Third finalist for ISU presidency makes visit

Mar. 25—Clarenda Phillips, the third and final candidate to replace Deborah Curtis as President of Indiana State University, enjoyed a homecoming of sorts Monday afternoon as she spoke with and took questions from faculty and deans at the school's student union.

The provost and vice president for academic affairs at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi began her comments to those assembled by noting she grew up in Terre Haute and graduated from Terre Haute North Vigo High School.

"What excites me about this position are the students who choose ISU," she said.

Phillips' father, the late Mike Phillips, was a former ISU director of financial aid and university ombudsman.

Phillips eschewed the stage at Dede I in the Hulman Memorial Student Union and strolled around close to her audience as she spoke.

She said that the percentage of high-school students receiving a higher education had dropped from 70 to 62% in the last six years, and that in Indiana, it was even lower at 53%. She said people are asking themselves of college, "Is it even worth it?"

It therefore behooves colleges and universities "to tell our story," she said, and wrest control of the message that says college is a waste of time from those disseminating that notion on social media.

Phillips, who has also served as a professor of sociology in a career dating back to 2000, celebrated the fact that "campuses are more diverse than ever," allowing students the opportunity to learn to spend quality time with others who aren't just like themselves. She championed artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT and advocated equipping faculty and staff members to engage students on AI.

Phillips kept her presentation short and spent the bulk of her time with the audience taking questions from those in attendance.

Throughout the Q&A, she emphasized her philosophy that a leader should be a "relational leader" who "invests in people. I'm in my job to support you." She added that her job was to "understand what faculty need and provide it."

Phillips said she would have to learn more about the university and the issues confronting it from faculty, students and stakeholders before making any policy declarations. She also promised to surround herself with experts whose advice she could trust and that she would assiduously avoid micromanaging.

In response to a question about the controversial Senate Bill 202, which was recently passed by the Indiana legislature despite educators and other critics warning that it would subject tenured professors to termination, demotion, salary cuts and more due to what they taught, she said that in her discipline of sociology, "There's plenty of room for conflict."

Phillips added, "As faculty, we're always sharing alternative viewpoints. ... Students appreciate that," adding that colleges routinely document instructors' effectiveness and have a process for complaints. She promised "primary faculty support."

She shared that initially, she wanted to go to law school and become a civil rights attorney, but a professor got her into a summer research program doing research on poverty, which led to her interest in sociology and specifically, "How we can create a community where everyone thrives."

One attendee noted a lack of morale among ISU faculty at present and asked how Phillips could reverse that.

"Morale is low everywhere," she said. "You address that by communicating and making people feel seen and valued."

Another question asked how Phillips would balance the trends toward building new educational programs and maintaining the liberal arts tradition.

"I had this conversation 16 years ago," she replied. "I said, 'We have to do something about sociology. As a discipline, it was not attracting students. ... We need to pivot so that it's similar but not the same." What emerged was an emphasis on social justice.

"We continue to evolve and offer new programs and sunset some programs," she said.

Phillips was asked about donors. "It's about building, maintaining and honoring relationships," she said, but added that finding out how donations helped students also came into play.

"I want to have an example of a the impact on a student's story to get donors."

That theme also came into play in when she was asked what her balance would be between tending to students' needs and outreach to donors. Phillips said on average, she would maintain a 70/30 balance in addressing outward and inward needs, but added, "No two weeks will look the same," and her emphasis would depend on what is happening at the university at a given point in time.

Phillips' response to a question about what lessons she took from the pandemic was twofold: one, "We are smart enough to figure this out," because education kept being disseminated, and two, "I don't know what normal is — whatever we create, we are not going back to 2019. ... The world is evolving quickly and we need to keep up."

Phillips spoke of her sense of pride as she watch graduates tear up as they receive their diplomas and told those assembled, "I know the role you have had in their stories."

She will meet with other ISU staff members Tuesday morning.

Other candidates — Northern Kentucky University special advisor to the president Matt Cecil and Southeast Missouri State University provost Mike Godard — have visited the school.

To view the finalist's cover letters and academic resumes, visit www.indstate.edu/presidentsearch/finalists. Feedback can be left on each candidate at that website through March 28.

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.