Breaking through the 'wonderfulness': President praises community's 'extraordinary efforts'
From the Monitor, March 2, 1998

In what he called an "informal, enlightened discussion about the wonderfulness of BGSU," President Sidney Ribeau praised the efforts of the entire University community.

"In every area imaginable, we have made substantial progress in pursuit of goals that are going to assure that we're the premier learning community in Ohio and one of the best in the nation," he said during his Feb. 19 State of the University address. "We've done six years worth of work in 2-1/2 years."

He said freshman applications are up 9 percent-an accomplishment he described as "extraordinary." He also said fall-to-spring freshman retention has increased by almost 2 percent. And he referred to the President's Report to the Community-a document that lists 18 pages of accomplishments and progress toward priorities.

"A lot of seeds that have been sown by your work and your effort are beginning to break the soil," he said.

Ribeau acknowledged that success did not come "without struggle, hard work, tension, accomplishments, achievements and failures.

"Things will not always go well or go easy when you're pursuing ambitious goals," he said. "Difficult things take extraordinary efforts."

Reaching back to the past, Ribeau acknowledged the dedication of three people who died in the last year who had made significant contributions to the University and to students.

Elliot Blinn, a chemistry professor who "gave all of us a model of how we might do our jobs;" Deborah Potridge, a secretary in management for more than 20 years, and Herbert Moorehead, who served on the Board of Trustees and the Alumni Association's Board of Trustees and and foundation board, are all part of Bowling Green's legacy, he said.

"None of us is taking the first steps in the creation of this institution," he added. "We are resting on the backs and on the labor of many other people. That past was created by those in this room and others who have walked this way before us. And we should never forget that."

He praised the effort of "people who work very, very hard on things that aren't high profile," acknowledging that they "don't get the recognition or the accolades that they deserve." These are people who "are doing an extraordinary job in a very quiet way and that's moving the University forward," he said. "And the last few years, we have not had the monetary resources to recognize that in the way that I would like to." But that is beginning to change, he explained.

"As resources are coming back into the system-as enrollment increases, as we see it doing now, as retention increases, as we begin to see in the next two to five years, the impact of the early retirement program, the annuities being paid off-that money is going to be dedicated to the recognition of our faculty and staff and academic programs that are making a difference in the University." 

But people have to come together and stay the course, he said. "The sense of community is what's going to make it a reality."

Using the example of one incoming freshman's experience, Ribeau said BGSU is "already a university that changes lives."

The student, Brooke, is the daughter of a BGSU alumna from Austin, Texas, interested in enrolling in a pre-med program. Despite significant scholarship and financial aid offerings from prestigious institutions, including Boston, Duke and Miami universities, Brooke chose Bowling Green "because of the quality of treatment she received from faculty and staff," said Ribeau. "People took that extra step. People cared enough to take time with this student."

In building the premier university, Ribeau emphasized the importance of realizing the learning community ideal and incorporating active, collaborative, supportive, personal and holistic learning at all levels of the organization.

"One of the outgrowths of a learning community is that you foster an environment where students begin making connections and making applications that can lead to solving problems," he said.

"You want intellectual depth in disciplines but also integration. That could be curricular, that could be capstone courses, that could be senior seminars." He also mentioned the importance of opportunities for students to apply what they're learning in the classroom, such as co-ops and mentoring programs.

Several BGSU programs that already exist or are in the planning stages "do what a learning community should do," Ribeau said. Examples include the honors program, the BG Effect mentoring program, Prout Hall, the planned Health and Human Services residential community, the Chapman Living/Learning Community, the French House, the UNIV 100 class, Springboard, the First-year Experience Program and the planned Leadership Academy.

He cited Chapman as a "phenomenal success" that is "showing what can be done." He also noted that the UNIV 100, introduction to University life, course is being redefined to take on more of an academic focus.

In three-five years, when up to 3,500 freshmen are expected to be enrolled, the goal is to have "at least half involved in some kind of enhanced learning experience consistent with the idea of a learning community," Ribeau said.

The concept of the learning community should also extend to staff and faculty, Ribeau emphasized.

Training and learning experiences for staff have recently included workshops in participatory management and desktop technology. He also recommended workshops similar to author Stephen Covey's on habits of highly effective people as well as staff exchange programs with other colleges and universities.

"When you leave here, you should know things, feel things and be able to do things that you couldn't do before you came here, and not just in your discipline," he said.

Ribeau also spoke about the importance of strong graduate and research programs. "You cannot have a premier learning community of any kind without having stimulating and challenging research programs and graduate programs," he said.

"You have to have something to teach, you have to have engaged minds and intellects in that classroom, the kind of energy and enthusiasm that excites students.

"You do it by constantly and continually investigating new vistas, new horizons, new areas in your discipline."

"There is no magic to the number of graduate programs that we have at the doctoral level or the master's degree level," he said, but "the controlling factor is quality."

"We don't have the financial resources to be all things to all people," he explained, but we can do it in select areas. He mentioned three examples of focused, highly successful graduate programs at the University: psychology, photochemical sciences and the history department's policy history program.

Graduate study and research needs to complement the intellectual enterprise of the University and help us strengthen the undergraduate program, said Ribeau.

"It takes colleagues coming together and asking, 'What should we be and what can we do really well?' "

"We are never going to be as good as we can be if we don't have an environment where people's ideas and differences are respected," Ribeau emphasized, speaking passionately about the importance of incorporating values into "the way we do business.

"We need to reach the destination in a way that elevates the human dignity and personal worth of every individual."

Dialogue and discussion should be valued in the institution, he said, stressing that "we need to continue to work on creating an environment where people can voice their opinion about things that are problematic or things about which they differ," he said.

"I do not get uptight or anxious because people do not agree with me," he added. "What's important is that we get issues on the table and come to a collective position that moves the University forward. 

"Where communication breaks down, coercion begins."