Jeffrey Francis Bullock
President of the University of Dubuque
Within a year, Bullock, supported by UD trustees, unveiled the Plan for Transformation. It was a bold and controversial program intended to right the listing ship and set a clear course. The university eliminated jobs and nearly two dozen academic programs.
The fallout included a lawsuit, dismissal of some tenured faculty and censure from the American Association of University Professors.
However, nearly four years later, Bullock says the results on various fronts vindicate the Plan for Transformation. Campus enrollment has grown to about 1,200 undergraduates, graduate students and seminarians. And that figure does not include participants in on-line and certificate programs.
Indeed, Bullock says that one of UD's current challenges is to control enrollment growth.
After giving a tour of various construction projects on campus, Bullock spent 90 minutes answering the Telegraph Herald's questions. Here are highlights of that interview.
TH: How would you break up your various responsibilities?JB: Well, my most important responsibility is as a dad and as a husband. I would have to confess that I probably don't do as much of that as I should do.
Professionally, I'd say my job would be divided into teaching - I do a little teaching - certainly administration, a lot of fund-raising and a lot of travel. Most of my time is spent in traveling; fundraising a good percentage.
I still do like to have a life of the mind. I have a research project, so I try to publish at least an article or a review or something annually, or give a conference paper or something like that.
Administratively, I guess you would say I'm a hands-on president. I like to spend time with students. I like to get out and walk around and see people and talk to people where they are. I call that grazing. The technical term is Management by Walking Around, but I can tell you where all the very good candy and cakes ...
TH: Who all has a candy jar on the desk?JB: But that's an important part of what I do.
That goes for students as well. I try to have lunch in "the caf" at least twice a week. I usually sit with students. As a consequence, I have been fortunate to get to know a number of them pretty well and and to serve as a reference or help to open doors.
I was reflecting as a minister. I go through self-discernment processes or a process every couple of years, and last year was one of those years. We had to make some very difficult decisions here and they've been successful and I think the right decisions undoubtedly, but I can say in a new way, this year has become for me fun in a way that it wasn't before. I find myself enjoying my ministry and my professional life here in a way I haven't before. Part of that is maturity; part of that is just where we are as a university.
TH: It has been more than 31/2 years since the Plan for Transformation was announced.JB: Spring of '99.
TH: And the main feature of that transformation is contraction, where you eliminated several majors, the number of faculty, and so on. Did the plan accomplish what was desired at the time of the announcement, and in what ways?JB: I wouldn't call it contraction; I'd call in right-sizing. I was dean of our seminary for two years prior to becoming president. I did not come to the university with any expectation that I would become president.
I came to be dean of a theological seminary. Dr. (John) Agria was the president who hired me; he left almost as soon as I got on campus. The board appointed an interim president, Bruce Meriwether. I can remember our conversation when he said, "Your job, Jeff, is to build the best seminary that you can build." I said, "I can do that." He became a wonderful mentor for me and as I look back at that point in my life, it was just very important to have somebody like him that I could just watch and observe and see how he operated.
As far as the transformation, that's a long-winded way of saying I had kind of two years to sit on the sidelines before I got into the game. During my first year as president, it became very clear that there was a disconnect between the mission - what we aspired to be - and what we actually were. So, that went into a real time of intensive study and research.
In the process of that study and research, I really was able and was fortunate to get a handle on what were at the time significant emerging trends in private higher education. I kind of had a leg up at that point. It became very clear to me - and I had a wonderful cabinet working this problem, as well as the board - that it became very clear that we had to make some important decisions and some decisions very quickly.
TH: You went through the intensive study and review of where the university was.JB: Right. Where we were juxtaposed to where we wanted to be. As a consequence, we recommended to the board the elimination of 23 programs. I think in your research you probably discovered of that there were something like 52 students in those 23 programs. What you find is we were enormously inefficient. We downsized, or right-sized, our faculty and staff.
What we did was basically focus on a few things and our intent was to do them very well and then to build on those.
