Michael Harris (academic) Chancellor IU Kokomo, Fall 2010 IUK Convocation Presentation

Chancellor Michael Harris Presentation – Indiana University Kokomo, IUK, Fall 2010

Good morning and I want to begin by thanking Sue for a very gracious introduction. I thought that by now, you would all like a nice nap, so just sit back, relax, and I’m going to read you a story.

A man in a hot air balloon, realizing he was lost, reduced altitude, and spotted a woman below. He descended further and shouted to the lady, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”

The woman below replied, “You are in a hot air balloon, hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees latitude, and between 86 and 87 degrees west latitude.”

“You must be a faculty or staff from a university,” said the balloonist.

“Actually, I am,” replied the woman. “How did you know?”

“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you have told me is technically and theoretically correct.

But, I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I’m still lost. You’ve not been much help at all. If anything, you’ve delayed my trip.”

The woman below responded: “You must be a chancellor!”

“I am!” replied the balloonist. “But how did you know?”

“Well,” said the woman, “you don’t know where you are, or where you’re going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise of which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is, you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it’s all my friggin’ fault!”

I appreciate the generous introduction by Sue, but this is the truth!

On a very serious note, again, it’s a pleasure to be here. I can’t tell you enough how fortunate I feel and blessed to be here. I feel honored and humbled to join Indiana University Kokomo as the sixth chancellor and the eighth administrator. Truly, it’s an honor I accept with much humility and commitment to work together with all of you to forge a great future for all of us.

I want to thank many of you, all of you, for the real warm welcoming I’ve received since arriving on campus. I am certainly happy to be here.

I would like to share with you a few more thoughts about leadership and values, optimism, and forward‐ looking, and maybe a few more words about myself that could be helpful. I have a complicated, yet interesting story which I am not going to bore you now, because now is the time to wake up after the nap I asked you to take. I was born in Africa, raised in Asia, and arrived on the coast of America more than 20 years ago. I grew up on a commune, which is a very unique way of life. That was a different place and a different time, where you cannot order people to do anything. It is all done as direct democracy and a vote. That is where I lived until the age of 33, and then came here.

I certainly believe the role of leadership is to serve. I do believe our role is to make decisions especially about the distribution of resources and moving ahead in terms of identifying the vision, which really means trying to picture a future for where we are going. Anyone know the difference between a decision and a conclusion? A conclusion is what we do in science. In biology, we take two rats, we put them in the exact same conditions, we feed one; we don’t feed the other. If you repeat the experience over and again, one of the rats dies after a certain amount of time, and you can conclude that the rat you don’t feed dies after a certain amount of time. Now, that’s a conclusion. It’s scientific, it’s proven.

It’s not a decision.

Decisions we make are among the choices we have. We like to have committees in higher education, and we come forward and say the committee concluded. But it’s not true. Don’t believe it. The committee decided. For me, the foundation for decision making is values, optimism, forward looking and grounding it in value‐based decision making, because that has to be criteria for decision making.

Otherwise, we come across as arbitrary, capricious, and don’t do really anything positive. So, those are some of the things that I want to share with you. Another one is I believe very strongly that every person should express their own opinion, their voice. They should be around the table and participate in the process. At the end of the day, after the deliberation, when the decision is made, we rally and unite

together and move on and not continue to try and stop the wheels from moving. We will try to do the best that we can, and people will have the opportunity, in a very open and honest manner without any consequences, to express their view in a professional and respective manner. Obviously, not one person’s view will prevail. I urge you to share with me your thoughts, your views, your dreams, and aspirations. I will continue to do what I have done so far – and that is listening, visiting, touring, hearing what each and every one of you thinks, while at the same time making decisions and not waiting for the first year to go by and still tell you I am on a listening tour. That is not going to work in this changing environment.

I have been listening a lot and talking to many people and I came up with some initial observations, which of course, based on what I said earlier, half of you are going to reject. And that is OK, but I would like to share with you some early thoughts I have about where we are, where we’re going. Let me emphasize again, these are initial thoughts that I would be very happy to change.

Let’s begin with some strengths. I believe we have a solid academic foundation, demonstrated through the HLC, the 10‐year reaccreditation, the education experience, the nursing program and many other indicators. We are academically solid and good – not that we won’t do more. Our faculty and staff are extremely committed to academic excellence and student success. If it’s one thing I heard and saw is certainly the dedication of each and every one of you.

