HOUSTON (June 13, 2019) – Dr. Teresa McKinney has been named as Vice President of Student Services at Texas Southern University.

McKinney, who has served as assistant vice president of student affairs at the University of North Texas since 2013, has an extensive background in all facets of student services. At UNT, she oversaw recreational sports, the student health and wellness center, disability access, assessment, and counseling and testing services.

 “Her skill set as a proven administrator, in addition to her ability to connect with and lead students is what pushed her to the top during the search process,” said TSU President Dr. Austin A. Lane. “She has created innovative, student-focused programs – and measuring their effectiveness. I look forward to her joining our servant leadership team and moving our Division of Student Services to new heights.”

McKinney will begin her position at TSU on July 1, 2019.

Before UNT, McKinney was the dean of students at Chicago State University, where she provided leadership for a division of 10 departments. She also implemented the first Student Leadership Academy at the university and increased multicultural programming and student-oriented civic engagement activities.

At previous institutions, she served as associate and assistant dean of students, as well as an academic advisor at Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio; assistant director of admissions and advising on the satellite campus of Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio; and assistant registrar at Walsh University in Ohio. She began her career as a police officer with the Lansing Police Department in Lansing, Mich. 

Dr. McKinney has expertise in a number of student affairs issues, including enrollment management, emergency preparedness and creating cultures of evidence for improved institutional effectiveness. Most recently, her research focused on how higher education institutions could successfully measure institutional effectiveness and use these results to create systems to promote continuous quality improvement.

McKinney earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Eastern Michigan University, a master’s degree in educational leadership from Michigan State University and a doctoral degree in educational leadership from National Louis University.

ABOUT TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY

Texas Southern University (TSU) honors our designation as a special-purpose institution for urban programming and research. TSU is a comprehensive university providing higher education access to the nation’s underserved communities. TSU’s academic and research programs address critical urban issues, and prepares its diverse student population to become a force for positive change in a global society. TSU offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs and concentrations – bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and professional degrees – organized into 10 colleges and schools on a 150-acre campus nestled in the heart of Houston’s historic Third Ward. The University’s enrollment has a population of more than 9,700 undergraduate and graduate-school academic candidates. Texas Southern has been a distinguished educational pioneer since 1927, and the University has become one of the most diverse and respected institutions in Texas. TSU has positioned itself as a proactive leader in educating underserved students and many who are the first in their family to attend college.