University Communications and Marketing

MSU Billings announces finalists for Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance

University Communications and Marketing, 657-2266

MSU BILLINGS NEWS—The Montana State University Billings Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance (VCAF) Search Committee invites students, staff, faculty and the Billings community to interact with finalists during their upcoming visits to campus.

Karen “Pat” Pitney, Susan Simmers and Eric Klasson will each present on the topics “How do the areas of administration and finance support the mission of the university? What is the VCAF’s role in helping MSUB achieve 6,000 students?” on the following dates at 1:30 p.m. in Library 148:

• Wednesday, May 29 – Karen “Pat” Pitney
• Thursday, May 30 – Susan Simmers
• Friday, May 31 – Eric Klasson

These sessions are open to the public. Time is scheduled for attendees to ask questions and provide valuable feedback to the committee.

Pitney most recently served as the director of the State of Alaska Office of Management and Budget in Juneau, Alaska. She previously held roles as the vice chancellor for administrative services at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the vice president of finance at the University of the Arctic and vice president of planning and budget development at the University of Alaska. Pitney holds a master’s in business administration with an emphasis in operational analysis from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a bachelor’s in engineering physics from Murray State University.

Simmers most recently served as the assistant vice president for finance at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Previously, she was the financial and business administration officer at the School of Dentistry at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Simmers holds a master’s in business administration from Creighton University and a bachelor’s in business administration and accounting from St. Louis University.

Klasson is currently the co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer at Snaptrends, Inc. in Austin, Texas. He previously was the president and chief executive officer at CrystaTech in Austin, Texas. Klasson holds a master’s in business administration with a concentration in finance from Texas A&M University and a bachelor’s in general studies with a concentration in economics from the University of Michigan. He has also completed the pharmaceutical industry executive development program at the University of Southern California.

The vice chancellor for administration and finance at MSUB serves as the chief financial officer for the campus; all campus insurance as well as central contract review is also handled in this office. The office serves as the central resource for state, federal and Board of Regents rules, regulations, policies and laws.

The search committee for VCAF is comprised of Cyrine Boumediene, Ed Brown, Chris Eagan, Heather Hannah, JJ Hutzenbiler, Bill Kennedy, Terry Leist, Evelyn Noennig, Kristin Peterman, Barb Shafer, and Vicki Trier. The chair of the committee is Krista Montague.

The new vice chancellor for administration and finance will replace Trudy Collins who is retiring after 25 years of service to the university.

For more information, contact Krista Montague at 406-657-2061 or kmontague@msubillings.edu.