The third thing I want to point out, something I’ve learned as I have traveled around, is there is an immense, strong regional support for this campus. People are expecting a lot from us. They love IU Kokomo. They really hope we become more and more a part of the light in this region. More about that as we move along.

Here are some of the challenges that I encountered along the way.

Facilities – we need some significant renovation. We have some great facilities. I am happy to share with you the main building has become now a top priority for Indiana University. It will be submitted to the legislature for renovation. I believe that it will be renovated. I thought when I came the office space wasn’t really organized in the best functional manner. As I know from many institutions, office space has an evolution. Things change. You add an office here, an office there. I looked at it, I thought about it. I came to the cabinet, what do you think about this? I have to tell you people were excited. Now granted there were one or two that weren’t so excited, but I tried to meet with them personally. Then I thought we should move and I was very impressed because there was an immediate suggestion for a committee.

We set a deadline for August. So, we moved. It was also known as the Big Move of 2010. It was the hottest day there has ever been on this earth! It was the most humid day we could even imagine. It was horrible. But, it was such a good time that those of you who weren’t here for that will forever feel that you don’t belong – but you do. Now it’s very problematic to thank those who worked on the move. I got into trouble with the second and third shift! So I’m humbly apologizing to all of those and others who I did not give recognition. I will have pizza with second and third shift. So anyway, we moved. I believe we are much more functional now after we moved. I believe it is working well.

We need to solidify and grow external relations, advancement, alumni and friends and other constituencies. Higher education is facing many, many challenges. One significant is the fight on the heart and the soul of the public. We have to continue all we can to enhance relationships with the many constituencies around us. That’s local officials, people who live around here, government, our 10,000 alums, and on and on and on. We need to do much more to engage them, make them feel that they own the institution together with us –they are a part of it. It’s theirs. They have an obligation, not because we want them to do something for us, but because it is going to better them, the lives of their children and the future of the region and the state. We also like it when they contribute.

We need to grow enrollment, programs and delivery systems. What do we mean by that? It was a record year, and for that I am extremely appreciative and thankful because it took a lot to do so. We need to continue to grow. We will I’m going back and forth with my good colleague Jack about percentages. We will grow programs. I have had good conversations with my colleague Sue, but in this case I will reveal that I hope we have at least five new programs that are relevant, appropriate, and build on our strengths. We will have five new programs, I hope. We will also have, with your help and hard work, 30 courses online by December.

The next charge that I want to address is salaries. I heard loud and clear and I understand loud and clear.

Not only that there weren’t raise, but that also several of you are not being compensated in the manner that you should, in the sense that it’s not competitive. I take that very, very seriously. I know that what you do and what we do is based on an external incentive of monetary compensation. I am committed to dealing with that. All I am asking for is a little bit of time. But we are working on it. If I could announce it now, I would.

Next, we have a region that economically is struggling. That is nothing new to any of you. That is a challenge. But, as we like to say, it is also an opportunity.

Three major things I would like based on what I heard and learned and understood so far, and my past experiences, these are things I would like to focus on together: One is academic excellence and student success. That has to do all the way from exceptional programs and the quality of the faculty. The next is making friends, involving alumni and fund raising – that is certainly a theme we all have to rally around.

And last but not least, creating and leading a coalition for growth and innovation in north central Indiana. I hope that we, as IU Kokomo, will continue to enhance significantly our role in north central Indiana as an engine for economic development and for transformation. The socio economic well‐being of the region depends on building a coalition. Where it works – it works beautifully – and where it doesn’t work, it’s pretty miserable. I had the honor and privilege many years ago of working somewhat with the Hudnut administration and they were doing things in Indianapolis and Marion. I believe we have a major role to do that and it will make us relevant and make us extremely important. That’s only by bringing together the institution of higher education, private business, not for profits, government that this will happen. So, these are the three themes I would like to work on and emphasize. We will only be successful in doing so by having each and every one of you making a difference to make it happen.

I want to mention nine priorities in addressing those themes and the challenges that we face.

The first is to assess the programs we have and build new degree programs and delivery systems – again, based on our strengths, based on our capacity, based on the need out there. It’s not going to be detached from the need and it’s not going to be detached from our strengths and what we can do.

