Kathy Cavins-Tull takes the reins as Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs

Dr. Kathy Cavins-Tull

Fort Worth, Texas

8/8/2011

By Rick Waters

The TCU Magazine

TCU welcomed a new vice chancellor for Student Affairs in mid-summer when Dr. Kathy Cavins-Tull joined the Horned Frog community in July. She comes to Fort Worth with six years' experience as vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill.

Before that, Kathy was the associate vice president for Student Services at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill., where she earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees and began her career in student services in 1989. She received her doctorate in educational administration and foundations from Illinois State University in 2001.

In her first month here, Kathy has flown across the Atlantic with incoming students to Frog Camp London and gotten up to speed on TCU at the chancellor’s cabinet retreat. With boxes still to be unpacked in her office, she recently sat down with The TCU Magazine.

What are your impressions of TCU so far? Everyone has been very friendly, and the campus itself is beautiful. It’s a very welcoming environment for a new person to come into, and that’s awesome. I was just at the cabinet retreat, and I have to say that it is fabulous to be a part of a university that is thriving. Dr. Don Mills left Student Affairs in good shape. It’s a wonderful situation to come to, and I am thrilled to be here.

Do you have a vision for Student Affairs or plans for this first school year? There are two big areas that are going to take my initial focus. Student housing is a major issue. As you know, we’re growing. There were 19,000 applicants for 1,800 spots, plus we have a very strong demand for campus housing among second-year students and upperclassmen. In some cases, we have students having to be tripled up in rooms, and we have to address that. There are plans in the works for more residence halls and then we will work on the Worth Hills community. It’s a top priority.

The other is student mental health. We’ve had four suicides in 18 months. Suicide of young adults has been a national issue for a long time and when it happens on a campus, it really affects the entire campus. So, student health and wellness is an important issue for me. A majority of student deaths involve young people who were not clients at a counseling center, and students that are in counseling are 80 percent more likely to graduate. I want to have anyone who interacts with students go through QPR, a national one-hour training program that helps identify signs of distress and refer students to counseling. All RAs, housing staff, Sodexo, as many faculty and staff as we can. We need to have wide training.

As you’ve gotten oriented, what’s stood out about TCU? Certainly, how much TCU is growing in its recognition as a great university, how much students want to be here and that they have good places to live on campus. Those are all good things. We’re bringing in a new fraternity this year, so I look forward to working with them. Nearly 50 percent of our students have interest in Greek activities, so working with fraternities and sororities will be important. I’m told intramurals here are crazy busy. We have some that play until 11 at night, so we’ll work to get them additional space for that. Intramurals are important to men especially. But exercise is vital to everyone. Going to college is not all academics. It’s important to help students develop healthy habits and lifestyle choices.

What did you know about TCU before you interviewed for the job? I knew that it was a good school that is unique in higher education. There are not many that are TCU’s size. It is small enough to be personal but big enough to have major resources and amenities. I knew about the football and baseball teams before the Rose Bowl and College World Series. I knew that TCU was increasing its academic stature and was becoming even more selective. I really appreciate the way that TCU emphasizes liberal arts along with the professional programs. I think that’s the best way to educate students. It’s not like that everywhere. At some places, engineering students get channeled into engineering and don’t explore much beyond that. But the world moves fast, and students who learn to think critically, can write and find their own resources are going to excel in society. So students at TCU are fortunate to have both.

People are going to like that you follow the athletics teams. I see a lot of school spirit, not just with students but among the community. In driving around the neighborhoods around the campus, we’ve enjoyed seeing all the houses with TCU flags and purple and white house numbers on the curb. It’s incredible support, and it’s exciting that Fort Worth embraces TCU. I’m excited about what students can do in the community. I think we can do even more service work.

What are your impressions of TCU students so far? I went to Frog Camp in London the first week I was here, and I was so impressed with the leadership of the seniors who helped organize the program. Every night there was a different theme in the small group meeting. The diversity exercise was incredibly emotional and thought provoking. It can be life-changing. It’s quite amazing to think that 30 18-year-old pre-freshmen start out kind of quiet and are learning about TCU and still figuring out how they fit in, all while in another country. And they come out of the experience being a part of TCU and representing the school abroad.

What would like the TCU community to know about you personally? I’m a Midwesterner. I grew up in the Quad Cities area of Illinois, on the border with Iowa. I’ve worked at a public university and came here from a private university. I definitely enjoy the private university experience. I’m all about the student experience. With me, what you see is what you get. What you see today is what you get tomorrow. I’m married to Dr. Ashley Tull, who is the senior associate dean of students at the University of Arkansas [in Fayetteville]. He will teach higher ed at UT-Arlington in their master’s and doctorate programs. We have two children from Ashley’s previous marriage: Addison, 7, and Riley, 5.