Dr. Thomas W. Newsom, the 21st President of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, recently began his term as the chair of the Council of Presidents of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE).
Newsom began as President at Southeastern in the spring of 2020 and is the longest tenured president of the four-year regional public universities in the state of Oklahoma. He has overseen unprecedented growth at Southeastern, which achieved the highest enrollment in its history in the fall of 2023, with another record number predicted this fall. The implementation of his Vision 2040 strategic plan is underway, putting the university in place to provide exceptional educational opportunities to current and future students to establish a legacy of success well into the future.
The president of each college and university in the state system is a member of the OSRHE Council of Presidents, which Newsom has previously served as treasurer and secretary. The Council of Presidents advisory group promotes and encourages collaboration among state system institutions, provides a forum to discuss issues impacting Oklahoma higher education, develops coordinated approaches to identifying and solving common challenges facing state system institutions, and advocates the critical role higher education plays in advancing the state’s educational, social and economic priorities.
Newsom’s role as chair of the OSRHE Council of Presidents, leading the group of presidents from two research universities, 10 regional universities, one public liberal arts university and 12 community colleges, will run through the 2024-25 academic year.
