Presidential Wisdom

Carleton’s Steven Poskanzer and St. Olaf’s David Anderson enjoy similar rewards, face similar obstacles

By JERRY SMITH

David Anderson has spent a lot of time on the Carleton College campus lately.
That might seem odd to some people, as Anderson is the president of cross-town rival St. Olaf College. But to many in academia, welcoming the newest member of the college presidents club, especially when he is in the same town, is the prudent thing to do.
Anderson recently attended the inauguration of Steven Poskanzer, the 11th president of Carleton College, and many of the other festivities held to celebrate his counterpart’s arrival.
But even before that, Anderson traveled the short distance across town on a number of occasions to meet with and to get to know Poskanzer both on a professional level and on a personal level.
“We’ve become friends over the summer,” said Poskanzer, who was named Carleton’s newest president in April and assumed the duties on Aug. 2. Poskanzer replaces Robert A. Oden Jr., who announced his retirement last September.
As the presidents of Northfield’s two nationally recognized liberal arts colleges, the two men have a lot in common. Both head up top academic institutions, and both play key roles in running two of Northfield’s largest employers. Those two factors alone are very important to the region’s business sector.
As Poskanzer ushers in a new era at Carleton College and Anderson begins his fifth year at St. Olaf College, both men feel it is important for people in the region to know that they are indeed approachable, and like any other business entity, want to be a part of the community.
“I sort of get the impression that people have the notion that we are remote figures,” said Anderson, a 1974 graduate of St. Olaf. “I would hope that one benefit of this article would be for people to see that St. Olaf and Carleton are just other places in town and in the region. We are eager to be a part of this community.”

In a 35C interview, David R. Anderson (St. Olaf College) and Steven G. Poskanzer (Carleton College) talk about their roles as presidents of nationally recognized institutions, where they fit into the community, and how the economy has affected higher education.

Q: What is/was your strategy when you were named president of an institution with such a storied and successful history?

SP: I certainly tried to build on the strengths that are already in place at an institution. Both of us were lucky to come into places that had a lot of inherent strengths. That makes life a lot simpler.
Always when I come to a campus, the first order of business is being appropriately modest. You need to learn and really master the culture and history and values of the institution. Do that first. Then when you have that down, it’s time to start to think about plans about how you take a current level of excellence and push it up to the next level.
But I begin with learning all about the culture, and that means listening and spending a lot of time with alumni and students, and meeting with every academic department on campus and every administrative unit and have them tell me what they treasure most about the place, what they worry most about and what their aspirations are. That’s how you get stronger. I suspect you do many of the same things.

DA: He’s exactly right. I was fortunate to come back to the college I graduated from 36 years ago, so I had a certain kind of understanding about the culture, though a lot had happened in 36 years.
I think you simply try to listen and understand so that you can collectively figure out what the next best steps are for the institution. And then, you go ahead and take them.

Q: Do you want to put your stamp on the policies and workings of the institution, or does it matter to you?

SP: It doesn’t really matter. It’s about the long-term health of the place. If you take care of the institution right and you do things in the most thoughtful, forward-looking way, it doesn’t matter about you.
There will be more than enough achievements and success for everybody at the institution to celebrate. I think presidents who are the best are people who check their egos. It’s not about you, it’s about the place, always.

DA: I think as a president, you do get a chance to bring some issues to the front. So maybe if there is a way of putting a mark on an institution, it’s that you encourage the conversation to happen earlier than it might have otherwise. And, you have the ability to set a certain tone. The way you speak to the public, to the institution and about the institution establishes a certain tone for how people are going to interact and do business.
I think you have opportunities there, but I don’t think every institution is exactly the same. Under a multitude of presidents over time, of course a lot of things change. What Steve said is right on the mark. It’s not about you.

SP: I like what David said, too. It’s the questions that you ask and the conversations you start as opposed to specific things that you are going to do when you walk into the door. I think that was very well put.

Q: Do you have examples of that strategy?

