2007 Convocation
August 22, 2007
Northern Michigan University

“Life is like riding bicycle, To keep your balance you must keep moving.” Albert Einstein, 1930

Tradition and Transformation at NMU

Dr. Les Wong, President
Northern Michigan University

Northern’s 108 years of offering students an exceptional university experience continues.  I am particularly looking forward to this, my fourth year.  Many of the first year students who started in 2004 will be graduating and I feel a particular kinship with them.  Four years ago, we started out new, with high hopes, big dreams and lots to learn.  We’re now more experienced, more knowledgeable and in my case, older.  But just as students will look ahead to find their place in the world while also fondly looking back on their college experience, I, too will do the same.  Northern filled students with new knowledge enveloped them in treasured NMU traditions and set in motion the ability to dream big dreams. Northern has affected me in similar ways.  I have a better sense of what I want to accomplish and how I can make a difference by being here at NMU and living in the Upper Peninsula.  What an honor to be a part of NMU at this time.

What students and I have in common is the influence Northern traditions will have on us. Through this common experience, we have come to realize that Northern traditions enable us to put major changes in motion with confidence.  Transformation and the change it requires scares people.  I learned, for example, that the transformation of the old coal storage yard in the lower harbor area - where the dust was known to have coated many people’s homes when the wind blew – into today’s Elwood Mattson Park was not without controversy. But look at that area now.  I’ve read, and have been told, that when President Harden introduced the idea of “Right to Try”, there was an outcry, but think of some of NMU’s most prominent alumni who came here because of what we often refer to as the “Opportunity to Succeed.”  In recent history, the introduction of the notepad computers and our investments in technology infrastructure had and still has many people reeling.  After all, wasn’t it a 26% tuition increase in one year?  And in my own time here, considerable discussion and angst over internationalization has led to a commitment to build and develop exceptional programs on and off campus that will put our students out in the world. 

Healthy and vibrant organizations are always changing without the appearance of changing. They do so despite the uneasiness. While change is never easy, it is also necessary.  More importantly, we must realize that change without the foundation of tradition is chaos.  And tradition without change is stagnancy. 

I contend that our phenomenal success on so many fronts and the impetus driving us forward comes from our strong traditional foundation.  What are some of these traditions?  Northern’s core is a fundamental commitment to student contact and success.  We know who our students are and we support them personally, socially and intellectually.  We are committed to excellent teaching and learning.  We are innovative and hard-working; we respect our traditions and the people who inspired them.  I would also add that we take great pride in the success stories of “ordinary, hard-working students” who become extraordinary by their education and their own talents. 

Today, I would like to identify four transformations already in motion whose roots run deep in Northern pride. 

First, this year we have had more change in personnel than in all of my previous years here.  Am I worried about that?  Not at all, and here’s why.  People who have moved up into new positions have been a part of Northern traditions for years and some for decades.  They received the torch carried by those who have left us, and they look forward to carrying our traditions forward.  And those of you who are new to Northern, I am also excited about your arrival.  You should know we have high expectations for you and you were hired specifically because you fit into the Northern way of things.  We didn’t hire you because you think like us.  We hired you because you resonate with the dreams and aspirations we hold for ourselves.  We need diversity in opinion, attitude and approach but more importantly, we expect a commitment to our students. 

Obviously, time limits don’t allow me to go into detail about too many personnel changes, but two changes that most profoundly impact me and many of you are our two new vice presidents, Dr. Susan Koch in Academic Affairs, replacing Dr. Fred Joyal, and Mr. Gavin Leach in Finance and Administration, replacing Dr. Mike Roy. Luckily for NMU, Mike and Fred continue to work on campus in different roles.

Welcome to those of you new to Northern.  And thank you to those who continue to contribute.  Our standards are high and our front door is open.  We will remain hard on policy and easy on people.

A second element of transformation I want to mention is our work on a new campus master plan for the physical layout of NMU. Work with our consultants began last spring and will continue through the fall semester to come to a singular plan. Some of what we’ve seen has been breathtaking in scope and in challenge.  Do not miss your opportunity to view these proposals and give your input.  If we do things right, those of you much younger than me will be working, studying and learning at a truly transformed NMU in 2020.  This effort includes the future of dining services and the bookstore.  Stay tuned, you’ll like what you see.

