Spring Break
Second candidate Kirby introduced to campus at forum
Krystal Moya / Administration Editor
Issue date: 2/17/09 Section: News
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Confident, Kirby believed that he answered questions thoroughly and spoke frankly about the issues he would face if he were given the position left open by the retirement of Jeff Cooley.
"Everything went better than I could have expected," Kirby said. "I felt as though I was getting to the tough questions and fielding them well."
Kirby is the associate vice president for financial affairs at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas.
"My portfolio of responsibilities includes really all operational services on our campus," he said.
At the open campus forum Monday in Booth Library for faculty, staff and students, Kirby answered questions from a variety of concerns about Eastern's future.
Bonnie Irwin, dean of the honors college, asked a "philosophical question" about the extent to which a university is and is not a business. He argued that no university is a business.
"The university is not a business. Period. There is no profit line," he said sternly. "I firmly believe that the university is about the transfer of knowledge that takes place between the faculty and the students. (Administrators) are here to facilitate that - not profit from it."
Kirby dove into specific questions about the problems and opportunities that faced the campus through the eyes of the Business Affairs Office. Diane Jackman, dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies, asked Kirby to specify what he believed to be the two most imperative opportunities and challenges should he be hired in July.
"I want to start with the challenges first," Kirby said. "Our biggest challenge is making sure we don't compromise the quality of education and develop capacity in these times of economic crisis."
Kirby explained that it is easy for administrators to begin cutting and making decisions without involving constituents under fiscal pressure. However, he argued, the administration "must remain transparent" working toward the goals of the students and holding steadfast to the mission that serves the entire university.
The issue of deferred maintenance was a subset of the goal outlined by Kirby.
Staff Senate member Greg Boyd raised the issue to Kirby's attention, asking what his opinion was on cutting from facilities planning, or building renovation, maintenance and construction, in the budget.
"It is an easy fix for a president to cut from renovation and renewal, because it doesn't hurt people," Kirby said. "The sin isn't in the first cut. The sin is in making the second without fixing the problems first."
Instead, Kirby outlined possible ways to consolidate and synergize areas of goods and services spending that were the highest on the budget. He gave an example of when he and the administration were faced with a 1999 budget cut at Salem State College in Massachusetts.
Initially, they cut from facilities planning and deferred construction and maintenance projects to decrease costs. But, in the long term, Kirby said they took a "good look" at their spending on publications and found they could consolidate from six publishing firms to save costs.
However, when asked how long changes would take, when they would be implemented and his experience in human resources, Kirby said he would not pretend to know all the answers.
His understanding of the campus is from an outsider's perspective and he would want anywhere from "two, to three, to four months" to acclimate himself to the position.
Kirby has dealt with human resources more indirectly, but he argues that he knows the importance and has used them to facilitate the communication between the diverse community at St. Edward's.
Overall, the students, faculty and staff seemed warm to Kirby, Boyd said.
"I can see him in this position," Boyd said. "He had a remarkable overview and answered questions that were very hard to answer."
Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or at ksmoya@eiu.edu.
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