DA: Sure. Right now, for example, I have a feeling that where St. Olaf and all private colleges can do better job is to be more attentive and to make sure that when the students leave the college, they have a thoughtful and actionable plan for what their next step in life is going to be that does not involve their parent’s basement. We have a name for this at St. Olaf. We’re calling it the Main Street Project, which relates to a building that we’re going to locate the office in that makes this all happen.
That’s an example of something that I said at the beginning of the year is my highest priority. Of the many excellences that we have at St. Olaf, this might be the one in which we have the greatest opportunity for growth. And, the times call for it.

Q: At a recent leadership dinner, Dr. Anderson commented on the college’s financial impact on the community. What is your college’s economic impact on Northfield?

DA: I think one of the things that is very important is that the colleges in Northfield think about their mutual relationships and the benefits we confer on one another.
We are lucky as institutions to be located in this beautiful, picturesque town, where people like to come and where students feel safe. And, where their parents feel even safer about where their children are going to be and where there are cultural resources.
It’s equally important for Northfield to recognize that our two institutions, along with maybe one other big business in town, you could arguably say, are the principle economic engines in town.

SP: We’re two of the three largest employers in town, including Malt-O-Meal, St. Olaf and Carleton.

DA: We have an annual payroll that is significant. We pay a significant number of taxes. People don’t realize that we pay tax, but many of the buildings we own in town are subject to tax. Each of our colleges makes significant annual contributions to the city of Northfield to assist it with its operations.

SP: Which is very unusual for private colleges across America to do in their host communities.

DA: When we have homecoming, parent’s weekend, reunion weekend, all of those people come to Northfield. They all need to eat somewhere and they all need to stay somewhere. Apart from all of the other general economic activity, those particular days are big. St. Olaf just made the decision to split up reunion and commencement, which used to be the same weekend, into two weekends with the goal of having more people come to Northfield.
And then, there are the things that we do to generate other economic activity in the location of this oncology radiation center in town. That will bring a bunch of jobs to town. And something that isn’t an economic benefit but is another benefit is that all of the sick people in town who need radiation don’t have to drive to Rochester.

Q: What part is St. Olaf College playing in the oncology radiation center?

DA: The hospital is leasing the land for that facility from us.

SP: I’ll add two more observations, one about jobs and one about cultural things.
We have 720 employees, and many of those folks live here. We like it when they live locally and shop locally and support the economy of Northfield. When you take the salaries that we pay and you push them with multiplier effects, it’s millions of dollars, and that’s ultimately the type of impact our institutions will have.
You want to have a college in your community. This is the best type of economic anchor to have. Colleges don’t get up and move. Colleges are rooted here forever. We have a long history. Essentially it is 150 years for both of our institutions, give or take a couple of years either way, and we’re always going to be here.
The jobs we create are good jobs with competitive pay, and they are not just faculty jobs, either. They are jobs for painters and architects and carpenters and technicians, so they are important jobs.
Both of our institutions, I also think, are not just economic anchors for the region, but cultural anchors. We want people coming to theatrical performances on our campuses, and watching our sports teams play. And heavens, your (St. Olaf) music program is an international anchor that people will come from all around to see. That’s important for a community to be enriched, not just economically, but socially and culturally by the type of energy and enthusiasm and ideas.

Q: From the previous answers, we see that you believe both institutions have a great relationship with the community. Do you think the community feels the same way?

DA: I think there is an overwhelming understanding of that in Northfield. Now you can go to any town where there are 18,000 people and you can find someone who is grousing because they think the cost of having a college there outweighs the benefits. But I think those are lone voices in the wilderness. I think most people understand.

SP: I think there is a very strong understanding that Northfield is blessed to have two great colleges in the town. Inevitably, there are times when the college has made a decision with a piece of real estate that wasn’t well thought out, or we fell short of being a good neighbor, or our students didn’t behave in a way you would most want them to, but those are unusual circumstances. This is a community that is very proud of these colleges and that understands the symbiotic relationship.

DA: I think that’s the key point. It’s a mutuality. We’re good for the town and the town is good for us. As long as everybody keeps an eye on that fact, then the rest of it is really kind of in the decimal dust.

