WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 Rebecca Chiles: I'm here today to introduce William O'Donnell. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:08.000 William O'Donnell Has served at the executive level as a Vice President 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:11.000 for Finance and Administration for over 14 years, including his 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:16.000 including his current position as Vice President for Business Affairs at the University 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.000 of Texas at Tyler, one of the countries fastest 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:21.000 growing universities. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:25.000 During his 29 years working in higher education his responsibilities have 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:28.000 included accounting, budget 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:32.000 purchasing, travel, payroll 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.000 grants and contracts, human resources, 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.000 labor relations, facilities management, 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.000 student accounts, enrollment management 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.000 environmental health and safety, campus police 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:52.000 emergency management, administrative computing, 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:56.000 information security, student housing, 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:60.000 dining services, bookstore and parking. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.000 As a seasoned fiscal officer and administrator. he has worked in higher education 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.000 sine 1989 including positions in Montana 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.000 Nevada, Indiana and Texas. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.000 Mr. O'Donnell received his undergraduate degree in business administration 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:20.000 from the University of Montana and his MBA from the university 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:21.000 of Nevada Reno 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:24.000 Please join me in welcoming William O'Donnell. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:28.000 Applause. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:32.000 Applause. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:36.000 Willliam O'Donnell: Thank you so much, I appreciate the introduction. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:38.000 It's a pleasure to be here today. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.000 Happy Friday. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:45.000 So everybody ready for the weekend? 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:48.000 I had to take a sip of tea because 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.000 my interview yesterday went about 13 hours and so 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:56.000 my voice was shot last night so I wasn't sure how it was going to go today. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:57.000 but I think I'm okay. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:01:60.000 I've had a great morning already. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.000 I hadn't met your president before today 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.000 but I'd done some research and read up on him and 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:11.000 he had a tremendous amount of experience coming into this job here 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:13.000 Western Oregon University. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:16.000 And then my meeting with him today 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:20.000 he gave an incredibly impressive 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.000 briefing to me about Western Oregon University. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:28.000 His knowledge of the university and his ability to 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:32.000 give me a briefing about everything going on here was just absolutely 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:36.000 impressive so you're very fortunate to have President Fuller here. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.000 Anyway my task to day was to talk to you about 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.000 opportunities and challenges facing Western Oregon University. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:48.000 And to some degree this is about higher ed in general. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.000 And so, and also about strategies and tactics that finance 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:56.000 officers need to use to deal with these types of challenges 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:57.000 and opportunities. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:02:60.000 And so to get started 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.000 Some of these things are common things for universities across 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:05.000 the country. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:08.000 State funding levels are going down 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:12.000 states can't fund universities the way they did 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.000 And so that's part of why tuition is 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.000 has gone up the way it has and the cost of an education has become 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.000 much more challenging for students and their families. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:28.000 And so unfortunately that trend isn't changing any time soon. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:32.000 And then there's concerns on the part of faculty 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:36.000 and then sometimes they're finding that students aren't prepared as well for university 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:39.000 educations as we all would like them to be. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:44.000 And so when students aren't prepared then students aren't successful 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:46.000 and that affects retention rates and that sort of thing. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:52.000 And so that's a challenge that our faculty face in trying to make sure that our students are successful at the university. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:56.000 And then, students have changed. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:60.000 And students look at higher education differently than they did years ago. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.000 And so students think of education 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:08.000 like they do many things, they see education as a commodity. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:11.000 And so this generation of students is much more practical. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:13.000 and cost conscious. 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:20.000 And so things are about for students now are about cost, convenience 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:22.000 and quality. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:28.000 And so, if you think about they go online, they buy things from Amazon or 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.000 other places wherever they can get the best value. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:33.000 In fact, we see it with our books. 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:36.000 You know, years ago students just went to the bookstore and got their books. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:41.000 And now they go online to all kinds of different places looking for the best value to buy their books. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:45.000 So that's one example that they're very cost conscious. 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:47.000 And in that case, I mean they're very wise. 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:48.000 They're trying to make the best use of their funds. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:50.000 Who can blame them? 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:56.000 Okay and then they're about convenience, and that's part of why we see a lot of 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:60.000 online courses and online programs being very successful. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.000 And, in fact, if you think about other things in our culture about convenience 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:08.000 you know, where you can order things from your house, you don't have to go shopping anymore. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:11.000 You just go online, order things, they bring it to your door. 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:16.000 WalMart has new ads out now about WalMart, you know, delivering right to your door. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:18.000 And then all the drive thru windows. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:24.000 I'm starting to think if a university opened up a drive thru window, you know, I'm wondering if that's going to 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:28.000 start sometime, where we just kind of give them all the academic materials 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:30.000 and they drive off. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:32.000 And so, you know, you never know but 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:36.000 but there's kind of one exception to the cost, convenience type of thing with students 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:40.000 if you think about it and that is Starbucks. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:41.000 Think of the cost. 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:44.000 You know, I'm not a coffee drinker so I kinda don't 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:48.000 don't have, I can't quite understand Starbucks, but the idea 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.000 that the people will pay and the students will pay a lot of money for Starbucks 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:56.000 coffee made just the way they want it 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:60.000 but they value the quality of it. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:05.000 And so, if they really perceive quality with the product they're willing to pay more. 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:09.000 So they're cost conscious but they also recognize quality. 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:12.000 And that's part of where the opportunities are I think for 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.000 Western Oregon University because you're affordable 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:18.000 and you're about quality. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:20.000 Quality in the academic programs, 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:24.000 quality in the student experience here at this university. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:28.000 And so I think that's part of where you have some alignment and some opportunity 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:32.000 with this generation of students. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.000 And then other thing is that, what I've been able to see 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:40.000 what I heard from the students that I met with yesterday is that they very much see that 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:44.000 there's a great student experience here and students said there's all kinds of 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.000 things to do on this campus. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:49.000 And so they seem very satisfied with the 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:51.000 experience they're having attending here. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:56.000 And, in fact, in general there are kinds of signs from people I talked with yesterday 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:60.000 about people that come into contact with Western Oregon University 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:04.000 want to stay engaged because they just love the place. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:09.000 And so, a number of employees said I never left, I was a student here and now I've worked here 31 years. 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:12.000 And I heard that from a number of stories. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:17.000 And a lot of alumni stay engaged. 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:20.000 And talking to the athletic director, 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:24.000 we were talking about sources of funding and that type of thing 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:28.000 we talked about getting donations and I'm think about corporate sponsorships, 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:32.000 you know the pizza place sponsoring the scoreboards, 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:33.000 you know that type of thing. 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:37.000 And he said no, it's the alumni donating to the academic to the athletic program. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:40.000 Alumni staying engaged 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:44.000 because they love Western Oregon University and it's about the experience they had here. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:48.000 They love their education and they loved their experience they had as students 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:50.000 in and out of the classroom. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:53.000 And so, folks sitting on a great student experience is important 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:60.000 And so, if you think about what makes up a great student experience you know, it has to start in the classroom. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:04.000 And so, putting our quality faculty in front of those students 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:08.000 but making sure we've got a great environment both for the faculty members 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:12.000 In other words, we need great technology, projectors 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:16.000 and instructor podiums, that type of thing but a very comfortable 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.000 atmosphere for the students. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:24.000 And so, I haven't had the opportunity to go through all your buildings, but the night I did come to camps 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:26.000 and I walked through your education building. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:32.000 And just beautiful classrooms and those things really do make a difference. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:36.000 They do because you've got a table and a chair, it's more comfortable. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.000 You're not sitting in the old, hard uncomfortable arm chair 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:41.000 type desks. 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:44.000 You know, you've got a chair, you can kind of move around, you can get comfortable. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:48.000 And you've got tables to spread out your materials and it looks nice and it has 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:52.000 this sense of quality, it represents the university very well 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:56.000 and it provides and appropriate atmosphere for 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:60.000 having your classes, so those things are important. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.000 Also, a lot of thing that's being talked about, the type of thing that's being talked about in higher education 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:07.000 is the co-curricular experience. 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:12.000 And so there's a lot of discussion about the idea that there's opportunities 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:16.000 to do more for students as a part of their education outside of the classroom. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:20.000 And you can do it very sensibly 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.000 not spending a lot of money, just with the resources on hand at the university. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:28.000 And so the idea would be that you have you know 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:32.000 of course, food always brings students out, so okay pizza or something but 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:36.000 you have a workshop maybe talking about things that you don't always get in the classroom. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:40.000 Because we teach students, 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:43.000 and this has always been the case, you know technical skills. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:48.000 You know, I studied business and accounting and management but you don't 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:52.000 get real hands on experience about supervision and things like that 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:56.000 So there's opportunities to provide students workshops 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:60.000 about leadership, supervision all kinds of 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.000 topics that will help them be great employees and advance 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:05.000 in their careers. 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:11.000 And in fact, some universities are even talking about the idea of a co curricular transcript 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:16.000 And so you see in a number of conferences, you go to a conference 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.000 and you have a badge and you, there's a little scanner 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.000 and you scan your badge and it records that you were at that 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:25.000 conference session. 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:32.000 Same type of thing you can do with students, they just scan their ID card and you can capture that information 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:36.000 that these students attended these workshops 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:40.000 that supplement their academic experience in a classroom. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:44.000 Now, you don't necessarily have to do that type of transcript that 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:48.000 student could keep track of that, but the idea would be that student 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:52.000 that's looking to get a job after graduation 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:56.000 can compete better with the other students by saying I not only have 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:60.000 the technical skills that comes with my degree but 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:04.000 I have this other education if you will, this co curricular 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:08.000 opportunities that I took advantage of 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:12.000 that better prepared me not only to perform the technical skills 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:16.000 but to be a great employee and have the potential to advance 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:20.000 in my career and be promotable and that type of thing. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.000 So those are things that we could do with just the expertise 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:28.000 already on a university campus between the faculty, administrators and staff 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:32.000 That expertise is here, but there's also opportunities to bring 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:35.000 alumni back to campus, 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:40.000 to talk about topics, CEOs in the area come in and talk 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.000 about, you know, what were the keys to their success, that type of thing. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:48.000 And people enjoy being asked to come back and speak. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:52.000 I mean, it's an honor to be asked to come speak at a university 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:56.000 and so it's something that we can with the local community to keep them 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:60.000 engaged with the university and a way to engage, or reengage, 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.000 our alumni is by inviting them back to campus and 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:08.000 and sharing their experience with our students because they have 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:12.000 a lot to share and students can really benefit from that. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:16.000 And if we can help the students capture that information, they the benefitted 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:20.000 from getting all this other type of knowledge and experience 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.000 that can help them when they seek a job after graduation. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.000 And then embracing diversity, and that's one thing that Western Oregon 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:29.000 University does 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:36.000 It's very much a part of your core values and your strategic plan 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:40.000 I think most of us recognize the value it brings to a university 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:44.000 and that student experience where students get to learn from each other about their cultures 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:46.000 and different things. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:52.000 And you can see the fun they have together, for example, I have a part of a lot of international 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:53.000 food festivals. 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:59.000 I've tended to supervise dining services and so we tend to be partners in these types of things, letting them use the kitchen 00:12:59.000 --> 00:12:64.000 facilities and that type of thing, and so to see students sampling food 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:08.000 from other countries and that type of thing and interacting 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:12.000 with each other it's great and it's exposing students to something that 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:16.000 they didn't have the opportunity to experience, you know, growing up. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:20.000 And so they come to university and now they are getting to engage with other people 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.000 that have different backgrounds and different perspectives and that's 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:26.000 part of their education as well. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:32.000 So diversity adds so much more to university environment and the fact that this university has been successfull 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:36.000 in attracting students and being a place where students can really 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:40.000 they can come here and fit in and be accepted 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.000 and be part of the university and be part of the university fabric is very important. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:48.000 And then part of a student's experience also 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:52.000 about the social aspects, and a lot of that 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:55.000 comes from living in student housing type of thing. 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:60.000 You know, in the old dorms everybody kind of keep their door open and everyone went from room to room 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.000 and got to know each other and it was a great experience. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:08.000 I will say that there was one interesting time 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:12.000 when I was in college is when Mount Saint Helens errupted 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:16.000 and, in fact, I'll always remember my friends birthday because 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:20.000 his birthday is May 18 and that was the day that Mount Saint Helens erupted 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.000 so I can always remember that date. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:28.000 So I called him a few weeks ago to wish him a happy birthday and I never forget his birthday because of that. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:32.000 But I was at the University of Montana and all this ash 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:36.000 came down on the community 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:40.000 and, in fact, my friend Dean and some other friends they were on a 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.000 motorcycle trip in Glacier Park and didn't know what was happening 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:48.000 and they showed up, got off their motorcycles and someone took a picture but they were all 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:51.000 covered with ash and everything. 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:56.000 But classes were cancelled and everybody was cooped up in the dorm 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:60.000 and the air conditioning wasn't working, so 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.000 social interactions are great, but it's tough when everybody is cooped up together 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:08.000 and there's no air conditioning, then it was the best of circumstances 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:12.000 but, it's just interesting the idea of 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:16.000 the college experience, getting to know other students and the types of things that you 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.000 go through together and the fun you have together. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.000 You know, playing football outside and that type of thing, just the different things 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:28.000 students on their own oftentimes organize and get going. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:33.000 And those make for lifelong friendships and experiences, things you don't forget. 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:36.000 And so, it's funny, I don't necessarily remember what happened two weeks ago 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:40.000 but I can tell you what happened and various things that, you know, when I was in college 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:41.000 and things I did with my friends 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:46.000 When we get together we talk about these things and we remember every detail, so. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:52.000 And then again I thinking having the alumni and the community and that type of thing 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:56.000 engaged with the university because it provides the support for the university and 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:60.000 again, I think it's part of that student experience that ends up being valuable to our students. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.000 And, in time, we can partner 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:08.000 with the community and businesses and that type of thing 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:10.000 it provides many opportunities to the university. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:16.000 And so it's a way to get internships for our students or get financial support for scholarships 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:17.000 for our students, that type of thing. 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:24.000 So any time we can work with, have relationships with and partner with businesses and the community 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:28.000 it's very valuable for the entire university 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:32.000 Something we always want to remind our students is a that a Bachelor's 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.000 degree will double your expected lifetime earnings. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:40.000 It really does make a difference being part of higher education, getting a degree 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:42.000 getting an education. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:49.000 And so, sometimes that's questioned about well, you know is there really value to it and you know, there's talk about student debt. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:52.000 But there's also a chart I found online 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:56.000 I didn't actually put it in the presentation, but the student debt levels here at 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:60.000 Western Oregon University are lower than the national average by far. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.000 And, therefore, the default rates on student loans are 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.000 lower than the national average by far. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:12.000 And that's just another symbol that Western Oregon University provides more affordable options 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:16.000 for an education and yet still a quality education, a quality 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:20.000 student experience and so, I think 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.000 Western Oregon is well positioned as far as other universities because of what they offer 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:32.000 Now, some of the challenges, there's always challenges related to financial resources 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.000 and that's what you always hear from the budget guy. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:39.000 And it's very unfortunate and so, there's two parts to my job that I like. 00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:44.000 Or I mean, one part I like and one part I don't like and it's all about the budget. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:48.000 It's very satisfying when you can match up 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:51.000 a department or an individuals needs in the budget. 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:56.000 In other words, if they have the resource to move forward and do what they want to do. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:60.000 Providing people resources empowers them to act 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.000 We have all these wonderful, qualified people on our university 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:08.000 operating departments, trying to do great things for the university 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.000 but they need the resource to do their job. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:16.000 And it's disappointing if they have to spend their time fighting for 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:20.000 asking for, begging for resources and not being able to move forward. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.000 And so, it's extremely satisfying to me when we can hear about a department 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:28.000 needs and say okay, if you need 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:36.000 And watch what happens and watch all of the success that that generates, that's 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:37.000 very satisfying. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:44.000 What's difficult about my job is the fact that we don't always have all the resources that we wish we had 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:48.000 to do all the things, to act on all the great ideas 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:50.000 that come forward. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:56.000 And so we always have to make hard choices, it's not easy and that's part of why 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:59.000 strategic plans and that type of thing are really important because 00:18:59.000 --> 00:18:64.000 if we can have a sense of what's most important to us 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:08.000 what do we really value, what are the main things that we really need to dp, 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:12.000 really want to do, that are worth doing and kind of stay focused 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:16.000 on those, those things we can fund. 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:20.000 It's when we lose focus and try to go off in too many directions, do too many things 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.000 it starts watering everything down and all of the sudden 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:27.000 you get to the point where you're not doing anything very well. 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:32.000 So if you want to do things well and in a quality way, you need to be very disciplined 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.000 and very focused. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:37.000 And then I think you can have great success. 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:42.000 The other challenges are about, just higher operating costs. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:48.000 A lot of things we're having to fund and do now, you never heard of back when I was a student. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:52.000 And think about just the school shootings and things 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.000 you hear about, you never had to worry about those things years ago. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:60.000 And you never had to worry about Title 9 things years ago. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.000 It didn't seem like, maybe there were things going on and you just didn't hear about it, I don't know. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:08.000 But now, there is just so much more that we have to do and our students 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:12.000 are so much more challenged and stressed and have 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:14.000 things they're having to overcome than ever before. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:20.000 And so, at any university you look at counseling centers have an incredible 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.000 demand for services. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:26.000 We're all having to prepare for emergencies on our campus. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:30.000 Whether it's some sort of violence on the campus or there's other things. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:36.000 I've been through exercises about pandemics, you know, what if, you know because there's 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:40.000 been the bird flu and other things going around the planet 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.000 and now when something like starts because of the way people travel 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:49.000 they can be on the other side of the world and it can get to the United States in no time and start spreading. 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:52.000 And so, it was very interesting to go through 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.000 an exercise about a pandemic under the 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:60.000 scenario what if half of your faculty and half of your students 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:02.000 were all sick? 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:08.000 And what're you going to do about the semester, and grades and that type of thing. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:12.000 You know, are you just going to roll it over to the next semester 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:16.000 and all of that and so there's just a lot of issues. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:20.000 And so, any of these exercises that relate to emergency management 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.000 are really key to have because they force you to think about 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:28.000 things and realize part of the education is realizing 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:32.000 you're not really ready for these things. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:36.000 We had an exercise some years back that talked about 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:40.000 we had the local law enforcement 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.000 agencies involved and at our campus and we had this exercise 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:48.000 under the scenario, what if there's a school shooting. 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:52.000 And so it was explained to us that if there is a school shooting 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:56.000 the university is now a crime zone 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:60.000 and so a whole building or a whole section of campus 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.000 might be off limits now because it's a crime scene. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:08.000 And so, what if you can't use a couple of your buildings 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:11.000 type of thing for, could be months. 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:16.000 And then also, there's no communication going on 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:20.000 The cell towers are jam packed with everybody trying to call, 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.000 parents are trying to call to see if their son or daughter is safe. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:28.000 And so you even have to think about things like a family 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:30.000 reunification site. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:36.000 So our plan at my campus in South Bend, Indiana, was that we had a pedestrian bridge 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:40.000 over the Saint Joseph river and student housing across the river and so we 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.000 felt under this exercise that if there is a shooting on the main campus 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:48.000 we would put in the media that there would be a reunification 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:49.000 over at student housing. 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:54.000 Where people could go there, so we could direct students to go over there, parents to go over there type of thing 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:58.000 and then they could meet up and know the status of things. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:64.000 And, but, those exercises are important to go through because you begin to understand 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:08.000 the types of steps you have to take, the types of preparation you have 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:13.000 to have to be ready for some sort of emergency that takes place on your campus, whatever it is. 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:16.000 So any type of exercise is good to 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:20.000 do because it helps you to plan and prepare for the type 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.000 of things you may have to do for any sort of emergency. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:28.000 And it can be something like, I'm trying to remember 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:32.000 we actually had an emergency sometime where we had to move our students out of housing 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:36.000 and I think 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:40.000 it may have had to do with a fire or something, I can't remember exactly what happened, but we had to move 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.000 some students out of a building, and so we had some plans in place fortunately because 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:48.000 of the exercise we had done before. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:52.000 So, anyway those are really good exercises for 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:54.000 campus to go through to be prepared. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:58.000 But again, all those things come with costs. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:23:65.000 And then another challenge for university is just having consistent, sustained leadership over time. 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.000 Turnover really has a price. 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:13.000 And because you start focusing on certain 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:16.000 objectives and then all of the sudden the objectives change 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:20.000 and you're changing course, it is just kind of 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:22.000 very disruptive. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:26.000 And often the people at the university aren't sure which direction they're going in anymore. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:32.000 And so it's difficult for them to make plans because they've started to make plans and suddenly new leadership comes in 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:36.000 and now we're going in a different direction. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:40.000 And so it just kind of causes things to bog down 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.000 a little bit and there is just not the predictability 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:49.000 that's needed for university to operate in a smooth and efficient fashion. 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:52.000 So having stable leadership is very important. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:56.000 And then something I might mention is what I'll call 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:59.000 the expectations of presidents. 00:24:59.000 --> 00:24:64.000 There's a lot of valuable, experienced presidents 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:08.000 that have been retiring in recent years, and so now, 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:12.000 there's a new population of presidents coming up that are presidents for the first 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:16.000 time and there's kind of a 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:20.000 an expectation of presidents. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.000 That if you want to be a a new president and then advance and be a president at a bigger 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:28.000 institution and then a bigger institution, there's a formula for 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:29.000 what you're supposed to do. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:36.000 And the idea is that you go in as a new president and the first thing you do is a strategic plan. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:40.000 Then you build a new building. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.000 You raise some money and then you're ready to go on to the next job. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:48.000 And so the average president stays 4 years. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:52.000 And that's a very short time, okay. 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:56.000 My concern as a fiscal officer and a lot of colleagues of mine 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:60.000 share this concern, is that if you're only goin to be in a job 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.000 for a few years and the idea to advance as 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:08.000 president is to do high profile sexy things 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:12.000 like build buildings then 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.000 you may not be managing for the longterm. 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:18.000 And so fiscal officers are more associated with the longterm. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:21.000 We want financial viability. 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:28.000 We want to make sure that we are not burning through reserves that are needed for the university's health and well 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:30.000 being financially. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:36.000 Whereas there can be a temptation for young presidents to just kind of go ahead and not 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:40.000 worry about tomorrow, but do what they want to do today, make a name 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.000 for themselves and move on and let it be someone else's problem. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:48.000 That's the thing that worries fiscal officers like myself. 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:52.000 Once again, you're very fortunate because you've got a very 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:56.000 experienced president that is very intent on leading for the 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:60.000 longterm and thinking about the longterm viability 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:02.000 of the university. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:08.000 And not worrying about doing something for the short term, but looking at the best interest of the university over the 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:09.000 very long term. 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:11.000 So you're very fortunate for that. 00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:13.000 Take my word for that. 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:17.000 And then um 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:24.000 There's a culture of universities, I mean if you think about it, universities are places of ideas and that type of thing. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:32.000 And we always want to take these ideas and help people move forward with their ideas and that type of thing. 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:36.000 But we sometimes lose focus and try to do too many things. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:40.000 And it gets back to what I said before is that I think you can 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.000 be truly successful if you decide the 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:48.000 things you really want to do, that are the most important and really focus 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:50.000 your resources on those types of things. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:56.000 You can do those things then in a more qualitative way and be more successful. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:60.000 But everything gets watered down if you try to be 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.000 everything to everybody and try to do everything. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:07.000 You're spread too thin with your resources. 00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:12.000 And then all of the sudden you find out you're not doing anything in a very quality way. 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:16.000 And so, I think the idea here is that Western Oregon 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:20.000 seems more focused on the students. 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.000 Their experience inside the classroom and their experience outside the classroom. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:28.000 And so if you can be more focused on what ideas come 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:31.000 forward to say how does this help students? 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:36.000 That's the key thing because a lot of times we get involved in other things that are just sort of neat ideas 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:39.000 but are they really helping students? 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:44.000 And when the answer is no you really have to question why we're doing this and maybe we should 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:46.000 need to just say no, we're not going to do that. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:52.000 We're going to focus on our main core principles and our strategic plan. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:56.000 And then finally there are challenges sometimes just getting 00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:57.000 everyone on board 00:28:57.000 --> 00:28:64.000 And making sure that we are all rolling in the same direction and that everybody embraces the direction that we're going in. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:08.000 I think one way to get people on board is to get people involved. 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:12.000 And so when you are doing strategic plans involve the entire campus community. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:16.000 Because the university isn't any one person or group of persons, 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:20.000 the university is the entire, everyone that is an employee and a student at the university. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.000 Everybody has a stake in the university, everyone 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:29.000 livelihood and future, if you're a student, is based upon the university. 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:36.000 So everyone has a stake the fact that the more we can be engaged with each other, sharing ideas 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:41.000 talking about the direction of the university, I think the more buy in we get from everyone. 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:48.000 Some of the opportunities, you know again, 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:50.000 i'll just keep talking about the strategic plan. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:56.000 To me it is very key that you, if you have a strategic plan that you work the plan, follow the plan 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:59.000 and be very focused on that. 00:29:59.000 --> 00:29:64.000 And then define and understand the priorities whether it is the university at large or for 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:06.000 me within my division. 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:12.000 We have to talk about what are our priorities, our main goals, and objectives what are we trying to achieve and work towards those things. 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:16.000 And if you're going to be focused on 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:20.000 your key things, focused on your strategic plan, sometimes you have to let 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.000 go of things that have been going on for a long time 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:27.000 and the feeling that, you know, we have always done this. 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:32.000 But sometimes it is worthwhile to question these things and say 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:34.000 is this really benefitting the university? 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:40.000 I gave an example yesterday about how we had a program that really didn't benefit our students. 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:43.000 And we were losing money every year. 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:48.000 And when I reported to the campus the accumulated amount 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:52.000 of deficits we would cover over a period of time it ended up 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:56.000 being millions of dollar and no one realized it because it was, you know 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:60.000 a few hundred thousand every year and nobody was really aware of it. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:02.000 Only a few people really were. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:08.000 But when the light was cast on the program that this was costing, you know, we invested over 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:12.000 a million dollars in bailing out the deficits, a decision is made 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:14.000 fairly quickly, we're going to stop doing this. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:20.000 So you have to be willing to look at things honestly and say you know what maybe we don't need to do 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:22.000 this anymore. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:28.000 And then just be willing to be innovative and be willing to look at things and say maybe there's a new way we can do 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:30.000 things and deliver things and be more efficient. 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:36.000 And so I have been hearing about things here like not using purchasing cards 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:38.000 or travel cards and that type of thing. 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:44.000 And so many, many years ago I worked with a wrestling coach and found out that he was 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:46.000 carrying cash to wrestling meets. 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:52.000 And so, you know when I heard about that I thought oh my god, the risk of losing that money. 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:56.000 It was unbelievable and so we got him set up with a travel card 00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:60.000 so you know, if they had, you know with winter roads 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.000 and everything if he ended up having to keep the team over an extra night 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:08.000 he would have a credit card to pay for a hotel room for all those athletes. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:12.000 And so I just heard now here a while 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:15.000 I been here there is the same type of thing here where we're not letting people 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:20.000 some of our teams are traveling with cash and not travel cards. 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:25.000 Or at least they were or something, I don't know that was apparently a recent thing here. 00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:32.000 So sometimes we have to look at how we are doing things and realizing that there are some easier ways that are more efficient. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:35.000 And help people their jobs if we give them some tools. 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:40.000 And that is part of what the finance administration has to do is help people and support the campus 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.000 by providing tools that help facilitate 00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:48.000 what other departments and people are doing on the campus. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:52.000 And then, again, I always like the idea of partnerships and collaboration. 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:57.000 And so the idea of sometimes partnering with the city to do things. 00:32:57.000 --> 00:32:64.000 You know if you have a city street going through your campus a lot of times you engage the city and they're interested and they want to help support the university. 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:07.000 And you're at the university and you're saying that we would like a roundabout or we would like to do this 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:12.000 like to do that, a lot of times you can get the city on board to help you do those things 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:16.000 that help your campus be safe for pedestrians and that type of thing. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:20.000 And then again, I've mentioned this before 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.000 discipline and focus on the priorities and if you do that I believe you can 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:28.000 have great results and great outcomes. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:32.000 Some budgetary opportunities, I always like to talk about 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:35.000 the benefits of a balanced budget. 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:40.000 Not only is it sensible for the longterm, it makes you viable for the longterm. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.000 But there are some benefits in that if you have a balanced budget 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:48.000 and you get to the end of the year you will have had 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:52.000 always some salary savings because people retire, leave, whatever and it 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:56.000 takes some time to fill the positions so you got some salary savings 00:33:56.000 --> 00:33:60.000 And that can be significant amounts of money, very significant amounts. 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:05.000 And then, not every department spends their budget down to the last penny. 00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:10.000 So there will be amounts left in budgets at the end of the year. 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:16.000 And so that money gives you an opportunity to go ahead and ask what are some areas 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:20.000 and things that we didn't fund the way we would have liked to? 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.000 Or what are some events that we could have on campus or what are some fun things 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:26.000 we could do for students or whatever. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:32.000 And you can take that money and do some very interesting things or use the money 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:34.000 to start some new initiatives. 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:40.000 And maybe there is an idea that can help with student retention so you can go ahead and say let's make an 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:43.000 investment and try something out here and see if it works 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:48.000 And then if it works, then try to incorporate that idea into the new base budget. 