WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 Welcome everybody to our fourth and final 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:08.000 town hall meeting for presidential candidates here and it's 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:17.000 my pleasure as provost and academic vice president Stephen Scheck to introduce our candidate Dr. Rex Fuller. 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:20.000 And for those of you that haven't met Dr. Fuller yet 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.000 He is currently provost and vice president for academic 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:30.000 affairs at Eastern Washington University where he has served in that capacity since 2010. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.000 And prior to serving in that capacity he was the executive dean for the university as well as the 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.000 dean for the College of Business and Public Administration. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.000 Prior to his tenure at Eastern Washington, 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.000 Dr. Fuller was dean of the Hasan School of Business 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:56.000 at Colorado State at Pueblo and prior to that dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.000 Dr. Fuller started his career at La Crosse 00:00:59.000 --> 00:00:64.000 where he started as a faculty member in the department of economics and finance. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.000 In recent years, Dr. Fuller has served in various leadership capacities. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:16.000 With organizations such as American Council of Education, Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:22.000 and currently Dr. Fuller is chairing the board of directors for Leadership Spokane. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:27.000 Among numerous other professional and community service leadership engagements. 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:33.000 Dr. Fuller received his Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from Cal State, Chico 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:37.000 and his Doctorate in Economics from the University of Utah. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:50.000 And today the format will be the same. Dr. Fuller will give some comments about what's the role of a mid sized public comprehensive university in a changing world. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:64.000 And then we'll have about an hour or so for open questions and when that comes to a natural end of questioning we'll break and go out to the foyer for a more informal reception to meet 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.000 Dr. Fuller and his wife who is here Susan. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.000 And be an opportunity for all to meet Susan also. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:14.000 So with no further ado, Dr. Fuller. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:18.000 Applause 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:24.000 Well thank you so much, as was just mentioned, Susan and I are pleased to be here to have a chance to 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:30.000 consider this opportunity and we're honored to be the fourth candidate for this position for president. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:40.000 We are just excited to be part of the process and look forward to learning more today and tomorrow as we continue the dialogue with all the respected parties. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:47.000 The topic I was given was what is the role of a mid-sized public comprehensive university in a changing world. 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:52.000 So I want to take some time to dissect that language into a couple of key components. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:57.000 And I want to start with a component that I've spoken to with some of the groups thus far today. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:02:60.000 The phrase public university. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:06.000 Because I think it warrants a conversation, especially at this time in our nation. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:13.000 And the reason it warrants a conversation is, it warrants a conversation because it's about a public investment in higher education. 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:19.000 All too often it's about the cost of higher education rather than the investment in higher education. 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:26.000 So, a brief history lesson if you might, it actually ties onto my dissertation which was on the impact of the first GI bill 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:30.000 what it did for this nation following WWII. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:37.000 And we go back to the Morrill Act, 1862 which created land grant colleges and universities across the country. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:46.000 So, in the height of the civil war, amidst all the challenges, the Morrill Act is passed which creates universities like Oregon State like Washington State. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:53.000 It was because at that time the nation's leaders knew that human capital, although we didn't talk about it in those terms in those days, 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:57.000 was an important driver for society to develop. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:03:60.000 And there was a commitment that every state would have 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.000 a university that would be dedicated to the work 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:06.000 that is described in the actual act. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:15.000 So it sold land and it was for the purpose of to teach such branches of learning as are related to agricultural mechanical arts 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:19.000 in order to promote liberal and practical education 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:24.000 of the industrial classes in the civil pursuits of professions in life. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:31.000 Given it's 1860, so if we were to rewrite that we'd be talking about the fact that it was about helping individuals succeed 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:38.000 both academically and professionally in their chosen walk and make contributions to society in a long lasting way. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:48.000 Folks, this was really a changed focus from any other nation in the world at that time around public investment higher education. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:60.000 Fast forward to the bill I referred to, the first GI bill following WWII, where we granted GI's the chance to go onto college of their choice through a GI bill. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:06.000 In it's subsequent parts which now also extends that opportunity to spouses and dependents. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:09.000 So again the idea now that people have the opportunity to further themselves 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:14.000 through the educational process and often times that's at a public university. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:18.000 The National Defense Education Act, 1958 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:20.000 responses to challenges of the cold war 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:27.000 was an act to subsidize students to go into fields such as mathematics and foreign languages. 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:33.000 People remember 1958 as Sputnik and the challenges of the Soviet Union and the U.S. at that time. 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:37.000 When we think of the science challenge we forget that that act also supported foreign languages. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:42.000 It was an important piece of that thinking in terms of a board based liberal education. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:46.000 Fast forward to the 70's Pell Grants 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:53.000 which then give students who are in need of assistance opportunities to go on without accumulating debt to college. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:58.000 So my point being, we started with places, the Morrill Act, we created universities. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:05:64.000 We then invested in people over and over again saying it's important that you take the opportunity to advance yourself. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:08.000 And often times that's through a public university. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.000 So the thing we don't talk about in higher education often enough 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:17.000 is education is a public good and higher education is a public good as well as a private good. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:20.000 So the acquisition of additional schooling and degrees 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:22.000 benefits the person certainly yes, 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.000 but more importantly it benefits society at large. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:30.000 And we should be talking about that as an opportunity as educators. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:36.000 So if you think in terms of what's happening with regard to the world and the changing world 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:43.000 If we're going to be successful in a changing economy we must be willing to see education as a growth strategy. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:50.000 Richard Flordia wrote a book called The Rise of the Creative Class and he talked about how communities are different if there is a university in their midst. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:56.000 And it's because it creates individuals who are thirsting for new ideas. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.000 It's a knowledge economy, it's people creating things. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:06:65.000 So he identifies three key T's as he calls them: Technology, Talent, and Tolerance. 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:08.000 And what he says is in today's world people are mobile 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:14.000 So human capital and access to technology are critical factors in development of opportunity. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:18.000 And that's where university can play a critical role going forward. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:24.000 So we have to be thinking about education as part of a vibrant society at all levels 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:29.000 If we're going to be serious about public education and public higher education. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:33.000 So I'd like to stop this section by saying 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:39.000 it's my firmly held belief and reason I continue to work in regional comprehensives 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:45.000 that there's ample evidence to support the fact that public higher education matters. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:48.000 The public university is an important vital piece 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:52.000 of our existence as an economy and as a nation. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:57.000 So what about the word comprehensive? What kind of university? Comprehensive university. 00:07:57.000 --> 00:07:64.000 So we think in terms of traditions of Western and my current school, Eastern Washington, Wisconsin La-Crosse as well 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:06.000 Grew out of a normal school tradition. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:19.000 The normal schools were created in about the same era as the Morrill Act to provide opportunities to train teachers who would then be able to teach in what was the elementary system in those days. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:26.000 And there was a notion again that we needed to invest back in people in order to have a society that was just and fair and vibrant. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:32.000 Now many of those normal schools including Western are now regional comprehensive universities. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:34.000 So what is it about a regional comprehensive that makes it unique? 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:40.000 I think one of the things that makes it unique is it has a natural 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:44.000 I guess affinity to be responsive to societies needs. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:48.000 It's in our DNA, going from normal school to comprehensive university. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:56.000 Programs are added, graduate programs are added, additional tracks are added, connections to communities are added, institutes are added. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:58.000 And they're all added because there's a reason to add them. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:60.000 That is the university's being responsive. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:11.000 So comprehensive means academic array certainly, but it also means comprehensive in the sense of access in opportunity and connections to the communities they serve. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:15.000 There's a recent study in 2013 called The Heart of the Matter. 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:19.000 It was by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:25.000 And I want to quote something from them because I think it's appropriate for the notion of a comprehensive university. 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:33.000 And the study says, "As we strive to create a more civil, public discourse, a more adaptable and creative workforce, 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:40.000 a more secure nation, the humanities and social sciences are the heart of the matter. The keeper of the republic. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:50.000 A source of national memory, civic vigor, cultural understanding, communication, individual fulfillment, and the ideals that we hold in common." 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:57.000 So a regional comprehensive university also has to hold true to the notion of a liberal education as well as the programs that are more professionally focused, 00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:63.000 like some of the programs that I was a dean at in terms of Colleges of Business. 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:07.000 So the goals of this particular study, Heart of the Matter are to educate Americans 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:14.000 in the knowledge and skills and understanding that we'll need to thrive in the 21st century democracy. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:16.000 The dialogue we need to have as a nation 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:18.000 The conversations we need to have. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:23.000 If we need evidence of that we just need to look at the paper today and any sort of social media 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:32.000 and moving from dialogue to more of a position taking and shouting rather than understanding. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:41.000 The second goals was that by doing this, we believe it will create a society that's innovative, competitive, and strong, at least this report argues this. 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:45.000 The ability to adapt and thrive in a changing world 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:54.000 is based not only on instruction for certain jobs, but on the development of new jobs, new ideas, the ability to create new opportunities. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:59.000 So toward that, we need to reverse the trend of an ever fragmented curriculum 00:10:59.000 --> 00:10:63.000 toward a more cohesive curriculum where the general education program means something. 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:11.000 It has goals and objectives that really stamp your sort of mark of distinction at Western on your graduates. 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:14.000 The third goal of this particular report, Heart of the Matter 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:19.000 was that we should equip the nation for leadership in an interconnected world. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:28.000 We've had some conversation thus far today, I arrived at noon, around the notion that we need to connect globally. I know you've done that already, it needs to continue. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:30.000 In the humanities and social sciences, 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:36.000 it teaches about ourselves and other cultures as well and our point of contact with other nations and societies. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:40.000 And it makes it possible for students from around the world to attend school here. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:45.000 So a student here, an Oregonian can't afford to go abroad for example, 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:49.000 they have the opportunity to interconnect with students from other cultures and other lands. 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:54.000 And ideally, we should try to have opportunities for our students to participate in at least short term exchange programs 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:61.000 if not complete exchange programs for an academic term or longer. 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:04.000 So Western and it's tradition of a strong liberal arts 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:14.000 coupled with majors in high demand areas is an example of a regional comprehensive university that is meeting the challenges of Oregon and the nation. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:19.000 The other part of the phrase made reference to a mid-sized university. 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:25.000 If you go to an agency such as the Carnegie Agency which classifies universities by mission and character and size, 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:29.000 they say a mid-sized university is 5,000-10,000 students. 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:35.000 That's exactly where you are in the lower bound of that but you're in that 5,000-10,000 range. 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:38.000 And so if you think about what are the challenges if we're going to have Heart of the Matter 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:42.000 the challenges relate to in the curriculum 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:45.000 having the ability to integrate across functional areas. 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:50.000 I believe mid-sized universities can do that better than large universities. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:57.000 All universities have the challenge of silos, the challenges of sub-optimization. 00:12:57.000 --> 00:12:63.000 But I think in a mid-sized university you're small enough you can get together and have conversations that begin to cut across those boundaries. 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:09.000 If you're united in a purpose, and the purpose needs to be around our students and our student's success, 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:17.000 something a mid-sized university has great I guess attributes and advantages in the sense of creating things that truly are unique and special 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:20.000 that are different than the experience that someone might get 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:25.000 at a larger institution where they're collecting credits, where they graduate with a 180 hours just like they do here 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:28.000 but those hours are not connected in ways that are profound. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:31.000 So I think a mid-sized university gives you that advantage. 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:36.000 It gives you advantages in team work and leadership and demonstrations, having students engaged in the community. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:44.000 Doing projects, doing internships, working on things that when they graduate and they walk across the stage, 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:48.000 they have a grade point and a diploma, just as every graduate in the U.S. does 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:50.000 but they also have a portfolio. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:56.000 They have examples that they can pull out and say, "Here's something I worked on, here's something where I lead a team 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:61.000 on this project, and here's what I created as part of my educational experience." 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:05.000 And this can then be an asset to them in many ways 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:12.000 but certainly a point in which it leverages them into their first professional opportunity or graduate school or some combination later. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:16.000 Because it's a lifetime process as well. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:19.000 The other thing that I think is in a mid-sized university 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:23.000 there can be better dialogue around data 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:29.000 there can be more inclusive conversations around who you are and what the results are and what your challenges are. 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:35.000 So one of the things I think a president has to do is be transparent with what our scour card is, how are we doing. 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:43.000 And where could we do better? And what's better look like? And what's that conversation need to be for better to happen? 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:50.000 I think a mid-sized university can also engage students in research opportunities, undergraduate research. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:55.000 Next week, Eastern Washington University is hosting the National Conference for Undergraduate Research. 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:58.000 It moves around the United States from place to place over the years. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:14:67.000 We've vied for this opportunity and we'll have about 3,000-4,000 students on our campus from all over the United States and a few international places. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:14.000 And they're comparing their international I mean undergraduate research with people from all kinds of universities. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:21.000 For us at Eastern, it has our students going up against big schools, like two years ago University of Kentucky hosted it. 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:27.000 So our students were comparing their work to students at the University of Kentucky. And guess what they found? 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:32.000 That many cases their work was just as good if not better than the students at the big places. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:38.000 Which is that myth busting that mid-sized universities can engage in terms of the work we do is pretty good. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:44.000 If we take the time to measure it and give ourselves the opportunity to look at it in some sort of reflection opportunity. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.000 And I think that's what a mid-sized university can do. If you're committed to that you can say 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:55.000 every student will have a capped stone experience that includes some work on internships or projects or undergraduate research. 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:62.000 And the other thing it does is it connects you as a faculty member to those students or you as a staff member to those students. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:10.000 So what's impressive as a candidate is you try to do as much research as you can on places and I've done that. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.000 And I look at the connections you have around community support. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:23.000 The upcoming Richard Woodcock Education Center and the investment the state is making in the connection to sustainability in the use of timber. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:28.000 As way of thinking differently about how we build and sustain things. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:33.000 Talk about a project that has so many mixed kinds of connections and advantages. 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:36.000 It's a center for education yes 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:46.000 it's connecting back to the tradition of use of resources in a long standing way that is reflective of Oregon's deep commitment to sustainability. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:54.000 And it's also a deep commitment to the position that this university has to a normal school. All those things are coming together in a single project. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:60.000 So in that sense it's a very great idea of connecting things across boundaries that are pretty profound. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.000 Recently, the science center was opened as well, DeVolder Family and the support. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:08.000 Both of those have support from faculty who were here and community members 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:14.000 Which says people believe in the Western message, the Western legacy. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:18.000 And that's a piece that we need to continue. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:30.000 The other initiative around investment in ideas. There's a statement on one of your websites about a 40,000 dollar fund that would allow you to invest in ideas for a new initiative fund. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:35.000 A start up kind of an idea where you can try new ideas and see what sticks. 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:40.000 That's innovation and that's what needs to happen for universities to move forward, to have a changed culture. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:45.000 The Willamette Promise 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.000 The fact that you have advising awards that are recognized nationally. 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:57.000 And the leader of that unit who also goes out and provides advise is she in fact was a consultant at my campus a couple of months ago. 00:17:57.000 --> 00:17:65.000 Student athletes, about 10% of your students are student athletes and they graduate at higher rates and have better performance academically. 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:13.000 And so in that sense, you're using athletics, just one example to raise visibility and increase your awareness in sort of the community. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:23.000 And at the faculty meeting that preceded this, the question was how can that be leveraged in a way that gets the message out about the Western story. 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:27.000 And I said we had a similar issue going on at Eastern with our athletic teams. 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:32.000 The sports page coverage was fine and if they're winning that's even better than if they're not. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:36.000 But because of the relationship we have through the sports 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:41.000 we were able then to highlight and profile our social work program. 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:48.000 Which partners with our fire department in our region to provide intervention service for frequent 911 callers. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:51.000 So our social work students are doing active practicums 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:58.000 in our fire department to engage in a way in which reduces cost of delivery of 911 services in our community. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:18:69.000 It's a classic example of partnering with our community which is another example of a mid-sized comprehensive university reaching out to the folks that it serves and to the regions that it serves. 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:15.000 Your Cesar Chavez Leadership Conference is a great example of bringing in diversity on the cutting edge. 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.000 Many of you have told me you've also read the recent economist magazine 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:28.000 story on Latinos and Latinas in the U.S. about a month or so and the tremendous growth rates that are happening due to growth of 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:32.000 families who are here, not immigration, families who are here. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:40.000 And the growth band is the coast, Washington, Oregon, California, the Southwest, and then key cities throughout the United States. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:47.000 We in this region are in the cutting edge of what's going to happen in this country with regard to diversification of our workforce in our society. 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:51.000 And you're taking the lead on that it needs to continue. 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:57.000 Dual credit programs in high schools, ways in which students can earn credit towards college is an important piece 00:19:57.000 --> 00:19:61.000 of what a mid-sized university can do more so than large universities. 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:11.000 Your partnership with Chemeketa Community College, I hope I said that right, through your two plus two dual enrollment program is a great example. 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:16.000 I admitted earlier that my pathway and my wife Susan's pathway was we started through community college. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:20.000 And we went on. In my case I finished with a doctoral degree. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.000 One of the great things about U.S. higher education is multiple pathways. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:31.000 Because circumstance gets in the way sometimes and it still does today and so we have to have pathways that work. 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:35.000 So that's the key for mid-sized universities. 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:43.000 So if you think in terms of a mid-sized university, I think a mid-sized university can be laser focused on student's success. 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:50.000 I think that's the kind of conversation that happens at mid-sized universities that doesn't happen as often at the very very large institutions. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:53.000 That sometimes that are on the front page of a sports page. 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:59.000 And student's success are on student retention, academic achievement, student advancement, and ultimately educational attainment. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.000 We want to be about finishing, we want it to be about finishing. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:10.000 The idea is you are admitted that's great, you enroll that's great, but we want you to finish. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:15.000 Because leaving here with no degree and debt is no bargain, in fact it's worse off. 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.000 So the key is to have students who make that commitment, be successful. 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:29.000 And I know that that can happen through advising and academic resources and all kinds of measures related to that. 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:32.000 So what about a changing world? 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:37.000 I've talked a bit about challenges already in some of my comments. 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:43.000 But our changing world in higher education is we're in a state of disinvestment in this nation. 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:51.000 And if we think about it with regard to our global position we think about nations such as China and India, just to pick two 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:59.000 where they are building new universities and adding capacity we seem to be doing the opposite. 00:21:59.000 --> 00:21:63.000 And one might say "Well why are they doing that?" 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:07.000 And the answer I think is they've read our history. 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:10.000 They've read our playbook. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:13.000 They saw what happened when we made the investment in the Morrill Act. 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:20.000 They saw what happened after the first GI Bill, they've seen what happened with the influx of enrollment in the 60's and 70's. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:27.000 They've seen the benefits of education and they've decided that that's an important thing for their nations as well. 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:31.000 And so that clearly is a piece of our world. 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:42.000 And so we should be embracing our international partners to develop relationships so our students can go and have the study abroad experience and welcome international students. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:45.000 But we're in a world where students are paying more of the bill. 00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:52.000 When I went to school, the vast majority of my first dollar of cost was paid by the state of California. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:57.000 Today in Washington, students pay 63 cents of the dollar. 00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:64.000 That's the shift that's occurred in our state. That's a pattern that we need to question and revisit. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:15.000 Your 40-40-20 plan in your state is an ambitious plan but it needs also to be matched with the opportunity to attend so affordability needs to be apiece of that. 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:22.000 So in a changing world we also have the threat if you will of the rising nature of mooks. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:27.000 There's a recent book out by Kevin Carey called the End of College. 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:31.000 And anyone seen that book or read it? A few of you. 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:38.000 It's about his attendance at MIT and it's partnership with Harvard, an online course 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:44.000 and he's not a student, not enrolled, he's just taking the course as a participant in a mook. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:48.000 And he's then writing a book about how that's going to impact higher education. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:54.000 And he's predicting that universities will struggle to maintain marketshare, to use an economist term. