Dr. Tom Sewell has been appointed interim president of Walters State Community College, to serve as the college’s chief executive officer until the search for a successor to outgoing President Dr. Tony Miksa is completed. Miksa, who led the college for nine years, is leaving June 30 to become the president of Johnson County Community College in Kansas.
Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor Flora W. Tydings announced her appointment of Sewell as interim president. The board hopes to have the next president selected and in office by early September.
Sewell served as Walters State’s dean for technical education from 2006 to 2022, when he was appointed associate vice chancellor for academic innovation in TBR’s Office of Academic Affairs. Through his service at the statewide TBR system, Sewell maintained his primary residence in Grainger County, within the college’s 10-county primary service area.
“Dr. Sewell has repeatedly demonstrated his ability to lead and innovate, and I have complete confidence in his leadership of Walters State during this transition,” Tydings said. “He’s intimately familiar with the college, having served on its leadership team during his many years as dean. At the system level, he has led transformative projects of strategic importance to all our colleges, our students and our communities. And as a former high school educator and lifelong resident of the area, he knows how important Walters State is to the region.”
“I appreciate the confidence that Chancellor Tydings and the system have shown in me by allowing me to serve in this interim capacity, and I look forward to assisting the administration, faculty and staff of the college through this transition to new leadership at Walters State,” said Sewell. “The college will continue to provide the best educational programs and services to the community it serves.”
Sewell earned his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at East Tennessee State University, a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems at the University of Phoenix, a Master of Science in Education Curriculum and Instruction and a Bachelor of Science in English Education, both at the University of Tennessee. He was a member of the Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Morristown Class of 2013.
His career in education includes service as a computer science and English instructor at Rutledge High School, and as network administration instructor and department chair in the school of technology at South College in Knoxville prior to joining the Walters State faculty in 2006.
Miksa, the fourth president in the college’s 55-year history, led Walters State to an unprecedented two consecutive Community College of the Year Awards in TBR’s annual SOAR (Statewide Outstanding Achievement Recognition) Awards in 2022 and 2023.
After receiving Miksa’s resignation notice in March, the board approved search criteria for the next president in a March 27 meeting. A 16-member Search Advisory Committee was appointed in April, with four board members and representatives of the college’s faculty, staff, students and alumni, and business and civic leaders. A public forum on April 22 provided the public and campus community an overview of the search process and an opportunity to voice their views on the aspirations and needs of the college in the selection of the next president.
The committee is reviewing applicants and will recommend finalists, who will be announced and introduced to the community in campus public forums to be scheduled later. Tydings will then conduct final interviews and review input from the campus community and the public to select one candidate for recommendation to the board for the appointment.
More information on the search process and criteria is available on the TBR Walters State Presidential Search webpage here: https://www.tbr.edu/hr/executivesearches/president-walters-state-community-college.
