Chris Gregg was appointed interim Vice President for Information Resources and Technology and Michelle Thom was named Associate Vice President for Human Resources this week.

Linda Halverson, chair of the VP for Human Resources search committee, said after phone interviews with 10 of 61 candidates and face-to-face interviews with six candidates, the search committee chose four finalists to visit campus for campus-wide forums and meetings with President Julie Sullivan and Mark Vangsgard, vice president for business affairs and chief financial officer.

Gregg will take over on June 1 for Sam Levy, who has held the position 2001 and is retiring in May. A St. Thomas MBA graduate, Gregg has been working at the university since 1997 and has held his current position of Information Technology Director since 2008.

Executive Vice President and Provost Susan Huber said Gregg has experience and stability.

“He brings a sense of confidence from the group and from himself,” Huber said.

Gregg said his experience at the university and efforts to be forward thinking will lend itself to the transition.

“I’m always looking forward to new things, and I bring a collaborative leadership style that I hope will lend itself well to working with leaders around campus especially with all the transitions going on,” Gregg said.

According to Huber, there will be a national search to fill the position permanently conducted next year that will take six to nine months.

“There’s a hope that there will be a permanent (vice president), but this does not disqualify Chris,” Huber said. “The search will be like any other search process.”

Thom, chief human resources officer at Normandale Community College, will begin her position as Associate Vice President of Human Resources May 30. She said the opportunity to serve students by supporting all of the other functions at St. Thomas appealed to her.

“St. Thomas has a very compelling mission, and so that also attracted me to the position,” Thom said.

Thom said she will first get to know the people and build relationships at St. Thomas, and she will strategize from there what the Human Resources office will do.

“I think the first thing that I need to do as a leader coming into a position like that is really get to know the lay of the land and have conversations with our customers and stakeholders so that I have a better sense as to what are the actions that I would like to take,” Thom said.

Vangsgard said listening to individuals, departments and the campus community so Thom will be grounded in the current culture of the university is on the agenda for the Human Resource team.

“Michelle brings a strong background in human resources and in higher education,” Vangsgard said. “I look forward to her thoughts and ideas on what we are doing well and what opportunities there are to do things better.”

Thom received her master’s in public administration from Hamline University and her Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Minnesota. She also studied at the University of Essex in Colchester, England.

She began working at Normandale in 2009 and spent time at organizations such as the Hennepin County Public Defender’s Office, Hennepin County Community Health and Project for Pride in Living.

Thom said she is very committed to the well-being of the university.

“I’m just looking forward to getting started and getting to know the St. Thomas community,” Thom said.