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Eastern Illinois University President Bill Perry stands in front of Old Main on June 30. Perry celebrated his first year in office on July 1. (Erin Matheny/The Daily Eastern News)

Perry looks to year two

By: Rick Kambic/Editor in Chief

Posted: 7/17/08

It's been one year since Eastern President Bill Perry was accepting congratulations for his new job.

Now he is often the interviewer as he roams campus, greeting those whom he passes and whom he meets while observing the daily educational functions of the university.

Perry will no longer have to stand outside the Doudna Fine Arts Center gasping in awe by its reverence. Now, he walks inside and looks at the nearly completed facility that could help bring his goals of best in class to life.

"I'm pleased to say that all the good things that I sensed during the interview process are in fact good and better, in fact, than I had imagined," Perry said. "I'm really impressed with the passion that people have here for personal relationships, excellence, a passion for keeping Eastern a school for real opportunity and a university that seeks to serve the public."

Providing students with expanded resources to serve the community while also learning is how Perry said he wants to mold students into well-rounded graduates. Doudna, Perry said, is one of those expanded resources.

"I think it's a great opportunity for people in our region to come and see performances in this venue so they could be inspired and enlightened by the arts as we present them and as we bring in outside presenters," Perry said.

The building, which was renovated because of asbestos, will be a marvel among statewide universities, Perry said.

"At some meetings that I go to, there will be exhibitors at tables with examples of recently built arts facilities, and when I look at them, I see that we're either equal or better in terms of art facilities," Perry said.

While it's been a year since Perry departed from Texas A&M, he doesn't feel like he downgraded after assuming his presidency at Eastern, a much smaller school.

"I believe that it's in the small class that you have the best opportunity for the professor to connect with the students both inside and outside of class, to really talk about what the fundamental principals are that you're trying to teach in the class," Perry said.

While he has big ambitions for a university that is still growing, Perry said fundraising will be one of his main goals for his second year.

"I believe that we have a great opportunity for the next several years to bring evolution to philanthropy that benefits Eastern," Perry said. "Over the past several years, there has been improvement in the giving to the university from alumni and friends."

Perry said a mentality that he brought with him to Eastern was to "take destiny into your own hands" because student educations shouldn't be put on hold.

"Alumni have always been loyal and alumni are more and more aware now that private support is critical as a margin of excellence for universities," Perry said.

The physics observatory is one example Perry provided in which donors who knew how they wanted to help their former school.

One of the programs on Perry's list of nationally renowned curriculum is Study Abroad. He said the program is continuing to grow and he could see it become yet another department labeled "best in class."

"What percentage of our students have as study abroad experience, and that's something we can study institution to institution," Perry said. "If we have the highest percentage in the nation and that's a goal, then we can say we're best in class in that regard and we can market that in terms of recruitment of students.

"We don't have the largest percentage, yet, but percentage-wise, we're doing better than a lot of schools."

The other finalists

Provost Blair Lord was one of the three finalists and he's continuing his long career in the Academic Affairs department at Eastern.

Sue Kiefer Hammersmith was the third finalist, and she just became president of Metropolitan State University in Minnesota on July 1. She was Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay from 2002 until 2008.

Her resume reflected accomplishments in fund-raising and donor relations, as well as international education. She wrote about her accomplishments as Dean of Arts and Sciences at Ferris State University in getting over 10 percent of the department to spend at least a year or more abroad as Fulbright Fellows.

She also wrote about her experiences at UWGB in bringing Fulbright Fellows to the university from Jordan for their educational advancements and for the American students' cultural exposure.

Hammersmith remained at UWGB during Perry's first year, and is now one year behind him in her presidential quest. Hammersmith declined to provide any comments.

Perry's successor

When Perry left Texas A&M, his former university president had just accepted a job with President George Bush. Robert Gates had left the university and Perry was moving to Charleston.

Because the provost had also left the university, Perry's successor has not been named because a new university president had to be hired before a new provost could be appointed.

Jeffrey S. Vitter was just named the new provost at Texas A&M, effective Aug. 15, and he will begin searching for a new associate provost to succeed Perry.

Rick Kambic can be reached at 581-7942 or at rwkambic@eiu.edu.