(KNSI) – St. Cloud State University has narrowed down its search to four finalists for the university’s next president.
Matt Cecil, Lisa Foss, Rodney Hanley, and Gregory Tomso will be competing to become the 26th leader of the 156-year-old campus. A search advisory committee made up of students, faculty, staff, and community leaders recommended the four candidates. Each will visit campus between November 5th and 7th to meet with students, faculty, staff, and community members and answer questions.
Minnesota State Chancellor Scott Olson will make his recommendation to the board of trustees on November 19th. The new president is expected to start on January 1st, 2026, taking over from interim president Larry Dietz, who stepped in after Robbyn Wacker left in June 2024. Dietz is leaving to take care of family health issues.
Wacker’s departure came during a tough period for the university. Declining enrollment and budget problems led to the elimination of 42 degree programs and 50 minors, which resulted in the loss of 54 full-time faculty members and support staff. About 8% of students were affected by the cuts.
Matt Cecil (top left)
Matt Cecil will visit campus on Thursday, November 6th. He’s currently the interim provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where he’s been since August 2024. Before that, he worked at Northern Kentucky University as provost and executive vice president for academic and student affairs from 2021 to 2024, and then as a special advisor to the president for a few months in 2024. From 2019 to 2021, he was interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he’d also been dean of the College of Arts and Humanities from 2016 to 2019. Earlier in his career, he taught at Wichita State University, South Dakota State University, the University of Oklahoma, Norman, and Purdue University. He has a bachelor’s degree from South Dakota State, a master’s from Minnesota State Mankato, and a doctorate from the University of Iowa.
Lisa Foss (top right)
Lisa Foss is coming to campus on Wednesday, November 5th. She’s currently working as senior director for U.S. Practice at Arizona State University’s University Design Institute, a position she took on in 2024. She’s also been a senior consultant for the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges since 2021. Recently, she served as executive director for the Council on Higher Education as a Strategic Asset from 2023 to 2025 and worked as a senior advisor for a Milwaukee ad agency called BVA from 2021 to 2024. Foss has strong ties to St. Cloud State, having worked there in several roles including vice president for planning and engagement and chief strategy officer from 2017 to 2021. She also held positions as associate vice president and associate provost for strategy, assistant vice president for institutional effectiveness, and director of marketing and communications. She taught as adjunct faculty and was a chancellor’s fellow for Reimagining Minnesota State from 2018 to 2019. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from St. Cloud State and got her doctorate from the University of Minnesota.
Rodney Hanley (lower left)
Rodney Hanley’s campus visit is also on Wednesday, November 5th. He’s been president of Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma since 2023. Before that, he was president at Lake Superior State University in Michigan from 2018 to 2023. From 2014 to 2018, he served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Fisk University in Tennessee. He’s also worked at Lakehead University in Canada as provost and vice president for academics and acting vice president for research, economic development, and innovation. Earlier, he was dean of science at the University of Winnipeg. Throughout his career, he’s taught biology at Lake Superior State, Fisk, Lakehead, and the University of Winnipeg. He also worked as an associate professor of earth system science and policy at the University of North Dakota. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois University, has master’s degrees from Eastern Illinois and the University of Cambridge, and got his doctorate from the University of Kansas.
Gregory Tomso (lower right)
Gregory Tomso will be visiting on Friday, November 7th. He’s currently on sabbatical until August 2026 from his job as vice president for academic engagement and student affairs at the University of West Florida, where he’s worked since 2021. Before that role, he directed the Kugelman Honors Program from 2017 to 2021 and chaired the English department from 2014 to 2017. He started at the university back in 2004 and has worked his way up from assistant professor of English to associate professor, also serving as associate director of the honors program along the way. Before coming to West Florida, he taught as an assistant professor of English at Ithaca College in New York from 2001 to 2004. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a doctorate from Duke University.
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