First day was Monday
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (July 6, 2017) — Timothy C. Caboni has officially begun his role as the 10th president of Western Kentucky University.
Caboni was selected by the university’s Board of Regents Jan. 27 to succeed Gary A. Ransdell, who retired as WKU’s ninth president on June 30 after 20 years.
In preparing for his new role, Caboni met with hundreds of constituents from on and off campus.
“What emerged was a clear consensus that our University is a remarkable institution with a tremendous future and unlimited possibilities,” he said.
Caboni earned a master’s degree in corporate and organizational communication from WKU in 1994. He returns to WKU after six years as vice chancellor for Public Affairs at the University of Kansas. Prior to KU, he was the associate dean of the Peabody College of Education & Human Development at Vanderbilt University. The New Orleans native has a doctorate in higher education and policy from Vanderbilt and a bachelor’s degree in speech communication and rhetoric from Louisiana State University.
Caboni is married to Kacy Schmidt Caboni, who joins WKU as director of principal gifts & special initiatives after 11 years with the University of Kansas Endowment Association.
Carboni wrote on Monday:
Today is an exciting day for Kacy and me as we officially begin our new chapter at Western Kentucky University. Everyone has been incredibly welcoming, and we look forward to making Bowling Green and the WKU campus our new home.
During the five-month transition period, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors and community leaders to learn about their WKU experiences and to understand their aspirations for our university. Guided by a team of representatives from across the institution, we explored many opportunities that this transition presents and studied the challenges we will need to overcome together.
What emerged was a clear consensus that our university is a remarkable institution with a tremendous future and unlimited possibilities. As with all universities, there are issues with which we will grapple, but the consistent sentiment expressed was one of optimism, promise and excitement for the next phase in WKU’s growth.
We are well positioned as a student-centered applied research university to take a leadership role in the national conversation around the value of higher education. We will convey persuasively and directly to our stakeholders how the WKU experience transforms the lives of our students; how the usable knowledge we create drives innovation; and how, in collaboration with community partners, we elevate our region, the Commonwealth of Kentucky and ultimately our nation and the world.
Finally, a theme to which we will return many times during this year is how we will work together to create a roadmap for the next decade of WKU’s growth. For the next several weeks, as we prepare for the launch of a comprehensive strategic planning process, I invite you to share your ideas for how we can move WKU forward via email at [email protected] or on the web at wku.edu/president.
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