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By Jon C. Dalton Florida State University Graham Spanier has been president of Pennsylvania State University since 1995. A national leader in higher education Spanier has served as Chair of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and the Council of Presidents of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. Spanier is a magician, has a commercial pilot’s license, and plays the washboard with the Deacons of Dixieland. Last year President Spanier contributed a 12-day “President’s Public Diary” to the Journal of College and Character, that was published on this site and is available to readers in the Journal of College and Character. In these daily diary entries Spanier offers personal reflections on the wide range of leadership and values issues he confronts in his role as president at Penn State. In a followup to his public diaries, I interviewed President Spanier about his public diary reflections and his views and values on presidential leadership. This interview was conducted last fall. _____________________________________________________________ Jon Dalton: “In your public diary you comment on the wide range of issues you confront as president, everything from athletics to corporate relations. While most of our readers probably understand that university presidents have a lot on their plates and have to make hard choices, they also are frustrated sometimes when they feel presidents are not giving priority to issues they think are critical. Could you please talk a bit about how you prioritize, about how you decide which issues to attend to and when, and how you respond to pressure from various groups and individuals?” Graham Spanier: “Time management is one of the most difficult challenges for presidents. Use of time is decided by four driving forces. First are the things that I—and most presidents—would rarely miss. These are the events that one is more or less obligated to attend. For me, examples include commencements, trustee meetings, the freshman convocation, faculty senate meetings, and certain home athletic contests.” “Second , there are a particular president’s own priorities. I have an agenda for what I wish to accomplish, and it requires me to spend some of my time attending to those priorities. For example, when we decided to reorganize our system of campuses at Penn State, it required dozens of campus visits and meetings on my part. I am trying to promote greater civility and sensitivity on campus, and as a result I meet with numerous campus groups each year to foster this agenda.” “The third area is related to crises. Much of one’s time is driven by the squeaky wheel, namely attending to the crises that pop up from day to day. Some of these are significant matters, but others are rather trivial, even though they may have the potential to become bigger issues.” “Finally, there are my personal priorities. My assistant knows that I usually say “yes” to attending certain student events, meeting with elected officials, making fund raising calls at the request of my development staff, replying to media inquiries, attending alumni events, and doing fun things like athletic events and requests for me to do magic shows (I am a magician). And my door is always open to trustees, vice presidents, deans, and senior staff. At the same time, she knows that I usually say “no” to requests such as appointments with students who should be taking their concerns to their professor or salespersons who wish to solicit business from the president rather than the administrator most appropriately involved.” Public Diary: Day 6 Humanizing the University One of my highest priorities as president of Penn State has been to humanize the university to make the institution more responsive to all faculty and staff to improve productivity and employee satisfaction. Family friendly policies and programs are a big part of this effort. They are good business. They also are in keeping with Penn State’s concern for promoting human development. In the meantime, I have concluded that I must continue to protect as many opportunities as possible to spend time with my family. There will never be enough time, and it is difficult to weigh the competing demands. Time management and the work/family balance is surely one of the great challenges for any university president, especially those with children at home. Jon Dalton: “In our more cynical moments many of us assume that most decisions presidents make are purely political. While political concerns must play a role, I’m sure that much more goes into your decision-making process. Would you describe and give an example of some of the things you do when making important decisions? For example, how do you inform yourself about issues, to whom do you talk, what guiding values are important to you?” Graham Spanier: “ We are very sensitive to politics—state, local, and internal. But a president absolutely must have a value system for decision-making. In all important decisions, I ask ‘What is in the best interests of the university?’ I will make an unpopular decision if necessary. My feeling is that people will follow good leadership and will allow you an occasional unpopular decision. Of course, one can only get away with that if most of one’s prior decisions have turned out to be good decisions in the long run even if they were unpopular at first. My style if to steep myself in the data and background of an issue. I like to know all the relevant information. I seek opinions of others on most important issues, but do not hesitate to make the final decision myself. If the decision needs to be explained, we work hard on how we will sell it. Public relations is a part of most decisions.” Public Diary: Day 11, Building Consensus Alumni are one of many important constituencies for the president. I need to be able to see the university from their point of view as well as the point of view of students, parents, faculty, staff, the Board of Trustees, donors, athletics boosters, corporate partners, state officials, the local community, and the public at large. Each sees the institution from different angles. While that’s one of the things that makes my job so interesting, there are times that it seems that they don’t see the same institution at all. Building consensus can be one of the president’s greatest challenges. As I look at the university from these many different vantage points, I need a compass to guide my decisions about what is in the best interests of Penn State. Academic quality and integrity and our land-grant traditions of opportunity and outreach are some of the considerations to which I return again and again. Jon Dalton: “One of the biggest issues in higher education today is how we can help students acquire the leadership skills to take their places as contributing members of our communities and organizations. Could you comment on what you have learned about leadership over the years? In particular, what have mistakes taught you about leadership?” Graham Spanier: “ I believe the best lessons are learned from looking at others who have failed. I have learned more about leadership by examining the shortcomings of other leaders than by studying the success of role models or studying my own shortcomings. I believe that the most important leadership qualities are to put people first, to