One of the most important things about the transformation is what it helped to do for this institution culturally. There is something enormously freeing that comes from not hiding, from coming out and saying this is who we are. I can remember the interview with the (TH) editorial board three or four years ago. I think in those years, there was a fair amount - and probably rightly so - of reservation. "Is the university imploding? What was going on? What is going on?"
What folks didn't appreciate at the time - and probably I didn't fully appreciate at the time - was this move that we made in the context of an enormous sea change of higher education.
Fundamentally, it's my conviction that there isn't an institution in this city, in this state or in this region who isn't going to have to go through something like we went through. We were fortunate that we made those decisions earlier rather than later.
Now institutions all have to go through changes. The key is that some do what we did and do so dramatically and completely. And there are some who will choose to do so for various reasons on the margin, around the edges. What I see happening in private higher education is presidents who make that decision; that's more risky than doing the dramatic thing because it's not fundamentally changing the character of the institution.
TH: There was more urgency at the University of Dubuque than what other institutions had at that particular time, in terms of the finances and so on. Something really dramatic had to be done for the future of the University.JB: Yeah, there was definitely a sense of urgency to what we did. If you were to do kind of analysis of private higher education today, there are, even in this state, at least a third of the privates that should have a similar sense of urgency in their direction. But, yeah, it was urgent. We knew that if we didn't make the decisions we were going to lose time. And my personality is such that once you know you've got to do it, you do it.
It took enormous courage on behalf of the board. It took some self-reflection and, frankly, courage not only for me but for my family. It was a traumatic event for the institution. And certainly I live with it every day - that fundamentally, I'm responsible for affecting the lives of a lot of people. But I also recognize that the lives of a lot of people have been improved, as well as their livelihoods, because of the decisions we made. It was a hard thing to do. It was the right thing to do, and I think our trends and trajectories are basically indicating that we've made some very good and important decisions.
TH: Where were the finances of the University then, and where would you rate them at this point, four years later?JB: Well, we certainly had a sense of financial urgency when I became president, and before then. I think Bruce was really the one, with his background, that was able to identify those, not so much identify but clarify them in a way that maybe they hadn't been clarified before.
There were many inefficiencies in our operation. Part of the transformation was about identifying those efficiencies, becoming much more lean, efficient and focused on specific areas. What we do with NICC (Northeast Iowa Community College) is one such example of this outgrowth of mission. We also are looking for partnerships across the country. We're ready to seal a commitment with a school in the Phoenix area and will be offering programs through the Cook College in Tempe, Ariz., as part of our program. Those are all ways of making more efficient our operation.
In terms of where we are now, I think we're financially, we're healthy, although we're not as healthy as I want us to be. Short of a substantial endowment, there's not, in my opinion, a president in the country that could look you in the eye and say that their endowment is where they need to be financially. Our endowment right now, however, is about $20 million. It needs to be substantially (about five times) more than that.
TH: Fallout from the transformation included lawsuits with the faculty over the handbook and the dismissal of some tenured faculty. One result was, earlier this year, the American Association of University Professors put UD on the censored list. What's the impact of showing up on the AAUP's list?JB: On the record or off the record? No, I'm on. It has zero impact. It's not impacted one iota the kind of students we attract or the kind of faculty we attract. Frankly, I try to interview virtually every person on this campus. If the agenda that the AAUP aspires to is part of that faculty member's agenda, then they're probably not a good fit here. The reason is because we're about the education and formation of students. I could probably go off on a critique of the AAUP and what they should be doing versus what they're not doing, but I won't do that. I can say we have hired an enormous number of new faculty and expanded our faculty.
One of the great things about the transformation is literally what that transformation, though initially painful, what that transformation accomplished in terms of the overall cultural transformation of this campus. My guess is you could walk across this campus and ask the question you're asking me to our faculty or to our professional staff and they'd tell you that the change has been significant.
The environment in which to work and in which to practice their vocation is a much healthier environment. The environment of the University of Dubuque of four or five years ago was - and sadly we were not unique - was a very much divided, either/or, bifurcated - siloed is the word I used - environment. You had a certain group of faculty doing this, a certain group of administration doing this. There wasn't collaboration. And the thing we have genuinely tried to work in this transformation is collaboration in a genuine, kind of meaningful way.
