Pictured Above: The regional chancellor will become a professor in the College of Education in the summer or fall of 2022.
Martha Rhine | The Crow’s Nest
By Nancy McCann
Martin Tadlock, a veteran educator who has led USF St. Petersburg through three and a half tumultuous years, will step down as regional chancellor at the end of the year.
In separate announcements, he and USF President Steve Currall said Monday that Tadlock will transition into a new role as a professor in the College of Education. That will begin in the summer or fall of 2022, Tadlock said.
A search for a new chancellor will begin later this spring, Currall said.
Tadlock, the sixth leader of the St. Petersburg campus since Bill Heller was ousted in 2002, stressed that the decision to step down – which he and his wife, LaRae, made over the holiday break – was his alone.
His contract, which runs from year to year, is due to end in July, he said, and Currall offered him another one-year extension. Instead, Tadlock said, he requested and got a six-month extension to give the administration a full year to find his successor and ensure that the transition will be orderly.
“This is really not the same situation as previous changes” in the campus leadership, Tadlock said in an interview with The Crow’s Nest. “This is a very carefully thought-out decision that looks at the future of where things are going for this campus.”
In his announcement, Currall praised Tadlock for his role in “increasing student success” and planning for the academic clusters that will be developed in St. Petersburg over the next five years.
“I thank Dr. Tadlock for his contributions, and I am grateful for his commitment to helping to ensure continuity and a smooth transition in leadership for the USF St. Petersburg campus and community over the next few months,” Currall said.
In his announcement and in an interview with The Crow’s Nest, Tadlock said that this is a good time for St. Petersburg to transition to its next leader.
The campus will have settled into consolidation, begun building five new academic clusters and gotten through the COVID-19 pandemic by the time he steps down, he said. And that will allow him more time with his family, “which is spread from Wisconsin to Idaho to Texas.”
“I think it’s a great opportunity for someone to come in and pick that up at a time when everything’s going to change,” he said. “We’re going to experience the Roaring ‘20s a hundred years later. I really feel that’s going to happen.”
When he steps down in December, Tadlock will have spent 20 years in academic administration, the last four and a half of those at USF St. Petersburg.
As Tadlock tells the story, he grew up “dirt poor” in rural North Carolina in a family that had never sent a youngster to college.
His father thought college was a “stupid idea,” so Tadlock signed up for the Air Force. He served four years, married and eventually had four children.
His first taste of college was a writing class he took through the University of Maryland extensive service. He made a B.
That started him on an educational journey that took him to Utah State, where he earned a bachelor’s in geography and master’s in secondary education, and then Miami University in Ohio, where he earned a doctorate in educational administration and leadership.
He was an administrator at Bemidji University in Minnesota when USF St. Petersburg hired him to be regional vice chancellor of academic affairs in August 2016.
Just 11 months later, Tadlock became interim regional chancellor when then-USF President Judy Genshaft ousted Sophia Wisniewska, and in August 2018 he got the permanent job with an annual contract paying $315,000 a year.
During his stint as regional chancellor, the campus has seemed to lurch from crisis to crisis, from the rocky aftermath of Wisniewska’s abrupt departure to the end of St. Petersburg’s independent accreditation and now a pandemic that has left the campus in a virtual lockdown.
Outwardly at least, Tadlock has maintained a happy face. He routinely gets to work by dawn, mingles with students, conducts frequent campus forums and sends emails to the campus community that are full of cheer and exclamation marks.
Behind the scenes, however, Tadlock has found himself in the awkward position of defending St. Petersburg’s distinctive identity against Tampa-based administrators who have sometimes appeared bent on making it a satellite campus.
When he leaves the chancellor’s office, Tadlock said, he will take a one-semester professional development leave to prepare for his return to teaching in the summer or fall of 2022.
While his role in the College of Education has not been determined, Tadlock said, he believes “higher education administration and educational leadership coursework at the graduate level” would be a good fit.
“I am a tenured professor in education,” he said. “I have assumed administrative roles, but I am a faculty member. That’s the heart and soul of who I am.”
