For the first six
weeks my approach has been to Listen and Learn. The 20th century
baseball catcher and philosopher, Yogi Berra, summed it up in this way.
During these
first six weeks, Patsy and I have met many, many people who have warmly and
kindly welcomed us to the university and community. Each of the vice presidents has taken
time to walk me through their areas to meet people and get a feeling for our
facilities. My plan has been to
tour each building on this campus and to meet the people working over the
summer. Externally I have met the
leaders of this community, talked with donors and supporters of our university,
spent time with the political leaders of this area, and begun the process of
meeting our alumni.
What I have consistently heard is a strong commitment to this university,
the difference Ferris State University makes for Michigan, and the powerful
impact our education can have for a person’s future. Faculty and staff alike talk with pride
about their work with our students.
Over and over I have heard from people who believe their work makes a
difference and who take great pride in our university. Although my entire career has been in
higher education, I have never worked with a group of people who are so willing
to demonstrate their commitment to a university. I’ve been astonished and pleased by the
number of people who wear our logo on their lapel or who have a shirt with their
department or area embroidered upon it.
It has been inspiring to hear your respect and awareness for the heritage
of Ferris and your hopes for its future.
Getting to know you is a very important part of listening and
learning. People perceive
universities in many ways – education, facilities, athletics, and events. In many ways this is true. However in my nearly 30 years in higher
education I have come to know that ultimately higher education is really about
people. The people who work here
and the students who attend here are the major reasons we exist.
While there is still much
for me to learn about you and Ferris State University, I want to share some
values I believe should be at the core of our university.
Learning
Institution - I am
hopeful that we will come to think of Ferris as a learning institution. Just what does this mean? Certainly most everyone associated with
higher education believes they have expertise in learning. For me this concept goes much
deeper. I perceive a learning
institution to be a university that continually learns and improves from its
efforts. In this way each class,
each week, semester, and year is not a repetition of the one before, but rather
is based on what has been learned from previous efforts. From study of prior experience we learn,
grow, and improve. Our goal should
be more than to take students through an experience from which they graduate
prepared for future success. It
needs to be a university-wide commitment where we seek to have each year’s
graduates better prepared than those who graduated the previous year. For me this is a learning
institution.
Respect for
Colleagues - This is my
29th fall in academia.
Based on this experience I am certain that as a university community we
will deal with issues that may and can divide us into fractious
disagreement. These may be
differences among professional, technical and traditional academic disciplines,
questions of governance and administration, personnel issues involving
colleagues, funding levels in a time of limited resources, or reactions to the
current events of the day. The
academy is based on discourse and as students we are taught to question,
explore, and learn. I believe that
it is in these times of discord and disagreement that we are tested. Through this testing a better, stronger
university is forged. However just
as strongly I believe that while we may disagree, these occasions should never
transcend our respect for each other as friends, colleagues, and as members of a
community committed to a greater good.
When we agree to disagree, each of us must not lose sight of our respect
for the other.
Equality -
I believe in a
university where each person, whether faculty, staff, or student, is equal. It is far too easy for each of us to
cling to symbols of status that seek to separate us from others. What each of us does is important and
contributes to the success of our students. A true university does not separate
itself into classes of people divided by function, background or preparation,
but instead looks to the impact our combined efforts can make for our
students.
We Empower Others – What then is our purpose? I am reminded of the words of the late
Martin Luther King, who asked,
In reflecting upon this opportunity at Ferris I have fond myself
returning to the thoughts of Robert Greenleaf, a 20th century
essayist who some consider in the tradition of Emerson. The core of his message can be summed in
a simple statement.
In this spirit I
believe strongly that what you do and the contributions you make are much more
important than my own.
I ought to care more about you than I do
about me.
I ought to care more about what’s right
than what’s popular.
What then is our Vision for the Future? For me it feels far too presumptuous and
limiting to even suggest that thirty days is a period in which any person can
assimilate the collective history, hopes, and fears of an entire institution and
produce a cohesive picture of its future.
Perhaps more importantly, even if one were to do so, it would still only
be the thoughts of just one person.
I believe strongly our vision is something developed
collaboratively. This we will
create interactively together, evolving our vision to meet the challenges of the
present and future. The following
are what I believe will be some components of this vision.
Build on
Traditional Strengths -
For our future we will build on the unique strengths of Ferris. There is no one in this state who has
our unique blend of technical and professional programs. Further I know of few institutions that
have been able to design traditional degree programs in such a way that they cut
across disciplines and uniquely prepare students for
careers.
Recognize the
Quality of the Ferris Experience - I believe strongly that we should
foster public acceptance and recognition for the unique qualities of an
education at Ferris State University.
In my mind the education we can and will provide at Ferris not merely
equals, but exceeds what a student will find at a research I or research I
“wannabe” institution. For me
there is no logic that can explain how education provided in lecture settings of
200, 300, 400, or even 500 students and that relies heavily on graduate
assistants can ever be considered the equal of an education provided in
reasonably-sized class settings and taught by faculty professionals who are
experts in their field.
They just don’t want to be changed…
The nature of the past few
months was such that it did not include much opportunity to see summer
movies. As a result I did not view
the sequel to the Matrix. In
thinking of a vision for the future, I am reminded of the original Matrix. You may recall that the movie closes
with a soliloquy by Neo, the protagonist identified by Morpheus as “The
One.”
This paraphrase
of his words seems appropriate to me as we look to the future. It is a future I embrace with both
excitement and anticipation.
Coming
Events – There are a
number of significant events that are a part of this fall semester. On Thursday, August 28th we
will unveil the wonderful mural artist Robert Barnum has created for the FLITE
Building. This is a truly
remarkable, magnificent work.
Thursday, October 2nd will be the presidential
inauguration. I have asked the
committee planning this event to create an event that will provide an
opportunity for our campus to come together as a community. Finally this fall marks the initial use
of the Granger Building, an amazing structure.
Thank you - As we begin this fall semester there are many, many people who should be thanked for their extraordinary efforts. While I cannot touch on each one, I would like to mention a few. Further I understand that in doing this I will most unlikely omit other efforts deserving recognition.
Our admissions staff has had a very
effective and productive year. The
results of their efforts will be a significant increase in enrollment for this
fall. I have been very impressed
with student orientation at Ferris.
This involves people from across our university, who for seventeen days
worked together to help students make the transition to this campus. During this summer we had an evening
when many camp students were on campus and we were without power. A wonderful, spontaneous process evolved
where our third shift custodians helped these students, while others in our
facilities and security worked to restore power. These are examples of extraordinary
efforts of Ferris. Each of these
succeeded because of the ability, initiative, and commitment of our people. It is easy to be very, very proud of
you.
In a presidential transition
the tendency is to focus on the president.
Over the past six weeks I have learned the transition really involves
each of us in some way. Further I
believe transitions should focus much more on you than.
In closing I offer these thoughts -
Ferris State University is
an extraordinary opportunity, an institution with a wonderful heritage and
exciting future. I am honored and
humbled to be a part of this great university. Together I believe we can build on the
present and create a truly extraordinary university of the future.