James Madison University - Index

James Madison University - Madison Magazine - Summer 2008 - Index

Rose: a lot depends on the
employees we hire. You know,
i think it’s important that in
our interviewing process for
faculty and staff members that
we’re always asking questions
about the degree to which a
person wants to engage with
students. new Ph.d.s are often
coming from large research
universities, and we are looking
for those people who still want
to be in the classroom. Yes, we
want them to advance their
scholarship; we want them to
be involved in research; but
we want them to involve our
undergraduate students in that
research, and to develop publications
side-by-side with students.
and i think we’ve been
pretty successful in attracting
those kinds of individuals.
Perrine: Then what is
the balance? There are many
Ph.d.s who come into academia
hungry for research,
and that has a way of advancing
the scholarship and academic
rigor of a university.
Rose: Yes, it does, and we
absolutely count on that. in
fact, we’ve been extremely successful
in harnessing that intellectual
power to create scores
of undergraduate research
experiences that rival graduatelevel
experiences at other universities.
it’s something that is
exceedingly rare. if you’re not
careful to cultivate that balance
rose PhotograPhs by jonah light
though, then it can get away
from you. But i think we are
pretty focused on making sure
that we hire the kind of people
that are going to represent
the values that we think are
important for the institution. i
certainly wouldn’t want to be
controlling in any way regarding
individual talents and abilities
and the desire to do new
things. We always want new
blood and new thoughts. We
want people to have the opportunity
to express themselves
individually here, to make a
difference individually and to
actually change the university.
But, at the core, are values and
beliefs that i think we all need
to share.
Perrine: do you think
the Madison character is what
attracts prospective students,
their parents and professors?
Rose: if you can judge by
student applications, i think
that’s certainly the case with
more than 22,000 total applications
in this particular year.
i think that speaks pretty well
for students and parents having
a pretty good understanding of
what the institution stands for.
The very best ambassador for
the institution is a student who
is satisfied with the experience.
and when we have students
who leave this institution with
satisfaction rates of more than
90 percent, there’s no better
way to communicate what’s
important at this university
than those students going out
and talking to other perspective
students.
Perrine: some qualities of
that character — the can-do
spirit (which we’ve coined
recently as Be the Change),
the collaborative nature of our
academic environment and
our people, the emphasis on
character development — creates
a well-rounded graduate.
How does one answer the
quip, “if i’m so well rounded,
does it mean i’m not sharp?”
Rose: Well, i think at
JMU we’ve been very deliberate
in our effort to develop
professional programs so that
students leave here able to be
productive — that is generate
incomes that allow them to
take care of themselves and
take care of their families. But
at the same time we want students
to lead meaningful lives.
We want students to be active
and engaged citizens. i don’t
think that is a product of a very
narrow education. so, while on
the one hand, we have stressed
this professional experience, on
the other, we’ve maintained an
extremely strong general education
program. We have also
maintained the commitment
to the traditional liberal arts,
in terms of major experiences
for our students at JMU. We
don’t want engineers to leave
our new school of engineering
only focused on issues of
math and science and critical
analysis. We want people who
understand the value of what
they might engineer for society.
We want them to understand
the economic impact of
those innovations. We want
them to know what the political
and social implications are.
That only comes from a person
who has a well-rounded educational
experience. at JMU
that’s really what we talk about
when we talk about the best
features of a liberal arts college
and a research university. it’s
creating those opportunities to
explore a topic in depth, but at
the same time doing it within a
context of breadth.
Perrine: This approach to
education, the qualities you’ve
enumerated, is what you have
said has positioned Madison
to take the step into the next
century — where universities
that address big issues will be
recognized as great.
Rose: Yes, i believe that
a university that produces
engaged and enlightened citizens
who recognize the complexity
of the world around
them makes that world a better
place. i can think of no better
evidence of greatness. and
it delivers on our founders’
undertaking 100 years ago. M
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