Mississippi State University officials have chosen chief of staff Mike McGrevey as the preferred candidate for vice president of finance and administration. The position was previously held by Ray Hayes, who became the vice chancellor for financial affairs at the University of Alabama system. “I love this type of work,” McGrevey said. “I really enjoy working in finance.”
The search committee, headed by vice president for economic development Kirk Schulz, is composed of MSU faculty and staff. The committee narrowed the search down to three people to be interviewed. McGrevey was chosen after the interview process; however, he still has to be approved by the Mississippi Board of Trustees of the Institutions of Higher Learning.
“I’m thrilled about the opportunity, and my wife and I love being here at MSU,” he said. “I really like just being part of a winning team and helping to move the institution forward.”
McGrevey’s previous positions of chief of staff and chief of finance included helping with the management team and overseeing non-academic university relations, along with many day-to-day operations.
“This position will pull me out of the broad day-to-day operations and allow me to focus mainly on finance and administration,” McGrevey said. “Of course this has a broader scope than just finance and accounting. We help with facilities advancements, the advancement of technology, the improvement of the payment systems and trying to make sure our systems are more user friendly.”
McGrevey will also be helping with campus safety and installing more emergency phones around campus. He will have a hand in legislative agendas and advocating for better pay and appropriate costs for students.
“We want to make sure our team has the resources, training and staffing to perform effectively,” he said.
McGrevey will be in charge of budget and planning as well as overseeing the office of controller and treasurer, facilities management, payroll and printing and student accounting and receiving.
McGrevey will begin as vice president of finance and administration Jan. 1, pending approval from the IHL Board.
MSU President Robert “Doc” Foglesong was unavailable for comment.