Jan. 23, 2024

介绍塔图姆夫妇:和记棋牌娱乐的新校长和第一夫人专注于投资大学的未来

Dr. Lance Tatum and his wife, Jill, 在去年2月的一个星期四晚上，他们在蒙哥马利吃过晚饭吗, Alabama, home and were settling down to watch TV. 在兰斯58岁生日的前一周，作为西北地区下任总统和第一夫人的最后四位候选人，他们访问了玛丽维尔. They knew a decision was coming and prayed for their selection.

兰斯知道寻找大学校长的过程既复杂又脆弱, with variables that play into every decision. 去年12月，当兰斯被告知他正在考虑成为和记棋牌娱乐的下一任校长时，塔图姆一家的心情开始变得严肃起来. In January, he interviewed, via Zoom, with the search committee. The morning after that, 他收到了一封电子邮件，邀请他和吉尔作为总统候选人访问玛丽维尔，并与校园团体会面.

When that Thursday night in February wore on, 兰斯把他们的狗带到了外面，把他的手机放在客厅的桌子上. 当他回来时，吉尔告诉他，他错过了负责西北航空公司搜索工作的公司打来的电话. Lance’s stomach turned with emotion. He knows search firms don’t call the people who aren’t selected for jobs.

He took a minute to catch his breath and headed to the bedroom. He dialed the number and began pacing. The voice on the other side of the call answered, “Hello, Mr. President.”

Why Northwest?

6月1日，兰斯开始担任和记棋牌娱乐118年历史上的第11任校长，迎来了和记棋牌娱乐的最新时代. A crowd of Northwest employees, students, 那天早上，校友和社区成员聚集在行政大楼前的草坪上，塔图姆一家——包括孩子们, Thad and Zoe – received the welcome.

在来到和记棋牌娱乐之前，兰斯自2019年以来一直担任阿拉巴马州特洛伊大学负责学术事务的高级副校长兼首席学术官. 他在这里获得了体育学士学位和基础教育硕士学位. 自1998年加入母校担任体育和健身管理教员以来，他也在这里担任过各种职务. He served Troy as vice chancellor for its campus in Montgomery, vice chancellor for its Global Campus, dean of the College of Education, 也是运动机能学和健康促进系的主席，也是学院体育代表.

As senior vice chancellor, 他负责特洛伊大学的学术使命和32个学术部门的各个方面, including strategic planning, budgeting, supervising and program reviews.

吉尔来自一个教育工作者家庭，她在自己的事业上很有成就. She spent 14 years as a classroom teacher, beginning in urban Montgomery, and then worked 16 years with the state’s education department, serving as a literacy specialist. She also earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Troy University.

回顾兰斯在特洛伊大学取得的成就，听塔图姆夫妇谈论他们对特洛伊大学的赞赏，不禁让人产生疑问:为什么是和记棋牌娱乐? 

“My goal was to be a university president,” Lance says. “We always said that when the right opportunity opened up, and if we were fortunate enough to be offered the job, we’d be ready. I did not apply to any job that I wouldn’t take.”

The Tatums were ready for a growth opportunity, 而萨德和佐伊作为奥本大学的学生正在探索自己的机会. As the Tatums learned more about Northwest, 就像特洛伊大学和阿拉巴马州的人们对他们的投资一样，他们感到了一种投资另一所大学的吸引力.

“When we started meeting people who were associated with Northwest, we were like, ‘Wow, there’s substance here. There’s opportunity here. 这里的人相信这个地方，’”兰斯谈到他在和记棋牌娱乐的最初互动时说.  

这对夫妇现在笑着说，吉尔在一开始就警告兰斯不要在成为西北航空公司总裁的想法上投入感情. But they couldn’t help it. 随着诉讼程序的结束，塔图姆一家回到阿拉巴马州等待判决, Jill told Lance she would be “devastated” if they weren’t selected.