Third, Northern has been building a number of corporate relationships which we hope to continue.  Partners like Marquette General Hospital, Pioneer Surgical and Ironwood Plastics represent an exciting blend of excellent instruction and practical experiences for our students.  We were fortunate to have Intel engineers on campus this summer and we hope that buds into an ongoing relationship.  With Lenovo Inc., makers of Northern’s PC notebooks and one of the true IT success stories of the decade, we are seeking a closer relationship in marketing, research and product development.  As I’ve said so often, talent is everything.  And if the Northern experience wasn’t producing the ideas that drive our students and faculty, I don’t suspect these major companies would even know who we are much less care.  But they are excited by what we do and, more importantly, they want to be part of who we will become.  Now that is exciting.  Northern has been and will continue to be a strong and vibrant economic force through these partnerships in the Upper Peninsula and in the upper Midwest.  It is both a strong tradition and the winds of change.

Fourth, I’ve been working with the President’s Council on what I have arbitrarily called, NMU’s Roadmap to 2015.  This roadmap is a tool to discuss what we’re doing, when, by whom, toward what goal and at what cost.  While I have come to appreciate the short-term challenges that have occupied much of my time, my reality is really about moderate views ahead.  Can we push, pull and challenge ourselves to move with agility, move when opportunity knocks without sacrificing our tradition or compromising our vision?  The short, mid and long term look must synchronize.  I believe and am confident that they do.

The following initiatives are already seeing good success and their next steps are well underway this year.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention their prominence on this year’s activities.

• The Superior Edge.  It is strong, it is appealing and this program will define our special niche in higher education and in compassionate and civic responsibility.  Like a good leader I must do what I can to foster it without interfering. Last year about 900 students enrolled in this program, or about 10 percent of our student body – that’s amazing! It’s something for all of us to boast about.  If you are new to Northern, check out the Superior Edge program and consider how you can get your students involved.


• Internationalization is moving ahead with more and more confidence. We now have an new Executive Director and a competent staff who will help us create the appropriate infrastructures to support faculty and their programs, enable students to engage world cultures and to welcome those international students who want to be a part of Northern.  I am confident that Dr. Koch along with the deans and faculty will be pleased in 2015 when we look back at the transformation made today.


• NMU has a special responsibility to offer a meaningful, challenging and coherent curriculum.  From our liberal studies program, minors, majors and graduate programs, students must base their academic decisions on quality and relevance, not time of day or availability.   Dr. Pagel has thoughtfully articulated our need to address liberal studies.  My point is that our alums should speak of their Northern education as the beginning of a lifelong process of being an educated person.  Not a person with credits and a diploma.  We should not spare our attention here.


• We continue our institutional accreditation process as an AQIP (Academic Quality Improvement Process) institution this year, and, thanks to the efforts of many, we have completed the first round of AQIP Action Projects.  We’ve now completed the campus-wide process for selecting the 2007 action projects which include projects to enhance the campus climate for scholarship,  to improve and expand online education,  to develop strategies for a more sustainable, environmentally-conscious university, and to revise NMU’s mission, vision and goals for the future. These projects build on our NMU tradition (and the AQIP core criteria) to constantly develop and implement processes that will enhance student learning. They will require that all of us respond in timely ways to the continuing demand to account for our work with students.

It’s not like me to pass up a convocation presentation focused on our future without something provocative and daring.  There is a looming question and big issue which we must begin to confront this year.

• I challenge Northern staff, faculty, students and alumni to think about a “library of the future”.  It is impossible for me to think of a university without a library. What should the NMU library of 2015, 2025 really consist of? This may be one of the most complicated questions Northern has faced since I’ve been here. We have time before we’ll have funds to completely renovate the Edgar Harden Learning Resources Center (or LRC).  But when we can, what should we do?  What should our “new” library look like, what should it have in it and how can we build it so that it remains a highly functional facility for the campus 20 years later?  What is and will be our definition of a “university library within the learning resource center”?
  
