Administrators voice thoughts

Search prompts discussion of desired presidential qualities

Trevor Stearns, Associate News Editor

This is the third part of a four part series, allowing individuals to voice what they want in the next president. The next installations in the series will be published in consecutive weeks.

Part I: What do students want?

Part II: Faculty speak out


 

In the past two weeks, we have covered what the students and the faculty would like to see in the new president of the University of Toledo. This week, the administration voiced their opinion.

External Focus

John Barrett, interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said he thinks the next UT president needs to have an external focus in order to push UT to the next level.

“They need to help us create a division for where UT is going to go under the presidency and put a team in place to help get us there and then focus his or her energy on a number of things that are external,” Barrett said.

On Barrett’s list of what need to be addressed are opportunities for research and student placement, fundraising and the recruitment of good students and good faculty.

He also said he thinks the president should “ultimately be someone who is a dynamic, external-looking president.”

Barrett’s condition is that the new president acts with integrity, is transparent and values shared governance.

Johnnie Early, dean of the college of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, said engaging with the community is important for the new president to do.

“I think one of the things, of course, is to be engaged to the community, engaged and visible,” Early said. “I know that’s a lot in a city of this size with the number of community organizations but they can be managed so that while leading the university, those living … where we share a common name have contact with our leadership.”

Early said the same is true internally, and presidents in the past have always handled exposure to the faculty, staff and students well.

“That’s also important because every organization has social components that helps move the organization along,” Early said.

It’s important to be able to listen to all of the different constituents and their perspectives on some of these complex issues. ”

— Cam Cruickshank, vice president for enrollment management and online education.

Finances

Cam Cruickshank, vice president for enrollment management and online education, said state funding has changed funding for higher education, meaning that the president will have to look at how to handle some admissions issues.

“The state has changed the funding level such that they subsidize, they give us resources based on the number of courses that students complete and the number of students that graduate,” Cruickshank said.

A possible way to increase graduation rates is to try to bring in an increased amount of “well-prepared students” who are more likely to complete their programs, according to Cruickshank.

In regard to finances, Early said employees at the university have been victims of salary freezes for quite a few years.

“Most people haven’t gotten the, except for those with contract renewals or something like that,” Early said. “We’ve been starving for that kind of recognition of a job well done and there’s some great jobs being done at our university.”

According to Early, giving raises helps to keep employees from being attracted away to different positions and that it helps to “keep you in the game, in regards to retaining your best talent.”

Barrett said he believes UT needs to put itself into a much stronger financial position.

“When you have more money, you can hire great faculty more easily, you can create new programs, you can do exciting new initiatives, you can serve the community better and you can offer more scholarships to students,” Barrett said.

In addition to having an external focus and addressing the financial aspects of the university, there are a few qualities the administration would like the next president to have.

Academic Background

Larry Burns, vice president for external affairs, said the new president should have an academic background in order to relate to employees of the university.

“I also think that somebody who has experience in a larger university, like UT, that would help too,” Burns said. “It doesn’t have to be their last job, but it should be part of their repertoire.”

He also said the new president should have some experience in dealing with athletics because “athletics are a big part of our culture.”

Early agreed with Burns, explaining that an academic background is important for the new president to be able to work well between all of the campuses.

“In order to work with all of these smart people who are so capable in what they do, you’ve got to have a pretty good brain to start with,” Early said.

On the other hand, Barrett said he did not think the type of background the candidates had mattered as much.

“I’m going to be very weird here and say background is less important than person,” Barrett said. “If somebody is smart, hardworking and has integrity and a certain amount of charisma for dealing with and attracting students, attracting donors, and things like that, they’ll learn the details of the job.”

Barrett said he would take somebody with any background as long as they had those personality traits.

Shared Governance/Listening

Two of the main concepts the administrators said were important for the new president to was the aspect of shared governance and listening.

Early said the new president should be able to listen because it will aid in making major decisions.

“The new president has to engage people in a way so that one: people know you’re listening, and two: that you’re using this to help make big decisions to run an enterprise like this,” Early said.

Cruickshank said he thinks the new president’s ability to listen, not only to the administration, but the faculty and the student body as well is significant.

“When you come on into a new situation, it’s important to be able to listen to all of the different constituents and their perspectives on some of these complex issues,” Cruickshank said. “And I think that under President Naganathan the last few months, we have made great strides in shared governance.”

Burns agreed that the next president should be willing to talk and share with his co-workers more.

“They need to be someone that embraces a team approach, someone that empowers his or her team and really creates a culture of teamwork on the administrative side,” Burns said.

Opinions On The Search

The administrators seemed optimistic about the outcomes of the search and each of the candidates’ visiting campus starting Feb. 19.

“I think they [the committee] did a fabulous job, I think they were very open-minded,” Burns said. “They were very clear on what they were looking for and I think they selected three wonderful finalists.”

Barrett agreed and said that each of the candidates have excellent resumes and that they are an impressive group.

“I’m hopeful, and based on what I’ve seen so far, we’re going to have a great new president,” Barrett said. “It’s going to be a great new chapter for UT and I think we should all be excited about that.”

Although Cruickshank has not met or talked to the candidates, he said he is looking forward to meeting them while they are here.

“I’m eager to meet them myself and make an impression,” Cruickshank said.

According to Early, whichever candidate is elected will push the university forward and onto better things.

“I wish I had a crystal ball to see how all of this is going to end because it’s going to be exciting as we pick new leadership,” Early said.

 

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