Secondly, implement action steps from the 2009‐2010 Foundations of Excellence self‐study initiative. I believe many of you, somewhere around 80 of you, 82 – worked so hard to move forward during the past year, and obviously with exceptional results. We are going to build on it. We are going to continue.

We are going to move it forward. That work isn’t going to just be stuck on a shelf somewhere, and we’ll say thank you and have pizza.

The third priority is to respond to the new directions in learning initiative of President McRobbie.

President McRobbie has challenged Indiana University all campuses in this new direction. We will hear more about it. There is a report due in November. It has to do with the same things we did with student success, use of technology with the changing socio economic environment, are we doing all we can to utilize and to excel and to make sure students are successful. We certainly are going to respond to the president’s initiative.

We need to create a transfer student center in partnership with Ivy Tech in the Kokomo region. We have already done a variety of activities in that regard. We moved ahead with Ivy Tech very swiftly. We will have an advisor to emphasize this seamless transfer. We need to make sure our advisors are more out there at Ivy Tech. We are going to do a significant amount of work. My hope and dream is that when you are admitted to Ivy Tech, you actually already know where you are going to go with IU Kokomo. Now, of course, we believe, and I have no problem saying it, that you’re better choice is to come to us first. I can make a good argument why. But those who first go to Ivy Tech, especially those who need remedial work, we certainly are going to make sure there is a seamless transfer and I need your help to make sure that will happen. I know that Indiana has a different ways of dealing with community colleges. I was fortunate to be in Michigan for many years where it is done very differently. We have a lot of experience with that, and we are going to make sure that we are the place that they transfer to.

We are going to increase student enrollment. Enough said. It depends again on each and every one of you. I want to emphasize it doesn’t just depend on people who do recruiting. It depends on each and every one of you. For the students, each and every one of you is Indiana University Kokomo. The interaction students have with you – that’s what stays with them.

We are going to make friends and develop relationships and we are going to enhance fund raising because we have big plans for many things.

I mentioned we have great facilities. I know the top of my priorities is the Health and Wellness Center.

We are going to change it a little bit for those of you that followed the plan that was submitted and how we are going to do it and what we are going to do. I believe if we do so based on what I’ve heard, and views I’ve had exchanged with people here, we’ll have a better chance to get it. We are going to work on I hope that very soon we will make progress.

Renovate current facilities and add a Health and Wellness Center

We are going to establish a new marketing plan that is almost complete. We are going to introduce it at a cabinet retreat and make some changes, and then we will share it with all of you.

We are going to look to enhance retention and graduation rates. We are going to move forward with that.

We are on the move, as it says here. But we can only be on the move if each and every one of you leads the move. I certainly will do my share, but I ask each of you to consider yourself as a leader in this move.

What we want to be is to build on the past. There has been a long history here since 1945, and certainly in the past few years exceptional work has been done. This certainly was a major consideration in why I chose to come here. It is certainly a consideration in why I believe we can build on that and move us forward.

Where are we moving? Well, we are moving to make sure that the rapid socio economic challenges that are around us will create opportunities for us and to be nothing short of the best regional campus within Indiana University and the best regional campus in these United States – nothing less. I am not that competitive, I just really like winning. So I hope you will join me in that passion and in that commitment.

There are a lot of studies about happiness. One thing we’ve learned from it is at the end of the day not only that the most important thing is the difference we’ve made in one individual’s life, but at the end of the day in addition, we all like to be and feel part of a community, belong to a community, where we care for each other very much. Where we can enhance we have the joint cause and direction that we are on the move that we are moving towards that end.

It is my hope that we will be recognized as the best regional campus of Indiana University and the best regional campus in these United States. I absolutely believe, without a doubt, without a question, that with the enthusiasm and commitment we have here at IU Kokomo, we will achieve that end. I would like to close with two things. One is a quote from John Quincy Adams, the 6th president of the United States. The reason I chose a quote from him is not only because I like it so much, but also because he was a one‐term president and he was a president in a time of tremendous technological change – a time where education was key in that process and when the United States was changing economically dramatically. Here’s what he said: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

Translation: Each and every one of you in this room is a leader.

And last but not least, I would like to close with a quote from H.R. Mill, who was the biographer for Sir Ernest Shackleton; “The best explorer, however, is the one who can both conceive and dare.”

And in fact, we are on the move and we are going to dare together.

Thank you.

Michael Harris Chancellor and Professor Indiana University Kokomo IUK, Kokomo, Indiana, Fall 2010