Whether he’s attending a Wichita State men’s basketball game or standing in line at Chick-fil-A, Aaron Mitchell says he’s happy to be greeted by staff, faculty and students, even if he doesn’t quite remember who they are yet. But, the new vice president for administration, finance and operations said he’ll keep trying to take in the landmarks, faces and culture of Wichita State as he adjusts to his new home and new role.
“I’ve had lots of people say, ‘Hi, Aaron!’” Mitchell said. “(And I say) ‘Hello, stranger!’ … There’s so many people that know my name that I don’t know their name, but as time goes on I’ll get better with that.”
Mitchell is taking over the role of Werner Golling, who retired in July. A search committee interviewed and hired Mitchell, who previously served as associate vice president for financial services at Montana State University.
In his new position at WSU, Mitchell is responsible for financial decisions and operations that he says fall in the “everything else” bucket: university facilities, the university police department and information technology.
From farm to finance
Mitchell grew up on a North Dakota farm where his mother worked as the local school district’s business manager. And while Mitchell didn’t imagine himself growing up to become the vice president for finance at a Kansas college — he said he wanted to be a football player or fly airplanes — he always knew he was good with numbers.
“I didn’t really set out to make it my career until, you know, I just found myself in it,” Mitchell said. “I think that’s pretty normal for a lot of people. You don’t know what you want to do, but through trial and error, you figure it out. And then lo and behold, that’s the place that you’re meant to be in.”
He got degrees in business administration and accounting before obtaining a master’s in public administration and a Ph.D. in education, health and behavior studies. Mitchell said the almost “12 straight years of college” helped guide him not only toward his career path, but his passion for higher education administration.
“My college experience must’ve been pretty good if I decided to make a career out of it,” Mitchell said with a laugh.
Mitchell noted from his college days the importance of support and wants to play a part in providing that for students.
“I want to be the type of administrator that … (leaves a legacy of) supporting the student experience and doing what I can do, within the power I have available to me, to make Wichita State University a good place to spend your college years.”
Mutual growth
After working at North Dakota University, Montana State University and as a municipal finance director for two different cities, Mitchell plans to use the experiences from other institutions to help develop WSU.
Zachary Gearhart chaired the search committee for Golling’s replacement and said Mitchell ultimately brought in the range of skills necessary to help manage WSU, which he described as “running a small city.”
“The president really charged us to find somebody who could lead a very complicated, very growing division at a university that is experiencing a period of rapid growth, new development,” Gearhart said. “And Aaron really struck me as an individual coming with a variety of experiences … (he) struck me as somebody both on paper and through the energy process, who could address the breadth of needs and considerations that those departments would have.”
Mitchell said adjusting to Kansas hasn’t been too difficult, but he’s still trying to “take it all in.”
Mitchell’s also keeping an eye on the 10-year master plan, which he plays a part in the financial implementation of.
“There’s a lot of challenges that are associated with that, particularly from the finance side and how we shuffle things around campus,” Mitchell said. “(We’re) just trying to wrap our heads around what the new campus is going to look like.”
While Mitchell spends most of his time in meetings, he says what gets him excited is the people he gets to talk to. When he isn’t in meetings, he’s acquainting himself with WSU.
So far, Mitchell says he enjoys pizza from Braeburn Square’s Sungrano Pizza and getting “to know the community.” He spends most weekends flying to Montana to visit his wife and children, who he hopes will be able to move to Wichita by Christmas.
Mitchell also said he’s “looking forward to the athletic season,” especially basketball, baseball and softball.
“I’m here for the campus life,” Mitchell said. “At the end of the day, that’s all I need.”
Going forward, Mitchell wants students to remember that he “wasn’t a student that long ago.” Even if he is “probably in a tie,” Mitchell says that he’s “just a regular person” here to make the student experience better.
“(I want) the time that students spend here to be memorable and successful,” Mitchell said. “And if students see me out there, I’d love to say, ‘Hello.’”
