Alison Barber has been appointed as the new secretary of the MSU Board of Trustees.

Barber was senior associate dean in the Eli Broad College of Business. Her position was effective Aug. 1 with an annual salary of $200,000.

As a secretary of the board and executive assistant to the president, Barber will be responsible for organizing information for meetings, assisting the president's daily activities and acting as a liaison between MSU students, faculty and administrators.

President Lou Anna K. Simon said she's looking forward to working with Barber.

"She's been attending a set of meetings to make sure she hits the ground running," Simon said. "She'll be exceptional at working with students, faculty and staff and opening lines of communication."

Barber succeeds associate journalism Professor Sue Carter, who decided to leave her position to pursue other personal and professional interests.

Carter said she's known Barber for nearly 10 years as an organized woman with an ability to relate to people in various states of life and has been helping her transition into her new role.

"She brings in the capacity to operate across a wide plane of interests and activities, and that's quite valuable for someone assuming this role," Carter said.

A faculty member since 1990, Barber has served as the chief academic officer of the MSU business college. She started as the acting assistant dean in 1998 and became the senior associate dean in 2001.

Barber said her new job will be very complex, but is looking forward to it because adapting to her new role is part of the fun.

"I'm used to bringing different people together on issues, so that will be very helpful," Barber said. "I'll be learning a lot in a big hurry, but it's the learning that makes it exciting."