Elon University named Susan Kirkland the new assistant vice president after Ken Mullen vacated the position last year. Kirkland assumed responsibilities Dec. 1 and has since familiarized herself with life at Elon.

"I'm feeling comfortable," she said. "It's still a learning experience.I think the hardest transition has been the cold weather."

A certified public accountant with a B.S. in Business Administration and an accounting concentration from the University of North Carolina, Kirkland received her MBA from Barry University in Miami, where she spent 10 years in several roles including associate vice president for finance, a position that Kirkland said helped prepare her for her current role at Elon.

"At Barry, I had responsibility for several areas that are either identical or similar to the areas that I have responsibility for now," she said. "It's more of learning the process here and how things are accomplished at Elon."

Kirkland's position includes serving as the assistant chief financial officer and overseeing a range of financial, business and support operations, including responsibility for payroll and Phoenix Card services.

Gerald Whittington, senior vice president for business, finance and technology, characterized the switch from Mullen to Kirkland as a "smooth transition."

"Ms. Kirkland is a seasoned veteran and her ability to pick up our operations and tempo has been impressive," he said.

In the interim after Mullen's departure, the main challenge was keeping operations such as the audit process and the opening of school financial operations moving along, but the staff were helpful in easing the transition, according to Whittington.

"The staff in each of the areas reporting to Ms. Kirkland were very helpful in stepping up and providing extra efforts to accomplish all of what needed to be done," he said.

Since returning from the holiday break, Kirkland has spent time meeting with important leaders on campus and getting to know key constituents of the university, according to Whittington.

Kirkland described her first impressions of Elon positively.

"It's been wonderful," she said. "Everyone — the faculty, the staff, the students I've met — everyone has just been very welcoming, very genuine people."

Kirkland's transition isn't likely to usher in any new changes, according to both Kirkland and Mullen.

"We have excellent staff and very strong policies," Kirkland said. "I really don't see any changes in the future. My expectation is to continue the excellence of the university."