00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:52.000 And so a lot of great things can happen by having, just 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:56.000 by budgeting sensibly, having a balanced budget, because then 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:60.000 you can actually get some money at the end of the year that you can put behind 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.000 some things that you haven't had funds for before. 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:08.000 And then it is always important if you're going to have a strategic plan 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:12.000 and talk about what is important to make sure you are funding what is important. 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:16.000 So you need to align the budget with your strategic plan. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:20.000 And then self supporting enterprises. 00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.000 And so, for example 00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:27.000 at UT Tyler they have a student union fee. 00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:32.000 And the fee by statute is for construction, renovation 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:36.000 maintenance and operation of the student building. 00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:40.000 And that fee had accumulated to over time to 3 million dollars. 00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.000 When I arrived there they were only using the fee under the term 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:48.000 operations of the building for people that worked in the building to fund them. 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:52.000 But they had never taken any money to fund the 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:56.000 utilities for the building or maintenance for the building and that type of thing. 00:35:56.000 --> 00:35:60.000 So they accumulated 3 million dollars and yet 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:02.000 you know it just seemed uncalled for. 00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:08.000 So when I arrived I said okay, lets go ahead and fund some of them facilities operations out of that money 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:12.000 and pay for that building's utilities 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:15.000 out of that fee money and use the money. 00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.000 Otherwise it was just dead money that wasn't available to help students or do anything. 00:36:19.000 --> 00:36:24.000 So by sensibly budgeting and using these monies for the things they're 00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:28.000 intended for freed up tuition money 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:32.000 that could be used for things that benefit students. 00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:36.000 And so, sometimes just aligning your spending with your different revenue 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:40.000 sources and using your money wisely 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:42.000 you know, it makes all the difference in the world. 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:48.000 Ad so the big problem they had at UT Tyler is they had all kinds of fees and the fees were building balances 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:52.000 and their tuition was negative 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:54.000 at the end of each year. 00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:60.000 Just realigning how you're spending money versus the types of revenue that you have are very important. 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.000 And so, with self supporting enterprises like student housing, bookstore 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:08.000 things like that, make sure by accounting 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:12.000 theory they are supposed to be self supporting if not profitable enterprises. 00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:16.000 So make sure they are paying rent for their space 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:18.000 utilities, that type of thing and even overhead from the campus. 00:37:18.000 --> 00:37:24.000 We're running payroll and doing other things for these enterprises, there is an opportunity to have them help 00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:28.000 fund those costs and free up money for 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:31.000 our academic and student admissions. 00:37:31.000 --> 00:37:36.000 And then I think it is good to have a 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:40.000 sense of always being aware 00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:42.000 and think about ways to save money. 00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:49.000 And so I have been part of a project that is called Qualified Energy Savings Project we did out at U South Bend. 00:37:49.000 --> 00:37:56.000 And so we had different firms come in and it's kind of costly for them 00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:58.000 to come and do it, it isn't just giving you a quote. 00:37:58.000 --> 00:37:62.000 They have to actually spend time on your campus looking at everything. 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:08.000 And so I'll give you an idea if you've got, these look like newer energy efficient lights in here 00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:12.000 but if you have some older buildings, if they can change out 00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:16.000 a light fixture, those old lights 00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:20.000 are so inefficient in terms of energy that the 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.000 money you save and utility, the electrical expenditures, for those 00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:28.000 old lights, you can pay for the new light in less than a year. 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:32.000 And so lights commonly have a really quick payback. 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:37.000 And the same with outdoor lights, parking garage lights, all kinds of lights. 00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:40.000 The idea of this project 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.000 was that they look at things all over campus, your 00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:46.000 boilers, your chillers, everything. 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:52.000 So they might find things that have a 15 year payback, things with a 1 year payback, things with 00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:56.000 a 6 year payback, but they put together a package of changes on your 00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:60.000 campus that average at 10 year payback. 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.000 And so the company that we selected was a branch of Chevron 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:08.000 And, basically 00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:12.000 they provide the financing for all these alterations to your campus. 00:39:12.000 --> 00:39:16.000 It's even a way to upgrade some of your facilities. 00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:20.000 So you change out all these things: lights, boilers and chillers. 00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.000 And then they guarantee the energy savings. 00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:29.000 So we had to get a base line of our energy consumption. 00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:32.000 And then they have to guarantee the 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:36.000 energy savings and if you don't realize that energy savings 00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:40.000 and those energy costs, they have to write you a check. 00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.000 So if you think about that, they are going to make sure they exceed what they're 00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:46.000 promising in terms of energy savings. 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:52.000 And so that money you save in your energy bills pays that debt that you financed 00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:54.000 through this process. 00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:60.000 And what we realized is we not only had enough energy savings to pay that debt, we had far more 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.000 energy savings that gave us incredible budget relief. 00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:08.000 And, in fact at the time we were reducing our utility budget 00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:10.000 because of this energy savings. 00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:16.000 I thought well okay, but we also have a new building that we are building and coming online that is replacing a building 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:19.000 that we were going to tear down, a smaller one. 00:40:19.000 --> 00:40:24.000 So I thought, well we better not cut it too much because I've got a brand new building we have 00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:26.000 to have utilities for. 00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:32.000 And yet, when that new building came online because it was so energy efficient 00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:36.000 and the small that we tore down was so energy inefficient 00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:39.000 our utility expenditures hardly changed. 00:40:39.000 --> 00:40:44.000 So the following year I was able to cut the utility budget even more. 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:48.000 Because that new building coming online didn't have the affect that I was scared it might have 00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:52.000 And so I became a real believer seeing the numbers and 00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:56.000 started seeing how much we could cut our energy budget after we did that 00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:58.000 Qualified Energy Savings project. 00:40:58.000 --> 00:40:64.000 There are a lot of different things out there if you think about it and analyze your campus where you can save money. 00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:08.000 And so that is a more complicated type of example, but there are other ways we can save 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:12.000 money in terms of the paper we print and all kinds of things we do 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:16.000 We have the capability now with technology to not 00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:20.000 to have to print all the paper we do and share all kinds of information 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.000 and data electronically and not deal with paper anymore. 00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:28.000 And then, some internal opportunities. 00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:32.000 I think it is good to have all kinds of forums on 00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:37.000 the university campus to talk about the direction of the university, share ideas and that type of thing. 00:41:37.000 --> 00:41:44.000 So any sort of committees or whatever, I think it is good to try to have conversations 00:41:44.000 --> 00:41:48.000 after you do the business of the committee work to talk about are there 00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:51.000 any ideas or things that we should do at the university. 00:41:51.000 --> 00:41:57.000 And so any way that we can engage each other and share ideas is a very positive type of thing. 