MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University President Sidney A. McPhee has appointed Drew Harpool as the interim vice president of the Division of Business and Finance and Danny Kelley as interim vice president of the Division of Student Affairs and dean of students.

Harpool, who served previously as associate vice president for business and finance since October 2023, assumed his new role June 1. He succeeds Alan Thomas, who officially retired at the end of May after almost four decades of service to the state of Tennessee, mostly in higher education.

Kelley assumed his interim role effective July 1, replacing Khalilah Doss who resigned to assume a similar position at a university in California.

“Mr. Harpool and Dr. Kelley are effective administrators who have deep knowledge in their respective fields,” said MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee. “They will serve effectively in these interim roles.”

Harpool now leads a team responsible for the university’s financial and physical operations, overseeing an annual operating budget exceeding $500 million and a capital footprint valued at more than $1 billion.

He is responsible for the management of the university’s budget and financial planning; the Office of Business and Finance; Campus Planning; Facilities Services; Human Resource Services; University Police; Administrative and Business Services, which includes the MTSU Post Office, Phillips Bookstore, Vending, Procurement and Logistic Services, Contract Office, Distribution Services, and Receiving and Moving Services; and Events and Transportation, which includes Event Coordination; Parking and Transportation Services; Murphy Center Complex; Tennessee Livestock Center; and the Tennessee Miller Coliseum.

Harpool has held multiple leadership roles at MTSU, including associate vice president for Business and Finance, first as interim from April 2023 to September 2023 and then permanently from October 2023 to May. He was assistant vice president of Compliance and Enterprise Risk Management from November 2021 to March 2023. 

Before joining MTSU, he served the Tennessee Department of Education in multiple key positions, including assistant commissioner of finance, director of internal audit, director of fiscal strategy, finance director, and grant finance manager. 

A Vanderbilt University alumnus, Harpool earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Communication Studies. He went on to receive his Juris Doctor from Tulane University and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University. He has been a licensed Tennessee attorney since 2009.

Meanwhile, Kelley brings more than three decades of experience to the Student Affairs Division, coming to MTSU in 2008 as associate dean of students and then serving as assistant vice president for Student Affairs since 2010.

He is currently responsible for the areas of Fraternity and Sorority Life, Student Organization and Services, Student Programming and Raider Entertainment, also known as SPARE, and Student Government Association.

In addition, prior to his tenure at MTSU, Kelley held various university-level positions at American University in Washington, D.C., the University of Maryland at Baltimore and also worked as a professional staff member for his national fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau, in Oxford, Ohio. 

Throughout his professional career, Kelley’s focus has been on supporting student leadership and engagement. He has presented workshops and keynoted at various regional and national leadership conferences and conventions. He has also taught leadership courses at MTSU and has been recognized regionally and nationally by several student leadership organizations.

Kelley holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, a Master of Science in College Student Personnel Services Counseling from the University of Dayton; and he earned his Ph.D. in Educational Management and Leadership from American University in Washington, D.C. 

— Jimmy Hart (Jimmy.Hart@mtsu.edu)