Blinn College has announced an interim president for its Brazos County campuses.
Educational consultant Sylvia McMullen helped create Blinn’s new organizational structure and will continue to assist in developing the college’s new strategic plan.
Blinn officials recently announced they are rewriting the job description and will start a second search in the near future.
Click below for comments from Sylvia McMullen, visiting with WTAW’s Bill Oliver.
News release from Blinn College:
Blinn College has named Sylvia McMullen, a 30-year veteran in educational leadership, business development, project management and marketing research, its interim president of Brazos County campuses, Blinn District President Harold Nolte announced today.
McMullen will assume her new duties Sept. 1.
As president of Vital Communications, she served as a consultant during the College’s 2012 reorganization and continues to serve in developing a new strategic plan. The new organizational structure, which McMullen helped create with input from Blinn faculty, staff and administrators, has helped ensure planned and sustainable growth, student success, greater accountability to legislators and stakeholders and better transparency. That structure went into effect Jan. 1.
“Sylvia is very well connected in the Bryan area and has already forged great relationships with many of our community partners,” Nolte said. “She is very well-respected in the community, and as a consultant during the development of our new organizational chart and strategic planning, she knows the ins and outs of Blinn College as well as anyone.”
McMullen fills the void left when Dr. Ted Raspiller was hired as president of John Tyler (Va.) Community College. Blinn is currently evaluating the position’s primary objectives, specific responsibilities and qualifications and expects to open the position to applicants shortly.
McMullen has a Master of Educational Administration degree from Texas A&M and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the University of Houston. She has worked with more than 500 school districts in Texas, Nevada, Arkansas and New Mexico and was the project director for the Nevada Race to the Top application. She has served on numerous state organizations, including the Texas Education Reform Foundation, the Texas Business Education Coalition and the Closing the Gap Initiative with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
“Blinn is one of the most exciting community colleges in the state,” McMullen said. “With our outstanding academic transfer programs, our great working relationship with Texas A&M University and our wealth of community partnerships, we are poised to continue to be a leading economic driver that trains our future leaders and ensures a strong, vibrant workforce throughout the Brazos Valley and the state of Texas.”
McMullen is a partner in Datos, a research firm that conducts research projects and program evaluations, and serves as a consultant to major companies, state departments, school districts, higher educational institutions and organizations with specialization in strategic planning, organizational reform and educational data management.
She recently directed the 2012 Brazos Valley Bowl presented by Blinn College. The first-annual bowl game was hosted at Kyle Field and immediately drew the largest attendance of any junior college bowl game in the nation.