President Edwards: A Decade of Progress
This summer, the Anderson University Board of Trustees recommended President James L. Edwards for a third term in office, a motion that was ratified by the Church of God General Assembly. As he prepares for a second decade of service, the president reflects on the past 10 years and shares his vision for the future of the university.
When you came here in 1990, you brought a vision for what you thought the university could become. Years later you said, “If I had a vision walking in the door, it needed the last years for shaping.” Ten years later, is your vision the same, or is it changing?
I came in here having to learn. My view at the time was that an institution is like a big ship. You don’t try to make quick turns, and it takes a lot to turn the course with a very big institution. Big in the sense that it’s complex. Keep the course, learn as much as you can, try to meet the challenges as they come along and encourage the founding visions and principles of the institution. Those were my thoughts coming in the door. Today, it is clearer to me that there are a few very simple things we have to be about. I believe we have the right mission. I think we are grasping our core values as an institution. We have learned how to be good strategic planners. We are very good managers of resources. But what I think is becoming clear is that institutions have to have a well-founded distinction. We will not be good at everything; we will be good at a few things. I think anybody would benefit from an Anderson education, but we’re going to be extraordinarily good in a few areas. I guess the 10-year mark brings a sense of perspective.
What have been the biggest challenges in the last 10 years? And what are the things you’re most proud of accomplishing?
The largest single challenge was taking a major loss in an endowment fund in the early days of our capital campaign. First, we lost some resources. Then, at almost the same time, we had a decline in enrollment. A stream of income that had been coming from the endowment was not available anymore, so we had to borrow some money. And at the same time, we had a decline in the number of students who came back and the number of new students. We were down 150 to 155 students.
I guess my sense of pride is in how we recovered. We had our strongest years of financial support at the very crucial time we needed them. We were able to recruit some of our finest, young, new faculty members during that period of time. We did not lose any key strategic staff members; they survived, they learned, they stepped up.
Also in terms of pride, education gives me a chance to shake hands with some remarkable people who walk across the Warner Auditorium stage [during commencement]. To see them accomplish getting through college and finding the discipline to move on in their lives has been the greatest satisfaction.
When you started here, your kids were college-aged, and you said that kept you in touch with the college generation. Now that they’re grown, how do you stay in touch?
It’s tough. I think it will be a battle for the remainder of my tenure. It was relatively easy then. It wasn’t unusual for students to have a pizza break at 2 a.m. in our house with our kids. Well, that doesn’t happen anymore. I try to have contact with resident assistants. I read chapel cards, especially those related to what I do; it’s sometimes encouraging and sometimes a little sobering. We have Raven Roundtables with students over breakfast. AUSA [student government] picks up the cost of the breakfast. I show up and we just talk about whatever they want to talk about. I’ve also been able to get into more classes in the last couple of years, and in a couple of instances, those sessions start with providing me several pages of questions students have about me personally or the institution. I anticipate doing more of that. [Deanna and I] do not have the obligations of the family that we had even a year ago, so that will allow us to open the house and invite groups in—faculty and students. I think that’s the only way we can [stay in touch].
How are we preparing for increasing enrollment in the upcoming years? A past article in the Andersonian reported that we were looking at a long-term total—including graduate, adult education and seminary programs—of around 3,000. Is that realistic, and if it is, how do we accommodate those people?
Students who feel that the situation is a little crowded, especially at noon in the marketplace, would say, “Where are you going to put another 500-700 students?” The number of traditional students will probably only go up a couple of hundred, but the peripheral programs are going to continue to grow, if they are successful. For example, the MBA program is growing one or two more cohorts this year, which means up to another 60 students. We have developed a doctoral program in business. It may average 40 students. These are students who will never live on the campus. Our accelerated degree program (ADVANCE) has a wide capacity as long as there is need, and it seems the need is endless. Regardless of what everybody else is doing, we continue to produce students who will get about half their education done and, for life-challenging reasons, leave education for a while. They’re not drop-outs, they’re stop-outs. They come back a few years later needing to advance in their careers. Right now, it may be 70 or 80 students, but in two years it could be 300 students.
