Drury shifts executive staff ranks

Drury University will begin 2017 with a new executive staff position and a returning employee who worked the past six years at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

In January, Aaron Jones, the university’s four-year dean of the college of continuing professional studies, will become chief of staff to President Tim Cloyd. Jones will be succeeded by 1993-2010 Drury employee Jana Neiss, who also will be associate vice president of academic affairs, according to a news release.

“While this is a new position for Drury, it is a crucial role at many universities,” Cloyd said in the release. “Aaron will be an honest broker in synthesizing, compiling and articulating the opinions of Drury’s various constituencies.”

Neiss is employed by Missouri S&T as director of the teacher education program, for which she oversees the college’s teacher certification curriculum, accreditation efforts and external partnerships with public schools. She started at Drury as an adjunct college of continuing professional studies faculty member, helped launch Drury’s Rolla campus in 1995 and became director of the CCPS mid-Missouri region in 2008.

“I am excited to come back to Drury and reconnect with former colleagues and create new relationships with other members of the Drury community,” Neiss said in the release. “There’s a great level of enthusiasm about Drury’s recent successes and potential for future growth, and I look forward to being part of it.”

In recent months, Drury named two new executives: David Hinson as executive vice president, chief operating officer and chief information officer, and Kevin Kropf as executive vice president of enrollment management. Both are former Conway, Ark.-based Hendrix College colleagues of Cloyd, who started at Drury July 1.