Ramblings

January 31, 2008

Knowlton’s Notes: Ramblings

While I have tried to have a theme to each of the articles I have recently written for the Trojan times this time is different. There are so many ideas, thoughts, and issues that make my life as president of this dynamic institution incredibly stimulating. So for this issue I have decided to briefly write about three thoughts running through my head.

Study Abroad
I have had the good fortune to travel abroad (Iceland, England, Scotland, France, Italy) and each time I have returned a different person. Any type of study abroad or just travel to a foreign country is a life changing experience. I wish that there was some way to subsidize more student travel or ways to convince students of the importance of these types of experiences. Not only are they life changing, but in this global economy, these experiences are resume builders. Employers are increasing looking for people that have had more global experiences and can function in this international workplace.

Dr. Nancy Moose and her husband Roger lead a fabulous study trip to England, Scotland and France. I had the opportunity along with my son to travel with them and a group of DSU students. They are incredible guides and facilitators of the experience. I would encourage students to contact Dr. Moose if you have any interest in expanding your resume, your experience and your perceptions of the world.

Responsibility for Learning – okay this is definitely a rant!
As the person of last resort when a student needs to appeal a suspension etc., I get a chance on rare occasions to visit with students who want to make a case for returning to the university. Each time I make a decision about the appeal very early in the process. If the student immediately launches into a litany of excuses for performance, noisy roommates, problems with boyfriend, computer problems the odds of getting a favorable appeal decision are just about zero! If the individual start to discuss with me their own responsibility for their performance and how they have developed a plan to improve, then I start listening.

One of the most important lessons I have learned in life is the need to take responsibility for one’s own life, particularly one’s own learning. It is not about the instructor, the book, the time of the class, the subject matter. It is all about me and my attitude. I have been in a situation of sitting through the most unbelievably boring lectures and or presentations. It was not until I really came to grips with my own drive to learn was I able to approach almost every situation and experience with the attitude “What can I learn from this”. Then I can focus my interest and my attention and even in these situations find something that is valuable in the presentation. When I was in graduate school I was required to take 4 semesters of statistics – math not being my favorite subject – I dreaded this requirement. But I learned to motivate myself and worked on my attitude. During those four semesters I got three A’s and a B. My greatest wish for students at DSU is that they find a way to have an attitude that generates excitement about every opportunity to learn!

Appreciating Diversity
I am clearly most comfortable when I am surrounded by people who are a lot like me. Yes – that is a fact and is probably true for most of us. I also know that there is richness in experiences that bring me into contact with people who are different from me. Whether that individual is of a different racial or ethnic background, younger or older, male or female, gay or straight, or from another area of the world, I know that I am better as a person when I have a chance for these interactions. In a world that is increasing diverse our appreciation of this diversity is a major asset. I hope students will seek out experiences that broaden their understanding of individuals they may perceive as different from themselves. As a result of that experience they will, without a doubt, become a kinder , smarter and much more successful person.

So maybe next edition I will get back on a theme – or was there a theme here?

January Newsletter

January 25, 2008

To the DSU Community:

On January 4, 2008 I completed four years as the president here at DSU. It is hard to believe that four years could go this fast and that I feel like I am still learning and excited about “starting” this position. When I look back, I am proud of our many accomplishments over this time period but I also realize how many dreams and challenges we have ahead of us.

The start of this Spring (hard to call it spring with these below zero temps) Semester has taken me to Pierre on a couple of occasions. The annual “Madison Hosts the Legislature” event was held on January 15th and I accompanied a large group of individuals from Madison on the bus to Pierre. I was pleased that we had a good size group representing DSU. During the trip we met with our local legislators, met with the governor and hosted a reception for legislators and other state leaders. Once again our dynamic duo of Jona and Donna put up a wonderful display highlighting Dakota State. This display included a new banner with the “DARE TO DO” tagline prominently at the top. This gave us many opportunities to talk about the university and share our plans for the future. The governor was very complimentary of DSU and made a strong statement about why he felt that Dakota State was a place where things got done.

