A special meeting of the Texas A&M system board of regents began with meeting for three and a half hours in executive session.
Coming out of the closed door discussion, the regents unanimously approved two motions before returning to executive session.
First, the board accepted the chancellor’s recommendation to appoint Mark Welsh as acting president at Texas A&M. The only regents comment came from chairman Bill Mahomes of Dallas, who congratulated the retired general. Welsh, who participated during the first executive session, chose not to visit with reporters.
The regents then agreed to have the system’s office of general counsel negotiate a potential settlement of claims made by Kathleen McElroy after she rejected A&M’s reduced employment offer to direct a new journalism program.
The motion regarding McElroy also included a statement from regents vice-chairman Bob Albritton of Ft. Worth that system lawyers have been told to do “a thorough investigation (regarding McElroy) as quickly as possible and emphasize that we support the release of its findings to the public.”
The regents second executive session resulted in no action regarding unidentified personnel matters identified under section 551.074 of the Texas government code. Under this section, which according to state law “does not require a governmental body to conduct an open meeting:”, the regents could (1) “deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee; or (2)” “hear a complaint or charge against an officer or employee.”
Click below to hear comments during the open session of the July 30, 2023 meeting of the Texas A&M system board of regents.
News release from the Texas A&M system:
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents unanimously approved Mark A. Welsh III as the interim president of Texas A&M University in a special-called meeting Sunday.
Chancellor John Sharp previously named Welsh on July 21 as the acting president of the university. The board’s action was needed to place Welsh into a longer-term role to lead the university. Welsh replaces M. Katherine Banks, who stepped down earlier this month.
“I cannot think of a better person than Mark Welsh to lead Texas A&M right now,” Sharp said. “He has experience running a large organization, but he also is widely respected and universally well-liked in the Aggie community. General Welsh has earned a reputation as a smart, thoughtful and collaborative leader. We are lucky to have him in the president’s office.”
Welsh has been dean of the university’s Bush School of Government and Public Service since 2016, but his time in the academic realm came after a long and decorated career in the United States Air Force.
Starting as a cadet in the United States Air Force Academy, Welsh spent a total of four decades serving the country in the military. Early in his career, he was a pilot with experience flying storied U.S. aircraft, including F-16s and A-10s. But his responsibilities changed, and he became one of the top generals in the Air Force. Welsh ultimately retired from the Air Force in 2016 as the 20th Chief of Staff of the Air Force, a position in which he was responsible for 664,000 active-duty Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and civilian forces serving in the U.S. and overseas. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he and other service chiefs functioned as military advisers to the Secretary of Defense, National Security Council and President.
Welsh also commanded the U.S. Air Forces in Europe and NATO’s Air Command at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Additionally, he served as associate director of military affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency and as commandant of the United States Air Force Academy.
“I am grateful to the Board of Regents and Chancellor Sharp for their confidence in me to lead this great university during a time of transition,” Welsh said. “As interim president, my primary focus is to ensure our faculty and staff have the resources and support they need to continue their critically important work. I’m deeply committed to Texas A&M, our core values and traditions, and to an environment that values the voice of every member of our faculty, staff and student body. I pledge to every Aggie that I will work tirelessly to represent this great institution in a way that reflects your pride in it.”
Also Sunday, the regents authorized officials to negotiate a potential settlement of claims of Kathleen McElroy, Ph.D., whose candidacy to run Texas A&M University’s journalism program fell apart following failed negotiations. Additionally, the regents directed the System’s Office of General Counsel to complete a thorough investigation as quickly as possible and emphasized that they support the release of its the findings to the public.
Regent Mike Hernandez was not present for the meeting.