TH: Were there any unanticipated results, positive or negative, that came out of the transformation?JB: A lot of what happened positively happened positively happened much sooner than we thought it was going to happen.
New program development is an example. Our computer graphics interactive media program, we brought on line and has really just expanded and exploded in a positive way.
That program was featured because of the vision of Jackaline Baldwin Dunlap, who was an alumna of the University. She had the vision to build the technology center, to resource it, and hence that program was hatched through Alan Garfield and his wonderful associates.
The growth in our aviation program and our environmental science program. We anticipated growth; we didn't anticipate it to be that quick nor that deep.
I think also what was unanticipated - and this is being perfectly straight with you here - I couldn't have called this, but the degree of literal joy that came from having people that hadn't worked together start working together. So, part of the de-siloing process was developing a new core curriculum in both the seminary and the college. You have folks who are collaborating now who literally had not spoken to each other in years. What has emerged from that are some pretty interesting collaborative efforts and friendships and opportunities in terms of program development that we hadn't anticipated.
I think the final thing - there are more, but I'm a preacher, so I work in threes - I think the final thing would be just the tremendous financial support that has come. Since we announced the project, we have received Dr. (Charles C.) Myers' gift, which was the largest gift to date in the University's history.
TH: $5 million?JB: That was a $5 million commitment. By the time this library finished, it will be well over an $8 million commitment. We received last year a $5.5 million commitment to turn the board's attention to focusing on the endowment. In the last three years now, we rank in the top 10 of all the educational institutions in Iowa in terms of funds raised on an annual basis. We're doing so while we're not in the midst of a campaign.
Frankly, we needed that to happen. But as one of our trustees who is a good friend and mentor said to me, "Jeff, always remember that money follows interest." We're trying to create something here or facilitate the creation of something here that has purpose and value and meaning and I think consequently, we've done a pretty good job of interpreting that mission and have been very successful in terms of our fund-raising endeavors.
TH: This transformation involved you and the trustees and lots of other folks, but the president is the guy out front. You alluded to it earlier: It took some toll on you personally and on your family and so on. As you reflect back on that, how did all this affect you personally, individually, and also your family, through that time?JB: That's a very good question. The great gift that God gave to us during that time was ... Thirteen days after I became president (in 1998) our first son was born. So during that year of study and then ... 1998 was just a horrible year. We had the first fatality in our aviation program. We had the lawsuit. We had the plan for transformation. We had the largest gift in history and yet we had neighbors who didn't want us to build the library. All that was going on at once.
And you're right. I aged significantly during that period.
But the beauty was that personally, I had a home to go home to. I had a lovely wife and a wonderful relationship and we had a new child. Not to be melodramatic, but that literally put everything else into context.
The other thing - I knew this, but I learned it, we learned as a couple and as a family - to have the courage of our convictions. I just don't see a lot of leaders out there who are willing to do that.
Whatever is written about Jeffrey Bullock in the future, I hope that that can be one of the things, that he had the courage of his convictions. And that happens through faith. That happens through solid family foundation. That happens from having people on this campus with whom I am in relationship, in community. That happens together.
Like I said, I live every day with the reality that the decisions I make impact lives. I try to take that as a sacred responsibility, but I also recognize that good presidents are called to lead. That's what I try to do. I try to lead in hopefully a humble way and in a way that hopefully encourages input, genuine input from a variety of constituencies, but when it's time to make a decision, I make it and I move on.
I also have to say something about during that period, the Dubuque community. During those periods, I had a lot of people who would come up to me who were fairly high-profile figures in this community and say, "Well, we're reading about this. Better you than me on the front page." There's a fair amount of that bantering that goes on. Now, I've reciprocated with some of my colleagues in the community. But there was, I think, a genuine kind of, I felt, a genuine current of support and hope.
I think people discovered, at least not knowing me very well, but they discovered that I try to be pretty plainspoken and direct. I'm not interested in obfuscation, I'm not interested in misleading people. It was hard for people to hear some of the things I had to say, but that's just the way I choose to lead.
