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HIGHER EDUCATION SOU's new president immersing herself in the job Comment By Joe Zavala for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Joe Zavala for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 4, 2016 at 4:13 AM By Joe Zavala for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 4, 2016 at 4:13 AM » Social News Seven weeks after agreeing to become Southern Oregon University’s 13th president, Linda Schott spent her first official day on the job Monday touring the campus and meeting faculty and staff during a campus reception. Schott earned a master’s in history in 1981 and a doctorate in history and humanities in 1986, both from Stanford University, after which she began her teaching career at Texas State University. She served as the director of the center for the study of women and gender at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and as the director of the women’s and gender studies program at Eastern Michigan University before becoming EMU’s head of the department of history and philosophy and the associate dean of the college of arts and sciences in 2006. Two years later she began serving as the dean of the school of arts, humanities and social sciences at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and in 2012 Schott became the president of the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI). Before Monday’s reception, Schott, who said she arrived in Ashland on July 27 with “our two vehicles, our son, three cats and a dog,” sat down to talk about the transition, her philosophies regarding secondary education and the challenges the lie ahead at SOU. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Q: During your public forum presentation you mentioned that neither your mom nor your dad graduated from high school. SOU in the past has billed itself as a good landing spot for first-generation students. Was that something that attracted you to SOU? Schott : Absolutely. When you look at our nation we really need to increase the number of students who have baccalaureate degrees or other kinds of certifications, and an institution like this is here to provide baccalaureate and master’s degrees. We know that the students who are succeeding in our high schools and come from wealthy backgrounds or even privileged middle-class backgrounds, they’re usually going on to college and have a pretty good chance of success, although not all of them succeed. But the bulk of the population in the United States, the growth in the population, is among what we have called minority groups and students who come from less privileged economic backgrounds. ... I get tired of seeing so many media stories about how hard it is to get into college and how expensive it is, because really public institutions like this are much more accessible and much more affordable than the schools that you usually hear about, the elite schools. Q: During your public forum you mentioned that, prior to arriving at University of Maine at Presque Isle, it was a university with “no clear vision or sense of direction.” How do you feel about SOU’s vision and sense of direction? Schott : Well, what I’ve been told is that there’s a little lack of clarity at this point. I really don’t feel like I have this history down very well yet, but there may be some lack of clarity in whether being a public liberal arts college is the appropriate mission for this institution, or whether it should be more of a regional-serving institution. I don’t want to take a position on that at this point but I think what is clear is that the university needs to have a very clear idea of what its mission is and how it can best serve this region. So that’s part of the thinking that I hope to do with the campus over the coming year. The way I’d like to do that is sort of talk to people and find out why they’re here, what’s kept them here — I’ve met people already today who’ve been here 20, 25 years or more. And not just faculty, but staff. What do they love about this place? What are they passionate about? What do they see as the potential that maybe hasn’t been fully realized? Q: Enrollment has actually gone up two years in a row at SOU, but helping those students follow through to graduation is another challenge. What’s the key? Schott : For the traditional undergraduate student, they need to be engaged. So campus life needs to be engaging for them. We know that if they’re engaged — if they’re on the football team or they’re in the band or they’re in the theater troupe, or they’re in ROTC — some organization, they’re more likely to stay. ... I really hope to bring student-centered focus. How do we best serve the students? You have to have, I think, excellent customer service. Students are not customers in the classroom, but they are customers when they go to financial aid or when they go to get their parking permit. Q: For those of us who don’t understand exactly what the transition process is like for a university president, can you explain it? You just got here — now what? Schott : I think at first I’m going to focus a lot on getting to know the campus, getting to know the board members, then I’ll gradually work on getting out into the community and getting to know the people in the community. I also want to get to know my presidential colleagues around the state, so that we can work effectively together in terms of helping legislators and others across the state understand the importance of these institutions and the roles that we’re playing. A longer version of this interview is available online at dailytidings.com . Joe Zavala is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach him at 541-821-0829 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @Joe_Zavala99. By Joe Zavala for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Joe Zavala for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 4, 2016 at 4:13 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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