The first three days of this week were also spent in Pierre. Monday I attended a Council of Presidents meeting focused on tuition policy and then attended a Board of Regents meeting and a reception for Student Federation members. Tuesday and Wednesday were Board of Regents days to appear before the joint appropriations committee. In addition to a general presentation by the board, each of the public universities were given a time to present issues that they felt would be important to the committee. VP Wittmayer, VP Krusemark and I presented on Wednesday morning. Here is a link to the web site that we sent to the legislators in preparation for this presentation. This includes the basic outline of the material presented with additional links to supportive or supplemental information.

http://www.dsu.edu/appropriationdoc/

Next week we will hold an all campus meeting and go through the issues we presented to the legislature. There are a couple of very important initiatives for DSU including a bonding bill that would allow us to do a total renovation of our Science Center and a bill that would include the establishment of the statewide research cluster (data center) here on campus. We will keep you all informed as these legislative activities progress.

Upon returning from the legislature on Wednesday evening I had the chance to participate in a thank-a-thon event. Individuals from our planning council spent time on three consecutive nights calling individuals to thank them for their financial contributions to the university. It was great fun talking with alumni and donors. (I must say I didn’t enjoy all the calls to Florida and Arizona given that it was below zero here and we inevitably discussed the weather) We also got oriented to the new call system that the foundation has put in place that speeds up the calling and the record keeping.

Yesterday included a briefing with the regional president of a major bank in Sioux Falls. Dr. Kevin Streff and I are engaged in a process that has a goal of establishing a National Center for the Protection of the Financial Infrastructure here at DSU. The governor and the state office of economic development have provided some initial implementation funds. In addition to engaging local financial institutions we will be traveling to Washington D.C. the first week in February to speak with our congressional delegation and key people in a variety of federal agencies. I also hope to connect with some alumni and supporters who live in the D.C. area.

Here are some highlights from other activities that have kept things hoping during these first weeks of the semester.
· Our football program held their annual banquet this past Sunday. We had a chance to honor a number of players, their seniors and even a number of parents. It was a great evening. It ended at a time that would allow Coach Shea to watch his favorite team the Packers get beat in the playoff game (Okay I am a Vikings fan so I couldn’t resist)
· As a member of the board of directors of The Collaboration (a regional faculty development collaboration) I have been engaged in some activities preparing for the spring conference in Minneapolis. The theme for this conference is “Critical Thinking in the Age of the Internet”. I was really pleased to discover that members of our DSU faculty are presenting five different sessions – more than any other university at the meeting.
· One of the highlights of my spring semester over the past few years has been the chance to be a Junior Achievement instructor in one of the grade schools here in Madison. This year I am in Mrs. Sims’ 5th grade class. I get the chance to interact with these enthusiastic, energetic and delightful young kids for 5 Thursday mornings. If we could all just sustain some of their eagerness to learn thought out our lives it would be truly amazing. They energize me!
· We continue the search on campus for the next major Information Technology advance. We are mandated to “stay ahead of the curve” with regard to this technology. Last week I had the chance to hear from an “Apple” computer representative. Although I have not been a real apple fan it was interesting to hear about new developments and the possibility for a dual platform type of notebook computer.
· We continue to meet regularly with regard to recruiting new students. Our advertizing campaign, our discovery days and other activities are constantly being scrutinized to keep our feet to the fire with regard to recruitment. I am pleased that our new tagline “DARE TO DO” seems to have caught on and I have had a number of positive comments. It seems to be so applicable to many of the things we do at DSU.
· The foundation staff and I have been making presentations to groups of individuals regarding our planned comprehensive campaign. We are in the feasibility phase of the campaign and will be sharing more details about the campaign at a later date. We have now held two sessions in Sioux Falls, two in Madison and one in Rapid City with a session planned for Omaha. Last night we were in Sioux Falls and gathered much needed comments and suggestions as we put the final touches on our campaign materials etc.

This weekend brings another flurry of activities. Our men’s and women’s basketball teams will be hosting conference rivals on both Friday and Saturday night. I will be a attending a legislature information session in Sioux Falls on Saturday morning and will return to attend a special “DSU” wedding in the afternoon. Miles Rausch and Holli Gregg – two outstanding recent graduates will be married tomorrow here in Madison.

During one of my thank-a-thon calls the alum I was speaking with commented that he enjoyed reading my blogs but he wished that I made more entries --so my new year’s resolution is to post more comments to by blog. Hope you all have a good January weekend – yes it will warm up! Doug