Dr. Tobie Titsworth, Vice President for Student Affairs, has announced his retirement from Rogers State University effective June 30.
Titsworth has been at RSU since 2008 when he was named to his current post overseeing all aspects of student life and student development.
However, his ties to the university run much deeper as he served in a leadership capacity at the university’s predecessor institution, Rogers State College, for more than a decade.
Titsworth joined RSC in 1979 as Dean for Community and Technical Education. He later was named Vice President for Continuing and Technical Education and then in 1990 as Vice President for Academics. He left RSC two years later when he was recalled for three years of active duty as a Colonel serving as Air Force Reserve Advisor to the Commander at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
At RSU, he chairs the university’s Threat Assessment Response Committee and is a member of the University Planning Group, the President’s Cabinet and the BTAT/AASAT Advisory Council. He was past chair of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee for RSU, as well as serving as a strategic planning committee member for Claremore Public Schools. He also is a member of the Council of Student Affairs for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
RSU President Dr. Larry Rice praised Titsworth for his time on College Hill.
“Dr. Titsworth has left an indelible mark in his nearly 20 years affiliated with the university, and we have deeply appreciated his steady guidance in the Student Affairs office during the past six years,” Rice said. “We have been fortunate to have been able to call upon his considerable institutional knowledge, both of RSU and the state’s educational system.”
After leaving the military in 1995, Titsworth served as Vice Provost for Academic Services at Oklahoma State University-Okmulgee and later Deputy Superintendent and Treasurer for Northeast Technology Center. In the classroom, he has served as adjunct faculty at Wright State University in Dayton, assistant professor and graduate faculty member at Texas A&M University and a high school agricultural education instructor in Miami, Oklahoma. He also served on active duty as aircraft maintenance supervisor for the Air Force.
Active in the community, he has served in leadership capacities for the Claremore Chamber of Commerce, the Pryor Chamber of Commerce, Oklahoma Association of Community Colleges, Oklahoma Association of Community Colleges Instructional Administrators, Claremore Park Board of Commissioners and the Claremore Area United Way.
Titsworth and his wife Jeanne have two children, eight grandchildren and two great-grand-children. In retirement, Titsworth plans on gardening and pursuing his interest in woodworking by opening “Dr. T’s Woodshop,” a small commercial venture he is opening with his son in Claremore. He also will continue to serve as deacon and Bible study teacher for young adults at New Life Baptist Church.
University officials plan on a national search for Titsworth’s replacement. Misty Smith, RSU Director of Student Development, will manage operations in the Student Affairs office on an interim basis until Titsworth’s replacement is selected.