EOU PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH

EOU should focus on continuing to draw attention to the many inspiring successes of its students, and emphasize access and affordability.. – Bob Davies

Following brief but comprehensive opening remarks, Davies started answering questions, clearly enjoying interacting with the audience.

Suddenly an ever so brief  stop sign went up.

Davies, vice president for university relations at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, was asked to repeat the questions he received because the event was being recorded by EOU.

It was an opening the quick witted Davies could not resist.

“The last questioner said I am a fabulous person and should be president,’’ Davies said as the audience roared...

“Dixie and her team have put the university on the right track,’’ Davies said. “I want to build on the relationships she has built.’’

Davies said that as president he would have a firm commitment to what he believes  EOU does and should stand for — access and affordability for students, and service to the rural region of Eastern Oregon.

Davies believes EOU should focus on continuing to draw attention to the many inspiring successes of its students. He cited the case of a 45-year-old man who just earned a degree from Eastern and inspired his son and daughter to enter college in the process.

“We need to trumpet their (the students’) stories,’’ Davies said.

Davies is one of four finalists for the EOU presidency and the one with perhaps the strongest ties to the West. Davies has an undergraduate degree from the University of Nevada, Reno; an MBA from the University of Oregon; and worked at Boise State University from 1995 to 2000 as executive director of its alumni association.

Davies said he would be delighted to return to the West where he said the air has a special crispness and camping trips are true pristine outdoor experiences. Davies said in the East a camping trip involves pitching a tent and then calling for pizza delivery.

Not so west of the Rockies.

“I can’t wait to take my daughter, Katie, fly fishing and tell her, ‘If you don’t catch a fish we do not eat,’ ’’ Davies said.

He also said he likes the genuineness of the people in the West.

“I like the West where a man’s word is his word,’’ Davies said. “You can sell a house on a handshake.’’

Davies’ wife, Cindy, also has Northwest ties. Her parents live in Boise, and she has a brother in the Tri Cities area.

Robert Davies has been at Indiana University of Pennsylvania since 2006. One thing he is proudest of is the work he has done at IUP to increase contributions to its foundation. Progress has been particularly noteworthy over the past eight months, he said. Gifts and pledges in the 2008-09 fiscal year are already double what they were in 2007-08 despite the national economic crisis. A total of $7 million has been pledged so far in 2008-09.

Davies said many people are making contributions now because they understand how badly funding is needed in today’s economic climate.

“It is easier to get commitments because people see the need.’’

Another factor that has helped IUP, he said, is the flexibility it provides contributors when they set up donations.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania is a public university of about 16,000 students 55 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. Davies came there from the University of Buffalo, where he served as associate vice president for university relations from 2002 to 2006 and adjunct professor of the graduate school of education from 1995 to 2000.

In New York, Davies earned a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Robert Gates, U.S. Secretary of Defense since late 2006, was one of the people Davies studied intently while preparing his thesis. Gates served as president of Texas A & M University from 2002 to 2006.

“I learned how he centralized his presidency and how he served with humility.’’

Davies sent Gates a congratulatory e-mail immediately after he learned Gates had been named Secretary of Defense. Gates, who remembered Davies, wrote back minutes later.

Davies wrote his Ph.D. on higher education leadership as a means of preparing himself to become a university president. He said that as college president it is critical that you show the commitment to the university that you would expect others to. He said one of his first steps as EOU’s president would be to make a major donation to its foundation.

This would be an indication of the firm roots Davies would establish as president.

“I would make a long-term commitment. I would be here for an extended period, God willing.’’

Davies was the second presidential finalist to visit Eastern. The third will be Charles Harrington, the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of North Carolina. He will speak at a public forum Tuesday. The forum starts at 3:30 p.m. at the Hoke Union Building.