Presidential finalist Diane Rogers-Adkinson answered questions at an open forum about diversity programs, infrastructure and what she will bring to the University as president.
Rogers-Adkinson currently serves as the vice chancellor of academic and student affairs at Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education. She served as provost and senior vice president in academic affairs for Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and later moved to a provost role at the Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, which was formed from a merger of Bloomsberg and two other universities that Rogers-Adkinson helped organize. Rogers-Adkinson graduated with doctorates in special education and counseling from Kent State University.
Rogers-Adkinson said her first impressions of Murray State came while recruiting for Southeast Missouri State University. She said she learned about the quality of the University’s education and the passion of the students while recruiting. She said these experiences are part of the reason she is exploring a presidency in Murray State today.
“What I know about regional, rural institutions is that we are the heart and soul of higher education right now,” Rogers-Adkinson said. “We produce more educators, more nurses and more students for the average, everyday workforce for our states.”
Throughout the town hall, Rogers-Adkinson spoke about her role as a storyteller, and the importance of storytelling for developing opportunities for students and the University. When asked about her approach to first generation students, she shared her experience as a first generation student and the first women in her family to graduate high school. She said it was important to share stories like that to students to demystify academic life and faculties’ success.
She also discussed using stories for donor relations and raising money for the University and students. After hearing about an honors student whose family had to sell their livestock to pay for her tuition, Rogers-Adkinson said she used that story to launch a new scholarship which helped students pay off debt and afford enrollment.
“That’s the part I think I’m really good at, helping see the potential in a story into something that can become something else that either supports someone’s work or students,” Rogers-Adkinson said. “And that’s why I feel called to be president, because first and foremost we are here to help our students and they have a lot of diverse needs, and each one of those stories is very important.”
Rogers-Adkinson said her biggest surprise when she first arrived at Murray State was that the University still relied heavily on paper. During her time at Southeast Missouri State, she said the university was able to save thousands of dollars by switching completely to digital. She listed this as one of the University’s biggest weaknesses, and something she looks to change.
When asked about the infrastructure problem at Murray State, and the recent power outage which left two dorms without power for a week, she discussed ways in which the University could go about funding infrastructure replacement.
“It does suggest there is a long-term strategic need to assess viability of residence halls, including those two (White Hall and Regents Hall), and determine if we need to start working on a proposal to the state towards replacement funds,” Rogers-Adkinson said.
She also floated the idea of partnering with corporations to build new residence halls in a way that would be faster than getting funding from the legislature. She said it’s unclear which avenue she would pursue.
During the town hall, Rogers-Adkinson emphasized her experiences in student outreach and her role in communicating with students in her previous university positions, from getting involved in student groups and activities, to hosting coffee times where students could sit down and speak with her. Rogers-Adkinson later said she would have a similar approach to ensuring transparency and proper communication with students at Murray State.
On the topic of shared governance and university administration working with faculty, staff and students to make decisions and policy changes, she discussed her experience working in Pennsylvania during a merger of three of its universities. During the merge, Rogers-Adkinson said they organized a university senate for shared governance. She said its organization was aided by faculty and staff, including faculty in political science.
Rogers-Adkinson was also asked about her stance on diversity, equity and inclusion policies on campus. She discussed the different problems universities had faced on that front, including the current federal grant freeze. She said that in her experience they had not done preemptive compliance with federal demands, but continued to look at the impacts these policies would have if they go through.
“The first rule for us is that we serve all students, every student has needs. Students’ needs are different. And at times we need to help support one student differently than another,” Roger-Adkinson said. “All of our students deserve an equal opportunity to benefit from the education they are getting, that’s our job. And if we don’t support all our students in the ways they need, then we are going to send students away with debt.”
Rogers-Adkinson said she would have to comply with the law, and that they don’t know what laws will be passed. She said the University could also explore more ways to share resources that better help students.
On the topic of keeping tuition affordable, Roger-Adkinson said that would have to be a big focus for this region, where students don’t necessarily have a college fund. She mentioned fundraising and creating new scholarship opportunities as a way to keep tuition affordable, as well as working with the legislature to ensure funding for the University.
Two more presidential town halls are scheduled throughout the week, including Ron K. Patterson on Thursday, Feb. 27, and Christian E. Hardigree on Monday, March 3. Following the town hall attendees can complete a survey on the finalist at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MSUHardigree through to March 5.
