Among the changes to Horned Frog faculty that occurred over the summer is the appointment of a new director to the School of Music

Kristen Queen has been appointed the interim director of the music school after the former director, Dr. Richard Gipson, accepted the position of dean for the College of Fine Arts in June.

“The shift happened very quickly,” Queen said. No one has been hired to fill her former position as assistant director of academic programs for the music school. A replacement for that position should be announced in the coming weeks.

Queen, who is currently working on her doctorate in education at TCU, said adjusting to her new office and figuring out her rhythm has taken longer than she hoped.

“Not having your physical space to not be exactly where you want it along with your virtual space makes it feel like cacophony or mixed meter,” Queen said.

“It’s forced me to be more reactive rather than proactive, but being with the music department and around campus for a while allows me to predict some of the issues or events ahead and plan those out,” Queen said.

Part of her proactive strategy is to create an environment in which students and faculty members can talk with her about any problem, something she has carried over from her previous role.

“When you’re open and available that’s when you know what’s going on and you can start to make intelligent and informed decisions about here’s what’s working well, here’s where I’d like to see us go and how do I connect that,” Queen said. “What are the dreams of the faculty? What are the dreams of the students? And how do I combine those?”

While Queen plans on keeping her open door policy, she said that since she has accepted the position she has had to say “no” to people more than she would like.