If you have 300 students in an accelerated degree program, and you have 150 students in MBA, and you have 100 to 130 students in the School of Theology, none of that is really putting any pressure on our infrastructure here. We’re finding ways to actually share more material, more information, more class locations—all of that is expanding without any bricks and mortar. At the same time, we’re doing master planning; we are in the stages of planning a major expansion of dining facilities. This year, we’ve added about 81 to 82 spaces in resident life on the campus for undergraduates.
What’s your opinion of the continued growth of graduate programs in the School of Business and the School of Theology?
They have to be done with great thought. We have a list of requirements that the graduate council has developed—controlling principles for adding graduate programs. The principal thing is that we do not abandon our core mission. The main thing around here is still going to be resident undergraduate liberal education of the arts and sciences. We’ve established graduate programs that will not bleed the undergraduate program of its strength. The disease of higher education today is that there are graduate programs sponsored by the undergraduate schools. That is not the way it’s done on this campus. Teaching assistants do not teach our undergraduate courses. Full professors—full, doctorally qualified professors—teach our undergraduate students, and that is a fundamental difference.
We’ve always talked about our small faculty/student ratio as being attractive. Last year, you talked about maybe increasing that from 14:1 to 15:1. What benefit does that have? Does that lessen the attraction?
It has a lot to do with managing costs. I have colleagues in this business who say, “Any institution that is operating at less than 16:1 is financially challenged. They’re going broke and they don’t know it.” Our number is driven by our accredited programs. Nursing, athletic training and music are accredited programs where the number of students per faculty member is dictated by the accrediting bodies. On the other hand, there are ways to manage larger numbers. In the great public institutions, their gift to this country is research and mass education. Our niche is mentoring quality, individualized developmental learning, where we are actually developing persons. We feel a deep sense of responsibility for every student. Whether that’s realistic or not in the long run, time will tell. But that’s why we are the institution we are today. In the past, the lower the number has been the measure of quality. There are new measures of quality today. We can point to outstanding, even elite, colleges that have a 16:1 or 17:1 ratio. So the measure of quality will have broadened to include some other things today and in the school of the future. How reliant are you on electronics? How many electronic resources can you bring to bear? Are you able to assist students to develop capacities for self-instruction and learning? What resources do you bring to help students do that? How many of your faculty actually teach in the classroom? With the number of professional programs we have and the quality we want to maintain, it’s probably in that range of 15:1. But that speaks of efficiency and quality and the balance between the two. I think it’s the job of the president to figure out where that balance is and then to really push for and encourage efficient systems so that the student gets the very best value for the dollar. Which is what we’re really talking about—keeping this affordable. If it’s not affordable, it’s not accessible, and we don’t achieve our goals. If we don’t have any students, we don’t have a university.
How is the university making a positive impact in the surrounding community—not just the campus community, but outside of here?
It seems that we have really come of age in that area. We find ourselves at the table in many arenas—in government, in education, in economic development projects, in our relationship with industry, in the changing face of business today. The university is a member of the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce and of the local chamber of commerce. We are members of the Council for Economic Development for this region. Virtually every aspect of society has, during the last 10 years, come to this office, knocked on my door and wanted to be involved with the university in meaningful ways. It’s because we have students who are valuable. I would call us an intellectual repository of great assets. Most of the social service agencies have Anderson University involvement, if not from staff and faculty on their boards, students in internships and students in staff assignments. In this county, we have more public teachers who graduated from Anderson University than from any other university. For that reason, we have an enormous responsibility.
This summer, AU was named home for the Center for Character Development in Anderson. What does that mean for the university?
We were singled out among the state’s 31 private colleges and the seven major public institutions, along with all their branch campuses, and that’s a real distinction. I think it again speaks of the effort many people have expended to put Anderson University at the right table at the right time. We also have a dedication to servanthood. This is one way we can bring our values to bear on public policy and on education.
You say we’re public servants, but you’ve also said that we are servants of the church. How do you see AU’s continuing relationship with the church?
