Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, IA
04-08-06
UNI candidate stresses need to connect with community
By EMILY CHRISTENSEN, Courier Staff Writer
CEDAR FALLS --- Stephen Lehmkuhle has a long and successful history in
education.
He spent years teaching at Brown University and University of Missouri-St. Louis.
For the last decade, he has served in various administrative positions with the
University of Missouri system. But it was a short stint as interim chancellor at
University of Missouri-Kansas City that proved he could use his knowledge to
lead an institution.
"I learned I could do the job and do it well," Lehmkuhle said Friday, the second
day of his two-day campus interview process.
The senior vice president for academic affairs in the University of Missouri
system is the first of three presidential candidates to visit campus. John Folkins,
vice president for academic affairs and provost at Bowling Green State
University, and Benjamin Allen, vice president for academic affairs and
provost at Iowa State University, will visit the campus next week The Board of
Regents will decide which of the three men will replace retiring President Robert
Koob.
Lehmkuhle spent much of Friday meeting with faculty and staff to learn their
concerns about how the next president will handle university relations. He also
got the opportunity to meet with staff in his area of academic interest --- the
Psychology Department.
He assumed the role of chief operating officer for the 14,300 student University of
Missouri-Kansas City in May 2005. Lehmkuhle came to the university during
tense times --- the previous chancellor resigned following a no-confidence vote -- but was able to mend bridges with faculty, staff and students and the
community. He hopes to use those same relationship skills to quickly connect
with key stakeholders on campus and in the community.
He said he hopes to maintain Koob's relationships so the university can continue
to be an integral part of the community.
"As an academic leader, our role is to interconnect people around the vision of a
common purpose," Lehmkuhle said.
And that need will continue to grow as the revenue streams coming into the
university continue to shift from state aid to capital campaigns and external
resources. The University of Northern Iowa is looking at a projected $3 million to
$5 million deficit for the coming year if the state doesn't come through with the
$40 million promised in the transformation plan.
Lehmkuhle knows that means whoever is named the next president could face
making some serious decisions during his first year on campus.
"UNI is not facing this alone. ... We have been cutting budgets, but it has been all
horizontal cuts. At some point you begin to compromise the quality of the
institution," he said.
The university is getting close to that point, Lehmkuhle said. At that point,
university administrators will need to start looking at doing less, which could
mean the end of entire programs, so that the university can continue to "graduate
the best students we can."
In addition to making himself a well-known and respected member of the
community, Lehmkuhle also will encourage high-level administrators to do the
same. By increasing their visibility and building new connections with people
interested in particular university programs he hopes to build the donor base,
which would in turn have the potential to increase the alternate revenue stream.
But for all the talk about money and community ties, Lehmkuhle said his main
focus will be educating students.
"That's who I am and what people need to know," he said.