“I’ve only been on the clock for a few hours,” said Dr. Barron earlier this week as she was organizing her new office. “I’ve been unpacking a lot of boxes and moving things around.”
Monday was her first day on the job.
“You want to hear a funny story?” asked Dr. Barron, as she began to talk about her first solo trip to campus, which occurred last week.
“I was driving around looking for a place to park in my truck, and I saw a security officer standing outside the administrative building,” Dr. Barron said. “He looked at me like, ‘What’s this lady in the truck doing?’
“Then I explained to him my story - that I was the new president, and I was looking for a parking spot, and he immediately got one of those looks on his face, like, ‘Oh, OK, I really need to help this lady,’” Dr. Barron said. “He was extremely nice. He told me where to park and ended up getting me a parking pass.”
Dr. Barron said she’d received a number of phone calls and greetings from people, along with two floral bouquets within her first four hours of work. “People are really making me feel at home.”
She moved to Temple last week, finding an apartment while her family sells their home outside of Austin.
“I moved in on Friday, and I’m going to start looking for real estate soon,” Dr. Barron said.
“I’m still trying to figure out where things are throughout the city, and which street is where,” she said. “After work, I plan on driving around a lot this week, so I can figure out the layout (of the city).”
Dr. Barron decided to begin this week because she wanted to prepare for the college’s board meeting next week, and meet people before student registration begins on Monday. The fall semester begins Aug. 26.
“Hopefully, I’ll be able to work my way around campus this week, and meet faculty members and students,” she said. “I want to make a trip to (One College Centre), so I can see where a lot of the hard work going on this week will take place.”
She hopes to visit with new students who are getting ready to register, or who are taking testing or seeking guidance, she said. “And there’s going to be a lot of that going on.”
Dr. Barron said she also wants to talk to the college’s administrative leaders before trustees vote on the college’s budget next week. Dr. Barron said Wayne Criswell, who served as the college’s interim president, would field questions and present board members with budget information.
“I’ve heard from a number of people working here that we’re expecting a real positive budget for the upcoming year,” she said. “I just want to be able to understand what our administrators are talking about while they’re going over the details.”
Criswell, who is vice president of administrative services, said he’s been meeting often with Dr. Barron to help with the transition.
“Obviously, whenever anyone embarks on a new job, there’s a learning curve,” he said.
“We’ve been discussing a number of budget items, as well as staffing and accreditation issues,” Criswell said. “Overall, I think she’s going to do quite well here. She has experience in Austin (with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board), so she’s intimate with the process there, and with issues that are going to be impacting us.”
Dr. Barron said she’s heard the college could have more than 5,000 students enrolled for fall classes.
“Luckily, I’ve become the president of a college that has a very solid foundation, and part of my job will be to maintain that,” she said.
Dr. Barron said one of her goals for the week was to set up future interviews with area school superintendents.
“I want them to know who I am, and what we can offer them at the college,” she said. “I want to know any issues they may be facing at their schools, to see if we can help them out in any way.”
This week and the next several will be about meeting as many people as possible and immersing herself in the community, she said.
“I’ve got a running list of people I want to meet and things I want to do.”
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