“和记棋牌娱乐对和记棋牌娱乐充满热情，和记棋牌娱乐想成为火的一部分,” Jill said. “We wanted to be a part of this culture. We wanted to be a part of what was going on.”

The making of Northwest’s next president

Born in Brinkley, Arkansas, a town of about 4,000 people, Lance’s path to the Northwest presidency began, of course, with his parents. 

他的父亲利奥(Leo)受雇于服装公司菲利普斯-范豪森公司(philips - van Heusen Corporation). 他是家里第一个上大学的人，在现在的阿肯色大学蒙蒂塞洛分校(University of Arkansas at Monticello)完成了工业管理学士学位. Lance’s mother, Betty Jo, never attended college. A skilled basketball player, 她收到了阿肯色州一所大学的邀请，但她想去工作，并在她被安排在他母亲旁边的Van Heusen缝纫机旁后认识了Leo.

Betty Jo, the youngest of nine children, was a fighter, 兰斯说，作为一名捍卫自己信仰、努力与他人寻找共同点的领导者，这些因素影响了他的性格.

“She was quick to defend her family,” he said, remembering an oft-told story in the Tatum family of when Lance, as a boy, was called after school to fight a classmate. 贝蒂·乔·塔图姆坚持要和这个恶霸对质，她陪着儿子走到附近一座小山的山顶, 她用了一些生动的语言在十秒钟内结束了这场折磨. “That was her mentality. She confronted everything head-on.”

During his 40 years in administrative roles with Van Heusen, Leo Tatum moved his family from Brinkley to southern Alabama, back to Brinkley, to Pennsylvania and finally back to southern Alabama. 这些举动对兰斯产生了深远的影响，并帮助他学会欣赏不同的社区和文化.

“All that moving around really helped me learn how to meet people, how to get comfortable within the community,” Lance said. “但它也教会了我，幸福来自内心，来自你与上帝的关系. It’s not necessarily the place; you make the place. That was a big part of us coming to Maryville.”

The next significant mentor in Lance’s life was Barbara Hicks, a high school English teacher in Ozark, Alabama, 是谁帮助他看到了自己在棒球运动员之外的领导潜力. 在她的鼓励下，兰斯加入了校报，后来成为了编辑. Ironically, the experience earned him a scholarship to Troy, 但他决定在华莱士社区学院继续他的棒球生涯，成为一名内野手，希望有机会成为职业球员.

Playing college ball, however, was “a real shock to my system, physically as well as emotionally,” Lance said. 在华莱士大学的两年帮助他认识到，他需要为从事不同的职业做准备.

After a summer of unloading materials from semi-trucks for Van Heusen, 兰斯被特洛伊大学录取，开始攻读体育和娱乐方面的课程. 他也知道自己需要找份工作，于是在特洛伊的游泳中心找到了一份兼职工作. It was there that another mentor – Dr. 唐·杰弗里，当时特洛伊大学的水上运动主任，进一步改变了兰斯的生活轨迹. Within six months of starting as a desk worker and checking IDs, Lance was supervising the lifeguard staff and developing schedules. As he finished his undergraduate degree, Lance was teaching sailing.

Jeffrey, who later became dean of Troy’s College of Health and Human Services, encouraged Lance to advance his education, first by completing a master’s degree and then a Ph.D. in sport management at Florida State University. 又是杰弗里帮助兰斯回到特洛伊当系主任，然后, while Jeffrey was a vice chancellor, recommended Lance to become Troy’s chief academic officer. 

The care and mentorship of people like his parents, 芭芭拉·希克斯和唐·杰弗里在兰斯成功的职业生涯中发挥了关键作用. But as Lance moved up the administrative ladder at Troy, leaving his mark on a diverse set of people and programs, a void in his life was filled when he met Jill. During his introductory news conference at Northwest last March兰斯称她是他“最伟大的支持者和最有建设性的顾问”.”

