Fourth Ewu Finalist Visits
Eastern Washington University needs internal healing to re-establish trust and a shared vision, presidential candidate Stephen Jordan said Thursday, adding that he knows the best physician for the job.
“I’ve been preparing myself for this presidency,” Jordan said during a meeting with 75 students, faculty members and staff. “My sense is that this is the kind of institution that needs my kind of skills.”
The last of four finalists to visit the campus, Jordan is a high-ranking executive working his way down the higher education career ladder.
But he said he’s willing to give up the power he wields as executive director of the Kansas board of regents in Topeka to manage his own regional university.
“Right now, I don’t have a campus, I don’t have a faculty and I don’t have a constituency,” Jordan said. “What I do, I do by persuasion. It’s not the same as being with the students on campus and feeling like you’re making a difference in people’s lives.”
In Kansas, Jordan’s board is charged with overseeing a system of 82,000 students attending six universities. In Cheney, Jordan would be responsible for 7,000 students.
Jordan said EWU needs to create a distinct mission, rethink its admission policies and look for opportunities to create successful programs in Spokane with other universities.
“I feel sorry for WSU having been given the Riverpoint campus,” he said, referring to recent legislative action that will deed the downtown higher education park to Washington State University. “There are high expectations upon them that will be difficult to meet.”
Soft-spoken and graying, Jordan humbly delivered specific answers to audience members’ questions. On several occasions, the audience asked him to speak up. He frequently suggested that he should not take credit for the many accomplishments in Kansas.
“The president needs to be held accountable, and I’ll expect to be held accountable,” he said.
However, Jordan was not soft about tough decisions at EWU.
“There will be programs that will have to be cut - people will have to face that,” he said. “The money is so tight, there’s a sense of cannibalism going on here. We have to find a way to break that cycle.”
Among other solutions, Jordan suggested earmarking money for faculty development, improving student advising to increase student retention, boosting minority staffing and rewarding successful programs.
Jordan’s only slip was a reference to himself in Kansas as “the top cop on the reservation.” A member of the audience asked Jordan what he would do to improve his own cultural awareness so he wouldn’t make such a comment again.
“Because I’ve not been on campus, I would have to seek advice of others,” he said.
Jordan has had 18 years of experience in higher education, working for the University of Colorado, Arizona State University and Kansas. The former U.S. Army clerk and real estate salesman also has taught as an adjunct instructor.
He earned a doctoral degree in public administration from the University of Colorado in 1990.
DECISION Jean Beschel, chairwoman of EWU’s search committee, said a decision on a new president should be made by the board of trustees within two weeks.