Chancellor candidate talks to LSUE faculty

Richard Shrubb, the third of the four Louisiana State University Eunice chancellor candidates, said the current state of higher education in Louisiana presents an opportunity to grasp change during his faculty forum on Thursday.
“The problems here interest me, not intimidate me,” Shrubb said. “Even in crisis, there can be good times. A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.”
“I did this in Minnesota, and we can do it here, too. People come together and get together on top of the issue. There is nothing going on here that is insurmountable — not budget issues or with the community.”
Shrubb is the former president at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Worthington, Minnesota, and while there, he directed the college to it’s highest graduation rate in school history and saw the college named as One of the National Top Community Colleges by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. Before working at Minnesota West, he served as vice president of Academic and Students Affairs for Terra State Community College in Ohio. Scrubb was selected as Fulbright Scholar for the Community College Administrators Seminar in the Russian Federation, and he holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Supervision of High Education from the University of Southern Mississippi and a M.B.A. from William Carey University. He also has a masters of arts degree in English from Southeastern Louisiana University.
The first three chancellor candidates so far all have more than 20 year’s experience in higher education. The final candidate, Keith D. McLaughlin, will visit the campus on Monday. About 25 people attended Shrubb’s faculty forum, and he also spoke at forums for staff and students.
“We are waking up in higher education,” Shrubb said. “Our bubble is about to bust. We (higher education) are losing touch with the students, the people we serve.”
“There are opportunities outside LSU Eunice and outside the region. We strengthen ourselves when we converge, and we add value when we learn something new.”
Shrubb expressed interest in being with the university as long as 15 years should he be offered the position, which raised concerns with at least a few of the faculty members. The chancellor candidate replied the he could have stayed at his previous job, but said that he wanted to help provide stability and consistency at LSU Eunice with the energy and expertise he gained at his previous jobs.
“I’m not here to get comfortable,” he said. “There are important things to do. I’m not here to nest.”
As with the two previous candidates, history professor Tony Baltakis questioned Shrubb’s philosophy on faculty involvement in campus wide decisions.
“I will allow you and require you to get involved in collective government,” Shrubb responded. “You can’t discount it (an individual’s input) even it you don’t like or disagree with it.”
“Your questions are informative and allow me to see what your concerns are,” Shrubb continued. “Faculty is a multifaceted group with individual thinking and energetic brains. That is good. It is the momentum that pulls us along.”
“We compensate for each other’s shortcomings,” Shruvb We can’t wait for 100 percent to agree. We would never get anything done.”
Baltakis also asked what Shrubb would do to strengthen the bond between the university and the City of Eunice.
“I don’t micromanage, but the university needs to be more involved in the town,” Shrubb said. “It is a president (or) chancellor’s job to represent an image and attitude to the community. But it’s not a one way street.”
“There is no marketing here,” Baltakis added.
Shrubb also spoke about his experience with and expanding distance learning, representing rural education at the state capitol and increasing recruitment at the school by connecting with local high school students.
“I don’t want to hear someone is graduating high school and has not been asked to come here,” Shrubb said.