president for academic affairs in late January.

Caret said that Chandler was considered as a finalist for the job of university president.

Chandler was appointed interim president in December 2014, when President Emerita Maravene Loeschke announced her retirement due to health reasons. He served as acting president during Loeschke’s leave of absence earlier that semester.

“Under his watchful eye, Towson didn’t miss a beat as it moved forward to greater excellence,” Caret said in the statement. “The Board of Regents and I applaud Dr. Chandler’s exemplary leadership during this period of transition.”

“I’m really looking forward to working with [Chandler],” Schatzel said. “He’s done a terrific job in the interim role.”

During the selection process, Schatzel came to campus to act as what she called a “mystery shopper.”

According to Schatzel, she and her husband took a walk around campus to talk to faculty and staff — without letting anyone know that she was in the running for the job.

Schatzel said she was most struck by “how positive everybody was about the school.”

Prior to her appointment as interim president of EMU in July, Schatzel was an assistant marketing professor before becoming dean of the College of Business at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, after which she moved to EMU to join the university’s leadership team.

Schatzel has acted as EMU provost and executive vice president of academic and student affairs since 2012, per the EMU website.

Dr. Schatzel has a strong record of achievements in several areas,” Caret said in the statement. “She has created programs that increased student enrollment and success. She has developed productive higher education-business partnershipsI am confident that she will lead Towson University to strengthen its position among the nation’s best regional universities.

Schatzel also has 20 years of corporate, new venture, and start-up experience from working for a multinational and industrial firm as the founding president, chief operating officer and chief executive officer.

She holds a doctoral degree in business administration from Michigan State University.

In the statement, Caret said that an on-campus welcome reception for Schatzel will take place in the “next several days.”

The Towerlight will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

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