Erskine Bowles Visits UNCG, Brings his "A" Game With Him.
I went to the new Science Building today to catch a Q&A session by our very own President Elect of the UNC System Erskine Bowles. We might have lost a senator, but I think the UNC System scored a upstanding guy who will go a long way towards fixing everything wrong with NC's public university system.
Opening with the joke "I finally got a job!", once the applause died down he dove headlong into the briar patch that is the UNC System schools. He laid out for everyone what he saw, what he thought he should see, and what he needed to do to get what he needed to get the UNC System moving in the right direction again. He stated right up front that he wasn't a visionary, he was the guy you call to make your vision a reality. With 16 campuses, and all of the layers of politics that lives witin each one, this was a breath of fresh air. I think if anyone else had been standing up there he would have told us his vision and half of the room would have been plotting to make it fail.
His business language worked for me what with this University ITP Project Management Office secret life I use to pay the bills.
I also liked his honesty. The first person to speak during the Q&A portion spouted a prepaired speech that went on and on about the very real plight of the hapless university staff member. At the end of her speech he noded and said, "This is not the first campus I have heard this on." He then said that he would always speak as truthfully as possible. He went on to say that though her issue is very valid and very real, it was not his highest priority. He went on to say that though things were bad for university staff the same issues affected the university faculty and they are the ones who make or break a university. Good teachers bring more students. Once the brain drain amoung the faculty could be solved, then he would turn towards the staff issues. I personally really appreciated that. Most politicians say anything they can to please everyone they can and then do whatever the heck they want. It was refreshing and good to hear this kind of honesty. His ultimate goal is to pay faculty and staff wages that are on par with private sector saleries. That would be worth waiting for.
He told us that we are having to operate on fewer and fewer resources and the best way to combat it is to show clearly what we do, what it cost, what we want to do and what it cost, and most importantly what it will do in turn. He's talking my language!
One thing that was brought up that I had never thought about before was the fact that out of 16 campuses only a couple of them were specialized. Most UNC schools are trying to be all things to all people and that might be hurting everyone. This came from the UNCG assistant Chief of Police. Food for thought. Erskine was familiar with the trend already. I got the since that he saw it as a problem as well, but didn't know quite how to steer the Universities back towards their specialities.
One thing I really appreciated was that he came in with a legal pad and took notes of what people were saying to him. This was definately in keeping with his statement of wanting to know our vision so he could help us achieve it.
Wecome aboard Erskine, and good luck!