  With our talent, our IT infrastructure, note book computers and a world wanting our knowledge, we must begin today to think and talk about NMU’s library of the future.  The tradition and power of reading won’t change, but the nature, scope and challenge of managing information in meaningful ways WILL – in fact, is doing so already. Keep in mind, our LRC is already digitized and moving toward more digital resources.  And as you know, the publishing industry is quickly changing.  We need to make sure our path is clear and the goals worthy.  
  
  The importance of reading will not fade but the medium is changing to incorporate new technologies and that means the library (LRC) as medium will change too.  The Edgar Harden LRC will be a very different place in 2015, and the environment in which our students and faculty wrestle with information will certainly be different.
  
  On a personal note, I like the feel of a book in my hands. However, if given the choice, I’d rather read the Iliad, King Lear, the Edge of Sadness or The Angle of Repose on my computer than not be able to read them at all.  And I’d rather be online with any of my NMU professors than not be engaged with them at all. I’ll be meeting with Dean Darlene Walch and her group to get the discussion started this year.  But this is and will be a university-wide issue and input from across campus will be sought.

Can you tell that I’m a bit obsessed about our future potential?  But enough of the future for now, it’s time to address the present.  In order to survive today’s economy and move us on our roadmap to 2015 and beyond, the following themes must infuse most of what we do today and throughout this coming academic year.

• Recruitment, retention and graduation
• Attracting, keeping and graduating student talent remains job #1.  Yes, effective teaching and learning is our core business.  Everything we do springs from this step.  Those of you who are new to the university should be aware that there is both a national, statewide and Upper Peninsula demographic cliff for the traditional college-aged student population.  In the U.P., we believe we start to experience that drop possibly as early as 2009, but certainly by 2010.  We must offset that change by drastic changes in our recruiting (already under way), but also possibly to our academic offerings or how we offer courses to those new population groups.  We also need to be even better – and we’re pretty good right now – at holding on to those we attract. We also need to move them quickly and meaningfully to graduation.

• Innovation and entrepreneurship
• We’re good at this and we need not lose sight of how this habit has been the backbone to our successes. However, we can’t rest on our past and present laurels. We must continue to be fearless in pushing ourselves, our programs, our students, our business procedures and all university processes to another level of excellence.   Let’s keep our focus on best practices and sharpen our willingness to change and change quickly.

• Collegiality and effectiveness
• We are a learning-focused place, and we’re good at what we do because we care about the people around us.  We may not be loud, some may not realize that we’re bold, and to others we may not appear to be stunning.  And if this state is to survive and succeed, Michigan must support and invest in NMU’s.  Our model works and it is effective.  Let’s continue to fulfill our civic duty and promote the interests of our campus, our area and the entire U.P.

I’ve managed to get to the end of this presentation without using the word “budget”.  We will continue to be challenged by unpredictable state support.  In the face of this unpredictability will be the challenge to seek revenue sources through creative programming and enrollment management that support and enhance our vision.  We have been able to create a future while the condition of the state has eroded.  The erosion rate is now faster and we must accelerate our efforts to counter this.  We will be ramping up our planning to account for this erosion and to promote our positioning in the marketplace for students.  The charge before every employee is to do what we do well and to the best of our ability.  I am confident we will rise to the challenge.

Thank you for the work and effort I’ve come to see each day, 24/7. I am incredibly proud of you all.  Your efforts do not go unappreciated or unnoticed by me, your supervisors, our students and their parents.

You’ve heard a lot today about our traditions and our future.  As we start this year let’s not forget that tradition got us here; transformation will move us ahead.  Have a terrific year.

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Bibliography

Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1974.

Isaacson, Walter.  Einstein: His Life and Universe.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007.

O'Connor, Edwin. The Edge of Sadness. New York: Bantam Books, 1961.

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Lear. Ed. Louis B. Wright. New York: Washington Square P, 1960.

Stegner, Wallace. Angle of Repose. New York: Fawcett Crest, 1971.