Hahs: "A 'we' thing, not an 'I' thing"

"On the one level I'm the least informed among us. On one level I'm the most experienced, which is why I've been asked to take on the role," said Dr. Sharon K. Hahs new university president, in an interview in with the Independent.

Among the many issues discussed, Hahs outlined her immediate goals as improving graduation rates, time to degree, overall school funding and student retention.

She was attracted to Northeastern both for its diversity and because it is a state school. She said a core belief in public education as a "public good, a society good and an individual good. ? It's good for a democracy, which our country is. Our country is complicated, this campus is complicated. To work in that environment is key."

Specifically, Hahs talked about fund raising on several fronts as one of her primary goals. "This is the legislative session right now. I've been in Springfield twice already, and I will be in Springfield as many times as appropriate for me."

The new president is not just looking for increased state funds but also to build an infrastructure for private fundraising. "Private institutions have been doing it forever, and we need to get on that band wagon."

She has a place to spend the new money she hopes to gain. "I'll get savvy with the budget and figure out if there are things we can redirect, but I think dollars have to put toward student sections [classes] if we are really short of student sections, because that is a very straightforward time-to-degree issue. If you can't get the class you need, you can't keep progressing."

Implementing these new programs is not something Hahs claims to have all the answers to. She prefers a collaborative style and doesn't want to dictate; she prefers to wait for groups to come with up something. She would rather "guide, cajole, [and] suggest."

Hahs is eager to get feedback from all sectors of the campus community, which started with the Millennium Student Taskforce (MST), which held public forums last month.

"Most of the spring is going to be as much listening and interacting. ? I want to meet with units. I want to meet with student groups," said Hahs. A meeting was scheduled with student government.

Beyond listening and meeting with academic, administrative and student groups, she said that she would keep the current structure and administrators in place. "I'm working with the current team, and over time if there is something that isn't working right we would consider any needed change, but I have no specific plans." She said she has no plans to bring in any new management in with her.

After the recent assessment from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Hahs identified several "areas of improvement" including academic advising, something which was also mentioned in the MST. The HLC also wanted to see an integrated strategic plan, which Hahs said is one of the things she enjoys doing.

Another hot-button issue Hahs addressed was adjunct versus full-time and tenure-track faculty. "In an ideal world we don't want too many part time faculty who may have multiple commitments and maybe are not going to be able to devote as much to our students as we wish. On the other side of that same issue is the expert we couldn't have unless they were adjunct.

"I think an institution wishes to have a good balance between part time, full time non-tenured and full time-tenured, and the nation has become pushed a little too far towards part-timers and non-tenured track. And that we can wish to get the pendulum back."

Though Hahs is new to NEIU and its Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies (CCICS) she said, "I have a built-in affection for the Carruthers Center that they don't even know about because we had the East St. Louis Center at my former institution," which she said had some similarities to CCICS.

On El Centro Hahs said that she had heard complaints about the facilities, but upon her visit found it a nice facility, though she did acknowledge the problems with a lack of parking.

Hahs was very positive about outgoing University President Steinberg and defined Steinberg's role after the transition "Informally she is available to me. She is not formally involved in decision making."

Hahs summed up her thoughts about the collaborative sprit she hopes to attain, "It's not like I have all the answers. This is a 'we' thing, not an 'I' thing."