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:59.000 Because people will vote with their keyboard to attend 00:23:59.000 --> 00:23:67.000 low cost mass scale producers that can do these kinds of things in ways that are pretty exciting and profound, at least from one vantage point. 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:16.000 But a rebuttal recently by the dean of the education program at Minnesota, Dean Heller, talked about the fact that 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:23.000 and this is an important point, and this is an important point that I think relates to your mission and who you are at Western 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:28.000 which is that an academic degree is more than the accumulation of credits. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:31.000 Does it require the accumulation of credits? Absolutely. 00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:36.000 But it's got to be more than that if it's going to be something that's really is personally transforming. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:41.000 And so if we think about the threat if you will about online programs 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:46.000 the mooks if you will of the world, the end of college as Mr. Carey argues 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:52.000 the notion is it ignores all the other connections that happen as part of a college experience. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:63.000 It ignores the deep relationships that develop through the participation in classes and clubs and sports and intramurals and the classroom itself. 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:06.000 These are all things that are part of a changing world however. 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:13.000 So the threat I think or the challenge is how can we make technology work for us and our mission 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:22.000 and provide better access, more flexible access, to students that we want to be serving who may be constrained in time and place. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:28.000 And can we develop programs, sometimes they're called hybrid programs, where students do some work 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:31.000 asynchronously but then also meet face to face. 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:37.000 Can we create models that achieve educational goals that include both kinds of pedagogies if you will. 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:40.000 I think the answers yes, especially true for master's programs. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:45.000 Where students are self directed and have opportunities but also can be true for undergraduate programs 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:50.000 where a working mother may not be able to be at class at 8 o'clock everyday 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:56.000 but would like to have a course in order to complete her degree and can she access that via distance. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:58.000 I think the answer is probably if we think about this carefully. 00:25:58.000 --> 00:25:64.000 So there's a changing world factor for you as well. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:07.000 So what's the way forward for Western? 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:11.000 I think the way forward is to use your focus on student's success 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:21.000 to publicize, tout, market your legacy, your DNA. 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:26.000 And in the process make sure your enrollments continue to be stable and growing. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:35.000 And that means enrollments maybe through multiple sources, both face to face, that will still be the predominant way, but additional sources through some of these ways that might be hybrid. 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.000 Vince Tinto and his work on student success and college experience 00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:46.000 talks about the fact that what really matters to students is the total level of campus engagement. The total level of campus engagement. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:54.000 It's not just engagement in the major, not just engagement in the residence hall, but the total engagement in the intersections within that. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:62.000 So academic, interpersonal, extracurricular. And they need to reinforce each other. It's around student growth and development. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:08.000 It's around helping students take that next step toward their intended or expressed goal. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:12.000 And student success then is transformational in that regard. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:21.000 So another key piece in our state, another challenge for us is access without support is not opportunity. 00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:27.000 So we have students who come to our institution who aren't as well prepared as we'd like them to be in mathematics. 00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:31.000 And I've talked earlier today in all the venues I think this question came up 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:35.000 around our solution to getting better results in our developmental math area. 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:37.000 Because we found that having them enroll, 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:41.000 and then be frustrated and not progress pass developmental math 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:47.000 was not a bargain and didn't lead to student success and in fact lead to outcomes that were undesirable. 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:52.000 So in that sense, we had to think about what is a support system we need to help them be successful. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:55.000 We went back, we rethought it, we redesigned it 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.000 and our past rates have gone from 40% to above 75% 00:27:59.000 --> 00:27:66.000 as a result of changes the faculty have made about it's about seeing the students learn the material, yes, rigor wasn't sacrificed. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:12.000 It was the way in which we delivered it so it became more manageable for the student who wasn't as well prepared as we would like them to. 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:18.000 And we think that that's going to make a difference in student retention. In fact we have evidence to suggest that it does. 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:24.000 So by working together we can set high expectations, expectations matter, students rise to expectations. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:30.000 We provide the academic and social support needed to exceed those expectations. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.000 And we use assessment and data to provide feedback for improvement. 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:44.000 I've been impressed from what I've seen in terms of your advising arena just as one, with the awards you've been able to identify from the feedback that you have from your advising systems. 