Former president of Chadron State College Thomas Krepel began as the new assistant to NIU President John Peters Aug. 1.

At an annual salary of $135,000, Krepel said his responsibilities are “very broad” and include “anything that the president wants me to be involved with or handle.”

The position, which has been vacant for about a year, was held by Nolan Davis, Peters said. Davis spent three years in the office and is currently Interim Associate Director for Greek Affairs.

“I valued the support that I had,” Peters said. “It’s kind of a personal choice because you work closely with the individual. I was very fortunate to find someone with a lot of experience.”

In 1983, Krepel received his doctoral degree in educational administration and leadership from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he also received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Krepel served as an assistant professor at the University of New Orleans from 1983 until 1986. He transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he was the assistant to the chancellor and director of university relations until 1990.

From 1990 to 1992, he was an associate professor at St. Cloud State University before working as the dean of university outreach at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi until 1997. Krepel then transferred to Chadron State College, which has a student population of 2,600, where he began as the senior vice president for academic and student affairs and eventually became the university president.

Krepel left CSC in July after seven years as the university president to come to NIU. He based his decision upon “professional opportunities in a larger and growing institutional environment,” he said. President Peters offered the position to Krepel with the Board of Trustees’ approval and Krepel accepted in June.

Krepel said the employment opportunity at NIU did not influence his decision to leave CSC.

“I was very impressed when I met him,” said Paul Stoddard, executive secretary of the University Council and president of the Faculty Senate. “I think he knows a lot about what’s going on at NIU; he will be a real asset to the community.”

Peters said Krepel is very student-oriented and will be very helpful.

“I’m very pleased that his joining my office will permit me to spend more direct time with the vice presidents and to do something I’ve been longing to do for a year or so – to get more direct contact with the students,” Peters said.

President Peters said he would like to do more guest-lecturing and make appearances in 101-level courses.

Krepel said one of the things he likes about NIU is the growth of the university.

“There’s a real attraction to being involved in an institution such as NIU because of the size, diversity of the population that is present at the institution and the clientele that it serves,” Krepel said. “I saw it as being a real academic advancement opportunity in the sense of being able to work in an institution this large.”