Several appended tables provide the details. All told, I have asked, face-to-face, 2,082 people about where UWGB should be headed. There were many meetings with individuals. Several meetings involved a hundred or more people. Excluding meetings involving more than 40 people, the number of people involved in face-to-face discussions about UWGB and its future still totals an impressive number: 1,502.
Not included in these statistics are other opportunities critical to the education of a new chancellor; for example, the early “All Faculty” meeting, meetings with other governance groups, the Wisconsin Economic Summit, meetings of various regional groups in which UWGB is a partner, and, importantly, the simple pleasure of socializing with colleagues on campus and off, at home, at the homes of others, over pollo en mole at Los Banditos, at the Weidner, at a gallery opening, wandering into a classroom or studio, at a faculty colloquium, on a tennis court, at the “Winter Lock-in,” in the AIC, or at an athletic event. I am extremely grateful to all who have so generously contributed to “educating the chancellor.”
And, that is how I usually introduced the “get to know” sessions on campus: educating the Chancellor. I suggested only one ground rule: all subjects are appropriate for discussion. I promised to share more widely the matters raised in the campus meetings, and meeting summaries are appended. I suggested that colleagues’ investment of their valuable time and energy would be worthwhile to the extent that such investment resulted in my making fewer dumb choices. This report, I suppose, is the first real test of whether or not your investment in my education has been worthwhile.
One last opening observation. From before the day I arrived — during the early interview process — I have explained that, in my view and drawing upon conclusions reached within my academic specialization of political science, effective leadership provides questions, not answers. Groups provide the answers, not leaders. The question for us is, “Where should UWGB be heading?” Having asked that question of more than two thousand people, I am now reporting what I have heard.
All hearing is selective, and I have certainly mixed in, in what follows, the thoughts that you have stimulated in my own thinking. But, as required by a commitment to lead through listening rather than lecturing, this report is, itself, simply another step in a continuing discussion. What did I get right? What did I miss? What needs to be revisited because of changed circumstances, better information, or changed understandings? Continuing critical critique is, itself, critical.
You are responsible for the future of this fine University, and your continuing reflection upon its future is essential. My report is a contribution to assisting such ongoing dialogue.