SP: And the town is good for us. We want our students to be in a community where they can meet their shopping needs. Where they can work with kids in local schools and where they are reminded every day that they are not just in a bubble on the campus, but they are a part of something broader and they are going to use their education in their hometowns and ideally stay here in Northfield or in the region.

DA: I think that between our two colleges, our students volunteer somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 hours of service every year downtown.

Q: How would you describe your relationship with the region?

SP: I would say that is strong. Both of our colleges are national institutions. Students from around the country and around the globe will come study here. We’re very proud of the historic roots and the large number of local kids who come to our campus. I want students from this part of Minnesota to grow up dreaming of going to Carleton, and also dreaming of going to St. Olaf.
Sure, our institutions are always looking to get the very best students, but there are enough spectacular students right here in this part of the country to fill both of our classes and to do a good job.

DA: I don’t know the number for Carleton, but I’m sure it is a similar one, but we have something like 33,000 alums. Thirteen thousand of them live in the Twin Cities’ seven-county metro area. And that’s not because they all came from there. This is a very desirable place to live.
Look at all of the top companies in and around us. The number one employer of St. Olaf graduates is the Mayo System. Look at Target, look at Best Buy, look at General Mills, name them all, there are Carleton graduates and St. Olaf graduates running those. What Steve called the multiplier effect is great in terms of just bringing intellectual capital for the whole region.

Q: St. Olaf and Carleton are both liberal arts colleges. How has the economy changed the way the college prepares students for life/work after college?

SP: I’ll make two observations here. I would say that in this type of shifting, troubled economy, in a world that changes as fast as the 21st century world does, the value of a liberal arts education has never been more critical.
When you ask employers what they want with students the thing they say more than anything else is the ability for them to work as a part of a team, the ability to write, the ability to speak in a powerful way and the ability to draw connections between two totally different fields of knowledge. Those are exactly the skills a great liberal arts college provides, and that’s what both of our institutions are absolutely in the business of doing. That’s never been more critical because people can change jobs more frequently rather than less frequently. Those skills are what translate.
But we also have to recognize that in this tough economy, we have a responsibility to help our students think creatively, and not just in the spring semester of their senior year, about how I am going to use what I learn. And just like St. Olaf has been emphasizing that type of life after college, Carleton has made that a higher priority, too.

DA: Steve is exactly right. It’s interesting that in this tough economy, everyone is really thinking carefully about the value that they are going to derive from every dollar they spend. Both of our schools are still finding that families believe there is value inherent in the experience we provide, otherwise they wouldn’t in a time like this continue to invest in it. After your home, it’s the second-biggest investment you are probably going to make.
So I think it is incumbent on us to make sure that we are carefully thinking about the value that we are delivering for the experience. And so, that’s one way in which the economic downturn has been helpful. There’s a famous writer I studied once named Samuel Johnson who said, “Nothing focuses the mind like a hanging.”
In some ways, that’s what the economic downturn has forced anyone who is providing a service to ask. Are people going to derive maximum value from what they are getting from us?
But also, as Steve said, we have a much sharper and clearer focus now than we did three or four years ago.

Q: With the economy in a downturn, have the colleges had to do things to control costs?

DA: Absolutely. You can look back over the last couple of years and for one year we didn’t increase salaries, we made a lump sum payment once in the year, but it didn’t go to the base. We postponed a $21 million renovation project for a year. We carefully scrutinized our expenses so that the cost of operating the college this last year was less than it was the year before. Colleges across America are doing these same kinds of things.

SP: We’ve been doing the same kinds of things. There have been all kinds of cuts on our expense side, and we try very hard to make sure that we have held down the rate of tuition increases and we have been increasing our financial aid budget, including creating special financial aid funds for families that were battered by this economy.

Q: In a downturned economy, do you look at endowments differently? Do you invest differently?

SP: We are careful in terms of how we invest our endowment. Carleton is under-endowed compared to some of the places we compete against, so that means presidents have to go out and raise money for endowment.
But it also means that we are stewards of an endowment that provides for the next generation, not just the current operations of the college. So we are more cautious. We would prefer to do a little less well in a booming bull market, and a little better than some of our competitors might in a bear market. We are consciously a little more conservative, I would say.