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:51.000 So my belief and my reason for having worked at what I consider to be mid-sized universities throughout my career since leaving graduate school 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:57.000 is there a better position to develop integrative and collaborative approaches to student success? 00:28:57.000 --> 00:28:60.000 It's taken us a long time to talk about it in these terms 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:06.000 we didn't talk about student success in this way in 1980 when I entered my first academic job as a faculty member. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:09.000 But really then it was still about this issue. 00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:16.000 It was about the fact that universities exist because we offer academic programs that attract interested students who then enroll 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:20.000 and it is our deep desire that they actually graduate and student success. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.000 And then around that we have all these other services that we need to embed 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:32.000 in a collaborative integrated way so that they grow in a holistic way that's not just the accumulation of credits as if they took every credit online. 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:37.000 Yes, same number of credits but a totally different experience. It's about the experience. 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:40.000 So at the airport interview, 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:45.000 the group of individuals had questions for me and we went on the table at the very end, 00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:48.000 I had a chance for my first question. 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:52.000 And my first question was to a member of your search committee 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:56.000 Corbin Garner whose your AS president. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:60.000 And I asked him why did he choose Western? 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:06.000 And 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:15.000 He's a stout guy, he's really got some. The president of Oregon State was in the room. And if you know Corbin's story he went to Oregon State. 00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:18.000 And then decided to come to Western. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:22.000 And yet he talked about the fact that for him Oregon State wasn't the right fit. 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:27.000 And so I'm not here to say that they're not the right fit for students I'm here to say that in his particular case, 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:30.000 Corbin found that he had a better experience, a better fit at Western 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:37.000 because of what you provide due to the high contact you have and the kinds of things I've described as a mid-sized university. 00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:40.000 And that's true for a lot of students. 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:45.000 Susan and I have two grown daughters, one went to University of Wisconsin, Madison and graduated. 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:50.000 And one went to University of Wisconsin, Stout and graduated. 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:52.000 So Stout is very much like 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:54.000 Western in the sense of regional comprehensive. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:58.000 And Madison is very much like Oregon State or U of O. 00:30:58.000 --> 00:30:60.000 Both our daughters made good choices. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:08.000 I'm convinced they would have had different experiences, in fact less fulfilling experiences if they had flipped roles because of who they were as students. 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:11.000 So my point is, higher education has always been a choice model. 00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:19.000 What we have to do as educators is talk about who we are and why this choice is right for many of our students and many of our parents. 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:26.000 As Corbin did through his discovery in his re-enrollment here or his transfer here to Western. 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:33.000 And so I think what he's saying is that at Western the education is transformative and personal. 00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:38.000 And that's what he was missing when he wasn't here. 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:43.000 Evidence of that by looking at your preamble and your mission. 00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:47.000 It talks about providing effective learning opportunities to prepare students 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:50.000 for fulfilling life in a global society. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:53.000 To support an accessible and diverse campus community. 00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:58.000 And to improve continuously the educational, financial, and environmental sustainability. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:31:65.000 These are all center stage for successful universities in our changing world. 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:13.000 And I think that you have wonderful programs that can be continued as well as opportunities to expand your reach. 00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:19.000 And expand the visibility that you have as a fine institution. 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:28.000 So the question I was asked was what's the role of a mid-sized comprehensive university in a changing world. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:40.000 I think the role is vibrant, it's important, it's sustainable, if we look in the mirror and identify things that need to be changed in order to be relevant to the changing needs of our society. 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:46.000 As we've already done throughout our history as a nation and you've done throughout your history as a university. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:53.000 So in that sense I think the role is bright and vibrant going forward. 00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:61.000 At this point I'd like to open up the conversation to questions and be happy to go back and touch on anything I may have mentioned or if you have questions 00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:04.000 I didn't address I'm happy to take those as well. 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:14.000 And then again I thank you for the chance to be here, to learn more about your institution, and have my wife and I enjoy this opportunity to learn about the community as well. 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:15.000 So thank you for the time. 00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:22.000 Applause.