In his message to the St. Petersburg campus, Tadlock said this: “Working with each of you continues to be a profound privilege. The USF St. Petersburg campus is a very special place, a tight-knit community of people bound by our common mission of helping students succeed. We’ve been through a lot together, from hurricanes to consolidation to a pandemic. Through it all, you’ve maintained your dedication and never failed to put the needs of our students first. You continue to inspire me on a daily basis.”
‘I thank Dr. Tadlock for his contributions’
This is the email that USF President Steve Currall sent to the university community:
Dear USF Community,
On Friday, Martin Tadlock shared with me his desire to transition from his current role as regional chancellor of the USF St. Petersburg campus on 31 December 2021 to focus on teaching and research as a tenured professor in the College of Education at the University of South Florida.
Dr. Tadlock began his career as a middle school teacher 30 years ago. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Tadlock has served in administrative leadership roles in higher education. He was named regional chancellor of USF’s St. Petersburg campus in August 2018 after previous roles as interim chancellor and regional vice chancellor for academic affairs.
As regional chancellor, Dr. Tadlock led a comprehensive approach to increasing student success, including programs to increase retention rates, an important metric in sustaining USF’s leadership in performance-based funding. He also collaborated closely with colleagues across the university to enhance the campus experience for students. The project to build and open the beautiful new Osprey Suites residence hall is a shining example.
Most recently, Dr. Tadlock contributed to new plans for academic clusters at our St. Petersburg campus, which will take shape over the next five years. The refreshed vision for the campus represents an extraordinary opportunity for a bold future for the campus and university.
A search for Dr. Tadlock’s successor will begin later this spring.
I thank Dr. Tadlock for his contributions, and I am grateful for his commitment to helping to ensure continuity and a smooth transition in leadership for the USF St. Petersburg campus and community over the next few months.
Sincerely,
Steven C. Currall
President and Professor
‘You … inspire me on a daily basis’
This is the email that Regional Chancellor Martin Tadlock sent to faculty and staff at USF St. Petersburg:
Dear friends,
It’s the start of the year and the semester, a time for new beginnings. So I thought the moment was right to share with you some personal news: As of Dec. 31, 2021, I will be transitioning out of my role as regional chancellor and moving back to the faculty at USF. I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to President Currall for his generous support for my decision. He had graciously offered to extend my contract further but I thought the time was right for this move.
I don’t take this step lightly and there are several reasons for my actions. First, the development of the proposed academic clusters creates a huge opportunity for our campus, and I am confident they will draw the very best and brightest students and faculty to St. Petersburg. Building these clusters will take at least five years of dedicated effort. I thought it would be wise to identify a leader who can seamlessly oversee this project to its successful completion.
In addition, by the time I transition back to the faculty, I hope we will have finished the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine. With faculty, staff and students back on site and a rebounded economy, it will be an excellent time for a new regional chancellor to work with our outstanding leadership team to fulfill the bold vision for the future of our campus.
Finally, we’d like to spend more time with family, which is spread from Wisconsin to Idaho to Texas. I’ve spent 20 years in higher ed administration, which, as many of you know, means a myriad of time commitments and a rigid calendar for the past two decades. We are looking forward to a more flexible schedule that allows LaRae and I the opportunity to spend precious time with children and grandchildren.
There will be plenty of time for well wishes, but let me say this: Working with each of you continues to be a profound privilege. The USF St. Petersburg campus is a very special place, a tight-knit community of people bound by our common mission of helping students succeed. We’ve been through a lot together, from hurricanes to consolidation to a pandemic. Through it all, you’ve maintained your dedication and never failed to put the needs of our students first. You continue to inspire me on a daily basis.
Thank you again for all that you do. Now, let’s continue to work together to help our university thrive!
Regards,
Martin
Editor’s Note
This article was updated on January 11, 2021, to provide comment from Tadlock.
This is a developing story. Stay with crowsneststpete.com for updates.