There are two ways educating institutions can go. They can slowly drift apart from their founding church bodies and be more guided by the academy of higher education. The other way is for them to see themselves as vitally involved participants in the very heart of the mission of the church, and that’s where we’ve chosen to be. That has been our quest from the beginning. The church’s theologians are on this campus; the church’s historians are on this campus; the church’s teachers and mentors for ministry are here. And we’re also a great outreach center in that many young people come here from other backgrounds and find their way into the life of the supporting church. We are trying to be an attractive representation for the church with those young people. We want the church to call on us more and more. When great ideas are debated, we’d like to be in those debates. If guidance is needed, even from marketing, developing, surveying, thinking about the needs that have gone undiscovered in many parts of the world, I think we may have something to offer. And we certainly are there to educate and develop the young people of the church for their futures.
More than Church of God students attend Anderson University. Has this diversity impacted our relationship with the Church of God?
We want to express the church at its best, and at its best, it is reaching out and inclusive. I think we’re a better institution for being a school of 2,300 students than just 900 Church of God students. We have better programs to offer Church of God students because we have an enrollment and a faculty that can support larger, more expansive programs. We have to get better at hosting non-Church of God students. The Church of God student is more inclined to persist to graduation than the non-Church of God student. I have tried to pay attention to that and ask why. What can we do to make this a more hospitable place for those who choose to come to school here? I don’t think it involves compromising our distinctives as a Church of God institution; I think it involves understanding the unique needs of those students who come from those various communions. And I think there’s a richness that happens in a classroom when we are doing more than indoctrination. I think the presence of students from many faith orientations helps us to do that. I think we’re better because the doors are open.
What are some of the concerns of alumni you meet with, and how are we addressing those concerns?
They are concerned about our faithfulness. Do we continue to proclaim that we are a part of the church’s ministry and that we are faithful to Jesus Christ and the calling of the church? They are concerned that we continue to develop the highest possible academic standing. We are faithful, we are pursuing excellence, we have outstanding programs and resources available, and people are still coming to this campus to become involved in a learning community of faith. And that’s what we want to assure them.
How do we illustrate that to alumni?
We get out and meet our alumni across the country. I think we had 10 or 12 alumni gatherings last year. Alumni come back and meet with faculty, talk about their professions, and talk about what they needed to know. I rarely meet an alum who says, “I wasn’t prepared for the entry-level of the career I’m pursuing.”
Now that the Anderson Challenge is over, and we’ve surpassed our $75 million goal by $8.5 million, what are the first things we’ll see changing as a result of those monies? Did you anticipate such a generous outpouring?
We were blessed with some surprises. Some trusts were finalized, and some bequests matured. Those were all surprises in the sense that we didn’t anticipate they would come to us in the late days of the campaign. The last four months of the campaign were something very special. The campaign is comprehensive, and many of the things funded have been a part of our ongoing life. For example, many of the resources are in student scholarships. The day the money was given, it was put to work. The resources for buildings and facilities and campus infrastructure have been invested along the way. We have a couple of large projects that are only partially funded, the biggest of which is the Wellness Center, and we think that’s going to come together this next year. We’ll finish off the fund-raising for that, and that will be the next big thing we’ll see on the horizon.
How do you see this job as an opportunity to continue to live out the call of God on your life?
Well, I think it is a call of God in my life. I am blessed to be able to have the opportunity to do this work, to serve with such tremendous people and to be involved at the youth edge of the church’s life. It’s just wonderful. I think all of the gifts that were important to me as a pastor continue to be important to me here in some significant ways. I loved, for example, my role as a pastor and preaching Sunday after Sunday. Well, I speak often today, but to different audiences. I get to be involved in a mission of very deep roots, very strong foundations. I get to see myself in a stream of continuation that very few people are privileged to experience. President Reardon once told me there are only about 500 people in this country who do what I do. Even though there are 3,500 colleges and universities, the unique role of the private Christian institution at this level is really special. I feel blessed to have this opportunity, and I think that sense of calling really drives it all.
How has your family continued their support of you?
We are truly a mutual admiration society. We love what our kids are doing; we admire their courage and tenacity and giftedness, and they make us proud every day. And they certainly convey their support for what we’re doing. The college presidency will take everything one can give. It’s 24 hours a day, seven days a week, living on the campus in the midst of it all. I think it’s important that the family be supportive just so we can take care of each other. Deanna is a great partner, and she is one of those persons who believes every day if she can be a part of my life just encouraging me, then she wants to do that.