TH: I found it interesting that the University is forging relationships and alliances with other institutions, ranging all the way from Peosta, Iowa, to China. I know that there have been Asian MBA programs for quite a few years prior. How important are these programs to the University?JB: They're part of our mission. In that regard, one of the lines in our mission statement, if you read it, we're looking for ways to form partnerships and collaborate. We think that's important for several reasons. It's important missionly because it takes us into areas that we otherwise wouldn't be.
I'll use Asia as an example. I don't think there's any scholar out there that would not tell you that in terms of this next 100 years, Asia's where the action is.
Those kinds of partnerships are important, because they allow us to provide education to other parts of the world, but they also allow us to learn about different cultures, about different people.
One of the things that I'm very proud of, if you walk across this campus, you're going to see enormous diversity. We have worked very hard at that. I don't think we're doing a good enough job of it yet, but you'll find in our student body, almost 20 percent of our student body are from students of emerging cultures. I think that's important for education. I think that's important for this region. I think it's important for Dubuque particularly, and I think it's very important for students to be able to have the opportunity to integrate and experience different cultures and experiences.
TH: That takes care of the distant part. Now, talk some about the relationship with NICC (Northeast Iowa Community College).JB: Again, our relationship with NICC is a very solid, collaborative relationship. I think it emerged because Rob Denson and I forged a very nice relationship as presidents. I certainly enjoy him and respect him and I think he feels the same way. And it comes from sitting around having coffee, saying, "What kind of mischief can we get into together?" "What work is there to be done?" What we found together was that we both had a passion for education, but we also had a passion for making education accessible.
What kind of fries both of us, I think, is an attitude that somehow what NICC is doing isn't as worthy or as important as what the University of Dubuque or other colleges or universities are doing because it's - and you'll hear this in a derogatory way - it's just a community college. Well, I think they do a marvelous job with their constituency and I think that's reflected obviously in their growth.
My goal as president is to make that education as accessible and affordable to as many people as possible. Rob and I are two peas in a pod in that way. We continue to look for ways to kind of work that problem or opportunity. It has been very successful and I expect that that will continue to grow. But it begins with mutual respect.
Our growth in students begins with our counselors having a mutual respect for students and for their families. My relationship with you begins with mutual respect. If we don't have that as human beings, there's just not a lot to work with. Now I'm sounding like a preacher. Sunday's sermon.
TH: That preacher sounded like a football coach. Earlier this season, UD won its first home football game in three years. Our sportswriter observed you running out onto the field to celebrate the victory.JB: Yeah. My wife was pretty embarrassed about that. She said, "Please tell me you didn't do that."
TH: She saw the article?JB: Yeah. I confess. I did.
TH: What were you doing out there? You didn't try to tear down a goalpost?JB: No, I'm heavy enough to probably do that if I could have gotten up there. I'm sure it would have tipped over.
TH: The overall question: Where does an athletic program fit into a small college, small university experience in general? Then specifically for this institution.JB: I went running out on the field because the team invited me out. When we're at games, whatever it is, basketball, in this season football and soccer, cross-country, I stand on the sidelines. The reason I stand on the sidelines is I literally can't sit. Somebody asked me once why I went into the ministry and my answer was because I can't sit through an entire worship service.
I stand on the sidelines because I just kind of get into things. And the other part about that I love students. I try to be present for them. The other thing that you would see is in addition to the president being there when they won, the president is also there when they lose.
I don't want to continue our losing tradition, and I don't think that will happen. I do think that's going to change. But I think there are probably many more life lessons that come from experiencing loss and lack of success but persisting through that than from being at the top of your game and not having to experience that kind of rejection. I want to experience the other just to make sure that I can honestly speak about that.
In terms of athletics, I think it's very important to put the extracurricular before athletics. Put the student before athlete.
What we find with athletics, is that our student-athletes' grade-point average is as good or better than most of the student body. It teaches discipline. One has to be very focused. One has to organize their time well. There's the physical component. There's the spiritual component. Then there's learning the teamwork and the leadership qualities that come with it. Is it an important part of our mission? Yes. Do we have it in the right perspective and tone? I think so. Do we want to be more successful? Yes.
