Three finalists have been selected in the search for the next director of the Memorial Union (MU). The finalists will interview on campus this week and next, and their schedules will include an open forum with the campus community. All forums are 11 a.m.-noon in the MU.
The finalists, and the date and location for their campus forums, are:
- Brad Hill, interim co-director of the Memorial Union, Iowa State, Jan. 25, Room 3580
- Chad Garland, senior director of student life and event services at the University Center, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Jan. 26, Cardinal Room
- J.J. O'Toole-Curran, interim executive director of the Kansas Memorial Union Corp., University of Kansas, Lawrence, Jan. 30, Campanile Room
Hill has served as associate director for operations at the MU since 2019. As interim co-director, he helps develop leadership and collaboration opportunities for campus life units, develop and administer the MU's annual budget and evolve the MU master facilities plan.
Hill, who completed bachelor's and master's degrees at Mississippi State University, was the assistant director for student activities for that university's Lyceum Performing Arts Series prior to coming to Iowa State. He had a wide array of responsibilities, from advising student groups to contract review, and also directed student scholarship programs.
Garland has served in his current post at the University of Colorado since 2015, supervising more than 80 staff members in areas from student life to campus events. He helps implement the departmental five-year strategic plan and deals with all contracts for events and campus space rentals.
An Ohio Wesleyan University undergraduate who earned a master's degree at Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan, Garland has served in several interim leadership roles at Colorado. These include interim director of the student affairs division's finance and budget office and (for more than two years) interim senior director of the Ent Center for the Arts, a performing and visual arts center.
O'Toole-Curran oversees the operation of three student union facilities at Kansas. She advises six student organizations, from campus radio to varsity esports, and handles promotion efforts for the union.
O'Toole-Curran, a University of Kansas undergrad who earned a master's degree from Emporia State University, Kansas, has served in a variety of student-serving roles, including residence director at the University of Tulsa; student development specialist with the Memorial Student Center at Texas A&M University, College Station; and assistant director of student life at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. At Kansas' Memorial Union since 2006, she has held director positions in programming, marketing and media, and finance.
During the open forum, each candidate will present their vision for "an ideal Memorial Union" and respond to questions from the audience. Paper candidate evaluation forms will be on site for those who want to submit one.
Hill and MU associate director for student engagement Kristine Heflin have served as interim co-directors of the MU since April 2023, following the death of director Steve Winfrey.