Lance was raising Thad and Zoe, his children from a previous marriage, 当他的妹妹和吉尔的一个朋友为这对夫妇配对时，他成了一个单身父亲. 兰斯和吉尔在特洛伊大学读书时就有过交集，但后来他们的关系再也没有进一步发展. Today, they have been happily married for eight years.

兰斯说:“吉尔身上有一种光芒，让你觉得自己很重要，很有联系，很被爱。. “我一直认为这是最了不起的事情——和记棋牌娱乐可以走进一个房间, 因为她几乎立刻就被扔进了这个环境，和记棋牌娱乐不得不去参加社区活动或机构活动, and it was like she had been a part of those groups her entire life.”

Envisioning Northwest’s future

As the Tatums enter the second half of their first year at Northwest, planning is underway for Lance’s inauguration on April 19, when the new president will outline his vision for the University.

Since arriving in Maryville, 塔图姆一家专注于学习西北地区的文化, 历史和传统-同时注意不要破坏大学的势头.

Fall gatherings with alumni and friends in Kansas City, 奥马哈和得梅因——被称为“塔图姆之旅”——给了这对夫妇一个见面的机会，并开始与西北航空公司密切相关的人建立关系. Additionally, 总统接受了无数次向社区团体发表演讲的邀请, 这对夫妇还在托马斯·冈特故居招待了几个学生和校友团体, the historic presidential residence on the Northwest campus.

“Northwest Missouri State has a rich and very strong past,去年10月，兰斯对一群校友和朋友说，他们聚集在堪萨斯城与他见面. “不需要花很多时间和谈话就能看到这所大学是如何影响毕业生的生活的. 当吉尔和我与外部团体交谈时，和记棋牌娱乐谈论的是学生. During my interviewing process, 我试图确保委员会和每个人都理解——对我来说，这是为了服务学生.”

While Lance believes the foundation of Northwest is strong, he recognizes the University has challenges, too, and one of his first charges is to stabilize enrollment. Although Northwest achieved another record overall headcount this fall, 攻读学位的本科生的数量——占据教室的和记棋牌娱乐核心的学生, live on and around the campus, 并参加学生组织——这是学校想要的.

西北地区并不是该地区的例外，因为高等教育正在努力从COVID-19大流行的影响中恢复过来，并为所谓的“入学悬崖”做准备，因为进入高中并毕业的学生越来越少. To offset any projected enrollment drop, Northwest recently restructured its scholarship model 并继续调整招聘策略，以保持在高等教育市场的竞争力.

“我知道西北航空公司的经营方式没有重大缺陷,” Lance said. “在我到来之前，学校已经做出了一些决定，这些决定让学校处于非常有利的地位. Now, the challenges are the challenges of higher ed; the challenges are the challenges of regional universities. But those were not a surprise to me.”

他在秋季的其他优先事项之一是签署对西北地区陈旧基础设施的全面改革. In September, 校董会批准了该大学开展一项改造和现代化校园中心工厂的项目. 总成本估计不超过1.05亿美元，需要两到三年才能完成, making it the largest capital project in the institution’s history.

At the core of the new president’s vision is reinvesting in Northwest. 这意味着加强和记棋牌娱乐作为一个有吸引力的地方，为学生提供难忘的大学经历，并为他们的高薪就业做好准备, 并为大学员工提供必要的资源，以确保大学的长期可持续发展.

“我很高兴开始理解的是，人们对接下来会发生什么有很好的感觉,” Lance said. “人们渴望知道这所大学的下一步发展. I think that is probably the greatest motivating factor for me.”

As the Tatums serve Northwest as president and first lady, 他们将继续从投资他们并帮助他们在事业上取得成功的人那里汲取灵感.

“Everything we do will come from that perspective,” Lance said. “It is not about Lance Tatum or Jill Tatum. 这是和记棋牌娱乐的事，和记棋牌娱乐会做对和记棋牌娱乐最有利的事.”