00:41:57.000 --> 00:41:64.000 And then one thing I think that is really worth thinking about is 00:42:04.000 --> 00:42:08.000 thinking about, almost a career succession type of thing for your university. 00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:12.000 In other words, investing in the employees that are here. 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:16.000 By providing some mentoring and 00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:20.000 training and development types of opportunities so that when 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.000 we have vacancies, we have retirements, that type of thing 00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:28.000 we have people that are more prepared to be promoted and move in 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:32.000 to the those roles rather than taking somebody in off the street. 00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:36.000 Lets invest in our own people, develop them, get them ready. 00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:40.000 A lot of times they have worked in the department, they have learned a lot of the technical 00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.000 aspects of what goes on in the department, but let's take some time and 00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:48.000 talk with them about supervision principles that are successful 00:42:48.000 --> 00:42:51.000 and leadership and management and that type of thing. 00:42:51.000 --> 00:42:56.000 And if we invest a little bit of that type with virtually no cost 00:42:56.000 --> 00:42:60.000 or little cost, we can have these people developed to be 00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.000 prepared to move into leadership roles at the time we need them to move in. 00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:08.000 And so that I think keeps our people 00:43:08.000 --> 00:43:12.000 also, it is a way to retain our employees because they start to see 00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:14.000 there is going to be advancement opportunities for them. 00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:20.000 That we are investing in them as employees and we value their experience and everything they are learning on campus 00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.000 and we recognize that that experience is valuable for the future. 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:28.000 And so why not invest in our employees, spend the time, spend the resources 00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:32.000 and training and make they are prepared to advance. 00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:36.000 And again I think that retains employees and 00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:40.000 it gets back to having a consistent, stable environment. 00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.000 It's important for leadership, it's also important in our staff positions, 00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:46.000 everywhere on campus to have that stability. 00:43:46.000 --> 00:43:52.000 And you have a lot of stability now if you have these employees that have been here 29 and 30 years. 00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:56.000 But let's make sure we continue that and provide opportunities for our 00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:58.000 employees to advance. 00:43:58.000 --> 00:43:63.000 Let's invest in our employees, it will be money well spent and it's not going to be a large sum of money. 00:44:03.000 --> 00:44:08.000 But there will be an incredible return in value to that investment. 00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:16.000 So the next question, where do we start taking advantage of these opportunities 00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:18.000 and to address these challenges? 00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:21.000 And so it comes back to leadership. 00:44:21.000 --> 00:44:28.000 So, again, i'm very impressed that you've got very stable leadership, this has been a very stable university. 00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:32.000 And in fact and individual who has been a mentor to me for most of my career 00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:36.000 he really knows the Northwest region extremely well. 00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:40.000 And so I always talk to him about things and he really talked about, Bill he said 00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:43.000 Western Oregon University is a great place. 00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:48.000 They're very stable, they do some great things there he said you'll like that it's really worth taking 00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:50.000 a look at them. 00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:56.000 And so it comes down to the stability here because you've got some great leadership. 00:44:56.000 --> 00:44:60.000 And you've got a president that has 00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.000 the experience to provide the leadership and he is going to be a stable 00:45:04.000 --> 00:45:08.000 longterm viability focused leader that is going to 00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:11.000 the right thing for the right reasons. 00:45:11.000 --> 00:45:16.000 And that's valuable to me to have in a boss because having a great 00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:18.000 boss is really key. 00:45:18.000 --> 00:45:24.000 And so that was the last box I had to check I think during my visit here was I was looking forward to my meeting with the president. 00:45:24.000 --> 00:45:28.000 And I couldn't have had, from my perspective, a better meeting. 00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:30.000 I really enjoyed my meeting with the president. 00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:36.000 He is the type of person that I would like for a boss and so I am certainly on board and again, he's 00:45:36.000 --> 00:45:40.000 that checked the final box for me. 00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.000 I always like to talk about leadership because it is really important. 00:45:44.000 --> 00:45:48.000 And so, leadership 00:45:48.000 --> 00:45:49.000 defines the culture. 00:45:49.000 --> 00:45:56.000 So in other words, if you've got a bad culture the only way it is going to changes is if leadership makes the changes. 00:45:56.000 --> 00:45:60.000 And then if you've got the right culture or 00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.000 actually right or wrong culture, the culture will dictate the behavior 00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:06.000 of employees. 00:46:06.000 --> 00:46:11.000 And the behavior will reflect in the performance. 00:46:11.000 --> 00:46:16.000 So in other words if you've got a great culture, you're going to have the right behavior 00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:18.000 and you're going to have great performance. 00:46:18.000 --> 00:46:24.000 Good performance sustains leadership, bad performance will cause 00:46:24.000 --> 00:46:27.000 a change in leadership. 00:46:27.000 --> 00:46:32.000 So another way to look at this is leadership is about helping direct 00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:35.000 your human resources in the right way. 00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:38.000 Setting the right goals, the right objectives. 00:46:38.000 --> 00:46:44.000 Getting people so that they understand their role in what you're trying to do, how they 00:46:44.000 --> 00:46:48.000 fit in and what we need them to do. 00:46:48.000 --> 00:46:53.000 And then setting the expectations, having some accountability. 00:46:53.000 --> 00:46:56.000 That will get you results and, again, sustain 00:46:56.000 --> 00:46:58.000 the leadership. 00:46:58.000 --> 00:46:65.000 A final to look at it is is leadership is about getting your people A final to look at it is is leadership is about getting your people prepared. 00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:12.000 Making sure they're trained, that we are very clear about what we need them to do, the direction we're going in. 00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:15.000 And a strategy for them to be successful. 00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.000 And so I gave some examples yesterday about if you're in a department 00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:24.000 and for whatever reason, maybe you got some vacant positions, couple people are on vacation 00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:28.000 somebody got called for jury duty and all of the sudden you're down several people. 00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:32.000 You have to have expectations for getting the job done. 00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:36.000 It's the example I used yesterday about getting restrooms clean. 00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:40.000 And so if you're down a lot of people 00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.000 and facilities is a very labor intensive type of department 00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:48.000 you have to have a strategy for how you're going to get 00:47:48.000 --> 00:47:50.000 the campus supported. 00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:56.000 And so what I have been used to is having a strategy where you have to recognize you can't get everything done on that shift 00:47:56.000 --> 00:47:58.000 if you're down 6 people. 00:47:58.000 --> 00:47:64.000 And so you have to have a strategy to say, how can we best support the campus? 00:48:04.000 --> 00:48:08.000 And so by having priorities and a strategy in place for the staff to execute 00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:12.000 by saying, if we are down in staff we are going to have to adjust 00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:16.000 And the adjustment is that we are going to focus on our 00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:20.000 most important priority and that is going to be getting restrooms cleaned. 00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.000 And the second priority, third priority and whatever. 00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:28.000 And so maybe we then decide that we're not going 00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:30.000 get some areas vacuumed. 00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.000 It might be my office, somebody else's office, whatever. 00:48:34.000 --> 00:48:36.000 But the idea we'll catch up on that. 00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:44.000 But we want to focus on restrooms, event rooms like this, that type of thing to make sure we're best supporting the university 00:48:44.000 --> 00:48:49.000 under the situation that we have. So you have to have a plan. 00:48:49.000 --> 00:48:56.000 And so I equate to I gave the example that I spent five years coaching my sons youth basketball team. 00:48:56.000 --> 00:48:59.000 I't very much the same type of thing that a coach has to do. 00:48:59.000 --> 00:48:66.000 You have to get your team ready to play. And so as a leader you have to get your staff ready to be successful. 00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:10.000 You have to help give them a plan so they can be successful. 00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:16.000 And so for my direct reports and me our meetings are all about strategy. 00:49:16.000 --> 00:49:20.000 It's kind of like okay the university wants us to do X. 00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:27.000 How are we going to do it? And just thinking through the challenges and trying to come up with a plan for how we're going to get the job done. 00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:32.000 I don't just delegate and say yeah the university wants this, do this, figure it out. 00:49:32.000 --> 00:49:33.000 No that has come back to me. 00:49:33.000 --> 00:49:42.000 I have to help make sure that I'm part of the idea, part of the solution in coming up with a plan for how we're going to get the job done. 00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:49.000 So then we're all on board, we all understand how it's all doing to work and then we can go forward and implement the plan. 00:49:49.000 --> 00:49:55.000 And then if I get called to task because somebody's office didn't get vacuumed I'm prepared to explain why. 00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:60.000 We're short staffed and we had to focus on the priorities. 