Robert A. Easter, Interim Provost and Vice-Chancellor for Academic

Affairs

Campus Priorities2009-2010

My Background – Unusual for a Provost

B.S. at Texas A&M in Agriculture, M.S. in Animal Nutrition, Ph.D. from Illinois in Animal Science – I joined the Illinois faculty in 1976. My research is in the area of swine nutrition – feeding pigs. We are proud that Illinois is a major intellectual center in this discipline & my colleagues and I have populated the world with our Ph.D.’s

It is fair to say that I am also a general agriculturist with work/lecture experience in more than 40 countries. I currently hold a presidential appointment as Chair of the Board on International Food and Agricultural Development that advises the US Agency for International Development

In 1996 I became Head of the Department of Animal Sciences

In 2001 I was first named interim dean then dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Today marks the first day of my tenure as interim provost.

Welcome to Leadership at the University of Illinois

The campus leadership profoundly appreciates your willingness to take on your responsibilities

What you and your fellow leaders do will in significant part determine the future of our institution.

In a very real sense it is my responsibility, along with those in the Office of the Provost to do everything that we can to allow you to be successful….. We take that role seriously

My predecessor, Provost Linda Katehi, placed great emphasis on building cohesion and a sense of “team” and we have been able to have conversations and make decisions that would not have been possible otherwise.

LeadershipLeadership is fundamental to the success

of any endeavor involving two or more people

“The art of direct and indirect influence and the skill of creating the conditions for sustained organizational success.”

MANAGERS – Strive to achieve goals

LEADERS – Inspire others to achieve potential

Management can be relatively simple, Leadership isn’t

Individually we must be both leaders and managers.

The greatest challenge for me has been to grapple with the realization that it isn’t about me… and finding pleasure in their success

Leaders are:Standard bearers -

Accept the reality that you ARE the College are the Department in the eyes of many.

Provide vision and certaintyEstablish the ethical framework

Honor commitments – Let your yes be yes and your no be no

We academic’s love to parse words – be absolutely clearDevelopers of human potential

Teachers and coachesTeam builders

Create common intent and shared vision – I had the privilege of growing up on this campus under a department head who exuded excellence – there was no compromise

Leaders must:- Have a pragmatic understanding the

economic/industrial/social/resource context.

- Anticipate change

LeadersContinually hone their professional skillsHave unabashed integrityKnow their “people”Find greater satisfaction in the success of

others than themselves

Governance:Faculty have much to contribute and are

the long-term essence of a unit….. Our consultative process is bulky, tedious

and dependent on administrative leadership.

Success or failure, in the long term, depends on our ability to engage faculty in the creation and implementation of change.

Not unlike the story of sight-impaired individuals who each touched an

elephant and described what they sensed – a tree, a wall, a rope….

We each have our definition of what a great public university should be and that in turn will have impact on the

decisions that we make…

Concept of the University

To Enlighten

“To bring light where there had previously been darkness, to replace opinion, i.e., superstition, by scientific knowledge of nature….”

Alan Bloom (1987) The Closing of the American Mind

We are a Land-Grant University

Some mistakenly believe that means we focus on agriculture– we do but the title comes from the simple fact the Morrill Act passed by the US Congress in 1862 and signed by Abraham Lincoln grant public lands to each state which was then to be sold and the income used to establish a university “for the people”

Over time there emerged a Land-Grant philosophy

Access by the qualified not the privilegedState-supportedCommitted to:

Quality educational programs Fundamental and problem-oriented researchSignificant communication of knowledge to

the citizenry of the stateState and regional economic development

This is an unbelievable placeFew if any public research universities are as well-

positioned as the University of Illinois tobe at the forefront of breakthrough discoveries.

Our campus is opportunity-rich The profound change in the past decade is the

extent of cross-campus conversation – we embrace interdisciplinarity.

Great departments (colleges) are characterized by:

A faculty that shares a common sense of purpose.

A culture that accepts nothing short of excellence in individual and collective performance

Individuals whose lives enrich the environment for all

The Year Before us….Bring to quick and clear resolution of the admissions

issues that have been with us for the past several months

Budget – 60% of our base-budget is tuition, what is appropriate

use of the dollars that students and their parents send to us?

We are a well-resourced campus by most peer measuresHow can we be more efficient?Are we doing things that should no longer be a part of the

portfolio?

Accreditation – team visit 2nd week of OctoberFourth year of strategic plan

The Year Before UsFaculty and staff recruiting and retention

We will protect the faculty excellence ,TOP and partner programs.

Much will be determined by the anticipated fall session of the legislature and the success or failure of the proposed tax increase.

There is good news:Construction projects – Lincoln Hall!

We anticipate about 18M in remodeling money from the state – significant focus on energy savings and crisis repairs

Student fees allow additional correction of deferred maintenance

Efforts to address utility conservation have yielded (my view) remarkable success -- about 10% reduction

GoalsProtect and grow excellenceFind ways to invest in areas of startling

opportunity