DA: We want to derive maximum return because this is the college’s future. But at the same time, we want to be prudent. We have an investment committee of people who are highly skilled. The president of St. Olaf College is not making investment decisions, I can promise you that. So they are trying to do exactly as Steve said and be as opportunistic as you can, but keep the focus on the long-term.

Q: Studies have shown that with record numbers of students attending college, despite steep tuition increases, marketing budgets have increased. Has St. Olaf and Carleton ramped up efforts to market their respective institutions?

DA: Both of our colleges have oodles and oodles of students that apply, to be honest with you.

SP: And we are very lucky as institutions to be in that position.

DA: We are marketing differently. Actually, marketing is fun to watch. This whole social network is wonderful. Like we were saying outside, we put a story about our new dog on the college’s Facebook fan page, and it gets 7,000 hits in 20 hours.

SP: Twitter is huge. It’s all Web-based and the world is moving in that direction. We find not so much because of the economy, but because of the changing world that some of the places where we recruit shift over time.
We have many international students, and how we reach audiences of talented women and men in countries around the globe to convince them to come here, that’s been a shift. But it hasn’t necessarily meant more money or an increased emphasis on marketing to try to gin up applications.
We’re not interested in creating applications just to get them and not to admit people. We want to have the students who would most benefit from a Carleton education and contribute to our community find out we’re here. And to do that, we do have to use technology.

Q: Have you seen more returns on the different types of marketing? Are admissions up over the last three years, or have they held steady or even dropped?

DA: The total number of applicants has increased each year over the last four years, so we have something like 4,000 applicants in any given year. And at the end of the day, we like to enroll a class of about 775. This year we ended up with 840, so it just goes to show that it’s a crapshoot in many ways. You have to guess or predict, based on historical experience, how many students to whom you make an offer are going to accept. And of course, the world starts new every year.

SP: You send out the acceptances in April, and you never know for sure until April 30th or May 1st what your class is going to look like and how large it will be. We have typically a little less than 5,000 applicants a year, and we aim for a class of about 500 to 525.

Q: When you say sweat it, you mean that you don’t want to get too large a class?

DA: That’s when we have to be concerned about where they live. This year, I would say with a larger class that all of our residential spaces are occupied. We housed everyone and there are various kinds of things you can do when you have a few more students. We open more spaces for dining, so the cafeteria moves smoothly. You hire some more people and open some more classes.

SP: It’s much better to have slightly more students than you want than fewer students.

DA: And for a student, it’s more fun. You go someplace and say ‘there are a lot of people like me and a lot of people unlike me.’ It’s busy and it’s bustling.

SP: The campus never really feels right until the students come back, and then there is a sense of excitement.

Q: Is this your dream job? Is it something you’ve always wanted to do or something you fell into?

SP: I think it’s a combination of both. You aspire to do right if you love higher education. Many of us, I think, are drawn toward the challenge of helping a place succeed in the long run and giving care to it. Being a dean or being a president let’s you do that.
Certainly for me, this is a dream job. Every day, I get to wake up and be surrounded by incredibly smart faculty, staff and colleagues, and I do something that makes the world a better place at this staggeringly great college, in this beautiful community.

DA: In my case, it’s my college. I never felt when I was a student that one day I would be president, but now that I am, it’s perfect. I don’t have any aspiration to be the president of any other college.

Q: With the St. Olaf-Carleton football game scheduled for Oct. 16, can you give our readers a prediction of the outcome?

SP: Let me start by saying this is a rivalry that is grounded in profound mutual respect. St. Olaf is an incredible college, and David and I are already friends, having gotten to know each other over the summer.
So of course I want Carleton to win. I believe that Goat Trophy belongs on our campus. I think it will be a good, close, hard-fought game that ends with Carleton’s inevitable victory.

DA: I’m sure that what we will see is two teams of highly accomplished scholar-athletes performing at their utmost best and providing some entertainment value to everybody else. I think the best team will win.

Q: Will there be a friendly wager on the game?

SP: Whoever wins, the loser will go to the other campus, and we’ll serve together wearing the sweatshirts of the winner’s campus.

DA: It’s a bet.