I think if you track us you'll see that a number of our programs are slowly kind of moving in the direction we want them to move. But most importantly, and this is kind of the secret in Division III, we're doing it in a way that's ethical. It's easy to move to the top in ways that aren't ethical frankly and that's just not who we are. Our student athletes are aided the very same as folks that aren't athletes. And sadly that's not always the case (elsewhere), but that's how we choose to do it.
TH: Is UD a good fit athletically with the Iowa Conference?JB: We went through that, I'm guessing, two or three years ago. One of the things we studied was not only our athletic program, but, "Is this conference the right fit for us?" We certainly had other opportunities and do have other opportunities. The conclusion we came to after that period of study was, "Yeah, this is where we want to be." Which is not to say we'd rule out other possibilities down the road, but right now this is where we think we should be.
I also think that the Iowa Conference has some opportunities to really be a leader in thinking through athletics in its proper role. Right now to be a member of this conference, you're required to participate in 19 sports. I think if you look, a lot of Division I schools don't have that many. That, to me, upsets the balance in terms of having athletics in its proper proportion.
TH: Anybody driving along Dodge Street these days can see a lot of activity there on the University property.JB: On the South 40.
TH: So, what all is going on right now on the South 40?JB: We've owned that property for a long time. We are adding an illuminated soccer park and complex, which will be very nice. We're having access, private drive, off of Highway 20. And then we're adding upperclass and graduate student housing, homes, in the form of apartments. Currently slated for completion by August of 2003 will be three apartment units and then, the Lord willing, we'll add another three units for completion by Fall of 2004.
TH: What other major capital projects are either under way or recently completed?
JB: Well, the last couple of years we've completed the Jackaline Baldwin Dunlap Technology Center, Phases I and II of the Myers Library. The 32 seminary village units. Soccer complex. Football practice complex. Myers Sports Center facility. The apartments. Access off of Highway 20.
Our next two major projects are renovation of Smith Hall on campus and then the expansion and renovation of the Goldthorp Science Hall. So we're currently quietly raising money for the expansion of our science facility, both through private dollars and federal dollars. We hope to break ground for that in the Fall of 2003. We anticipate that that all told will be about a two-year project. We'd add the new wing on next year and the students would continue in Goldthorp. After that new wing is completed, those students would move over there and then we'd renovate Goldthorp, so it would be a two-year project.
TH: So it is a good thing that you like to go out and raise money.JB: Yeah. What I can say is it's a good thing that we have a mission that's easy to interpret to prospective donors. The fun part for me isn't in the raising of the money, the fun part for me is introducing the University and what we're about to people who have a passion or may have a passion for the kinds of things we're interested in.
But we've got a long ways to go. I can't really be satisfied until we're there. We've made enormous progress, but we're not where I think we need to be. Therein lies the creative tension of somebody who's in a leadership position.
TH: It's clear that you enjoy what you're doing.JB: I'm a good actor.
TH: If there was one thing that you could change about your job - eliminate or somehow modify - what one thing would it be?JB: Well, I'd like to have more time with my family. What would I change here (at UD)? If I could reduce my e-mail by 50 percent, I'd be a happy man.
TH: Do you have any spare time?JB: I don't, no. What spare time I have is not spare time. It's changing diapers and teaching little boys how to fish and how to play catch and wrestling on our family room floor.
My wife, Dana, and I have a very, very full life, but yet we have a wonderful life in that this is the perfect kind of environment where our boys can come to campus and see their dad at the office. We'll have lunch in the lunchroom and we'll go watch "our guys" play football or women's soccer or basketball. So they're kind of campus kids.
I think maybe, in a healthy way, it's important for a number of our undergraduates to see the president and his family in that kind of light.
No, I don't have any free time. I played two rounds of golf last summer, and this is a guy who likes to golf.
More of the TH interview with the Rev. Jeffrey Francis Bullock
Previous Newsmaker interviews