00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:12.000 And so preparing our people and having a plan and then if we've got them doing the right things, we're getting the priorities taken care of 00:50:12.000 --> 00:50:20.000 then we can be successful and have great outcomes and that type of thing and that approach in my mind reinforces the leadership. 00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:26.000 So my view of leadership is about determining the goals and priorities. 00:50:26.000 --> 00:50:30.000 It comes back to and I've talked about this in length today. whats important 00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:36.000 and making sure we do all the important things, that that's our priority. 00:50:36.000 --> 00:50:40.000 And so you have to know the goals and objectives, what the priorities are. 00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:45.000 And then I'm big on planning and thinking ahead and thinking long term. 00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:52.000 If I'm in meetings and I'm hearing about something new we're going to do on campus I start thinking about all the logistics. 00:50:52.000 --> 00:50:56.000 Not just the cost that oh we're going to do something new and whats that going to cost 00:50:56.000 --> 00:50:60.000 but logistics about how we're going to do it when we're going to do things. 00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.000 And I'm the type of person I think my values are about the details. 00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:08.000 That's why I like working with presidents because presidents talk about new initiatives 00:51:08.000 --> 00:51:16.000 and I like to be the person that takes that idea that they have and say okay let me work with this idea. Let me work with my staff 00:51:16.000 --> 00:51:25.000 and we're going to talk about how this might work and figure out all the details and come back and say okay here's how we think we can roll it out. 00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:35.000 And I'm the person if I'm working with someone and a department is talking about something they're doing and they're wanting to just kind of bounce it off of me 00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:40.000 and say yeah we want to enter into this three year agreement to do something. 00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:43.000 I'm going to ask questions like okay what are you going to do in the fourth year? 00:51:43.000 --> 00:51:50.000 Because things like buying into software where you make an investment and really invest in a software system 00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:58.000 The'll give you a good price for the first few years and then once you're really committed to it then they'll jack up the price. 00:51:58.000 --> 00:51:65.000 And so I'm the person always tries to think about what could go wrong and how's this going to go down the road and think long term. 00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:10.000 And so that's the value I try to bring when people ask for my advice. 00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:16.000 And then I already talked about direct reports. 00:52:16.000 --> 00:52:21.000 So just to remind you we only have a couple minutes left so if we're going to leave room for at least one question. 00:52:21.000 --> 00:52:24.000 Oh okay sorry about that okay so. 00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:28.000 Anyway finally then I'm just a calm guy. 00:52:28.000 --> 00:52:32.000 You know I don't get mad, I don't yell at people you know I don't want to be yelled at myself. 00:52:32.000 --> 00:52:40.000 I try to think of everything that comes to me as just something that just requires a solution. 00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:45.000 So whatever the issue I want people to comfortable coming to me no matter what it is. 00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.000 If I know what the problem is I have a chance to maybe help solve the problem. 00:52:49.000 --> 00:52:53.000 And so my approach is I'm just here to help. 00:52:53.000 --> 00:52:60.000 And so I try to be a good advisor, a good colleague and I not only try to provide leadership in my area 00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.000 but to my boss I also want to be a good employee. I want to be coachable, 00:53:04.000 --> 00:53:09.000 take the feedback from my boss and react to it in a positive way. 00:53:09.000 --> 00:53:12.000 Make sure my boss has what they need. 00:53:12.000 --> 00:53:16.000 So that is kind of my approach with my staff 00:53:16.000 --> 00:53:20.000 because we work together on things, we're on the same page, we know what we're trying to do. 00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:26.000 If theres a problem I have to take responsibility. If something went wrong well 00:53:26.000 --> 00:53:33.000 you know I had the opportunity to direct things how they need to be so if something went wrong I have to own that. 00:53:33.000 --> 00:53:40.000 So I have to take the responsibility and I always say I have the backs of my people who work for me because when the end of the day 00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:48.000 comes back to me did I have them prepared with the strategies to be successful so something went wrong it's my responsibility. 00:53:48.000 --> 00:53:51.000 And I'm happy to cover their back and that type of thing. 00:53:51.000 --> 00:53:57.000 So anyway that's my approach. I try to be your coach, I try to be a good colleague, that type of thing. 00:53:57.000 --> 00:53:63.000 It's been a pleasure to be with you today. Thank you so much for your time and attention. Sorry it took so long. 00:54:03.000 --> 00:54:08.000 I'd be happy to answer any questions. 00:54:14.000 --> 00:54:21.000 Cece Koontz board of trustees for those of you who I haven't met but 00:54:21.000 --> 00:54:28.000 I had a little chance to hear about this but what's your experience working with students and helping 00:54:28.000 --> 00:54:36.000 students understand what you just explained to us and getting their feedback about whats valuable to them on campus. 00:54:36.000 --> 00:54:38.000 Can you repeat the question into the microphone please? 00:54:38.000 --> 00:54:45.000 Okay it's basically how I've worked with students and how I've explained things to students and that type of thing and so 00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:55.000 My interactions with students tend to be an organized fashion such as with a student senate and student clubs and that type of thing 00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:60.000 and usually they'll come and want to talk about their finances but sometimes other things. 00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:07.000 As I've gotten to know students some students will come and talk to me, get my advice about things and that type of thing. 00:55:07.000 --> 00:55:13.000 And that's been valued you know fun part of my job I guess that I valued. 00:55:13.000 --> 00:55:18.000 But the other way I've had to deal with students a lot of times is with enrollment situations. 00:55:18.000 --> 00:55:25.000 Where they're saying you know I can't pay for my tuition or I'm having a situation or whatever 00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:32.000 and they are wanting to remain a student wanting to reenroll and so trying to work through those things. 00:55:32.000 --> 00:55:39.000 What's been amazing to me in this past year is I've had a lot of students come in talking about the meal plan. 00:55:39.000 --> 00:55:50.000 And saying I've got a health condition they've even provided documentation saying I just because of my medical condition I can't really eat on campus. 00:55:50.000 --> 00:55:59.000 And it's been amazing to me the types of medical conditions students have had where they have to be extremely careful what they eat. 00:55:59.000 --> 00:55:68.000 And so they've had to be trained in preparing meals a certain way that their system can tolerate type of thing. 00:56:08.000 --> 00:56:14.000 And so it's been making exceptions and saying okay or getting them into a different meal plan you know that type of thing. 00:56:14.000 --> 00:56:20.000 And so actually we'd had a meal plan that we'd gotten rid of but it was still in our system 00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:27.000 and a lot of students turned out seemed to like it and so because it was still in the system 00:56:27.000 --> 00:56:33.000 it just hadn't been you know posted anymore we actually used that as a type of thing that we move students into. 00:56:33.000 --> 00:56:40.000 So when we get out new meal plans we actually went ahead and planned for a 00:56:40.000 --> 00:56:45.000 meal plan that we weren't necessarily going to advertise but we were going to have it in the system 00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:50.000 so that if we had students with special circumstances we had a meal plan to shift them into. 00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:56.000 And then too you learn a lot of things because for example you kind of have this idea about 00:56:56.000 --> 00:56:63.000 okay we have these different meal plans and so this looks good and you just have the idea this should work for students. 00:57:03.000 --> 00:57:09.000 And so we make too many assumptions about what students need or want but we need to engage students 00:57:09.000 --> 00:57:15.000 because we often times find out in fact maybe most of the time we're wrong about what students need and want. 00:57:15.000 --> 00:57:20.000 I remember talking to a number of nursing students that said you know 00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:25.000 I can't eat on campus because I'm in clinics so I'm at the hospital. 00:57:25.000 --> 00:57:30.000 So between classes, clinics, the hospital and I'm working a job 00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:36.000 you know I can grab a sandwich at subway on campus you know that works for me and take it 00:57:36.000 --> 00:57:40.000 but I don't have time to sit in the dining all and eat a meal. 00:57:40.000 --> 00:57:48.000 So I don't need a plan thats in the dining hall I need more the you know the dollars I can just use at the retail 00:57:48.000 --> 00:57:56.000 venues on campus and not a lot of dollars for that so they need a small meal plan at the retail venues only not the dining hall 00:57:56.000 --> 00:57:64.000 Okay so that is part of the idea we need to recognize the different needs of our different students and try to tailor 00:58:04.000 --> 00:58:12.000 meal plans and everything we do toward those needs recognizing not all students have the same schedules, not all students have the same needs and so 00:58:12.000 --> 00:58:18.000 it's a continual education working with students so the more interaction I can have with students 00:58:18.000 --> 00:58:24.000 the better because I can do my job better if i understand the students needs. 00:58:24.000 --> 00:58:28.000 But it's a challenge too getting sometimes keeping students enrolled. 00:58:28.000 --> 00:58:36.000 And then one example I gave yesterday is I set up my bursar at IU South Bend and 00:58:36.000 --> 00:58:48.000 a person in student affairs with a fund because in the course of doing business sometimes we just make errors, it's just part of business. 00:58:48.000 --> 00:58:55.000 So I've always valued the idea that we always do the right thing. We always do the right thing with an employee and we always do the right thing with a student. 00:58:55.000 --> 00:58:60.000 So if we'd made a mistake that cost a student some money 00:59:00.000 --> 00:59:04.000 the idea is that these keys people had funds where they didn't have to come to me or anyone else 00:59:04.000 --> 00:59:08.000 they we're empowered to go ahead and say we are going to fix this 00:59:08.000 --> 00:59:12.000 and take care of a student, fix the problem, fix the mistake, 00:59:12.000 --> 00:59:20.000 make things right by the students we owe them that we have to do the right thing so that's the other part of working with student. 00:59:20.000 --> 00:59:25.000 Alright everyone lets give him a round of applause. 00:59:25.000 --> 00:59:27.000 Applause.