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What compelled you to become a Ripon College Trustee?
I have worked in higher education for my whole career, beginning as an RA in Bartlett Hall when I was a student. After I graduated from Ripon, I worked on campus and in time received my Master’s degree in Student Personnel. From Ripon I went on to get a Ph.D. in Administration and Policy from Northwestern University and then spent a year at Knox College as Associate Dean of Students. From there I worked at Alverno College as Director of Academic Advising and taught some courses as well.
After joining the Board of Trustees as an Alumni Trustee I found that I could make a difference in communication between the alumni and the board, as well as the board and the faculty. I found that it was a good fit and in this way I could give something back to Ripon. I am tremendously grateful to Ripon for the education I received, the people I have met and worked with and the knowledge I gained during my early career at Ripon.
What qualities do you bring to the table as a Trustee?
With my background, I bring to the table a historical understanding of a Ripon student, employee, alumna and board member. Also, I know the players on campus and I have an understanding of higher education and policy that relates to it.
What are some of your pursuits/hobbies/interests?
I have a 13-year-old daughter and a husband who is a Ripon alum. I also have a 90- year-old dad and several other elderly relatives that I connect with on in an ongoing way. They all keep me very busy. I love to read, especially history, and I do genealogical research when I can. Genealogy is a puzzle that just keeps on opening new avenues for research and understanding of history. I also volunteer in the local schools and every morning I have to do my crossword puzzle.
What do you see as the most significant challenges for higher education in general, and Ripon in particular?
As always, it is a money game on one level, but more importantly it is finding ways of helping students learn various frameworks or methods of analysis which they can apply to the knowledge they are receiving in order to make sound decisions and communicate the knowledge and decisions to others.
Education has changed dramatically since I was a student. It is much more hands-on for the student and hands-off for the faculty. There is much more concrete application of the knowledge learned, and the learning goes beyond the classroom experience and into the analysis of the outcomes for the concrete application. The challenge is for the faculty and the College to guide the students in this learning process. This, to me, is what the liberal arts is all about. It is the wedding of the knowledge, the concrete application and the outcome analysis. This serves alumni well and does not cubby hole them into one job slot that may or may not be available upon graduation or 10 or 20 years after graduation.
What excites you the most about Ripon College's future?
We seem to be moving in new directions with our education, both in the classroom and outside of it. In many colleges and universities the educational unit is seen as what happens in the classroom and not what happens externally. I think Ripon has seen that learning happens in all venues including residential life, student activities, sports, on-campus jobs and in the classroom. The college has also seen that there are areas of strength that can be developed that fit the inclusive model of education especially the Communicating Plus and the Ethical Leadership programs, as well the community outreach programming. There is something very special about these, as they are inserted throughout the curriculum and the life of the college in a seamless way.
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