be as fully prepared as possible with the background on an issue or decision, and to have well-articulated principles that others can understand and accept.” Public Diary: Day 12, Citizenship and Social Responsibility This week we welcome the freshmen who are starting at Penn State during the summer term. On arrival day in both the summer and fall, freshmen attend a First-Year Students’ Convocation to mark the beginning of their Penn State education with a note of seriousness in the midst of all the excitement that this time in their lives holds. I take this opportunity to address our new students and offer them some advice. One of my messages concerns the development of character, conscience, citizenship, and social responsibility in our students. In my view, this is one of the most fundamental problems facing higher education today. No aspect of this challenge is greater for our young adults than the excessive consumption of alcohol and the behaviors that surround it. Many of today’s undergraduates come to us as experienced drinkers nearly one-third of college students were binge drinkers in high school. Moreover, binge drinking has become all too common among today’s college students. While drinking in college has always been with us, the difference today is that more young people binge drink, and those who engage in high risk drinking do so more often. The toll of these behaviors is substantial, academically, financially, and socially. The level of attention being given to this problem by university presidents has accelerated and a wide range of initiatives is being put in place on campuses nationwide. I’m pleased to say that Penn State has taken a leadership role in national efforts to raise public awareness of this issue. The problems associated with the excessive consumption of alcohol among college students won’t be solved without the involvement of institutions, students, parents, and communities. I am encouraged by the groundswell of support that has appeared in response to our efforts to call attention to this important challenge. Jon Dalton: “How do you conceive of your role as president? What do you regard as your most important responsibilities?” Graham Spanier: “I can’t do it all myself, so a key part of my role is to hire excellent people, work collaboratively with them, and provide an overall direction that works for all of us. I must be willing to be on the front lines and take the heat; I am not a believer in the philosophy that the president must be protected or insulated when the muck starts flying. I realize that the public often judges the university on the basis of the image, statement, and programs of the president. So I worry often about what I am doing, saying, and projecting.” Public Diary: Day Two Civic Engagement The higher education groups in which I have participated in the last few years, the one that has gotten the most attention is the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities. The recommendations of the commission, which call for a transformation of public higher education in response to societal changes, have captured the imaginations of universities nationwide. Having chaired the commission, I have been invited to speak at a number of universities and am off again this week to address the annual extension conference at Cornell University, the land-grant institution in New York. One of the major themes that summarize the work of the Kellogg Commission is engagement. Broad societal change has created unprecedented opportunities for universities to become fully engaged with their communities and make a greater difference in the quality of life. Accessibility and flexibility, more active student involvement in learning, interdisciplinary scholarship, and collaborative community partnerships are hallmarks of the engaged university. If our universities are not supportive of the learning needs of people of all ages and the expanding knowledge needs of society, other educational enterprises will surely supersede us in this intellectually demanding world. Fortunately, we are entering a new era of responsiveness among institutions like Penn State. Yet we cannot do it alone. As important as the Kellogg Commission’s call to engagement is the commission’s call for renewed public investment in higher education. Both are integral to sustaining the covenant between the American people and their public universities. Jon Dalton: “More and more is being written and discussed about the stresses of life in higher education. How do you nurture the personal commitments that are important to you such as family, spirituality, learning and renewal? What have you observed about the stresses faced by faculty and staff? Do you agree that this is a major problem? Has it gotten worse in your opinion? If so, why and what do you think you, as president, can do about it?” Graham Spanier: "Since there is virtually no dividing line between work and family or between home and office, I try to include my family in my job as president, whenever possible. I take my children to athletic events, concerns, and certain social events. I include them in events we are hosting. And I encourage others in the administration to do the same. I put certain events important to my children, my wife, and me on my calendar as far ahead of time as possible, and I then try to protect that time. Yes, this is a major problem for presidents, and yes, it has gotten worse over time. I doubt that much can be done other than for presidents to do their best to protect the time they need and to work out a system that makes sense for them." Public Diary: Day Nine Cultural Development Tomorrow is the opening night of one of the summer theater productions at Penn State. My daughter and I will attend, a highlight in the week for me. Our Colleges of Arts and Architecture and the Liberal Arts, in conjunction with university outreach units, have much to contribute to the quality of life. This year in Penn State’s appropriations request to the state, we sought funding for a special cultural development initiative to promote the arts and humanities. While the state has been modestly responsive to the university’s requests for funding in support of workforce and economic development, our request for the arts was ignored. I am very concerned that in this era at attention to the important role of our nation’s research universities in economic development, there is the disturbing possibility of forgetting that places like Penn State exist as well to foster that which cannot be measured in dollars and centers: to foster the spiritual in our students; to help them understand their heritage; to develop an appreciation of the visual arts, literature, and music; and to help them prepare for lives that have direction and meaning beyond the strictly economic. What a shame that the arts and humanities are areas where we struggle particularly hard for adequate support. Jon Dalton: “What is most fulfilling to you in the work you do as president?” Graham Spanier: "Commencement. At commencement time, we see so vividly why we toil as we do during the preceding semester or year." ____________________________________________________________ Note: The full text of Graham Spanier’s Public Diary can be found on the Internet at http://www.CollegeValues.org/diaries/cfm. |
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