‘Love your people’

A Q&A with incoming University of North Dakota President Andrew Armacost

EDITOR’S NOTE:

After an extensive search for the next president of the University of North Dakota, the school found its match in Dr. Andrew Armacost.

On Dcec. 3, the State Board of Higher Education named Armacost UND’s 13th president. It’s a position the incoming president is excited about, and said he already feels a connection to both the campus community and the larger community of Grand Forks, where the school is located. He said he’s looking forward to working with other communities across the state and country in his new role as he seeks to propel the school forward despite challenges in higher ed.

He comes to UND after 20 years working at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, most recently as its dean of faculty.

Though he won’t officially start at the university until June 1, he said he plans to be on campus for spring alumni events and other activities.

Armacost recently spoke with Prairie Business about what he envisions in his new role, what he wants to achieve as president, and the ways he plans to work with the business community.

In short, he said being named UND’s next president is a gesture he doesn’t take lightly.

“What an honor this is,” he said. “It is an exciting time not only for me but also for my wife, Kathy. We look forward to taking the helm at the university and moving to Grand Forks.”

How Has Your Previous

ESPECIALLY AS DEAN OF FACULTY AT THE U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, PREPARED YOU FOR YOUR NEW POSITION AS UND PRESIDENT?

I feel it has prepared me on a number of levels. As the head of faculty and the chief academic officer at the Air Force Academy, both have prepared me for this new role. I’ve been a part of the senior leadership team that has run a national flagship academic institution that has a lot of things going on – from character and leader development to academics to athletics and flying programs. So, having my hands at the very senior levels of those types of decisions, I think, has prepared me well for leading UND. In addition, for an undergraduate school, the Air Force Academy is the No. 1 funded research program in the US. The amount of work we spent to create the research infrastructure, about $55 billion in funding each year that comes in to support our research programs, well, I had a great experience managing that kind of portfolio, research activities and also looking at how you transfer that technology to commercial applications when possible.

WHAT ARE YOUR SHORT-TERM PLANS FOR UND?

Well, the short-term plans for me personally are to get acclimated, to learn as much as I can about the inner workings of the university, to understand the aspects of its strategic plan … which aspects of that strategic plan are working well, and which areas we need to refine and define, either more completely or look at other areas that should be covered. So really, my first number of months will be just building relationships with members on campus and off campus and really trying to refine the direction of the strategic plan using campus inputs as a focal point.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS TO HELP FOSTER A SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND BELONGING FOR STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY?

Well, first and foremost is understanding where they are in terms of that sense of belonging and sense of purpose. The university has recently executed a climate survey to understand that better, and I think amplifying those efforts is important, to routinely solicit feedback from the entire campus community – faculty, staff, students – to understand where we can support their needs even better over time. So that’s one instrument that I think will be very useful. I think presence on campus – my presence, but also the presence of other senior academic and institutional leaders – needs to be at the forefront of how we operate. I think the entire student-body faculty and staff need to see all of us fully engaged in the happenings on campus and in the lives of all of its members.

YOU MENTIONED DURING ONE Q&A SESSION AT UND THAT GIVING ORDERS AND EXPECTING THEM TO BE OBEYED WAS A HOLLYWOOD MYTH, AND THAT YOU FOCUS MORE ON BUILDING CONSENSUS AND COLLABORATION. WOULD YOU EXPOUND ON THIS?

Right, so the Hollywood myth is that a general officer will walk in the room (and his or her wishes are automatically obeyed). There are times when that happens, but the majority of work is actually overseeing large organizations and working with the members of those organizations to make change and to execute the mission of the organization. Consequently, an extraordinary amount of work has to go into building teamwork and building trust. That’s the very essence of this idea of relationship building that allows that to happen, and I think a university, as a large and complex organization, relies on the same need to really build a sense of trust and purpose among its membership.

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WHAT ARE YOUR LONG-TERM PLANS FOR THE UNIVERSITY?

Well, I think there are a number of long-term challenges facing all of higher ed. I think stabilizing enrollment at UND is a priority, especially with the big projected dip in the high school class of 2025 – the post recession dip that happened back in 2007-2008; and enrollment management is going to be a big issue that we face. Secondly, how do we make steps toward becoming a very high-research activity university … and really parlay that research into something beneficial for the state of North Dakota and the nation. I think there are many areas there that we can continue to grow and perhaps even new areas of research that we can focus on. And then one of the most important components of UND is the tremendous sense of community: I want to make sure that we take all necessary steps to make sure we are unified in our support of each other, that the campus community is well constructed and cohesive, and that we can wrestle with the tough, tough issues that our society faces together and in a respectful way. I want to make sure that the campus community itself – this great collection of human beings – is tightly unified.

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HOW DOES THIS TRANSLATE WITH RELATIONSHIPS OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL? WHAT WILL YOU DO TO STRENGTHEN THE SCHOOL’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, BOTH LOCALLY AND IN THE STATE?

The fact is the University of North Dakota serves as an important economic engine for the state and also for the nation, and so working with local industry leaders and elected officials is an essential piece of running the university. We should look for every opportunity to have students and faculty members engaged in community goings-on; if there’s work that’s being done by students that could tie nicely to industries throughout North Dakota, I think we should identify those connections and try to make them happen. Those relationships, the external relationships, are a different type of relationship than what you build with your faculty, staff and students, yet the university will need to maintain these relationships in order to thrive.

WHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES WITH THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE SCHOOL AND GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE?

There are ample opportunities, particularly in the realm of advanced aerial systems, and I will look very closely at how we can continue to extend that partnership and look for additional ways to collaborate both with the Air Force and also with the industry partners that work out at Grand Sky, that great public-private partnership that exists at the Sky facility. I see that as a huge possibility for growing our work on autonomy and unmanned systems.

IF YOU WERE TO HAVE A MOTTO OF YOUR LEADERSHIP AT UND, SOMETHING YOU FOLLOW REGULARLY, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

My philosophy has been “love your people.” It’s very simple. It just means a commitment to the people who make your vision go – faculty, students and staff members – and to treat them with dignity and respect and to make sure that their needs are taken care of. That’s how universities become great, by attracting and retaining quality people.

IF FACED WITH BUDGET CUTS, WHAT WOULD YOUR PRIORITIES BE FOR THE SCHOOL?

It’s hard to pinpoint all of the competing priorities since I haven’t been lobbied yet by all the different constituencies on campus, but preserving a worldclass education for the students and preserving stability for the faculty are very important. They’re very high on my list. I know that cuts to the budget have led to challenges with respect to faculty and staff, yet those are the very fabric that our university depends upon – the faculty and staff – to deliver worldclass education. How we protect and preserve those elements that really deal with human beings, I think, is essential. And again, when it comes to prioritizing everything on the list, I’m still learning about what the full list entails, so it’s tough to pick and choose what might come off and what might stay on.

IN SUMMARY, WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS MODEL FOR THE UNIVERSITY?

I want to have a local, interesting business model that generates revenue from multiple sources, whether it’s a student tuition, whether it’s from the state legislature, whether it’s from private philanthropy; and the way that you continue to attract that financial engine is by focusing on the relationships and the value of what it is that the University of North Dakota provides. Fortunately, that’s a sell that should be easy, simply because of the high-quality programs that we offer, the breadth of programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and the opportunity for citizens of North Dakota … and nationally to come and be a part of something that’s truly remarkable. So the … ability to convince those multiple funding sources to keep this business alive – I think it’s a very strong case and I will, as the president, make sure that I’m the champion and ultimate cheerleader for the institution, to make sure that everybody recognizes the value that the University of North Dakota gives to the state of North Dakota and also to the nation.