Do you think the changes in the next 10 years will be as important and as progressive as those of the last 10 years?
I think the next period of time has the potential for being even more impressive in terms of our development. This has been a very challenging period of time for the university in many ways, and we’ve met those challenges and seen development. The world changes; higher education is changing so rapidly. The impact of technology is enormous. And yet there’s something that’s very stable and constant about it. Educational traditions are very firm. But I think the potential to give our attention to the future in strategic ways is greater than before.
I feel exhilarated at the thought of being able to focus my best attention and my best experience with the partners we have here, both in leadership and in service. I want to bring renewed energy and fresh perspective to the [next 10 years]. My intention is to give myself in more effective ways. We have the chance to think about what we can build that will be strong and lasting. I think those things only happen with a long-term outlook. It’s not the sprinter, but it’s the distance runner, who finishes this kind of a race. I think we’ve just established the pace.
Finding her place
Joy May
When Deanna (Monteith) Edwards BA ‘65 moved to Anderson more than a decade ago with husband James Edwards BA ‘65, MDiv ‘70 and their three children, she knew she wanted to make a difference in her community. That hope has since been nurtured and has flourished with her thoughtful involvement. “Because of the nature of my husband’s work, I think it’s important for me to keep a flexible schedule so that I can accompany and support him when needed,” she says. “Because of this commitment, however, I’ve had to be very intentional in seeking ways to find meaningful personal work to do.” Upon Deanna’s arrival in Anderson, she began serving on the staff of Alternatives Inc. as children’s program director. She worked with women and children in domestic crises and came to know the city in a much different way. It deepened her care for her new community and created a desire to contribute something of value.
“Something” became many things. With a background in elementary education, Deanna felt a strong pull toward issues affecting children and families. She became involved in her church, the public schools, the university and the community.
Today she coordinates the Park Place Church of God After-School Fun program and works as a volunteer coordinator in the book-buddy program CARE in the Anderson Community Schools. Since 1983 she has helped direct Kids’ Place, the missions education event of the week for hundreds of children at the annual International Convention of the Church of God. She seeks to involve Anderson University students in these endeavors, encouraging their leadership development on behalf of children.
Deanna serves on the Mayor’s Commission Against Domestic Violence and holds board membership with the Anderson Community Schools Foundation, American Association of University Women, Grace House and Alternatives Inc. She was honored with the 1999 Elizabeth Howard McMahan Award from Alternatives Inc.
In addition to these community organizations, she also is active as a member of her church’s Board of Congregational Mission and Lay Ministries and the Park Place Children’s Center Committee. Beyond all these, however, she says her love for and loyalty to her own kids and family are at the top of her list. Even with her widespread involvement, Deanna explains, “No matter how much I’d love to do and be a part of, I try to limit myself to things that fit my personal mission: Does it affect the lives of women and children and their families? And I think most of the things I do reflect that.”
Her husband agrees. “Deanna has kept us, at a very personal, human level, involved in community and church and with children and youth,” he says. “That’s been her gift of perspective.”
Extensive community involvement coupled with the responsibilities that come with being the wife of a university president makes life very full, but Deanna believes her strength is renewed by the joy she finds in her work. “We want to do more with having students in [our home]; it is great to have frequent contact with them,” Deanna says.
Additionally, the transition from pastor’s wife to a university president’s wife has helped Deanna be more supportive and involved.
“We came from a congregation where women were encouraged to have their own ministry and make their own contributions, and I’ve felt similarly supported here. So in that sense, it was not a difficult transition,” Deanna explains. “The challenge is the faster pace, and that this job has more pieces and pressures than pastoring a local church does. But when I talk to people, I have a similar feeling of caring for each individual with me at that moment. I think that’s what brings me joy, that I have really connected with people and have been able to give something to them—encouragement, appreciation or just understanding. And I value what their life experiences have brought to me. I have felt that with people of many ages and backgrounds. It’s the joy of being a part of something that’s of true value.”
